EURL POPs commentary to ECHA MCCP call

ECHA has recently issued a public call for comments and evidence on MCCPs for a proposed ban of this substance class. The EURL POPs CWG CP has submitted a statement based on their work on the CP guidance document and their experience with interlaboratory exercises including MCCPs for the Specific Information Request on analytical methods to detect the presence of MCCP in environmental matrices (water, sediment, soil, biota).
The main points included:

1. The real challenge in environmental samples is the presence of more than one CP group (S-, M- and LCCP)
2. Sample preparation for biota is possible in any laboratory already performing pesticide or dioxin/PCB analysis
3. Laboratories need stringent blank level management and ideally a plastic-free environ-ment, as MCCPs have been found in dust, plastic seals and flexible cable coatings
4. All analytical methods discussed in our guidance document are able to detect traces of MCCP with reliable and comparable results
5. Of the seven quantification strategies reported to EURL POPs, all can give results on MCCP and CP chain length level; only some can give information on homologue group levels and none can give isomer-specific information.
6. Guidance on target accuracy and LOQs has not been published yet as this is a very difficult topic.

However, currently only few national reference laboratories of the European Union are among the laboratories with established MCCP analysis methods, so building up expertise in official control laboratories should be a major goal in the near future. An actual need for monitoring and compliance testing due to legal restrictions in this area would be a boon for these efforts.