Economic analysis of removing PBDE and PFOS under Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants in Vietnam

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF REMOVING PBDE AND PFOS UNDER
STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON PERSISTENT ORGANIC
POLLUTANTS IN VIETNAM
MSc, PhD Candidate Nguyen Dieu Hang

MSc PhD Candidate Vu Duc Dzung

Associate Professor Le Ha Thanh

Faculty of Urban & Environmental Economics and Management, National Economics
University, Hanoi, Vietnam
Abstract
On the way to international integration, Vietnam has ratified many international
conventions in the field of environment including Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs). POPs are persistent in the environment and have negative
impacts on the environment and human health. POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention
needs to be minimized, replaced or removed. This paper analyses the social cost and
benefit of removing PBDE and PFOS, which are among the newly listed POPs since 2013.
The health and economic benefit of PBDE and PFOS removal in Vietnam is estimated at
USD 58 million per year, which is greater than the cost estimated at USD 4 million. Thus
removing PBDE and PFOS is beneficial from the social perspective.
Keywords: economic analysis, persistent organic pollutants, Stockholm Convention
1. Introduction
On the way to international integration, Vietnam has ratified many international
conventions in the field of environment. Vietnam ratified the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) on 22 July 2002, becoming the 14th Party of the
Convention. The Stockholm Convention on POPs (hereinafter referred to as Stockholm
Convention) is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent
organic pollutant. The Stockholm Convention regulates to reduce or eliminate producing,
using and/or releasing of 12 POPs including Aldrin, Chlordane, Dieldrin, Endrin,
Heptachlor, Mirex, Toxaphene Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB); DDT [1,l,l-trichloro-2,2bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane]; Polychlorinated dibenzop-dioxins (PCDD), Furans

(Polychlorinated dibenzofurans) and Hexachlorobenzene (HCB). From 2009 to 2013,
Conference of the Parties (COPs) of the Stockholm Convention has approved to add 11
new POPs to A, B, C annexes, including:

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- Annex A: POP pesticides (Lindane, Alpha-HCH, Beta-HCH, Chlordecone,
Endosulfan); Industrial POPs: (Hexabromobiphenyl, Pentachlorobenzene, TetraBDE,
PentaBDE, Hepta and OctaBDE, Hexabromocyclododecane1);
- Annex B: Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl
fluoride (PFOS)
- Annex C: Pentachlorobenzene.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam signed Decision No.184/2006/QD-TTg dated 10th
August 2006 approving the Vietnam‘s National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (NIP) and submitted to the Conference of the
Parties of the Stockholm Convention in 2007. Vietnam has implemented many activities
listed in NIP 2006, including implementation of obligations related to the development of
policies and regulations on POPs management, capacity building in POPs management,
Best Available Techniques (BAT)/Best Environmental Practices (BEP) for reduction of
unintentional POPs, safe treatment of POPs stockpiles etc. Adding new POPs in Stockholm
Convention requires Vietnam to review and update the NIP.
Vietnam has regulations forbidding 13 POP chemicals including Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane, Beta hexachlorocyclohexane, Lindane, Endosulfan which are new POPs.
For PFOS which is a new listed POP, at present, Vietnam has no particular regulation on the
management of its production and use. This is a challenge for the government and the
community to control and limit risks of POPs and to implement the commitment towards
Stockholm Convention. New policies are being developed and it is an urgent need for the
government to have more information the economic aspects of new regulation.
This paper focused on economic analysis of removing two of the new POPs namely
Poly-BDE (PBDE) and Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane

sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS) in Vietnam. These two compounds are popularly presented in
daily life as they exist in electronic products, garments and vehicles.
2. PBDE and PFOS in Vietnam
POPs (i) are persistent the environment, (ii) become widely distributed
geographically, (iii) accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and (iv) have
negative impacts on human health and/or on the environment. Exposure to POPs can lead
to adverse effects on human health, biodiversity and the environment. PBDE and PFOS are
among the new POPs that Vietnam should eliminate according to the Stockholm
Convention since 2013.
2.1. PBDE and its impacts
In the 20th century, manufacturers started to replace the traditional materials such as
wood, metal, cloth, etc. by oil-based products such as plastics and Polyurethane foam (PU
foam). The new materials are more combustible. Therefore, it was necessary to control the
flammability for these products. PBDE is a substance mixture that functions as fire
1

