European Commission, environmental

European Community European Commission Environmental. Council (Japan) Environment Canada energy conserving. Engine Fuels Technical Committee (CEC). Elastohydrodynamic (lubrication). 

The ECPI approach has been adopted by the European Commission in their "Technical Guidance Document on the Risk Assessment of Notified New Substances" as the model for assessment of environmental exposure from additives in plastics. It is important to note, however, that due to the effect of ultraviolet degradation and microbial attack, a significant proportion of the emissions from flexible PVC consists of plasticizer degradation products. In these instances, therefore, the level of plasticizers appearing in the environment will be significantly less than indicated by the plasticizer loss data. 

This article presents details of the gloomy picture of the environmental impacts associated with PVC waste which has been painted by four PVC waste management studies carried out for the European Commission. The studies cover mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling, behaviour in landfill, and the influence of PVC on incinerator flue gas cleaning residues. 

The selection of these compounds was made on the grounds of their toxicity, environmental stability, and tendency to undergo biomagnification the intention was to move toward their removal from the natural environment. In the REACH proposals of the European Commission (EC published in 2003), a similar list of 12 POPs was drawn up, the only differences being the inclusion of hexachlorobiphenyl and chlordecone, and the exclusion of the by-products, dioxins, and furans. The objective of the EC directive is to ban the manufacture or marketing of these substances. It is interesting that no fewer than eight of these compounds, which are featured on both lists, are insecticides. 

The eChemPortal is an effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in collaboration with the European Commission, the United States, Canada, lapan, the International Council of Chemical Associations, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee, the World Health Organization s International Program on Chemical Safety, the United Nations Environment Programme on Chemicals and environmental non-governmental organizations. 

Marchandise H, Vandendriessche S (1985) The Certification of the Impurity Contents (Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Ni, Sb, Se, Sn, Te, T1 and Zn) in Three Grades of Lead, Electrolytically Refined Lead BCR No 286, Thermally Refined Lead BCR No 287, Lead with Added Impurities BCR No 288. European Commission Report EUR 9665 EN. Community Bmeau of Reference, Brussels. Merry f (1995) Reference materials for monitoring nutrients in sea water environment, approach, preparation, certification and their use in environmental laboratories. Fresenius J Anal Chem 352 148-151. 

Quevauviller Ph. Maiee EA, Kramer KJM (1998a) Production of Certified Reference Materials for Pollutants in Environmental Matrices. European Commission Report EUR 18157 N, CCF Academic Press, Tarbes. 

Trace elements in soils and sludges (CRMs 141R-146R 597) pp 225-232 (1998k) Chlorobi-phenyls in sewage sludge (CRM 392) pp 240-243 (1998I) Trimethyl-lead in urban dust (CRM 605) pp 274-278 In Production of Certified Reference Materials for Pollutants in Environmental Matrices. European Commission Report EUR 18157 EN, CCF Academic Press, Tarbes. 

Many policies and practices have been adopted by European countries for the management of contaminated sites. Information about the various national polices, the technical approaches for risk assessment, and the progress of rehabilitation activities in Europe has been compiled in the framework of two European networks—CARACS (Concerted Action for Risk Assessment for Contaminated Sites) and CLARINET (Contaminated Land Rehabilitation Network for Environmental Technologies)—which were funded by the European Commission. A detailed description of European national policies can be found in relevant publications2 3 and in the CLARINET website (http //www.clarinet.at). 

EC. Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO) Analysis of the Life Cycle Environmental Impacts Related to the Total Final Consumption of the EU 25. European Commission Technical Report EUR 22284 EN, 2006. 

Finally, in the risk characterization step, the PEC/PNEC quotient that defines the risk of the substance in the environment is calculated. If the quotient (PEC/PNEC) is less than 1, the substance do not present risk to the environment. More information is available in the European Commission Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment [3] and in the United States Environmental Protection Agency s Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment [6]. 

In what is being called the most far-reaching overhaul of European Union environmental policy ever, the European Commission released a draft policy proposal on May 7 that, if enacted, would require virtually all manufacturers of chemicals to provide risk assessments and other information regarding products they sell or ship into the EU. Chemicals would also have to be registered with the EC and many downstream users of products that contain chemical entities would have to file paperwork as well. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals, or REACH, proposal would apply to approximately 30,000 new and existing chemicals, and test data would have to be developed on some 5000 specific chemical entities, many of which have been commonly used for decades. EUROPEAN COMMISSION... 

