Lexikon
ecoremediation is based on the co-operation of plants, soil and soil living microorganisms, mainlyof the rhyzosphere. Ecoremediation comprises systems, processes and technologies which function in natural ecosystems, or as an artificial part of a natural ecosystem. In ecoremedial technologies the man-made artificial ecosystem is able to compensate adverse environmental effects of chemical substances or contaminated environmnetal compartments or phases. Its function is based on the close co-operation of soil microbes and plants, and its proper function depends on the balanced and controlled element- and water-cycle of the artificial ecosystem designed for remedial purposes.
Ecoremedial technologies can be applied for waste water treatment, for the remediation and maintenance of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands, for complex rehabilitation and reclamation of landfills and for the complex rehabilitation or remediation of contaminated or deteriorated soil.
Ecoremediation is used for long term and sustainable protection, restoration and complex rehabilitation of environment of damage or exposed to potential damage. Ecoremedial technologies are cost- and eco-efficient in protection of water resources, streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater and the sea and in ensuring the sustainable quality of the environment on long term.The most important characteristics of ecoremedial technologies are their adaptive character, their high buffer and self-protective capacities against adverse affects of antropogenic origin, and they are highly potent in preservation of natural habitats and biological diversity.
Eco-remediation has more areas, such as bioremediation, utilising soil microflora; phytoengineering utilising plants for many purposes, artifically built lakes, aerobic and anaerobic wetlands, reactive soil zones, etc., are all considered as ecoremedial technologies.
ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving, physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water, and sunlight. It is all the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving (abiotic) factors with which they interact; a biological community and its physical environment. The entire array of organisms inhabiting a particular ecosystem is called a community. In a typical ecosystem, plants and other photosynthetic organisms are the producers that provide the food. Ecosystems can be permanent or temporary. Ecosystems usually form a number of food webs.
Ecosystems are functional units consisting of living things in a given area, non-living chemical and physical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycle and energy flow.
1. Natural ecosystem
- Terrestrial ecosystem
- Aquatic ecosystems (Lentic, the ecosystem of a lake, pond or swamp; Lotic, the ecosystem of a river, stream or spring
2. Ecosystem of artificial, man-made environments.
ecosystems management is an approach to natural resource management that focuses on sustaining ecosystems to meet both ecological and human needs in the future. Ecosystem management is adaptive to changing needs and new information. It promotes shared vision of a desired future by integrating social, environmental and economic perspectives to managing geographically defined natural ecological systems.
Ecosystems promote human well being through the various services they provide.
One of the six priorities of the UNEP medium‑term strategy for 2010–2013 is that “countries utilize the ecosystem approach to enhance human well-being”. The UNEP Ecosystem Management Programme is centred on the functioning and resilience of the ecosystems and the services they provide. The programme aims to support countries and regions to:
- increasingly integrate an ecosystem management approach into development and planning processes;
- acquire the capacity to use ecosystem management tools; and
- realign their environmental programmes and financing to tackle the degradation of selected priority ecosystem services.
The programme is guided by five major interlinked elements: human well-being, indirect and direct drivers of change, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services. As ecosystem services are interlinked and cannot be treated in isolation, UNEP promotes a holistic perspective for dealing with bundles of interlinked services to reverse their decline through improved ecosystem functioning and increased resilience. The services fall under the following categories: regulating, provisioning, supporting and cultural services
The UNEP programme focuses on 11 of the 15 degraded ecosystem services mainly comprising:
Regulating services: climate, water, natural hazard and disease regulation, water purification and waste treatment, which are often strongly affected by the overuse of provisioning services;
Provisioning services: freshwater, energy (especially the emerging issues around biofuel production) and capture fisheries;
Cultural services: Recreation and ecotourism service;
Supporting services: nutrient cycling and primary production which underlie the delivery of all the other services but are not directly accessible to people.
