China MEE issues framework of standards for environmental risk assessment and control of chemical substances 
On October 14,2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China released the “Framework of technical standards system for environmental risk assessment and control of chemical substances”. The document clearly states the existing laws and regulations on risk assessment, risk control of chemicals, and risk management of new pollutants, and also clarifies the schedule for the revision of these existing standards and the development of new standards.
Existing standards on environmental assessment and control of chemicals
| Standards or guidelines | Date of publication/revision |
|---|---|
| Technical guidelines for selection of priority evaluation chemical substances (HJ 1229-2021) | December 2021 |
| Guidelines for preparation of new chemical substance generic name notification (HJ/T 420-2008) | January 2008 |
| Technical specification for nomenclature of chemical substances for environmental management (HJ 1357‐2024) | March 2024 |
| Basic guidelines for the framework of technical methods for environmental risk assessment of chemical substances (trial) | December 2020 |
| Environmental management of chemical substances – Chemical substance measurement terminology (HJ 1257‐2022) | June 2022 |
| Technical guidelines for environmental and health exposure assessment of chemical substances | December 2020 |
| Guidelines for characterization of environmental and health risks of chemical substances | December 2020 |
Schedule for the revision of these existing standards and the development of new standards
- Based on the different characteristics of chemicals belonging to special categories, formulate technical standards for environmental risk assessment of special category chemicals.
- Formulate technical standards for environmental risk assessment and clarify the technical points, procedures and methods for carrying out environmental risk assessment of special category chemicals.
- Prioritize research on technical standards for environmental risk assessment of chemicals belonging to specific categories, such as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBT chemicals) and antibiotics.
- For new pollutants, formulate regulations on prohibition of production and use, use restrictions, and product content restrictions to reduce the generation from the sources. Priority will be given to technical guidelines on socio-economic impact assessment of environmental risk management measures for new pollutants, environmental compatibility assessment of substitutes and technologies, standards and related test methods for restricting toxic and harmful chemicals in products, and technical guidelines for environmental impact assessment of new pollutants.
In addition, the following appendices are also attached to the document.
- Key chemical substances that pose environmental and health hazards in the environmental risk assessment
- A list of test methods for the minimum data items required for the registration of new chemical substances for environmental management
The original text of the framework can be downloaded from the following URL (in simplified Chinese).
https://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk06/202410/W020241016524329384551.pdf