In May 2015 three POPs (polychlorinated naphtalene, hexachlorobutadiene, pentachlorophenol) were added

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retardant and is used broadly in electronic equipment, car seat, carpet, etc. There are three
types of commercial PBDE including commercial Pentabromodiphenyl ether (cPentaBDE), commercial Octabromodiphenyl ether (c-OctaBDE) and commercial
Decabromodiphenyl ether (c-DecaBDE). According to user‘s manuals, c-Octa BDE is
mainly used in acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer. ABS is mainly used in
cover of electrical and electronic equipment, specially CRT monitor, household and office
appliances such as photocopier, printer. 90% of c-PentaPDB is to treat PU foam.
The first PBDE inventory in Vietnam was carried out in 2006. It appeared that the
residual PBDE in the environment was rather high. The inventory of PBDE was based on
the widely used electrical and electronic equipment and waste such as television, computer,

laptop, mobile phone and fixed telephone, printer, photocopier, radio, audio frame,
refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine, etc. PBDE mainly concentrated in the stage
of use/storage and production. From 2002 to 2006, PBDE in the production stage tended to
decrease and PBDE in the export stage tended to increase along with time. However, the
quantity of PBDE in all stages of the life cycle tends to increase. During the period of 2002
to 2006, the total amount of POP-PBDE in electronic equipment in Vietnam was 276.4
tones including 260.1 tones from domestic activities and 16.3 tones from exported
equipment; the average amount of POP-PBDEs from domestic activities in Vietnam in the
inventory stage was 52 tones per year and the annual disposed volume was 3 tones (Tu
Binh Minh et al, 2015).
Figure 1: POP-PBDEs cycle in electronic equipment in Vietnam from 2002 to 2006

Source: Tu Binh Minh et al. (2015)
In 2015, MONRE did a survey on PBDE content in dust, plastic, sediment and fish
samples in some locations of Trieu Khuc village in Hanoi and Bui Dau village in Hung
Yen province. The results showed a high content of PBDEs in waste storage and recycling
areas. The content of PBDE in sediment samples from waste-contained rivers was similar.
Meanwhile, the contents of PBDEs in dust, deposit and fish samples differed across the

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locations. For example, PBDEs in dust sample at Trieu Khuc - a plastic recycling village
was 1.050 - 33.840 ng/g; and the content at Bui Dau - an electronic solid waste recycling
village was 1.560 - 19.590 ng/g. Therefore, the risk of PBDE emission and surplus in
recycling areas is rather high that should be controlled tightly (MONRE, 2015).
In Ho Chi Minh City, the total residual PBDE was found in sediment at a significant
level. The concentration of total PBDEs in the sediment taken from areas inside and
outside the city and Saigon - Dong Nai estuarine was respectively 54.5 - 119.0 ng/g, < 0.02
- 10.63 ng/g and < 0.02 - 0.065 ng/g. PBDE had accumulated in the sediment in Ho Chi

