Lexikon

see toxic effect, toxicity

the testing of physico-chemical characteristics of chemical substances is regulated by 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 TOXICITY

B.1 bis. Acute oral toxicity – fixed dose procedure
B.1 tris. Acute oral toxicity – acute toxic class method
B.2. Acute toxicity (inhalation)
B.3. Acute toxicity (dermal)
B.4. Acute toxicity: dermal irritation/corrosion
B.5. Acute toxicity: eye irritation/corrosion
B.6. Skin sensitisation
B.7. Repeated dose (28 days) toxicity (oral)
B.8. Repeated dose (28 days) toxicity (inhalation)
B.9. Repeated dose (28 days) toxicity (dermal)
B.10. Mutagenicity – in vitro mammalian chromosome aberration test
B.11. Mutagenicity – in vivo mammalian bone marrow chromosome aberration test
B.12. Mutagenicity – in vivo mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test
B.13/14. Mutagenicity: reverse mutation test using bacteria
B.15. Mutagenicity testing and screening for carcinogenicity gene mutation – saccharomyces cerevisiae
B.16. Mitotic recombination – saccharomyces cerevisiae
B.17. Mutagenicity – in vitro mammalian cell gene mutation test
B.18. Dna damage and repair – unscheduled dna synthesis – mammalian cells in vitro
B.19. Sister chromatid exchange assay in vitro
B.20. Sex-linked recessive lethal test in drosophila melanogaster
B.21. In vitro mammalian cell transformation tests
B.22. Rodent dominant lethal test
B.23. Mammalian spermatogonial chromosome aberration test
B.24. Mouse spot test
B.25. Mouse heritable translocation
B.26. Sub-chronic oral toxicity test repeated dose 90-day oral toxicity study in rodents
B.27. Sub-chronic oral toxicity test repeated dose 90-day oral toxicity study in nonrodents
B.28. Sub-chronic dermal toxicity study 90-day repeated dermal dose study using
Rodent species
B.29. Sub-chronic inhalation toxicity study 90-day repeated inhalation dose studusing rodent species
B.30. Chronic toxicity test
B.31. Prenatal developmental toxicity study
B.32. Carcinogenicity test
B.33. Combined chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity test
B.34. One-generation reproduction toxicity test
B.35. Two-generation reproduction toxicity study
B.36. Toxicokinetics
B.37. Delayed neurotoxicity of organophosphorus substances following acute exposure
B.38. Delayed neurotoxicity of organophosphorus substances 28 day repeated dose study
B.39. Unscheduled dna synthesis (uds) test with mammalian liver cells in vivo
B.40. In vitro skin corrosion: transcutaneous electrical resistance test (ter)
B.40 bis. In vitro skin corrosion: human skin model test
B.41. In vitro 3T3 NRU phototoxicity test
B.42. Skin sensitisation: local lymph node assay
B.43. Neurotoxicity study in rodents
B.44. Skin absorption: in vivo method
B.45. Skin absorption: in vitro method

the term "transitional waters" first came to prominence in 2000 with the publication of the Water Framework Directive of the European Communities [European Communities, 2000. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities 43 (L327), 75 pp.], where "transitional waters" are defined as "bodies of surface water in the vicinity of river mouths which are partially saline in character as a result of their proximity to coastal waters but which are substantially influenced by freshwater flows".

The term transitional waters should be refined by differentiation between and definition of tidal estuaries and non-tidal brackish water lagoons, as well as the incorporation of fjords, fjards, river mouths, deltas, rias and lagoons as well as the more classical estuaries.

on the internet you can find several unit converters, which are able to convert physical unites of measure from ones system to an other one, e.g. to the metric system.

On the web-address of http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/density.htm you can find a converter able to convert area, density, energy, force, length, mass, power, pressure, speed, temperature and volume, bits and bytes.

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vitrification is a technology which uses an electric current to melt contaminated soil at elevated temperatures (1,600 to 2,000°C or 2,900 to 3,650°F). Upon cooling, the vitrification product is a chemically stable, leachresistant, glass and crystalline material similar to obsidian or basalt rock. The high temperature component of the process destroys or removes organic materials. Radionuclides and heavy metals are retained within the vitrified product. Vitrification may be conducted in situ or ex situ.

