Members of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's (CEC) Sound Management of Chemicals Chemical Inventory Team presented SMOC activities related to chemical data reporting and management. Topics include national chemicals inventories and comparison of chemicals data among the three countries. More information at: http://www.cec.org/chemicals2012

1. Comparing Chemicals Information across
National Inventories
SMOC Chemical Inventory Team
Chemicals Management Forum
San Antonio, Texas
May 15-16, 2012
Commission for Environmental Cooperation

2. Background
• Completion of Mexican inventory allows opportunity
to compare inventories of the three countries
• Interest in comparing available data on subsets of
chemicals on all three inventories
• Supports SMOC objective of identifying & tracking
chemicals in commerce in North America
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3. Objectives
• To conduct a pilot project to compile and analyze
data on chemicals in commerce in Canada, Mexico,
and the U.S.
• Comparing and sharing available information about
chemicals across the three countries will allow for
more informed risk management decisions and
increased transparency.
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4. Approach
• Compare the Canada DSL and U.S. TSCA Inventory
• Compare the overlap chemicals (those on Canada
and U.S. lists) with the interim Mexico Inventory
• Select a subset of chemicals that are on all three
inventories and that are existing chemicals of
interest in each country for the data analysis
• Select a set of key pieces of information for the data
gathering
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5. Results of Three-Inventories Comparison
• In order to be able to share/publish the results of the pilot
project, the comparison began with the data publically
available for the Canada and U.S. inventories, then included
the interim Mexico Inventory
• Canada DSL: 24,578 published substances (July 2011)
• U.S. TSCA Inventory: 66,891 published substances (July 2011)
• interim Mexico Inventory: 4662 substances (November 2011)
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6. Results of Three-Inventories Comparison
• 18,885 substances are on the Canada DSL and the U.S. TSCA
Inventory
• 5,693 of the Canada DSL substances are not on the US TSCA Inventory
• 48,006 of the U.S. TSCA Inventory substances are not on the Canada
DSL
• 2,584 substances are on all three countries’ lists (Canada DSL
and the U.S. TSCA Inventory and the interim Mexico
Inventory)
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7. Results of Priority Chemical Selection
• In narrowing down the overlap list of 2584 substances to a
smaller subset for the data analysis, the project focused on
Canada and US existing chemicals of interest
• Canada provided a list of substances that will be the focus of their
assessments in the next five years
• U.S. provided a list of newly published Work Plan chemicals
• For the early pilot project, larger groupings of substances on the US
Work Plan were also not considered in the comparison
• This yielded an initial set of three chemicals from the overlap
list of 2584
• A less restrictive approach will be applied to identify further
chemicals to expand the list of substances for pilot
comparison
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8. Preliminary Comparison - Pilot
• Information on 3 substances was compared (preliminary
results)
– Benzene, 1,1'-methylenebis[4-isocyanato-] (CAS No. 101-68-8) MDI/MDA
– Benzene, 1,1'-methylenebis[isocyanato-] (CAS No. 26447-40-5) MDI/MDA
– 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,2-diisodecyl ester (CAS No. 26761-40-0) Phthalate
• Initial consideration was given to: production volume and key
information about hazard, use, and exposure
• for the pilot project, the decision was made to gather and analyze a
minimal set of information that is likely to vary the greatest between
countries
• e.g., production volume, import volume, release information, uses
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9. Preliminary Comparison - Pilot
Benzene, 1,1'-methylenebis[4-isocyanato-] MDI/MDA (CAS No. 101-68-8)
• Production Volume (Manufacture + Import)
• Canada (2008) 7 million kg
• US (2006) 45 million to < 226.8 million kg
• (100 million - < 500 million pounds)
• Mexico (2009 – import only) 1.7 million kg
• Information on Use
• Canada – 26 NAICS codes, 7 industrial use categories, 11 consumer and
commercial product categories
• US – 2 NAICS codes, 3 industrial use categories, 5 consumer and
commercial product categories
• Release Information
• Available to both Canada and the US (as part of MDI/MDA group) via
National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) and Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI)
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10. Preliminary Comparison - Pilot
Benzene, 1,1'-methylenebis[isocyanato-] MDI/MDA (CAS No. 26447-40-5)
• Production Volume (Manufacture + Import)
• Canada (2008) 2.7 million kg
• US (2006 – import only) 624,000 kg
• (1,374,000 pounds)
• Mexico (2009 – import only) 1.6 million kg
• Information on Use
• Canada – 19 NAICS codes, 6 industrial use categories, 12 consumer and
commercial product categories
• US – 1 NAICS code, 1 industrial use category, 3 consumer and
commercial product categories
• Release Information
• Not reportable to NPRI or TRI
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11. Preliminary Comparison - Pilot
1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,2-diisodecyl ester -- Phthalate
(CAS No. 26761-40-0)
• Production Volume (Manufacture + Import)
• Canada (1986 (to be surveyed 2013)) > 1,000,000 kg
• US (2006) 454,000 - <4,500,000 kg
• (1,000,000 - < 10,000,000 pounds)
• Mexico (2009 – import only) 670 kg (1,500 pounds)
• Information on Use
• Canada –NAICS codes not available, 12 industrial use categories,
consumer and commercial product categories not available
• US – 2 NAICS codes, 2 industrial use categories, consumer and
commercial product categories are confidential
• Release Information
• Not reportable to NPRI or TRI
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12. Preliminary Comparison - Pilot
• Clear differences in information across the 3 countries
observed in preliminary comparison
– Different levels of manufacture & import
– Different uses identified
• How can the similarities/differences inform exposure
characterization in each jurisdiction and on a regional level?
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13. Final Steps: Data Analysis
• Review data compiled
• Determine data gaps
• Analyze data variability across countries
• Publish a summary of the findings
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14. Thank you!
Merci!
¡Gracias!
Three countries. One environment.
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