Source Inventories
All sixteen Convention POPs pesticides (i.e. aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene, α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), chlordecone, lindane (γ-HCH), pentachlorobenzene, endosulfan and pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters) were either never registered or had their registration status cancelled for many years due to concerns about their toxicity and impact on the environment.
The 2020 to 2022 inventory indicated that only a small quantity of industrial chemical POPs was imported and used for providing laboratory services and selling to other local laboratories.
Dioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs) are unintentional by-products of industrial and combustion processes. Inventories of dioxins/furans in Hong Kong were also compiled in the third HKSARIP by adopting the refined framework established by the UNEP. In 2020, there was an annual emission of 48.2 g TEQ* dioxins/furans to the local environment via all vectors (air, water, land, product and residue). The major route of release was “residue”, accounting for 88.2% of the total, followed by “air” (7.7%) and “land” (3.0%). On a “per capita” basis, the 2020 annual dioxins/furans release in Hong Kong was generally similar to those of United States of America, the Spain, the Australia, the South Korea and the European Union countries.
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* g TEQ = gram toxicity equivalent