A European Union (EU) risk assessment of di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) underestimated the substance s potential damage to the environment, the commission s scientific committee on toxicology (CSTEE) says. The study was completed by a team of Swedish scientists in September 2001 for the European Commission (EC). The Swedish scientists had recommended in September that no measures were required to reduce the risk of pollution from DEHP. But CSTEE will begin a new round of research shortly, as part of a review of the scientists assessment, to determine the extent of environmental risks posed by DEHP. CSTEE says that in many cases there is a need for... 

A review is presented on European regulatory initiatives focussing on products containing chemicals, which are potential sources of environmentally hazardous materials. Particular attention is paid to brominated flame retardants in the light of the European Commission s official position in relation to the Precautionary Principle. 18 refs. EUROPEAN COMMISSION... 

EUROPEAN COUNCIL FOR PLASTICISERS INTERMEDIATES EUROPEAN COMMISSION GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BAXTER HEALTHCARE US,NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE BASF PVC INFORMATION CENTRE FEDERCHIMICA... 

MATTEL UK,NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH THE ENVIRONMENT DENMARK,NAT. AGENCY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION GREENPEACE EUROPEAN COMMISSION... 

Lindley, A.A. (1997) An Economic and Environmental Analysis of the Chlor-Alkali Production Process Mercury Cells and Alternative Technologies. Prepared for the European Commission (DG III C-4, Chemicals, Plastics, Rubber). See also OSPAR Document WOCAI 99/5/8 (Madrid, 1999). 

TRL (2007). Technical Assistance and Economic Analysis in the Field of Legislation Pertinent to the Issue of Automotive Safety Evaluation of the Impact (Extended Impact Assessment) of the Introduction of Hydrogen as a Fuel to Power Motor-vehicles Considering the Safety and Environmental Aspects. Final Report for Enterprise Directorate-General, European Commission. TRL Limited. 

European Commission (EC) (ed) (2000) Green paper on environmental issues of PVC. COM (2000) 406 final, European Commission, Brussels... 

The characterisation of health hazards of food contaminants, the assessment of the occurrence of undesirable compounds in food and the estimation of the dietary intake are key issues in the risk assessment. In 2000, the European Commission published a White Paper on Food Safety, which underlined the importance of ensuring the highest possible standards of food safety and proposed a new approach to achieve them. Recently, PFCs have gained increased scientific and socioeconomic interest as emerging environmental contaminants due to the unique combination of persistence, toxicity and environmental prevalence. Risk assessment of the dietary exposure to PFCs, however, is hampered by the lack of sufficient data about the occurrence of these contaminants in food. 

The program is directed by the Working Group on Pesticides (WGP), which is composed primarily of representatives of the 30 OECD governments but also includes representatives of the European Commission and other international organizations, the pesticide industry, and the environmental... 

In 2000, the European Commission issued a communication on the precautionary principle (EU 2000), in which it adopted a procedure for the application of this concept. The precautionary principle is not defined in the treaty, which prescribes it only once - to protect the environment. But in practice, its scope is much wider, beyond that of environmental policy, and, specifically where preliminary objective scientific evaluation, indicates that there are reasonable grounds for concern that the potentially dangerous effects on the environment, human, animal, or plant health may be inconsistent with the high level of protection chosen for the Community. The precautionary principle is implemented, for example, in the EU food law and also affects, among others, policies relating to consumer protection, trade and research, and technological development. 

In 2002, the European Exposure Factors (ExpoFacts) database started as a 2-year project funded by CEFIC-LRI (European Chemical Industry Council, Long Range Research Initiative) to create a European database of factors affecting exposure to environmental contaminants. The aim was to create a public access data source, similar to the US-EPA Exposure Factors Handbook (US-EPA 1997), which has been widely used by European researchers, but with European data. Since 2006, the project is hosted by the European Commission s Joint Research Centre (JRC 2007). 

Commission of the European Communities Environmental Resources Limited Occupational Exposure Limits. Criteria Document for Phosphoric Add. pp 1-84. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 1992... 

Van Hattum, B., Baart, A.C. and Boon, J.G. (2002). Computer Model to Generate Ifredicted Environmental Concentrations (PECs) for Antifouling Products in the Marine Environment Report number E-02-04/Z 3117, European Commission. 

---