English Abstract This report contains general information on chlorinated
paraffins (CPs) concerning the existing standards, emissions, exposure
levels and effect levels. The document is to be considered as a start for
the national discussion during an exploratory meeting on integrated criteria
documents and serves internationally as a background document for the
working group on diffuse sources of the Paris commission (PARCOM). In the
Netherlands no production of CPs takes place. No emission data are
available, but the major emissions are likely to occur through use and
disposal of products containing CPs. CPs are rather persistent in the
environment. Bioconcentration occurs, short-chain CPs with a high level of
chlorination showing the highest potential. Biomagnification, however, is
not to be expected. Toxicologically shorter chain CPs are the most
important ones. Animalstudies indicate that these CPs may have carcinogenic
potential but are non-genotoxic. A tolerable daily intake of 0.01 mg/kg
bw/day at life-time exposure for humans was calculated. For ecosystems
provisionally maximum permissible concentrations of 1 mug/l and 50 mg/kg
were derived for surface water and sediment/soil, respectively. The
exposure levels in the Netherlands are expected not to exceed these
levels.