Source: http://www.unep.org/ecosystemmanagement/Introduction/tabid/293/language/en-US/Default.aspx
humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services for decades, these services were popularized and their definitions formalized by the United Nations 2004 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a four-year study involving more than 1,300 scientists worldwide. This grouped ecosystem services into four broad categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.
Experts currently recognize four categories of ecosystem services. The following lists represent samples of each:
Provisioning services • food (including seafood and game), crops, wild foods, and spices • water • pharmaceuticals, biochemicals, and industrial products • energy (hydropower, biomass fuels) Regulating services • carbon sequestration and climate regulation • waste decomposition and detoxification • purification of water and air • crop pollination • pest and disease control Supporting services • nutrient dispersal and cycling • seed dispersal • Primary production Cultural services • cultural, intellectual and spiritual inspiration • recreational experiences (including ecotourism) • scientific discoveryECOTOXICITY TESTING METHODS TO BE USED BY THE REACH REGULATION are enlisted in the COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 440/2008 of 30 May 2008 laying down test methods pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
(1) Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, test methods are to be adopted at Community level for the purposes of tests on substances where such tests are required to generate information on intrinsic properties of substances.
(2) Council Directive 67/548/EEC of 27 June 1967 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances laid down, in Annex V, methods for the determination of the physico-chemical properties, toxicity and ecotoxicity of substances and preparations. Annex V to Directive 67/548/EEC has been deleted by Directive 2006/121/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with effect from 1 June 2008.
(3) The test methods contained in Annex V to Directive 67/ 548/EEC should be incorporated into this Regulation.
(4) This Regulation does not exclude the use of other test methods, provided that their use is in accordance with Article 13(3) of Regulation 1907/2006.
(5) The principles of replacement, reduction and refinement of the use of animals in procedures should be fully taken into account in the design of the test methods, in particular when appropriate validated methods become available to replace, reduce or refine animal testing.
(6) The provisions of this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established under Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
Article 1: The test methods to be applied for the purposes of Regulation 1907/2006/EC are set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2: The Commission shall review, where appropriate, the test methods contained in this Regulation with a view to replacing, reducing or refining testing on vertebrate animals.
Article 3: All references to Annex V to Directive 67/548/EEC shall be construed as references to this Regulation.
Article 4: This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 June 2008.
LIST OF METHODS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF ECOTOXICITY
C.1. Acute toxicity for fish
C.2. Daphnia sp. Acute immobilisation test
C.3. Algal inhibition test
C.4. Determination of ‘ready’ biodegradability
Part i. General considerations
Part ii. Doc die-away test (method C.4-a)
Part iii. Modified oecd screening test (method C.4-b)
Part iv. Co2 evolution test (method C.4-c)
Part v. Manometric respirometry test (method C.4-d)
Part vi. Closed bottle test (method C.4-e)
Part vii. M.I.T.I. Test (method C.4-f)
C.5. Degradation — biochemical oxygen demand
C.6. Degradation — chemical oxygen demand
C.7. Degradation — abiotic degradation: hydrolysis as a function of ph
C.8. Toxicity for earthworms
C.9. Biodegradation — Zahn-Wellens test
C.10. Biodegradation — activated sludge simulation tests
C.11. Biodegradation — activated sludge respiration inhibition
C.12. Biodegradation — modified SCAS test
C.13. Bioconcentration: flow-through fish test
C.14. Fish juvenile growth test
C.15. Fish, short-term toxicity test on embryo and sac-fry stages
C.16. Honeybees — acute oral toxicity test
C.17. Honeybees — acute contact toxicity test
C.18. Adsorption/desorption using a batch equilibrium method
C.19. Estimation of the adsorption coefficient (koc) on soil and on sewage sludge using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
C.20. Daphnia magna reproduction test
C.21. Soil microorganisms: nitrogen transformation test
C.22. Soil microorganisms: carbon transformation test
C.23. Aerobic and anaerobic transformation in soil
C.24. Aerobic and anaerobic transformation in aquatic sediment systems
European Crop Protection Association representing the pest control industry and promoting modern agricultural technology in the context of sustainable development.