Minh City for a long time (MONRE, 2015).
There has not been an assessment on negative impacts of PBDE in Vietnam. The
following impacts are from international studies/researches:
Human health: PBDE is found in human body cells all over the world including
blood, fat and breast milk. When the mother is exposed to PBDE, her breast milk will
contain PBDE. A research in Sweden shows that the PBDE content in the breast milk
doubles after each 5 years from 1972 to 1997. Until the 1990s, after removing PBDE, the
PBDE content decreases from 3.7 ng/g of milk to 2.62 ng/g of milk (Washington State
Department of Health, 2006). Therefore, the infants are seriously affected by PBDE
pollution. PBDE is considered as a factor reducing IQ in the children, thus pregnant
women should be protected from PBDE exposure (Chen et al, 2014).
PBDE is discovered in food chain, indoor dust and air. Food chain is the main
channel through which people exposed to PBDE. Food containing PBDE includes pork,
beef, poultry, fishes and dairy products. Some recent studies show that indoor dust/air
contributes the biggest part in PBDE exposure, especially for small children and the infants
who are exclusively formula-fed (Washington State Department of Health, 2006).
Research works in many countries show that workers of companies in
manufacturing and recycling PBDE-contained products can be exposed to PBDE at the
workplace. Electronic waste recycling areas have the highest PBDE content in the air,
especially the places for disassembling wastes like computer, printer, TV, microwave and
plastic parts which are taken separately. In Sweden, workers disassembling electronic
items have high content of PBDE in blood (Sjodin et al, 1999). Their blood contains Penta, Octa- and Deca-BDE. Hospital cleaner, computer staff, and firefighter are also exposed to
PBDE due to contact with furniture, electronic equipments and fire fighting foam during
the working process (Shaw et al. 2012). Women participating in waste recycling and
children living in the recycling areas have high risk of PBDE exposure.
Environment: There are many studies showing that PBDE accumulates in the
natural environment, causing environment degradation and affecting human health. PBDE
is found in air sample in city, rural area and remote area of Great Lakes (USA), in areas far
away from industrial parks in Sweden or coastal area in Korea (UNEP, 2007b). Even the
air in Indian Ocean also contains PBDE (2.5 pg/m3). For water environment, Ontario Lake

in Canada has the total PBDE content of 6 pg/m3 (UNEP, 2007b). Sediment samples in this

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lake contain hexa and hepta-BDE with the content from 0.5 to 4 µg/kg. Soil samples in the
Europe have the total PBDE content from 0.61 to 2.5 µg/kg (UNEP, 2007b). C-OctaBDE
is found in many aquatic species in Great Britain and Japan. HeptaBDE is contained in
eggs of falcon in Sweden. Carps and perches in Detroit River in USA are infected from
PBDE (UNEP, 2007b).
2.2. PFOS and its impacts
PFOS is present in imported products such as fire fighting foam, insecticide and
other products such as carpet, textile and garment and toy. Although Vietnam does not
produce PFOS, materials containing PFOS for production are imported. Thus some
products containing PFOS are considered as Vietnamese goods. For example, according to
Greenpeace organization (2013), Mamnut gloves made in Vietnam and exported to Europe
have PFOS concentration of 9.5 μg/m2, 1 μg/m2 higher than the regulated level. Jackets
made in Vietnam under the brand of Jack Wolfskin and Schöffel have PFOA content at 6.3
μg/m2 and 6.2 μg/m2, respectively. PFOA is a substance that is not yet included in the list
of POPs but currently evaluated in the POP Reviewing Committee. Using PFOS in
firefighting foam and surface treatment (e.g. synthetic carpets, textiles furniture),
furnishings etc. in Vietnam is common. The inventory of PFOS is preliminarily assessed in
Vietnam with samples of surface water and fish collected from recycling areas,
reproduction areas, canals, waste water reservoirs, etc. in Hanoi, Bac Ninh and Da Nang.
The result shows a relatively high concentration of PFOS at the locations near production
and recycling areas (MONRE, 2015).
PFOS can negatively affect the human health and the environment.
Human health: Young men and women who expose to PFOS and related
substances are likely to have problems with their reproductive health (UNEP, 2007a). A
research in Denmark indicates that PFOS (and PFOA) content reduces sperm quality in

men (UNEP, 2007a). When a pregnant woman is exposed to PFOS, this substance may be
transmitted to her fetus and further to her breast milk after she gives birth (UNEP, 2007a),
which exerts negative influence on the development of the infants.
PFOS is present in paper package/hard cover, interior furniture, medical equipment,
insecticide, electrical and electronic equipments, fire fighting foam, paint, cleansing agent,
rubber and plastic, etc. (UNEP, 2007a). Therefore, their users may have their health affected
badly. Workers on metal plating lines, assembly lines or semiconductor production lines face
the similar risks because PFOS is used in the industrial process of these fields.
Environment: PFOS and related substances accumulate and cause pollution to
underground water and surface water, which impacts salt water, fresh water and terrestrial
ecosystems through food chain. PFOS in fire fighting foam is important since it is largely
released to the environment when fire fighting foam is used.
3. Methodology
Due to the lack of data in Vietnam, the costs of using, producing and removing
PBDE and PFOS in this analysis are estimated by the transfer method. Reference to case

