Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals

Emissions of material preservatives into the environment – realistic estimation of environmental risks through the improved characterisation of the leaching of biocides from treated materials used outdoors

This report supports the implementation of European regulations on biocidal products for the product types 7, 9 and 10. Emission of active substances from material preservatives into environmental compartments can occur due precipitation. Risk characterisations have to be based on estimations of environmental concentrations of target substances leached from material preservatives. Harmonised test...read more

Chemicals

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Harmful to the Environment! Toxic! Inevitable?

Whether in mouse pads, toys, or bathing shoes – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous. We encounter PAHs as atmospheric pollutants produced by small combustion units (such as fireplaces and stoves in homes), traffic, industrial processes, and tobacco smoke. They can also be detected in foodstuffs, especially at summertime BBQ events or in smoked products. What are polycyclic aroma...read more

Waste | Resources

Low Resource lifestyles and economies - Vision and measures in core fields of action

These questions were addressed intensively during a two-day ‘future workshop’ (Zukunftswerkstatt) in March 2015. The following short text summarises the main results for the following areas ▸ Ethical framework ▸ Research and Development (R&D) ▸ Role of the state ▸ Economy and finance. For each area, a focused vision for the status of a successful low resource society is set out, and measures a...read more

Waste | Resources

Promotion of resource efficiency within SMEs in Central Europe: A pilot study of the EDIT Value Tool

Master thesis

This master thesis deals with the evaluation of the analysis tool EDIT Value (Eco-innovation Diagnosis and Implementation Tool for Increase of Enterprise Value) with respect to the tool’s pilot phase. The tool developed in the course of the EU project PRESOURCE (Promotion of Resource Efficiency in SMEs in Central Europe) to reveal potentials for increasing resource efficiency in small and medium-s...read more

Waste | Resources

5-point programme
for sustainable plant protection

In recent decades, with EU and national subsidies for farming in Germany, the conventional cultivation of crops has established itself as the basis of an increasingly intensified agriculture and food production. For many crops, a key requirement for this form of production is the intensive application of chemical plant protection products, on which the system is now practically dependent. This is...read more

Chemicals

Investigations on the presence and behavior of precursors to perfluoroalkyl substances in the environment as a preparation of regulatory measures

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as a significant pathway for the introduction of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to natural waters. It was observed in several studies that the concentration of certain PFASs were higher in the WWTP effluent compared to the corresponding influent. The objective of the present study was the identification of potential pr...read more

Health

Human Biomonitoring of „new“ contaminants: Sub- Project 2 – Screening of target and non-target contaminants in human blood and urine

The development of screening methods has increased over the last years due to the possibility to search for multiple targets and suspected and so far unknown compounds. Non-target screening has mostly been restricted to water and food samples, only a few studies have shown an application to biological samples. Thus the objective of this project was to develop and apply a non-target screening metho...read more

Climate | Energy

Submission under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015

National Inventory Report for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 - 2013

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. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force. As a result, for the first time ever the international community of nations is required to implement binding action objectives and instruments f...read more