Lexikon

the change over a period of time in the value (monetary and non-monetary) of goods and services and the ability and capacity to produce goods and services. It is economic growth which generates the wealth necessary to provide social services, health care, and education. It is the basis for ongoing job creation. However, sustainable development requires that there be a change in the nature of economic growth, to ensure that goods and services are produced by environmentally sound and economically sustainable processes. This will require efficient use of resources, value-added processing, sustained yield management of renewable resources, and the consideration and accounting of all externalities and side-effects involved in the extraction, processing, production, distribution, consumption and disposal of those goods.

the characteristic of prolonged, careful, efficient and prudent (wise and judicious) use of resources (natural, fiscal, human), products, facilities, and services. It is based on thorough knowledge and involves operating with little waste and accounting for all costs and benefits, including those which are not marketable and can result in savings.

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:

ECOTOXICITY 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

see omega-3 fatty acids

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/

European List of Notified chemical substances
http://ecb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/elincs

the percentage of total energy input that does useful work and is not lost or converted to low temperature, usually useless, heat.

environmental microbiology is the study of the composition and physiology of microbial communities in the environment, their role and function. The environmental compartments, such as soil, water, air and sediments are habitatas of plant and animals as well as microorganisms.

An average gram of soil contains approximately one billion (1,000,000,000) microbes representing probably several thousand species. Microorganisms have special impact on the whole biosphere, on the element-cycles, organic matter degradation (decomposers) and reuse (nutrient recycling), they are the backbone of ecosystems of the zones where light cannot approach. Microbes have a special role in biogeochemical cycles. Microbes, especially bacteria, are of great importance and influence on the whole ecosystem.

Microorganisms are used for in-situ microbial biodegradation or bioremediation of domestic, agricultural and industrial wastes and subsurface pollution in soils, sediments and marine environments. Since most sites typically have multiple pollutant types, the most effective approach to microbial biodegradation is to use a mixture of bacterial species and strains, each specific to the biodegradation of one or more types of contaminants. It is vital to monitor the composition of the indigenous and added bacteria in order to evaluate the activity level and to permit modifications of the nutrients and other conditions for optimizing the bioremediation process.

The most important events of the development of environmetal microbiology:

1887 Sergei Winogradsky studies Beggiatoa and establishes the concept of autotrophy.

1888 Martinus Beijerinck develops the technique of enrichment culture.

1891 Winogradsky discovers the organisms responsible for nitrification is soil, which is of great importance in agriculture because nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in the soil.

1904 Martinus Beijerinck obtains the first pure culture of sulfur-oxidizing bacterium, Thiobacillus denitrificans.

1904 Cornelius Johan Koning suggests that fungi are critical for the decomposition of organic matter.

1909 Sigurd Orla-Jensen proposes the use of physiological characteristics for the classification of bacteria. He later publishes a monograph on lactic acid bacteria that establishes the criteria for assignment.

1920 The Society of American Bacteriologists presents a report on the characterization and classification of bacterial types that becomes the basis for Bergey's manual in 1923.

1961 Brian McCarthy and E. T. Bolton describe a method to compare genetic material from different species using hybridization. Using this technique it is possible to quantitatively compare the relatedness of the two species.

1965 Emile Zuckerkandl and Linus Pauling publish "Molecules as documents of evolutionary history", making a compelling case for the use of molecular sequences of biological molecules to determine evolutionary relationships.

1969 Don Brenner and colleagues establish a more reliable basis for the classification of clinical isolates among members of the Enterobacteriaceae. They use nucleic acid reassociation, where DNA of one organism is allowed to hybridize with another organism. This technique is used to help define a species.

1977 Carl Woese uses ribosomal RNA analysis to identify a third form of life, the Archaea, whose genetic makeup is distinct from but related to both Bacteria and Eucarya.

1977 Holger Jannasch discovers abundant life at the bottom of the ocean near deep sea hydrothermal vents. The entire system is dependent upon sulfur oxidizing microorganisms. Light and photosynthesis do not drive the process.

1982 Karl Stetter isolates hydrothermophilic microbes (Archaea) that can grow at 105°C. The discovery redefines the upper temperature at which life can exist.

1994 Gary Olsen, Carl Woese and Ross Overbeek summarize the state of phylogeny in prokaryotes. This causes scientists to rethink the classification of life and emphasizes the importance of microbes.

Source:

http://www.microbiologytext.com/index.php?module=book&func=displayarticl...

the results of environmental toxicology are mainly used for the prediction of hazard and risk of single chemical substances or contaminated environment at local, regional and global scale. Their important role is supporting decision making in environmental management and policy by setting risk based priorities, establishing environmental quality criteria, to design monitoring systems, to select risk reduction measures, to establish land use specific target values and so on. Environmnetal toxicity results are suitable for direct decision making, when building decision only on the effects.

environmental toxicology is the science and practice of the adverse effects – mainly of chemicals and other man-made agents – in the environment and through the environment. The targeted receptors of these adverse effects maybe both ecosystem and human.

Environmental toxicology includes the study of chemical substances – potential and actual contaminants – polluting air, water, soil and food, their impacts upon the structure and function of ecological systems, including man as well as the use of these results for decision making and environmental management.

technology, method, service or activity, which has minimal load on the environment due to energy-consumption and discharge of contaminating substances or agents, and is socio-economically efficient at the same time.

epigenetics refers to mechanisms that persistently alter gene expression without actual changes to the gene/DNA sequence. DNA methylation is an example of an epigenetic mechanism. Scientists have shown that DNA methylation is an important component in a variety of chemical-induced toxicities, including carcinogenicity, and is a mechanism that should be assessed in the overall hazard assessment

Source: Watson, R.E. & Goodman, J.I. (2002). Epigenetics and DNA methylation come of age in toxicology. Toxicol. Sci. 67, 11−16.

ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability.

The International ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as follows: "ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance."

ergonomics is employed to fulfill the two goals of health and productivity. It is relevant in the design of such things as safe furniture and easy-to-use interfaces to machines.

see 2001/59/EC directive on classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances

see 1999/45/EC directive on classification, packaging, labelling

the action undertaken by the European Community in the field of chemical products is part of an ongoing process launched a long time ago. The first Directive, which is concerned with the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances, dates back to 1967. The REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals) Regulation, adopted at the end of 2006, establishes an enhanced framework which aims to guarantee the free movement of chemical products and the protection of human health and the environment.

• DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES AND PREPARATIONS
  • Regulatory framework for the management of chemicals (REACH), European Chemicals Agency
  • Classification, packaging and labeling of chemicals and their mixtures
  • Classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances
  • Classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations
  • Prior Informed Consent Procedure for the export of chemicals
  • Detergents
  • Community strategy for endocrine disrupters, COM/99/0706 and COM/2001/0262
  • Community strategy concerning mercury
  • Export and storage of mercury
• PESTICIDES
  
  • Biocidal products
  • Towards a thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticidesArchives
• FERTILISERS
  • Community scheme for fertilisers
• CONTROL OF THE RISKS
  • Major accidents involving dangerous substances
  • The fight against bioterrorism (communication)
  • Good laboratory practice: tests on chemical substances
  • Good laboratory practice: inspection and verification of laboratory studies on all chemicals
  • Exposure to chemical agents
• MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTANTS AND WASTE
  • Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
  • Elimination and minimisation of production, use and release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
  • Controlled management of hazardous waste (until the end of 2010)
  • Basel Convention
  • Community strategy for dioxins, furans and PCBs
  • Disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs)

Source: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/internal_market/single_market_for_goods/chemical_products/index_en.htm

European Chemicals Agency as established by the REACH Regulation.

the website of EFIC says as a subtitle „guide for food safety&quality, and health&nutrition for a balanced diet and helathy lifestyle.

The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) is a non-profit organisation which provides science-based information on food safety & quality and health & nutrition to the media, health and nutrition professionals, educators and opinion leaders, in a way that consumers can understand.

In response to the public's increasing need for credible, science-based information on the nutritional quality and safety of foods, EUFIC's mission is to enhance the public's understanding of such issues and to raise consumers' awareness of the active role they play in safe food handling and choosing a well-balanced and healthy diet.

All information that EUFIC publishes has been subject to a review process by members of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB comprises a group of renowned experts from across Europe who advise EUFIC on its information and communication programmes, ensuring that all information is based on scientific evidence, relevance and is factually correct. Given the broad range of subjects addressed in EUFIC’s popular newsletter, Food Today, a dedicated Editorial Board for this publication provides additional insights and feedback.

With its main offices located in Brussels (Belgium), EUFIC counts on and liaises with a European network to enhance the impact and outreach of its communication instruments and programmes in other countries.

EUFIC actively participates in European initiatives together with the European Commission Directorate Generals for Research and for Health and Consumer Protection, where it contributes to a number of projects as dissemination partner.

EUFIC is supported by companies of the European food and drinks industries, and receives project funding from the European Commission. It is governed by a Board of Directors which is elected from member companies. Current EUFIC members are: Barilla, Cargill, Cereal Partners, Coca-Cola HBC, Coca-Cola, Danone, DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd., Ferrero, Kraft Foods, Louis Bonduelle Foundation, McCormick Foods, Mars, McDonald's, Nestlé, Novozymes, PepsiCo, Pfizer Animal Health, Südzucker, and Unilever.

Source: http://www.eufic.org/

the mission of the European Medicines Agency is to foster scientific excellence in the evaluation and supervision of medicines, for the benefit of public and animal health.

The European Medicines Agency is the European Union body responsible for coordinating the existing scientific resources put at its disposal by Member States for the evaluation, supervision and pharmacovigilance of medicinal products.

The Agency provides the Member States and the institutions of the EU the best-possible scientific advice on any question relating to the evaluation of the quality, safety and efficacy of medicinal products for human or veterinary use referred to it in accordance with the provisions of EU legislation relating to medicinal products.

Principal activities of EMA

• Working with the Member States and the European Commission as partners in a European medicines network, the European Medicines Agency:
• provides independent, science-based recommendations on the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines, and on more general issues relevant to public and animal health that involve medicines;
• applies efficient and transparent evaluation procedures to help bring new medicines to the market by means of a single, EU-wide marketing authorisation granted by the European Commission;
• implements measures for continuously supervising the quality, safety and efficacy of authorised medicines to ensure that their benefits outweigh their risks;
• provides scientific advice and incentives to stimulate the development and improve the availability of innovative new medicines;
• recommends safe limits for residues of veterinary medicines used in food-producing animals, for the establishment of maximum residue limits by the European Commission;
• involves representatives of patients, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders in its work, to facilitate dialogue on issues of common interest;
• publishes impartial and comprehensible information about medicines and their use;
• develops best practice for medicines evaluation and supervision in Europe, and contributes alongside the Member States and the European Commission to the harmonisation of regulatory standards at the international level.

Source: http://www.ema.europa.eu

evident toxicity is a general term in toxicity tests describing clear signs of toxicity following the administration of test.

solvent extraction uses an organic solvent as an extractant to separate organic and metal contaminants from soil. The organic solvent is mixed with contaminated soil in an extraction unit. The extracted solution then is passed through a separator, where the contaminants and extractant are separated from the soil. Organically bound metals may be extracted along with the target organic contaminants.