Source:
http://www.ecpa.eu/
European Economic Community (EEC), also referred to as simply the European Community, or the Common Market was an international organization that existed between 1957 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration (including a single market) among Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
It was enlarged later to include six additional states and, from 1967, its institutions also governed the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) under the term European Communities.
When the European Union (EU) was created in 1993, the EEC was transformed into the European Community, one of the EU's three pillars, with EEC institutions continuing as those of the EU.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community
electrical resistive heating is an in-situ electrical heating technology that uses electricity and applies it into the ground/soil through electrodes. The electrodes can be installed either vertically to about 100 feet or horizontally underneath buildings.
electrokinetics relies upon application of a low-intensity direct current through the soil between ceramic electrodes that are divided into a cathode array and an anode array. This mobilizes charged species, causing ions and water to move toward the electrodes. Metal ions, ammonium ions, and positively charged organic compounds move toward the cathode. Anions such as chloride, cyanide, fluoride, nitrate, and negatively charged organic compounds move toward the anode.
Removal of contaminants at the electrode may be accomplished by several means, among which are: electroplating at the electrode; precipitation or co-precipitation at the electrode; pumping of water near the electrode; or complexing with ion exchange resins.
Source: US-EPA, Clu-In: http://www.clu-in.org/techfocus/default.focus/sec/Electrokinetics%3A_Electric_Current_Technologies/cat/Overview/
electroporation is a process using high-voltage current to make cell membranes permeable to allow the introduction of new DNA; commonly used in recombinant DNA technology.
environmental objectives laid down in Article 4(1) of WFD require Member States to prevent deterioration of the status of all bodies of surface water and groundwater and to achieve good status as a rule by 2015. In addition, pollution from priority substances has to progressively be reduced, emissions of hazardous substances shall be ceased or phased out, and any significant upward trend in pollution in groundwater has also to be reversed by appropriate measures.
environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Governments try to protect environment from human activities of adverse effects by legal tools. The most risky human activities are waste production and pollution due to industrial, mining and agricultural activities. Science and technology offer traditional and new methods for studying, managing and engineering environment.
Environmental protection includes the assessemtn and monitoring of the environment and keep it in a condition which does not endager biodiversity and humans.
provides a selection of techniques to take solid, liquid or gasous samples for measurements. (Source: EUGRIS)
see 2001/59/EC directive on classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances
increased urbanisation and the spread of human infrastructures, over-exploitation of natural resources, pollution are the main factors, which highly damage biodiversity. Introduction of exotic species into the native ecosystems pose also a hazard. As a result, 42% of mammals, 15% of birds and 52% of freshwater fish across Europe are under threat. In addition, nearly 1000 plant species are at serious risk or on the verge of disappearing completely. In order to safeguard biodiversity and combat the extinction of animal and plant species, the European Union has set up a vast network of protected sites (the Natura 2000 network) and made the protection of biodiversity one of the key objectives of the Sixth Environment Action Programme.