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studies in some countries where POP inventory and solutions for moving and/or replacing
PBDE and PFOS are available is used. The environmental benefits are identified while the
health benefits and economic benefits are estimated. Because the time of removing PBDE
and PFOS has not been decided, the actual annual costs and the benefits were calculated
with no discount factors.
4. Economic analysis of removing some new POPs
4.1. Estimating the cost
4.1.1. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)
To minimize and remove PBDE, the government intends to:
a) Control the import and export of chemicals in PBDE group in Vietnam by
focusing on electrical and electronic products, fire-resistant materials, vehicles and

household appliances.
b) Assess the production and the inventory of chemicals in PBDE group;
periodically report as requested under Stockholm Convention.
c) Safely manage and minimize the use of chemicals in PBDE group in production and
business, apply BAT/BEP in safely classifying, collecting, transporting, recycling and treating
materials and wastes containing PBDE; control the safe recycle and treatment of chemicals in
PBDE group and assure not to recover PBDE for reuse; assess and review exemption
registration and purposeful use of products, materials containing PBDE in Vietnam.
d) Monitor the PBDE content in the environment, products, materials, wastes and
polluted areas in order to assess the associated risks and implement methods for
environmental health management.
4.1.2. Social costs for minimizing and removing PBDE
Cost for establishing technical standards: Technical standards are required to
control PBDE. The actual cost for establishing one standard in Vietnam is 3 million VND.
There are two groups of technical standards, one for imported products and the other for
waste and waste treatment. The number of standards needed is not decided yet but it can be
seen that the total cost for establishing the standards is rather small for the whole society.
Cost for measuring, monitoring PBDEs: Two tasks which are (a) to assess the
production and the inventory of chemicals in PBDE group; periodically report as required
under Stockholm Convention and (d) monitor PBDE in the environment, products,
materials, waste and polluted areas in order to assess risks and implement methods for
environmental health management require periodical sampling, testing and reporting. The
cost for testing PBDE in water is VND 3 million for one sample. This cost includes costs
of materials, wages and administration cost. It is supposed to have 2 reports on PBDE in a
year with 500 samples needed for each report. Then the annual cost for measurement and
monitoring of PBDE is VND 3,000 million.
Cost for treatment of wastes containing PBDE
The emission source of PBDE is waste from disposed products. Hence the
important solution to minimize PBDE is sludge treatment. There are different methods for

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treatment from filling, using in production of soil for agriculture and forestation to
incineration in hazardous waste incinerator. The incineration plan is applied if a separate
incinerator is available for this purpose; this can only be applied when the volume of waste
to be incinerated is large enough or will be incinerated with other hazardous wastes.
Wastes containing PBDE have not been treated separately in Vietnam. Some of
them are hazardous wastes which are treated in some capable stations. So here the cost of
hazardous wastes treatment is used. In Holcim Vietnam, the cost of treatment of wastes
containing PCB is from VND 40 to 300 million per tone. This paper assumes the lowest
price, which is VND 40 million per tone. The main types of plastic in electronic waste are
PS, ABS, PP, PVC and PC, all of which can be recycled except PVC. The estimated
volume of PVC in electronic wastes in 2014 is 2,100 tones. Therefore, the annual cost for
treatment will be VND 84 billion or USD 3,733,333.33.
4.2. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salt and Perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS)
To minimize and remove PFOS, it is expected to take the following measures:
a) Assessing and strictly controlling the import and export of PFOS products,
materials and equipments in Vietnam; assessing the actual use, storage, disposal and taking
comprehensive inventory of PFOS.
b) Monitoring PFOS in products, materials, waste and environmental components
to assess and control environmental and health risks.
c) Further controlling PFOS use and disposal; assessing and considering
registration of exemption and intentional use of PFOS products and materials in Vietnam.
d) Promoting PFOS replacement in production and business activities; limiting and
removing PFOS in consumer goods and insecticide and fungicide.
Social costs for minimizing and removing PBDE
Cost for establishing technical standards: Actual data shows that cost for PFOS
collection and analysis is VND 1.5 million per sample. As such, supposed that report on
PFOS with 500 samples all over the country should be conducted twice a year, then the

