Ecotoxicological Assessment

Legal maximum concentration limits or standard and reference values for environmental pollutants are only available for a limited number of substances. They serve as scales to assess and evaluate the impact of pollutants to the environment, e.g. air, water, soil and food. On this basis, potential risks for human health and for the environment can be deduced and abatement measures can be recommended. For many substances that might pose hazards to the environment standardized levels and reference values have not been evaluated and published to an adequate extent. Interactive effects of combinations of several pollutants - a situation most commonly encountered under realistic conditions - are generally not considered by most of the current standards and limits. Based on available expert knowledge from present scientific sources, in most cases an estimate or provisional assessment can be made for possible risks to man`s health and the environment. This is achieved through searches of international scientific literature and documentation. Further steps of evaluation comprise the assessment of exposure and risks.