the toxic truth - Greenpeace

210 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds
ANNEX I
The mystery of chlorine:
chlorine in very high
levels present or not in
the waste dumped?
In its email to WAIBS on 18 August 2006,
before the arrival of the Probo Koala
in Abidjan, Trafigura gave the following
information concerning the chemical content
of the waste:
ToTal organic chlorine (Tocl)
It would be surprising if there had been
such high levels of organic bound chlorine
in the waste, which was essentially
residues from the treatment of sulphurous
oil residues with caustic soda.
Also, various analyses of the waste at
different locations and times available
to us do not support the presence of
this high level of TOCl.
If such high levels existed, then it
would imply that there was significant
contamination of the material (at some
stage, whether before or after caustic
treatment, whether before or after the
Probo Koala sailed from Amsterdam to
Africa) with chlorinated materials, either
organic or inorganic reactive chlorine
species. TOCl is generally determined
by AOX analysis, and this analysis does
not distinguish between different types
of organic chlorine chemicals but simply
gives a total amount of organic bound
chlorine. In addition, it is unusual to
report a result in this way (>5pct) - it
implies that the value was too high
to measure and this should lead to
reanalysis of a diluted sample to determine
the percentage.
The text given by Trafigura in its email
to WAIBS along with the measurements
is very generic, making reference
to sources of TOCl compounds
which are clearly not related to the
waste in question or its processing.
The description refers to pulp bleaching.
Spent caustic is sometimes used
in the paper industry for bleaching, but
this has little relevance in the context
of the Probo Koala. 24
In the NFI report, reference is made
to 2ppm of EOX in the oily fraction
(based on analysis of a mixed sample
of three samples of liquid collected
from the starboard slop tanks of the
Probo Koala), the same value as that
accepted by Trafigura with reference to
the NFI analyses (although in that case
with reference to the Main VII). 25 It is
not clear whether the methods applied
were the same as those used in determining
the far higher value reported by
Trafigura (>5% or >50,000ppm). What
is clear, however, is that the description
of the waste given by Trafigura to WAIBS
differed very substantially from the
description of the waste reported by NFI
in this respect, and that a very different
value again was reported by the Ivorian
authority agency CIAPOL for waste
collected from one of the dumpsites
two days after the dumping (250ppm
for “organic chloride”). 26 If high values
of TOCl were indeed measured for certain
samples of the waste (for example,
recorded in information which has yet to
be disclosed), then the next question is
where the specific contamination might
have come from. This is a difficult question
to answer. As stated above, TOCl
is a very generic type of analysis which
simply converts all chlorinated organic
compounds present into inorganic
chloride before determining concentrations.
It is not possible, therefore, to
“ Please note details of the composition
of the slops for your guidance:
cod (chemical oxygen demand) - measured
approx 21,000mg/l - The amount of oxygen
consumed in complete chemical oxidation of
matter present in wastewater; indicates the
content of slowly degradable organic matter
present
Total organic chlorine (Tocl) - measured >5
pct - The total organic chlorine in the waste
water. Typically measured using AoX analyses.
The reaction of chlorine chemicals with lignins
work back from such an analysis to
determine what sorts of compounds
contributed to the total.
One possible explanation for the
apparent discrepancy between NFI’s
report of 2ppm EOX in the oily fraction
and Trafigura’s reference to >5% TOCl
in the slops as a whole could be the
partitioning of chlorinated residues to
oily sediments which were not sampled
by NFI when the Probo Koala was in
Amsterdam. There is, however, no information
available on the origin of the
>5% figure for any conclusions to be
drawn on this matter, and in any case,
any judgement on level of hazard would
require more detailed chemical-specific
analysis of the material to determine
what types of compounds were present
and contributing to TOCl overall. All it
is possible to say is that chlorinated
organics, as a broad grouping of chemicals,
includes a wide range of chemical
families which are toxic, persistent and
bioaccumulative. Percentage levels of
composition would therefore clearly be
of very high concern.
We can conclude that either the TOCl
level of over 5 per cent was incorrect,
such that Trafigura effectively
misinformed the Ivorians on this aspect
of the character of the waste, or
it is a true finding but one based on
information that has not so far been
made public. At this stage, it is still impossible
to say which is the more likely.