Chemicals

Indicator: Use of hazardous chemical products
This indicator estimates the aggregate quantities of hazardous chemical products used in producing goods and services for Swedish consumption. It has consistent worldwide coverage, because it assumes that chemical use in an industrial sector involved in production is the same anywhere in the world, and thus applies the same conversion factors to the global economic data in the PRINCE model. It is easy to update as new economic data appears.

According to European Union statistics, the EU produces around 200 million tonnes of chemicals that are potentially hazardous to health every year, and around 120 million tonnes of chemicals potentially hazardous to the environment. Most countries have some regulations that try to minimize the risks that hazardous chemicals pose to workers in the industries that use them, to the surrounding environment, and to consumers.

However, as globalized trade grows, the factories and farms using chemicals may be far away from the jurisdictions where the goods are consumed, separated by long and complex supply chains. The scope of the regulations, and capacity to monitor and enforce compliance can vary widely around the world. Voluntary reporting initiatives exist (e.g. the industry initiative Responsible Care®) but again, their coverage is patchy

In Sweden most of the legislation on chemicals is regulated at the EU level, and therefore common to all EU member states. However, measuring progress towards this goal is complicated by the lack of any system of indicators that can quantify the chemicals being used internationally to meet Swedish demand, where they are being used or what impacts they might be having.

This indicator aggregates the reported emissions of hazardous chemicals into nature. The extensions are based on the emissions data found in the EXIOBASE MRIO model, which includes 437 different emission types for 35 substances), based on national reporting. This data is supplemented with data from the EU and OECD pollutant release and transfer registers (E-PRTR and PRTR). For those countries not participating in either register, emissions were estimated.

The focus on emissions means the indicator can better reflect management practices, particularly waste management, in the industries. For this indicator, it is suggested that different emissions are aggregated based on mass. This means that the indicator does not differentiate between substances based on how hazardous they are. The quality of national data and the reliance on estimates also adds uncertainty, particularly for countries outside the EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This indicator uses the same data sources as Emissions of hazardous substances, but weight them to reflect human toxicity and ecotoxicity, using the Usetox model. Of the “big picture” PRINCE macroindicators, this come closest to measuring impacts. However, they are subject to the same reporting gaps as Emissions of hazardous substances. They also cannot account for cocktail effects or local conditions.

Once again, this weighting substantially changes the geographic and product group hotspots. Notably, 24% of the ecotoxicity pressures fall inside Sweden, the largest share of any of the hazardous chemicals indicators.

Pesticides reach the natural environment almost exclusively in the form of diffuse emissions (e.g. run-off from a field after rain). These emissions are difficult and costly to measure, and today many countries lack knowledge about the quantities of pesticide residues in their ecosystems. Therefore, a use-based indicator is the best.

The Use of pesticides indicator builds on data from an international registry (FAOSTAT). It can thus reflect differences between countries, but not per crop, as the data is given as aggregate sums for the countries. Non-responses are common in the registry, especially among developing countries. Nevertheless, as it uses the FAOSTAT data, the indicator can be further disaggregated to different categories of pesticide – including the most important herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.

Agricultural products and food products naturally appear as the main hotspot product groups for Use of pesticides (and primarily in Sweden and the EU). A case study in PRINCE, the use data were reallocated to different categories of food consumed in Sweden, revealing that the largest pesticide footprints were related to fruits and vegetables.

The (over)use of antimicrobial veterinary medicine products (VMPs) in livestock production has attracted much concern due to the possible long-term public health consequences of antimicrobial resistance.

This indicator builds on data from a unique European data collection and reporting system on VMP use. As there is no other widespread reporting system for VMP use outside the EU, the EU averages were used for livestock production outside the region.

This was the only hazardous chemicals indicator for which Sweden was not one of the top two hotspot countries.