annual survey and monitoring cost is VND 1,500 million..
Cost for replacing PFOS in fire fighting foam
Since fire fighting foam is the most important source that releases PFOS, replacing
PFOS in fire fighting foam is the most priority. Costs for PFOS removal/replacement in
fire fighting foam of countries are calculated differently. According to the EU statistics in
2006, cost for destruction of PFOS fire fighting foam is about 1100 USD/tone and total
quantity across EU was 122 tones (Sweden, 2006). In the USA, total annual cost covering
replacing PFOS fire fighting foam and PFOS fire fighting foam is 24.31 million USD (in
2011) (Wray et al, 2011). In the UK, removal/replacement of PFOS fire fighting foam was
supposed to take 5 years. Then, net present value of the cost for removal/replacement of
PFOS fire fighting foam was estimated at USD 2,770,655 (UK Ministry of Environment,
Food and Agriculture, 2004).

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With limited background information, it is difficult to specify relevant costs in
Vietnam. In this context, the low estimate is used, which is the cost in EU, i.e. about
134,000 USD (1,100 USD multiplied by 122 tones). This is the cost of destruction of foam.
4.3. Estimating the benefits
The benefits are estimated with the assumption that not only PBDE and PFOS but
other POPs are also removed/ replaced.
4.3.1. Health benefit
Upon removing/replacing POPs, the society would reduce risk of death and
diseases. The community health would be improved. This is regarded as one of direct
social benefits from POPs removal/replacement.
For specific locations or sectors, it is possible to quantify health benefits in
monetary term from POP removal/replacement. Health benefit is estimated based on
disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) and value of one life year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), DALY disease burden is a

measure of the statistical years of life lost due to mortality and the years of life lived with
diseases or accidents. A DALY is understood as one year of statistical life lost (cumulative
risk over all individuals in the population to develop a certain mortality or morbidity case).
Total DALY over total population, also known as disease burden, reflects the gap between
present health of the population and ideal health of the whole population when everyone
can live without diseases or injuries. DALY is calculated as the sum of years of life lost
(YLL) due to death, diseases and accidents and years lived with disability (YLD). Table 1
shows the DALY in Vietnam in 2012 estimated by WHO.
Table 1: Standardized DALY in Vietnam in 2012 (for 100,000 people)
All diseases Infectious diseases Noninfectious diseases Injuries
DALY

29,226

6,375

19,555

3,296

Source: />From DALY of the whole population, it is possible to calculate DALY of the
location where residents are exposed to POPs by the following formula:
DALY in the POP-polluted location =

National DALY x Population of POP-polluted location
100,000 persons

Value of a life year (VOLY), or value in monetary terms of one DALY, reflects
economic cost of a year of life lost due to death, ill health or disability. Value of one
DALY in each country reflects its economic development, income and price. In this paper,

value of one DALY for Vietnam is estimated by benefit transfer method. Using contingent
valuation, Desaigues et al. (2011) estimated the monetary value of a life year in 9
European countries at EUR 40,000 or about USD 44,000. This value is directly transferred
to Vietnam. Assuming that the annual DALY in Vietnam is 1,000, then the value of health
benefit is USD 44 million.

