Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Waste | Resources

Development of proposals, including legal instruments, to improve the data situation on the whereabouts of end-of-life vehicles

To minimize the impact of end-of life vehicles on the environment they have to be managed in accordance with the legal requirements. Against this background it is important to comprehend the whereabouts of permanently decommissioned passenger cars. From the available statistical sources it was only possible to account for the whereabouts in parts for the last years. The subject-matter of the resea...read more

Chemicals

Establishment of a concept for comparative risk assessment of plant protection products with special focus on the risks to the environment

The EU regulation 1107/2009 introduces the substitution principle for active substances in plant protection products that meet certain human or environmental hazard criteria. For products containing such candidates for substitution, their risk must be compared to alternative products during authorisation procedure. This report presents an approach for comparative risk assessment based on a profile...read more

Chemicals

EFF-Pharm: Effects of pharmaceuticals (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and beta-blockers) in fish and invertebrates and their detection by newly developed in vitro-bioassays

As tools for environmental monitoring of pharmaceuticals, mode of action -based in vitro-assays were developed for beta-blockers as metoprolol, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as diclofenac. In order to validate these tests for their suitability to reflect in vivo-effects in aquatic organisms, toxicity tests and biomarker studies were conducted with fish, crustaceans, snails and sedimen...read more

Economy | Consumption

Strategies against obsolescence Ensuring a minimum product lifetime and improving product service life as well as consumer information

Studies on behalf of the German Environment Agency have shown, that most electrical appliances are being used for a decreasing amount of time than 10 years ago. Products that are replaced before they reached optimal product life-time or usage time (so-called obsolescence), lead to an increasing loss of resources and volume of waste. For this reason the German Environment Agency recognizes the need...read more

Chemikalien

Suitability of laboratory simulation tests for the identification of persistence in surface waters

The intention of the project is to verify whether simulation tests in the laboratory are suitable for extrapolation to degradation in surface water. The main aspect is the classification as persistent in the environment. Persistent substances can be transported over long distances in water courses and can be distributed over various environmental compartments.Degradation half-life values derived i...read more

Chemicals

Validation of reproduction tests with molluscs - Establishment of an OECD test guideline for the identification of endocrine and reproductive toxic effects in snails

Reproduction tests with molluscs – new OECD test guideline developed and validatedAlthough molluscs respond particularly sensitive to many pollutants, no standard tests with representatives of this species-rich phylum was established for routine chemical testing in Europe so far. A standardized OECD partial life-cycle test method (No. 242) with the mud snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum was developed...read more

Climate | Energy

Submission under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol 2017

National Inventory Report for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 – 2015

As a Party to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), since 1994 Germany has been obliged to prepare, publish and regularly update national emission inventories of greenhouse gases. Pursuant to Decision 24/CP.19, all Parties listed in ANNEX I of the UNFCCC are required to prepare and submit annual National Inventory Reports (NIRs) containing detailed and complete information on th...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Monitoring penguin colonies in the Antarctic using remote sensing data

In the context of the already observed population changes at specific time intervals and the shift in penguin breeding sites because of global warming and the fluctuations in availability of food, the report presents the methodical tools for an area-wide penguin monitoring of Antarctic penguins by remote sensing. In order to gain insight into current and future populations of Antarctic penguin pop...read more