- BIODIVERSITY
- Action Plan for biodiversity
- Biodiversity strategy
- Biodiversity Action Plan for the Conservation of Natural Resources
- Biodiversity Action Plan for Agriculture
- Biodiversity Action Plan for FisheriesArchives
- Biodiversity Action Plan for Economic and Development Co-operation
- Bern Convention
- The Rio de Janeiro Convention on biological diversity
- MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
- FAUNA AND FLORA
- Natural habitats (Natura 2000)
- Conservation of wild birds
- Conservation of wild birdsArchives
- Endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES)
- Conservation of Antarctic marine living resources
- Conservation of migratory species - Bonn Convention
- The keeping of wild animals in zoos
- Protection of animals used for experimental purposes
- Accidental catches of cetaceans
- Protection of certain seal species
- International Dolphin Conservation Programme
- Whaling
- Protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high seas from bottom fishing
- Destructive fishing practices in the high seas and the protection of ecosystems
- Aquaculture: use of alien and locally absent species
- Humane trapping standards
- Convention on the Protection of the Alps
- Ban on trade in cat and dog fur
- Trade in seal products
- FORESTS
- GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
- Contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (GMMs)
- Directive on the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- Transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms
- Novel foods and novel food ingredients
- Traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- GM Food and Feed
Source: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/environment/nature_and_biodiversity/index_en.ht
Some 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by seas and oceans, and these produce almost three quarters of the oxygen we breathe. We can use directly only 1% of this water, however, and many forms of human activity put water resources under considerable pressure. Polluted water, whatever the source of the pollution, flows one way or another back into our natural surroundings – into the sea or water tables – from where it can have a harmful effect on human health and the environment. One of the most important pieces of legislation in this area is the Water Framework Directive.
- GENERAL FRAMEWORK
- SPECIFIC USES OF WATER
- MARINE POLLUTION
- Strategy for the marine environment
- Accidental marine pollutionArchives
- Maritime safety: compensation fund for oil pollution damage
- Maritime safety: prevention of pollution from ships
- Maritime safety: Ship-source pollution and criminal penalties
- Maritime safety: prohibition of organotin compounds on ships
- Maritime safety: Bunkers Convention
- REGIONAL WATERS
- DISCHARGES OF SUBSTANCES
- Integrated pollution prevention and control: IPPC Directive
- Priority substances in the field of water policy
- Environmental quality standards applicable to surface water
- Protection of groundwater against pollution
- Biodegradability and labelling of detergents
- Elimination and minimisation of production, use and release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
- Pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources
- Mercury
- Protection of the aquatic environment against discharges of dangerous substances (until 2013)
- Other substances: protection of groundwater
In a modern Europe, efficient environmental management has to cover topics like sustainability and innovation, if future European industries and services want to be globally competitive. This has been recognized by the European Commission and was consecutively addressed in the 5th 6th and 7th Environmental Action Programmes. These Programmes have led to numerous activities and projects in the past and have considerably influenced today’s views on efficient environmental management. In order to understand the progress already made, past developments and the current situation shall be described for the field of contaminated land management. The following overview is meant to cover some relevant initiatives in a non-exhaustive way.
The topic of sustainability has come into focus in the 1990’s, and it was the title of the 5th Environmental Action Programme, which was approved in 1993. One year later, in 1994, the COMMON FORUM was initiated with the general objectives to develop strategies for the management and treatment of contaminated sites and for land recycling with respect to “sustainable resource protection" for contaminated land and groundwater. Today the COMMON FORUM is recognized as representing the European regulatory and policymaking community and it contributes to the EU soil protection policy. In 1996, the COMMON FORUM initiated the EC funded project CARACAS in order to improve existing scientific knowledge on contaminated land risk assessment, coming from a governmental perspective. At the same time, a complementing project called NICOLE approached from the industrial perspective. Today NICOLE is a leading forum on contaminated land management in Europe which promotes co-operation between industry, academia and service providers on the development and application of sustainable technologies in order to manage contaminated sites more efficiently and cost-effectively.
As an offspring of CARACAS, the CLARINET project developed between 1998 and 2001 technical recommendations for sound decision making concerning the rehabilitation of contaminated sites in Europe, and developed a network for exchange of information on available methods, technologies and policy approaches. Starting in 2003, the project EUGRIS was initiated to be the European web portal for groundwater and contaminated land information. Today EUGRIS is a comprehensive and overarching information and innovation resource, collaborating with related projects, networks and organizations.
