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COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)433
Vol.1980/0153

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)433 final
Brussels,18thJuly1980
COMMUNICATION FROMTHE»
J
\i^*
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSION?TOTHECOUNCILV/>•.
CONCERNINGTHEPREPARATIONOFDIRECTIVESONHEPTACHLOR AND
•CHLORDANE UNDERCOUNCILDIRECTIVE 76/464/EEC\•.y/H^H//y
THECOUNCIL
COM(80)433final

COMIUNICATION PROM THECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL
concerning thepreparation ofdirectives onheptachlor andchlordane
under Council Directive 76/464/EEC
1.TheCouncil directive of4May1976 onpollution caused bycertain
t
dangerous substances discharged into theaquatic environment ofthe
Community (76/464/EEC)establishes two .lists offamilies andgroups
ofsubstances .
Article 6.1ofthis directive states that theCouncil ,acting ona
proposal from theCommission ,shall laydown -the limit values which
theemission standards must notexceed for .thevarious dangerous
substances included inthefamilies andgroups ofsubstances within
List I.These limit values shall belaid down mainly onthebasis of
toxicity ,persistence andbioaccumulation ,taking into account the
best technical means available .
Article 6.2ofthedirective maJces corresponding provisions forthe
setting ofwater quality objectives asanexception tolimit values
provided forinArticle 6.J.
2»This' directive will bebrought into 'operation
«
bymeans ofCouncil directives relating toindividual substances or
'groups ofsubstances .Theproposals forthese directives will be
prepared bytheCommission ,after ithastaken advice from consultants
andexperts . «
3.Ameeting ofnational experts washeld inBrussels on26September 1977
(ENV.487/77)•This meeting agreed that chlordane (l),heptachlor (l)
andheptachlor epoxide (l)should beincluded inthelist oforgano­
chlorine compounds tobestudied bytheCommission with aview to
thepreparation ofproposals fordirectives .Heptachlor epoxide is
notusually Used asapesticide but itwasimportant tostudy itbecause
itisarelatively stable product ofthedegradation ofheptachlor in
the environment .
(l)The " systematic names ofchlordane ,heptachlor andheptachlor epoxide
arerespectively :1,2,4,5»6,7»8 ,8-octachloro -3a,4»7 »7a-tetrahydro -4»7-endo
methanoindane :lf4,5»6,7»8,8 -heptachloro -3a,4»7*7 a^tetrahydro-4,7 -endo-
methanoindene :1,4,5,6,7 ,8,8-heptachloro -2,3-epoxy -3a,4, 7»7a^-tetrahydro -
4,7-methanoindane . *

4.Followingthismeeting,twostudiesweremadefortheCommission ;
\(i)Evaluationoftheimpactoftheaquaticenvironmentofhexachloro-'
Vcyclohexane (HCHisomers),hexachlorobenzene (HCB),DDT(+DDEand
;DDD),heptachlor'(+heptachlorepoxide)andchlordane,by
Dr.J.E.Portmann(ENV.486/79)
(ii)Reductionofchlordane,DDT,heptachilor,hexachlorobenzene andhexa-
chlorocyclohexane isomerscontainedineffluents,takingintoaccount
thebesttechnicalmeansavailable,byDr.J.deBruin(ENV.'313/79
-rev.l). •
I ' ,
5.Dr.Portmannhasmadeacomprehensive reviewoftheecotoxicity of
heptachlor andheptachlorepoxide.Hedrawsattentiontosomeshort–-
comingsanduncertainties inthepublisheddata.Subjecttothis
qualification ,itisclearthatbothheptachlorandheptachlorepoxide,,
-areverytoxicsubstances,thatbothcanpersistinthesoilforyears
butaredegradedinweeksintheaquaticenvironment,andthatboth
arebioaccumulable .There'issomeevidencethatbothheptachlor and
heptachlorepoxidearecarcinogenic .
• * ■
6.Dr.Portmannhasalsomadeacomprehensive reviewoftheecotoxiciiy
of.chlordane.Againhedrawsattention .tosomeshortcomings andun­
certaintiesinthepublisheddata.Chlordaneexistsintwoisomeric_
/ - .formsand,inaddition,manytechnicalgradesofchlordanecontaina
substantialquantityofheptachlor.However,itisconcludedthat
chlordaneisverytoxic,isoneofthemorepersistentorganochlorine ■
pesticidesandisbioaccumulable .Chlordaneisonlyweaklycarcinogenic ,
ifatall.
7.Dr.deBruinhas.reviewedtheproductionofusesofheptachlorand
•chlordane,andsomeotherorganochlorine pesticides,intheCommunity.
\
8»HeptachlorisnotmanufacturedintheCommunity!anditsonlyusewithin
theCommunityistheprotectionofbeetseed.Thisusewillbecontrolled
byCouncilDirective79/H7/EEC(l)whichcomesintoforceinI98I.-At
.presentabout30tonnesperyearofheptachlorisimportedintothe
(l)Councildirectiveof21December1978concerningtheprohibitionofthe
marketinganduseofplantprotectionproductscontainingcertainactive
substances(OJL33/36,8February1979)

