The international register of potentially toxic chemicals (IRPTC) its databank and network partners∗

The IRPTC was established by UNEP in 1976, upon the recommendation of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972.

It consists of a central unit and a network for information exchange. The main objective of IRPTC is to provide information adequate for the assessment of the hazards to health and the environment posed by chemicals. It is designed primarily to assist authorities responsible for protection of human health and the environment; however, its services are available to everyone.     

“2020年后国际化学品与废物健全管理框架”磋商进展及我国应对建议

国际化学品管理大会第四届会议(Fourth of the International Conference of Chemicals Management，ICCM4)通过第IV/4决议，建议考虑2020年后化学品与废物健全管理工作安排，并决定启动闭会期间进程，就国际化学品管理战略方针(Strategic Approach To International Chemicals Management，SAICM)及2020年后化学品与废物健全管理工作制定建议。“2020年后国际化学品与废物健全管理”是当前国际化学品管理战略闭会期间历次磋商进程谈判的重点，了解该框架的谈判进展及各方主要观点将对我国参与国际谈判产生积极作用。本文系统梳理了闭会期间历次磋商进程的主要内容，并对2020年后化学品与废物健全管理新框架文件涉及的愿景、原则和方法、战略目标和指标、体制安排和实施机制、财政考虑、高级别政治承诺等主要国家立场态度进行了观点综述。为应对国际谈判，建议我国采取以下措施推进国际谈判：做好国内发展趋势研判，积极参与谈判进程；建立协调机制，调动利益攸关方的积极性；加强知识信息共享，提升化学品管理能力；充分利用高级别会议，提升政治层面对2020年后框架的重视程度。     

Die Nationale Strategie zur biologischen Vielfalt

Worldwide biological diversity (short: biodiversity) is declining rapidly. Rising demands of a fast growing human population jeopardize a smooth handling with the resource biodiversity. Main reasons of its decline are climate and land use changes as well as nutrient and hazardous substances pollution of land and water ecosystems. Integrated environmental protection and nature conservation have to tackle this risk and to create preconditions, which allow species to develop in high genetic variability within functioning habitats. Sustainable solutions for this worldwide and complex problem are possible with international societal efforts only. The framework for action is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which was agreed at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity as well as balanced and justified distribution of the benefits are in the focus of the convention. Germany hat ratified this convention in 1993. The national strategy implements the international convention in Germany in a comprehensive and challenging programme for all societal actors. The strategy includes 330 distinct objectives and about 430 measures. This article gives an overview of the definitions and the context, describes the history of the process, the structure and the content of the national strategy as well as the implementation process, which was meanwhile started with national and regional meetings.     

Das OECD-Prüfrichtlinienprogramm

The Test Guideline of the OECD (organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is concerned with the international harmonisation of physicochemical, ecotoxicological and toxicological testing methods for chemicals and pesticides. New guidelines have been actualised and survey reports (Detailed Review Papers — DRP) dealing with test methods and the related questions have been compiled for the OECD member countries. The basic work to this international programme has occurred by way of the national co-ordinators who represent the interface between the national experts and the OECD bodies. The co-ordination of the Test Guidelines in Germany involves specific experts as well as the routine convention of working groups for exchanging the specific state of affairs and the respective strategies employed.     

Globaler Vertrag zur Regelung von POPs: Die Stockholm Konvention

The success of the negotiations on the POPs Convention after the failure of the negotiations over the climate protocol in The Hague in late November is an important result for international action to protect the earth from damage by chemicals. It shows the countries’ real commitment to find compromises for protection of the environment and human health and for the restoration of damaged ecosystems on our planet. It deserves to be highlighted that all participants — not only the industrialized countries but also developing countries as well as environmental organizations and the (chemical) industry — regard the conclusion of this convention as a success and that a broad basis for joint action has thus been created. The convention is a signal also because of its useful contents, which includes instruments for the total elimination of 12 POPs in the beginning and of further persistent organic pollutants at a later stage. The basis for a gradual reduction of the increasing pollution of the environment on a global scale is given by mechanisms for subjecting further POPs to the requirements of this Convention in the future.     

