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In Germany, emission allowances (European Union Allowances, EUAs) for the first trading period (2005-2007) were allocated completely free of charge. In the second trading period (2008-2012) annual volumes of 40 million EUAs will be sold (Article 19 ZuG (Zuteilungsgesetz – The German Allocation Act) 2012).

The investigations performed on laser printers essentially served as a revision of the test method for the determination of emissions from hardcopy devices for the environmental awar 'Blue Angel' for office devices according to RAL-UZ 62, 85 and 114 of Juni 2003. The resulting test procedure according to RAL.UZ 122 was prviously published in Juni 2006.

It is important to define requirements and quality criteria for sustainable chemistry and provide for possible solutions to be measurable, assessable and practicable. Hence, the concept of sustainable chemistry has to develop and propagate successful approaches.

The refrigerant commonly used in mobile air conditioning (MAC) systems is tetrafluoroethane, R134a for short. R134a has a high global warming potential (GWP), 1,300 times higher - according to more recent calculations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), even 1,430 times higher – than that of CO2.

It is the purpose of Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS Directive) to regulate the exclusion of certain harmful substances from being used in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).

Fluxes of reactive nitrogen compounds1 caused or massively changed by human activity constitute a cross-cutting problem in environmental protection. The intensification of the nitrogen cycle makes it possible to supply a growing world population with protein-rich food, but has considerable adverse effects on the environment and human health.

This material was originally published in German and was designed for lessons for 6-12 year old pupils in Germany. It may therefore be necessary in some cases to adapt the worksheets to the situation in the countries where the material is to be used.

Please note: The chapter "Warning - Chemicals!" isn´t up to date any more!

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.

In a press release dated 15 September 2006, the WHO seemed to be indicating a new focus in its strategy on the fight against malaria in respect of the use of DDT.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, adopted a global plan of action – Agenda 21 – to solve mankind's most urgent problems.

After the entering into force of EU regulation (EC) No. 842/2006 and the EU directive 2006/40/EC, refrigeration systems in supermarkets remain the last big subsector and the strongest emission source of fluorinated hydrocarbons (HFC) in Germany.

Metals discharged into aquatic systems are mostly adsorbed on suspended particles and finally accumulate in sediments. Since the toxicity of metals have been recognized as important environmental hazard, extensive research was conducted on the dose-effect relationship under different geochemical conditions.