; 3.
Community.Of"thisquantity,about20tonnesisexportedandthe
remainder,about10tonnes,isusedwithintheCommunity.Itis
expectedthatexportmarketswilldecreaseinthefuture.Themanufacture
^'ofheptachlorintheUnitedStatesofAmericawill"be"bannedafter1982,
anditispossiblethatheptachlorwillhavedisappearedasacommercial
productbetween1985and1990.
9.ChlordaneisnotmanufacturedintheCommunityandalthoughithasbeen
usedwidelyinthepastforagricultural purposesitsuseisnowseverely
limited.Theuseofchlordaneforplantprotectionpurposewillbe
bannedbyCouncildirective79/H7/EECwhichcomesintooperationin
1981.Atpresentabout5tonnesperyearisimportedintotheCommunity
and,ofthis,2tonnesisexported.Itisexpectedthattheuseofchlor­
danewillcontinuetodecline.Themanufacture ofchlordaneinthe
UnitedStatesofAmericawillbebannedafterI98O,anditmaywellbe
thatchlordanewillhavedisappearedentirelyasacommercialproduct
withintenyears.
10.DuringthepreparationoftheproposalsforCouncildirectiveTS/lYf/EEC,.
theCommissionhadpreparedadocumentsummarisingtheusesofheptachlor
andchlordaneintheMemberStates(1335/VI/75)andthelegalcontrols
inforce.Atthattime,heptachlor wasusedinsomeMemberStatesfor
soiltreatmentorthetreatmentofbeetseeds;inoneMemberStateit
wasusedagainstmoles.IntwoMemberStateschlordanewassold,in
smallpacks,forantcontrol,andinoneitwasusedforearthworm
control.TheCommissionhasnoknowledgeofany'new,useswhichhave,been
introducedsincetheproductionofdocument1335/Vl/75»anditconsiders
thattheusesdisclosedinthatdocumentpresentaninsignificant threat
totheaquaticenvironment oftheCommunity.Moreover,theuseofheptachlor
andchlordanewillbecontrolledbydirective79/H7/EEC.Thisdirective
specifically permitstheuseofheptachlorforthetreatmentofbeet
seed,butitisexpectedthatthiswillonlytakeplaceintheFederal
RepublicofGermany.Theuseofchlordaneforotherplantprotection
purposeswillnotbepermitted.
11.Thefollowingtable,whichrelatesto1977»showingthequantitiesof
variousorganochlorine pesticidesproducedintheCommunity,imported
intotheCommunityandexportedfromtheCommunity,hasbeencompiled
fromDr.deBruin'syeport*

Flow oforganochlorine pesticides (tonnes /year )
Produced within
the CommunityChlordane
0DDT
7000Heptachl .
0HCB
3500HCH
42300Lindane
4700
Jmported into the
Community5150 30 0 0 260
Total within the
Community 57150 303500423004960
Used as
intermediates0 1250 0340042300 0
Exported from the
Community25650 20 0 0 2640
Used within the
Community3 250 10 100 02320
Total 57150 303500 423004960
Dr. deBruin qualified the .information presented inthis treble bynoting
that ithad not always been possible toobtain statistically reliable
data and that the figures should beused with great care .
The reports prepared byI.-.Portmann and Dr. deBruin were considered at
ameeting ofnational experts held on21June 1979 (2NV*407 /79)•Although
inprinciple chlordane andbeptachlor might beincluded inList Iand
bethesubject ofCouncil directives made under directive 75/464/EEC ,the
experts recommended that these substances bedeleted from the list of
priority substances ,The experts noted that the substances were not
manufactured orused industrially inthe Community andthat the quantities
likely tobedischarged during compounding were negligibly small .The effort
which might have "been directed towards producing directives could bebetter
spentelsevjhere .
Conclusions
Inview oftheopinion ofthenational experts ,oftheexistence ofCouncil
Directive 79/ll7/SSCwhich will reduce theuseofchlordare andheptachlor ,
and ofthe fact that the manufacture ofthese substances istobe

5
discontinued ,intheUnitedStatesofAmerica,amajorsupplierof
.JhesesubstancestotheCommunity,theCommissionconsidersthat
furtherworkonthesesubstanceswithintheframeworkofDirective
76/464/EECwouldnotleadtoanysignificantreductioninthepollution
pftheaquaticenvironment.
1
?' «.
TheCommissionthereforeconsidersthatnousefulpurposewouldbe
♦
servedbypreparingandsubmittingproposalsforCouncildirectives
concerningheptachlor andchlordane.Itwillbesufficienttokeep
theuseofthesesubstancesunderreview;proposalsforCouncil
directiveswillonlybesubmittedifitappearsthatachangeinthe
patternofmanufacture oruseofeitherofthesesubstanceshasincreased
substantially theriskofpollutingtheaquaticenvironment .