World Summit on Sustainable Development: An environmental highlight or an environmental education letdown?

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) met from 26 August to 4 September 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its goal was to hold a 10-year review of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development and to reinvigorate global commitment to sustainable development. Main outcomes include the reaffirmation of sustainability as a basic worldwide need, the establishment of a World Solidarity Fund, the eradication of poverty and the agreement on particular attention to the needs of the African countries. However, there is also a great failure. It failed to address the issue of environmental education (EE). The need for implementation and support of the greatest tool, which can lead to action, i.e. the need for specific knowledge, was never stated. Issues of knowledge, access to information, critical thinking, evaluation, assessment, even dispute and doubt, i.e. components that make citizens actively participate in the environmental decision process, were not addressed. Delegates in Johannesburg managed to decide upon the need for reaction, without mentioning EE, the necessary prerequisite. 21,000 people discussed sustainability targets, but forgot to consider how we will reach them. One may think that EE was not discussed because it has already been successfully implemented; maybe the worldviews are that citizens do actively participate in environmental decision-making. Or perhaps we can still be so naïve, as to simply forget what we are talking about.     

A sustainability index for small island developing states

This paper proposes a novel approach to measuring the progress of small island developing states (SIDS) towards sustainable development (SD) as set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Currently, these goals do not provide adequate guidance on how countries might measure their progress towards sustainability. We use these goals and a subset of their targets to develop an index with concrete targets, through the use of pertinent sustainability indicators, that SIDS should aim to achieve a sustainable society. In addition to the three categorical pillars of SD (social, economic and environmental), we included the category Climate Change and Disaster Management (incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction). The basis of our decision is that the UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have both recognized the vulnerability of SIDS to both environmental hazards. Our index scores a total 70 individual indicators for the four categories to track the progress of a SIDS towards a sustainable society. Using the Caribbean nation, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as our SIDS case study, we report the average of the scores for each category to illustrate its progress towards sustainability. Overall Trinidad and Tobago is slowly progressing towards a more sustainably developed society. Our results show that the nation is only moderately successful regarding progress in three traditional pillars of SD, social, economic and environmental. However, Trinidad and Tobago scores poorly in the Climate Change and Disaster Management category and needs to improve in this area especially due to its vulnerability.     

水体甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯对斑马鱼的毒性效应

以斑马鱼(Brachydanio rerio)为实验生物,采用半静态实验方法,研究了甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯的水生生态毒性效应.研究表明,水体中甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯对斑马鱼96h半致死浓度LC50分别为77.5、31.0和34.8mg·L-1,根据化学物质对鱼类毒性分级标准,3种物质均属中等毒性,其毒性大小顺序为:乙苯>二甲苯>甲苯.在最高暴露浓度下,斑马鱼均出现了剧烈、无序游动,并伴有抽搐等现象,其中暴露在甲苯中的斑马鱼行为改变更为严重.分析认为,3种物质对斑马鱼毒性大小与疏/亲水性有关,疏水性越强,对水生生物的毒性作用越大.     

Reinvigorating the sustainable development research agenda: the role of the sustainable development goals (SDG)

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) contain a set of 17 measures to foster sustainable development across many areas. It offers a good opportunity to reinvigorate sustainable development research for two main reasons. First, it comprises many areas of SD research, which have become mainstream thanks to the UN SDGs. Second, the fact that the UN and its member countries have committed to attaining SDGs by 2030 has added a sense of urgency to the need to perform quality research on SD on the one hand, and reiterates the need to use the results of this research on the other. Even though the basic concept of sustainability goes back many centuries, it has only recently appeared on the international political agenda. This is partly due to an awakening of the fact that the human ecological pressure on the planet is still much larger than what nature can renew or compensate for. Based on this state of affairs, this paper presents an outline of the process leading to the agreement on the UN SDGs, and looks at some of the ecological aspects as a result of continued pressure of human activities on natural resources. Furthermore, a set of research needs is proposed – also based holistically on updated research trends – discussing the degree of urgency of some measures and explaining why the UN SDGs need to be accorded greater priority in international sustainable development research efforts.     

