Risk Assessment and Monitoring for Environmental Chemicals

1. Risk Assessment and Monitoring for Environmental Chemicals By Amer Samy Mohamed El-Kalliny

2. Egypt • Egypt covers a land area of over 1 million km2. • Egypt on the East-Northern corner of Africa. • Population: about 75 million. • Religion: Islam • Language: Arabic.

4. National Research Centre President of National Research Centre Vice President for Scientific Projects Vice President for Technical Projects Textile Industries 4 Dept. Pharmaceutical Industries 3 Dept. Chemical Industries 6 Dept. Food Industries 3 Dept. Applied Organic Chemistry 3 Dept. Engineering 4 Dept. Applied Inorganic Chemistry 2 Dept. Physics 5 Dept. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology 5 Dept. Agriculture & Biology 11 Dept. Medical Science 6 Dept. Basic Science 5 Dept. Environmental Research 3 Dep. Occupational Health Industrial & Medicine Dept. Water Pollution Research Dept. Air Pollution Research Dept.

5. Current Environmental Issues • Water Resources • Conventional Water Resources * The Nile River, * groundwater in the Delta, Western deserts and Sinai, * Rainfall and flash floods. • Non-Conventional Water Resources * Agricultural drainage water, * Desalinization of brackish groundwater and/or seawater, * Treated municipal wastewater.

6. Water Resources Challenges • Water Shortage Egypt is located in an arid climate zone where rainfall is scarce and most of the land is desert. Its water is derived primarily from the Nile River originating outside of the country’s borders. A second current source is the deep groundwater of the Nubian Aquifer reservoir in the Western Desert. The share of water per capita in Egypt is currently about 850 cubic meters per year (m3/yr), which places it below the “water poverty level” (1,000 m3/yr) accepted by the World Bank. Therefore, Egypt is faced with a potential water scarcity situation due to increasing demands against a fixed supply of the resource which could limit the country’s ability to implement its overall economic development plans.

7. Agricultural Expansion The government is planning by 2017 to expand its cultivated area by 3.4 million feddans. The ambitious plans for agricultural expansion in Nile Delta, North Sinai and Southern Egypt will extract 10 bcm or more of the Nile’s waters. • Water Pollution A steady increase in population and continuing expansion of urbanized and industrialized areas has meant that water pollution problems are on the rise. Agricultural activities, especially excessive fertilizer and pesticide use and associated run-off, are another source of pollution.

8. Air Pollution The levels of common pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, Suspended particulate matter and carbon monoxide in the air are higher than the guideline values established by the World Health Organization, especially in the industrial cities. • Solid Waste Management * Municipal Waste * Medical Waste * Industrial Waste * Agricultural Waste * Wastewater Treatment Sludge Waste • Wastewater Management * Domestic Wastewater * Industrial Wastewater

9. Hazardous Substances Egypt is primarily an agricultural country. Pesticides and fertilizers are being used extensively to increase crop yield of limited cultivable land to meet the requirements of the exponential increase in population. The industrial base in the country accommodates a variety of chemical industries that have created several problems, most important of which is that of industrial hazardous wastes. Different chemical substances are being used in pharmaceutical, petroleum industries in housing and the production of consumer goods in Egypt. Explosive are used in different activities such as mining police activities. Radioactive substances are used in clinical activities, research, welding and piping testing.

10. Organization and Legislation The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) and its Regional Branch Offices (RBOs) are the main environmental bodies responsible for the protection of the environment in Egypt.

11. Organizations Relevant to the Environment • Ministry of Health and Population • Ministry of Petroleum • Ministry of Interior • Ministry of Industry and Technological Development • Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities • Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation • Ministry of Water Resources and irrigation • Ministry of Transport • Ministry of Electricity and Energy • Ministry of Education • Ministry of Scientific Research and Higher Education • Governorates

12. International Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs There are also international NGOs working in the field of the environment in Egypt, most of which work concurrently in other fields. The main goal of these NGOs is improving the social, economical and environmental conditions of the Egyptian community.

13. National Policy on the Environment • The Five Year Action Plan of EEAA • National Strategy for Municipal Solid Waste • National Strategy for improved Medical waste Management in Egypt • National Strategy and Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation • Environmental Disasters Management Plan • National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP)

14. Major Problems on Environmental Contaminants * Chemical industry is by far the main source of hazardous wastes in the developed regions. • Pops – Persistent Organic Pollutants • High toxic to humans and the environment. • Persistent in the environment, resisting biodegradation. • Taken up and bioaccumulated in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. • Capable of long-range transboundary atmospheric transport and deposition.

15. Production and use data of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS) The use of organochlorine insecticides in Egypt began in the 1950s and were extensively used until 1981 to protect crops from insects, diseases fungi and weeds, to remove unwanted vegetation and to control insects by the general public.

16. Regulation of Environmental and Industrial Chemicals in Egypt • General Law 4/1994 Environmental protection law. It addresses coastal and marine pollution and air pollution; hazardous waste and environmental disaster issues. • Water Pollution • Sea Water Protection • Air Pollution • Solid Waste Management • Hazardous Waste Management

17. The Stockholm Convention • The Stockholm Convention, held in May 2001, focuses on eliminating or reducing releases of 12 POPs, the so-called “Dirty Dozen”. These 12 chemicals include aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirx, and toxaphene used principally as pesticides, two industrial chemicals polychlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorobenzene used in industry but also produced unintentionally together with dioxins and furans. Over 150 countries signed the convention. • Based on the reports of their harmful effects to wildlife and humans, many organochlorine pesticides were banned or restricted from use or trade since 1988 by the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1996, a Ministerial Decree prohibited the import and use of 80 pesticides including all compounds in the Stockholm Convention

18. Nowadays, more than 200 chemicals are registered and commonly used as pesticides. Presently, the application of pesticides has decreased in the country, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, from 20,500 tonnes in 1980 to 16,435 tonnes in 1995. As chlorinated pesticides are banned, the majority of these pesticides are presently organophosphorous compounds.

19. Major Technology for Monitoring of Environmental and Industrial Chemicals • Conventional monitoring program by annual survey and measurement. • Fixed monitoring stations on hot point sources of pollution. • Mobile laboratories for emission measurement. • National contingency plan (NCP) for quick response in case of environmental disasters.

20. My Purpose to Attend in this Training Course • To gain more knowledge and new technology on the field of this training program. • To visit Japan and to come close with the most developed country in the world, to see how the modern life is going on, and to acquire new friendships. • To see the highly advanced industry and technology through the field trips. • To assist in the development processes in my institute and my country.

21. Thanks