Quality assurance of fate and exposure models for risk assessment of substances
Project description
Objectives
In order to realise the national chemicals act and EU legislation, the environmental risk of new and existing chemical substances has to be assessed. The methods for risk assessment are laid down in the Technical Guidance Documents - TGD (EU 1996a). Basically, risk assessment consists of a comparison of predicted environmental
concentrations (exposure assessment) and concentrations which may cause adverse
effects (effect assessment). For exposure assessment various exposure models
(regression equations, simple generic models, multimedia compartment models) are used.
After the European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances - EUSES
(EU 1996b) has been developed a decision support system is available now.
It integrates the models presented in the TGD into a Windows 95/NT-based software
product.
Despite their wide economic and ecological impact, the applicability and usefulness of the models and software were not clarified.
The central objective of this project is the validation of exposure models suggested in the TGD. It is determined for which substances and for which environmental segments the models deliver realistic values. This is done by a comparison of measured concentrations with predicted ones. Furthermore, one of the aims is to point out and evaluate uncertainty in models and data arising in model application.
Besides the actual validation of the models and parameters used, an evaluation of EUSES with respect to quality assurance measures is realised. Scientific justification of
underlying equations, limitations, the program, user interface, and manual are tested and checked for possible errors.
Investigated substances
Subtances of interest are 'real-life' chemicals that are frequently found in the environment, e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS),
ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid (EDTA), 1,2-dichloroethane and benzene.
Furhermore the risk of the polycyclic musk flavour HHCB is assessed.
Parts of the project
The project consists of following parts: - comprehensive literature recherche
- data evaluation
- conceptual validation
- model simulations
- sensitivity and uncertainty analysis
- comparison of model results and measured values (numerical validation)
- appropriateness of models (operational validation)
- comparison with alternative models
- software evaluation
Time schedule
March 1997 - March 2000.
Literature
- EU 1996a
- Technical Guidance Document in Support of the Commission Directive 93/67/EEC on Risk Assessment for New Notified Substances and the Commission Regulation (EC) 1488/94 on Risk Assessment for Existing Substances, Parts I-IV. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 1996
- EU 1996b
- EUSES - the European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances. Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands.
Available from European Chemicals Bureau, Ispra, Italy
last modification: June 2000
e-mail: schwartz@uos.de
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