以REACH为数据源进行生命周期影响评估

由于潜在生态毒理数据的限制，生态周期影响评估中的毒性模型仅仅描述了市场上的一小部分物质。改进现有的LCIA数据情况可以通过发现新的数据来源，比如欧盟化学品注册、评估、授权和限制(REACH)数据库。本研究通过对比记录在REACH数据库和UNEP/SETAC的科学统一模型USEtox中相同化学物质的生态毒理数据来探究REACH是否具有作为数据来源的潜力。数据根据数据点的个数，报道可靠性和测试时间评估，并将每种化学物质的50%涵盖物种的危险浓度与USEtox中的数据做对比。结果强调了REACH和USEtox之间不同的数据可用性。REACH和USEtox的生态毒理学数据对比表明REACH是一个LCIA毒性鉴别的潜在生态毒理学数据来源，也显示出REACH标准的数据存在着一致性的问题，以及REACH中监管风险评估的假设可能与LCIA所需数据有出入。因此，在考虑REACH标准下的数据在LCIA的运用之前，数据质量，预处理和可运用性需要进一步的研究。探究其他可用的数据来源，发表的研究与报告也需要更深入的调查。
精选自Nienke Müller, Dick de Zwart, Michael Hauschild, Ga?l Kijko, Peter Fantke. Exploring REACH as potential data source for characterizing ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: Volume 36, Issue 2, pages 492–500, July 2017. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3542
详情请见http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/etc.3542/full
     

化学品足迹:概念、研究进展及挑战

化学品污染被联合国环境规划署列为影响人类生存与发展的全球重大环境问题之一。为实现可持续的化学品管理,需定量评价产品生命周期内由化学品排放造成的生态影响。然而,当前的化学品风险评价指标体系往往指向零碎的危害性或毒性终点,未能综合出整体性指标来定量表征生态系统所承受的损害,亦不能衡量人类活动排放的化学品总量与环境承载容量的相对大小。作为环境足迹一员,化学品足迹继承了"足迹"指标的特点,可定量表征生态系统受化学品影响的程度,并结合生态阈值及环境承载容量,有助于评价人类活动对环境可持续性的影响,有望成为公众、企业、决策者及利益相关者之间相互交流的重要工具。本文概述了化学品足迹的基本概念及其发展历程,介绍了现有的化学品足迹计算方法及其应用于不同空间尺度下的案例研究,讨论了化学品足迹研究中存在的问题与挑战,并对其应用前景进行了展望。     

中国纺织印染加工用化学品的风险评估

概述了我国纺织化学品风险管理在法规、标准指南、风险评估方面与国外的差距。并就纺织印染加工用化学品风险评估中的3个环节,即行业调研、化学品安全数据库构建和危害识别,提出并探讨了8个问题。行业调研环节,重点探讨了纺织化学品生产使用企业的调研问题,纺织化学品的信息透明度问题和混合组分问题;化学品安全数据库构建环节,探讨了纺织化学品安全信息的完整度和定量结构活性关系计算的缺陷;危害识别环节,探讨了纺织化学品中持久性、生物蓄积性和有毒(PBT)化学品,致癌、致畸和生殖毒性化学品(CMR)以及内分泌干扰物质(EDC)的识别。     