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field dealing with drinking water and hygienic aspects. (Source: EUGRIS)

from the point of view of water quality some chemical substances have priority. These are the substances identified in accordance with Article 16(2) and listed in Annex X of Water Framework Directive. Among these substances there are "priority hazardous substances" which means substances identified in accordance with Article 16(3) and (6) for which measures have to be taken in accordance with Article 16(1) and (8).

The substances on the first priority list are the following:

water scarcity and drought are different phenomena although they are liable to aggravate the impacts of each other. In some regions, the severity and frequency of droughts can lead to water scarcity situations, while overexploitation of available water resources can exacerbate the consequences of droughts. Therefore, attention needs to be paid to the synergies between these two phenomena, especially in river basins affected by water scarcity.

Water scarcity occurs where there are insufficient water resources to satisfy long-term average requirements. It refers to long-term water imbalances, combining low water availability with a level of water demand exceeding the supply capacity of the natural system.

Water availability problems frequently appear in areas with low rainfall but also in areas with high population density, intensive irrigation and/or industrial activity. Large spatial and temporal differences in the amount of water available are observed across Europe.

Beyond water quantity, a situation of water scarcity can also emerge from acute water quality issues (e.g. diffuse or point source pollutions) which lead to reduced fresh/clean water availability.

Currently the main way of assessing Water Scarcity is by means of the Water Exploitation Index (WEI) applied on different scales (i.e. national, river basin). The WEI is the average demand for freshwater divided by the long-term average freshwater resources. It illustrates to which extent the total water demand puts pressure on the available water resource in a given territory and points out the territories that have high water demand compared to their resources.

The maps attached as links show the WEI for the European river basins in 2000 and for a forecasted scenario in 2030.

specified by the saturation mass concentration of the substance in water at a given temperature, expressed in kg/m³ or g/l. A physico-chemical parameter required by REACH. This property is not a Classification and Labelling (C&L) (classification and labelling of chemicals) criterion as such. It applies to substances unless there is existing additional scientific evidence concerning degradation and/or toxicity, sufficient to provide an adequate assurance that neither the substance nor its degradation products will constitute a potential long-term and/or delayed danger to the aquatic community. (http://www.prc.cnrs-gif.fr/reach/en/physicochemical_data.html) The study does not need to be conducted if the substance is hydrolytically unstable at pH 4, 7 and 9 (half-life less than 12 hours); or the substance is readily oxidisable in water. If the substance appears "insoluble" in water, a limit test up to the detection limit of the analytical method shall be performed.

white spirit is a mixture of saturated aliphatic and alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons with a maximum content of 25% of C7 to C12 alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons.

It is used as an extraction solvent, as a cleaning solvent, as a degreasing solvent and as a solvent in aerosols, paints, wood preservatives, lacquers, varnishes, and asphalt products. It is the most widely used solvent in the paint industry. In households, white spirit is commonly used to clean paint brushes after decorating.

Three different types and three different grades of white spirit exist. The type refers to whether the solvent has been subjected to hydrodesulfurization (removal of sulfur) alone (type 1), solvent extraction (type 2) or hydrogenation (type 3). Each type comprises three different grades: low flash grade, regular grade, and high flash grade. The grade is determined by the crude oil used as the starting material and the conditions of distillation.

Aromatic substance content in white spirit is responsible for most of the adverse effects. It is an irritant, has low acute toxicity by inhalation of the vapour, dermal (touching the skin) and oral routes (ingestion). Exposure to very high concentrations in enclosed spaces can lead to general narcotic effects (drowsiness, dizziness, nausea etc...) and can eventually lead to unconsciousness.

Exposure to an average white spirit concentration of 240 mg/m³ (40 ppm) for more than 13 years could lead to chronic central nervous system effects.

It is moderately toxic to aquatic organisms, is unlikely to present significant hazards to the environment. It should not however, be purposely poured down the sink or freshwater drain if avoidable. It should be disposed of correctly wherever possible.

The physical properties of the three types (low, medium and high flash-point) of white spirit are summarized in the table.
(Source: Wikipedia)

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