Carpets, notebooks or rubber boots: toxic substances can be found in almost everything. The purpose of environmental and health protection is to steadily reduce the number of toxic substances in products as well as their release from products.
Flame retardants reduce the flammability of objects and can therefore delay the onset of a fire. Some of the commonly used flame retardants, however, can be toxic to the environment and human health. They are widespread traceable in indoor spaces and nature.
Substances and mixtures can pose a hazard to water bodies. To protect the water bodies from detrimental changes to their characteristics it is required that substances and mixtures that are handled or stored in facilities in Germany are classified for their water-hazardous properties.
Volatile organic compounds are partly of natural origin, partly contained in articles of daily use, and can constantly reach our nose and skin. What health effects can VOCs have? How can unwanted exposure be reduced?
Division IV is tasked with chemical safety. We endeavour to protect the public and the environment against hazardous chemicals, to which end we investigate and assess environmentally harmful substances and preparations. When potential hazards come to light, we devise risk reduction measures, which can involve banning the use and/or manufacture of a particular substance.
The EU Construction Products Regulation requires from 1st July 2013 new complementary data to accompany construction products with CE marking. If the construction product contains substances of very high concern, these must be declared. Alternatively - if available - a safety data sheet must be enclosed. The Federal Environment Agency hands out advice for the format of the mandatory data.
The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is currently funding and guiding the research and development projects on nanomaterials and other advanced materials listed below. For more information on these projects please refer to the research database Umweltforschungsdatenbank UFORDAT in German and the corresponding number.
