Meeting the Scientific Needs of Ecological Risk Assessment in a Regulatory Context

Abstract not availableJRC.I-Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (Ispra

Marine risk assessment: Linear alkylbenzenesulponates (LAS) in the North Sea

The fate of linear alkylbenzenesulponates (LAS) in estuaries and coastal areas of the North Sea has been characterized with simple environmental models. The predicted, concentration range in the estuaries around the North Sea, (0.9-9 pg LAS l-1) was validated by monitoring data (1-9 µg LAS l-1). In offshore sites of the North Sea, it is estimated - and experimentally verified for a few sites that the LAS concentration is below analytical detection limit (i.e., 0.5 µg LAS l-1). The effects of LAS on marine organisms have been reviewed. For short-term acute tests, there was no significant difference (p = 0.83) between the mean LC50 values of freshwater and marine organisms (mainly pelagic species tested, 4.1 and 4.3 mg LAS l-1, respectively). For longer-term chronic tests, it appeared that the sensitivity (mean no-observed effect concentration (NOEC value) of marine and freshwater organisms (0.3 and 2.3 mg LAS l-1, respectively) was significantly different (pt-test = 0.007). The predicted no-effect-concentrations (PNEC) were 360 and 31 µg LAS l-1, for freshwater and marine pelagic communities, respectively. Given that the maximum expected estuarine and marine concentrations are 3 to > 30 times lower than the PNEC, the risk of LAS to pelagic organisms in these environments is judged to be low

Environmental risk assessment of phosphonates, used in domestic laundry and cleaning agents in the Netherlands

In the long-term cooperative project Voluntary Plan of Action (1990) between the Dutch Soap and Detergent Association (NVZ) and the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) environmental risk assessments of several main components of laundry cleaning formulations were completed. As a part of that project the environmental risk assessment of HEDP, ATMP, EDTMP and DTPMP phosphonates used in detergent applications has been carried out according to the EU Technical Guidance Document for Environmental Risk Assessment for New and Existing Chemicals. All PEC/PNEC ratios were well below 1. Results of this assessment based on the total industry volumes from 1995 and 1998 indicate that the environmental risk of these phosphonates is low in the Netherlands with properly functioning sewage treatment plants. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Chemicals/CAS: Chelating Agents; Detergents; Industrial Waste; Phosphonic Acid