In 2002, the Sixth Environment Action Programme was published which promotes full integration of environmental protection requirements into all community policies and actions and provides the environmental component of the community"s strategy for sustainable development. The link is made between environment and European objectives for growth, competitiveness and employment. In the 2004 published Environmental Technologies Action Plan ETAP, the importance of innovation for growth, competitiveness and employment is stressed. In order to deliver the ETAP and to support innovation on the market, the EC as main player for European development has launched ETV networks of testing centres. The related projects addressing the field of soil and groundwater remediation are PROMOTE and EURODEMO. The overall aim of PROMOTE is to set up an efficiency control and performance verification system for soil-groundwater protection and rehabilitation which shall enable faster market introduction of new and novel monitoring and remediation technologies. EURODEMO is a contact point for Europe regarding information on innovative remediation demonstrations in the field of soil and groundwater remediation. By consolidating knowledge and experience on a European scale, innovative remediation practice shall be improved. The European Forum on Eco-Innovation1, initiated by the EC, complements the ETV networks of testing centres. The European Forum on Eco-Innovation brings together business and policy perspectives in events that explore strategic orientations for eco-innovation and environmental technologies. Stakeholders are invited to debate and discuss relevant topics. Recommendations of the Forum provide suggestions for future action aimed at business and finance, as well as National and European policy makers.
Currently, there are other projects and initiatives supporting sustainability and innovation in fields related to contaminated soil and groundwater management. On an applied level, the NOWATECH project will contribute to ETV by providing four ETV test centres within the water technology sector. NOWATECH’s objective is to support the Nordic environmental technology industry in both the home market and the global market by giving access to accepted and comparable technology verification data.
As regards R&D funding, the SNOWMAN project has the objective to improve the coherence and coordination of research and innovation activities, making the European Research Agenda in the field of sustainable management of soil and groundwater contamination a reality. SNOWMAN has established a research programme and implemented a coordinated research call.
Starting as a polish RTD network in 2002, ENVITECH-NET works to integrate applied research with the needs of industry and to facilitate development of innovative environmental technologies. Its primary objective is to contribute to an effective implementation of the ETAP.
A broad environmental technology industry stakeholder network is EUCETSA, which has the mission to promote the international competitiveness of Europe"s environmental technology industry. Their activities aim at identifying the barriers to growth in order to propose solutions. Additionally, they promote awareness of commercial and environmental benefits of environmental technologies and strive to win general support for a favourable legislative and fiscal framework.
These past and present EC projects and existing stakeholder networks show that there is considerable interest in efficient environmental management. Due to coordinated efforts on European scale, relevant progress has been made on European and national levels to improve existing remediation practice. Currently, new developments are underway towards harmonizing and strengthening markets by raising confidence levels through verification measures. Besides these verification developments, a European demonstration network EURODEMO+, designed to connect and support national demonstration platforms in order to strengthen and improve demonstration practice across Europe, is currently in its design stage.
As the above described initiatives indicate, public and expert participation are essential components for such efforts to be successful and to deliver the targeted effects. Moreover, efforts on European scale need to be translated to national scales and into national frames in order to REACH the desired effect. Forrás: Yvonne Spira, EURODEMO
Technical Guidance Document in support of Commission Directive 93/67/EEC on Risk Assessment for new notified substances, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 on Risk Assessment for existing substances and Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market.
This technical guidance document is presented in four separate parts:
PART I: PDF ZIP
- Chapter 1 General Introduction.
- Chapter 2 Risk Assessment for Human Health.
PART II: PDF ZIP
- Chapter 3 Environmental Risk Assessment.
PART III: PDF ZIP
- Chapter 4 Use of (Quantitative) Structure Activity Relationships (Q)SARs).
- Chapter 5 Use Categories.
- Chapter 6 Risk Assessment Report Format.
PART IV: PDF ZIP
- Chapter 7 Emission Scenario Document.
Leaflet: PDF
the European Commission is the EU's executive body. It represents and upholds the interests of Europe as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws. It manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds. The Commission also makes sure that everyone abides by the European treaties and laws.