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Dioxin and Related Compounds pp 1–27Cite as

Release Inventories of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans

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Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 49))

Abstract

For unintentionally generated persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF), the development and maintenance of national release inventories is an obligation for parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. About 20 years after the first dioxin inventories have been published, a systematic approach has been developed and now is applied worldwide to establish complete, comparable inventories that are consistent in format and content. The basis for such inventories is the “Toolkit,” a collection of emission factors and description of activities and processes that form and release PCDD/PCDF. The Toolkit uses a five-vector approach, i.e., not only releases to air but also to other compartments such as water, land, product, and residue are included. The assessment of the quantitative data for releases from ten source groups to five release vectors provides interesting insight in the country’s geographic, economic, and development status. After the first round of reporting PCDD/PCDF inventories, 86 inventories have been assessed, and it can be seen that the total releases of PCDD/PCDF from the ten source categories have a positive correlation with the size of the population and a negative correlation with economic status.

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Abbreviations

μg:

Microgramme

CEE:

Central and Eastern European (group of countries)

COP:

Conference of the Parties (to the Stockholm Convention)

EF:

Emission factor

g:

Gramme

GNI:

Gross national income

GRULAC:

Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries

HCB:

Hexachlorobenzene

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

kg:

Kilogramme

km2 :

Square kilometer

NIP:

National implementation plan

p :

para

PCB:

Polychlorinated biphenyls

PCBz:

Pentachlorobenzene

PCDD:

Polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins

PCDF:

Polychlorinated dibenzofurans

pg:

Picogramme

POPs:

Persistent organic pollutants

PPP:

Purchasing power parity

SG:

Source group

TEF:

Toxicity equivalency factor

TEQ:

Toxic equivalent

UNEP:

United Nations Environment Programme

WEOG:

Western European and Others Group

WHO:

World Health Organization

yr:

Year

References

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Acknowledgment

This review is dedicated to Otto Hutzinger who has been my supervisor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, for many years and who gave me the chance to undertake “dioxin” research. He introduced me into the network of scientists active in a multidisciplinary area to open my eyes and senses beyond academic approaches and objectives. Together with many friends and colleagues, we value Otto Hutzinger as a researcher, mentor, and great personality.

For this review, I thank colleagues and coworkers, government representatives, students, and interns for assistance in the development of the Toolkit methodology and the wider discussions on pollutants’ inventories. Special thanks go to Ms. Haosong Jiao for the preparation of the maps. With the present status, we have come a long way but remain curious and willing to improve further.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Örebro University, School of Science and Technology, MTM Research Centre, SE-70182, Örebro, Sweden

    Heidelore Fiedler

  2. Division of Technology, Industry and Economics/Chemicals Branch, United Nations Environment Programme, chemin des Anémones 11-13, CH-1219, Châtelaine(GE), Switzerland

    Heidelore Fiedler

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  1. Heidelore Fiedler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heidelore Fiedler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic Contaminants Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

    Mehran Alaee

Glossary

Box and Whisker plot

Graphically summarises the median, a measure of dispersion (first and third quartile) and the range for a sample or population.

GNI PPP

Is gross national income (GNI) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GNI as a U.S. dollar has in the United States. Gross national income is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. PPP GNI was named formerly PPP GNP.

Income categories

As defined by the World Bank; they are as follows: Low income (L), lower middle income (LM), upper middle income (UM), and high income (H).

ISO codes

ISO 3166 is the International Standard for country codes and codes for their subdivisions. The purpose of ISO 3166 is to define internationally recognised codes of letters and/or numbers that we can use when we refer to countries and subdivisions. The ISO country codes are maintained by the ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.org/iso/country_codes.

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Fiedler, H. (2015). Release Inventories of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans. In: Alaee, M. (eds) Dioxin and Related Compounds. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 49. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2015_432

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