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4.3.2. Economic benefit
POPs, for example, PBDE released in the environment have negative impacts on
agricultural production and aquaculture. Agricultural and aquatic products are important
exports of Vietnam. If POPs residue is found in these products, they will be returned to
Vietnam, causing big economic damage not at the time of export but also in the future
when the market is lost. In fact, Vietnam has faced some cases in which foreign countries
detected pesticide residues in agricultural products or found infected aquatic products.
Every year, Vietnam loses over 14 million USD when aquatic products are returned from
Europe, the USA, Japan and Australia (Saigon Times Newspaper, 2013)
Consumers have not known much about the presence of POPs in daily life. If this
information is spread among the community, consumption will reduce sharply. For
example, non-stick pan, a popular product often contains PFOA or PFOS. If consumers
know about it, the market of non-stick pans will be lost, causing big damages to the
importers and the manufacturers.
4.3.3. Environment benefit
Apart from health improvement, the removal/replacement of POPs also helps to
improve environmental quality. Value of environmental quality is improved through total
economic value brought about by environmental quality to the society.
- Direct benefit: Increasing landscape value, surrounding environmental quality to
meet economic, entertainment and aesthetic demands of the community
- Indirect benefit: Improving ecological service and biodiversity

- Nonuse benefit: Increasing existence value, option value and bequest value of
environmental quality
These benefits can be measured by the society‘s willingness to pay to conserve the
environment. The environment benefit is not estimated in this paper, but previous
researches show that the total economic value of the environment is often very high.
Besides, removing PBDE from electronic wastes helps to reduce pollution caused by other
pollutants. Electronic wastes often contain heavy metals like lead, nickel, chrome and
mercury which can be harmful for human health. Freon is present in control boards in
refrigerators and air conditioners, which can affect the ozone layer. When the electronic
waste containing PBDE is treated, these dangers are also eliminated.
4.3.4. Summary of cost and benefit of removing PBDE and PFOS
Table 2 shows the summary of cost and benefit of removing PBDE and PFOS. It
can be seen from the table that although social benefit gained from removing PBDE and
PFOS has not been estimated sufficiently, it is a large number. Such benefit is always
larger than the cost of policy development and enforcement plus the cost of environmental
treatment. The treatment cost will decrease overtime as the POPs inventory decreases.
Therefore, from socio-economic aspect, removing PBDE and PFOS as well as other new
POPs are necessary to protect public health, ensure environmental quality, and increase
social welfare

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Table 2: Cost vs. benefit of removing PBDE and PFOS
Item

Value

Cost
- Technical standard

133 USD/standard1

- Environmental monitoring

200,000 USD/year2

- Waste treatment

3,867,333 USD/year

Benefit
- Health
- Economy

44,000,000 USD/year
> 14,000,000 USD/year

- Environment

-3

1

: This cost occurs only at the year of issuing the standard

2

: Total estimate cost of PBDE and PFOS monitoring is 4,500,000,000 VND/year

3

: Benefit is not valued in monetary term.

(Reference exchange rate: 1 USD = 22,500 VND)
Source: Authors‟ calculation
5. Conclusion
Being a party in Stockholm Convention, Vietnam has the responsibility to
eliminate, remove and replace the listed POPs. Nation Implementation Plan was developed
in 2006 but now it is necessary to update it since new POPs are being added in the
Convention. PBDE and PFOS are among the new POPs listed in 2013, which requires
Vietnam to carry out the inventory, to control the using and producing and to remove them
from the products. This paper analyzed the social cost and benefit of removing PBDE and
PFOS. Due to the lack of data, benefit transfer method was employed and the cost and
benefit were compared directly. The cost of removing PBDE includes cost of establishing
technical standards, cost of sampling, testing and reporting and cost of treatment. The cost
of removing PFOS includes cost of establishing of technical standards, cost of sampling,
testing and reporting and cost of destructing the firefighting foam. The health and
economic benefit of PBDE and PFOS removal is estimated at USD 58 million per year,
which is greater than the cost estimated at about USD 4 million. Thus removing PBDE and
PFOS is beneficial from the social perspective.
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