Suchergebnisse

There are substances with a specific combination of intrinsic substance properties that cause them to pose an inherent hazard to remote aquatic environments and the sources of our drinking water. These are substances that are very persistent in the environment and very mobile in the aquatic environment (vPvM); or, substances that are persistent in the environment, mobile in the aquatic environment and toxic (PMT). A review of substances detected in drinking water and groundwater found that 43% of them are REACH registered. Further, REACH registered substances were the most likely to be found at higher concentrations (above 0.1 μg/L). The German Environment Agency (UBA) has over several years, and most recently via this project, further discussed, developed, justified and decided upon the proposed criteria for identifying PMT and vPvM substances in the regulatory context of the EU REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (Neumann and Schliebner, 2019). To assist implementation of these criteria, this report presents updated guidelines to prospectively or retrospectively use the REACH registration process to identify PMT/vPvM substances. Special considerations for data uncertainty are presented via the implementation of a "traffic light" system. The guidance was applied to all 15469 REACH registered substances as of May 2017. Of these, 260 met the PMT/vPvM criteria (Red), 224 met the PM criteria (Dark Yellow), 2377 had screening or low-quality data requiring further investigation (Yellow), 3665 did not meet the PMT/vPvM criteria (Green) and 3216 had insufficient data to make a conclusion (White). The list of PMT/vPvM substances is provided and discussed in terms of monitoring data, emission likelihood and current restrictions or regulations. Of the complete list, 122 chemical constituents are prioritized for further investigation to assess the need for introducing risk management measures. Without acting, the cost of clean-up and drinking water purification in Europe could be well into several billions of Euros.

Protection of drinking water resources from PMT/vPvM substances: Revised guidance for ⁠REACH⁠ registrants on the identification of these substances of very high concern (SVHC). Only 1.9 % of the unique chemical structures in the REACH registration database fall in the new ⁠CLP⁠ hazard classes PMT and vPvM. However, for a total of 64 % no final assessment was achieved, either due to lack of test data (41 %) or due to ambiguous assessment (23 %). These guidance and methods can be used immediately by REACH registrants to ensure the safety of their substances, to close data gaps and, if necessary, to use safer alternatives, or to implement risk mitigation measures (RMMs).

A broad literature review (55 studies published between 2000 and 2019) now shows that 639 chemicals are already known as contaminants in river bank filtrate (114 substances), groundwater (338 substances), raw water (212 substances) or drinking water (385 substances). The literature review carried out by the German Environment Agency reveals: Every second substance that contaminates our drinking water resources is registered under ⁠REACH⁠, of which 24 % fall in the new ⁠CLP⁠ hazard classes PMT and vPvM. Considering only the raw water, the proportion even rises to 32 %. In the REACH registration database, the proportion of PMT/vPvM substances based on CLP criteria is only 1.9 %.

The updated UBA list comprising of 343 PMT/vPvM substances (unique chemical structures), belonging to 474 registered substances in the REACH registration database, is presented. This is the first update to the UBA list of PMT/vPvM substances as of May 2017 originally published as UBA TEXTE 126/2019. This update is based on the REACH registration database as of September 2019. The UBA list is split into three priority categories, based on whether the registration volume is > 10 tpa and whether the substance is currently subject to any regulation in Europe. The High-Priority Category A comprises of 173 PMT/vPvM substances. The two Moderate-priority Categories B and C comprise of 142 and 29 PMT/vPvM substances, respectively. Of these 343 PMT/vPvM substances, only 259 substances meet the less stringent PMT/vPvM criteria proposed in 2021 by the European Commission for new hazard classes under the CLP regulation. An additional 421 unique chemical structures (belonging to 474 registered substances) are presented, that were assessed to be persistent and mobile but with currently no high-quality consensus conclusions that the criteria for toxicity is met. The prioritised UBA list of 343 PMT/vPvM substances in the REACH registration database is ready to use for registrants and downstream users. They can immediately act to reduce and minimise emissions throughout the whole life cycle of their substances, to ultimately increase the safety of drinking water resources and to safeguard freshwater environments for future generations.