International cooperation around the North Sea basin

During the past 25 years, the management of marine ecosystems has evolved significantly. Due to the increased use of the sea and the increased awareness of adverse impacts of certain human activities in and around the sea, which has been a common good for a long time—‘Mare Liberum’—an international and integrated approach has become increasingly important to regulate the use of our common seas. From the late 1960s onwards, intergovernmental meetings have taken place in order to tackle the problems of international pollution of seas and oceans. One reason for this attention was the Torrey Canyon accident in 1967, which triggered the start of the Bonn Agreement in 1969 for coordinating the combat mission against oil and chemical spills in the North Sea. After the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, with the involvement of the European Union, the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), other regional and global Conventions, as well as the North Sea Ministerial Conferences were established. These continuous international efforts have resulted in a considerable reduction of the input of certain contaminants and of nutrients (in particular phosphate) into the marine environment. However, not all problems have yet been solve. The North Sea Ministers agreed at the Conference in Esbjerg (1995) to aim at a reduction of the input of all hazardous substances within one generation, in order to reach the goal of negligible risks of pollution. Furthermore, there is a general aim to minimize adverse effects of disturbing activities. The challenge, now and in the future, is to find a balance between economic development and environmental protection of our international marine waters aiming at a sustainable development of the marine resources by employing scientifically based measures and, in situations where there are reasonable grounds for concern but no conclusive links between cause and problem, applying the precautionary principle with respect to pollution and disturbing activities.     

Conservation resource allocation,small population resiliency,and the fallacy of conservation triage

Some conservation prioritization methods are based on the assumption that conservation needs overwhelm current resources and not all species can be conserved; therefore, a conservation triage scheme (i.e., when the system is overwhelmed, species should be divided into three groups based on likelihood of survival, and efforts should be focused on those species in the group with the best survival prospects and reduced or denied to those in the group with no survival prospects and to those in the group not needing special efforts for their conservation) is necessary to guide resource allocation. We argue that this decision-making strategy is not appropriate because resources are not as limited as often assumed, and it is not evident that there are species that cannot be conserved. Small population size alone, for example, does not doom a species to extinction; plants, reptiles, birds, and mammals offer examples. Although resources dedicated to conserving all threatened species are insufficient at present, the world's economic resources are vast, and greater resources could be dedicated toward species conservation. The political framework for species conservation has improved, with initiatives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other international agreements, funding mechanisms such as The Global Environment Facility, and the rise of many nongovernmental organizations with nimble, rapid-response small grants programs. For a prioritization system to allow no extinctions, zero extinctions must be an explicit goal of the system. Extinction is not inevitable, and should not be acceptable. A goal of no human-induced extinctions is imperative given the irreversibility of species loss.     

Agenda 21 Realisierungsmöglichkeiten an Hochschulen

Chapter 36 from the Agenda 21 which was held at the Conference for the Environment and Development in 1992 provides suggestions for ?promoting education, public awareness and training“ and important contributions for continuing developments in the universities. The goals which have been mentioned here can only be realized on a long-term basis. A work group at the University in Furtwangen has concentrated on the adaptation of this theme since 1991. After five years, it is now possible to draw a provisional balance: The disciplines of the environment, technology, law and ecology are bound together through a reformed course of studies in the field of process engineering. The certification based upon the EC eco-auditing ordinance offers new prospects for increasing the integration of environmental aspects on a broad basis into the routine university life. The establishment of a regional environmental center provides a possibility for the exchange of knowledge as a joint venture.     

Global Trade in Exotic Pets 2006–2012

International trade in exotic pets is an important and increasing driver of biodiversity loss and often compromises the standards required for good animal welfare. We systematically reviewed the scientific and gray literature and used the United Nations Environment Programme ‐ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP‐WCMC) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) trade database to establish temporal and geographical trade patterns of live exotic birds, mammals, and reptiles and to describe trends in research, taxonomic representation, and level of threat and legal protection of species traded. Birds were the most species‐rich and abundant class reported in trade; reptiles were second most abundant but unusually the most studied in this context; and mammals were least abundant in trade. Mammalian and reptilian species traded as pets were more likely to be threatened than expected by random. There have been a substantial number of Appendix I listed captive‐bred mammals and birds and wild‐caught birds and reptiles reported in trade to CITES. We identified the Middle East's emerging role as a driver of demand for exotic pets of all taxa alongside the well‐established and increasing role of South America and Southeast Asia in the market. Europe, North America, and the Middle East featured most heavily in trade reports to CITES, whereas trade involving South America and Southeast Asia were given most emphasis in the literature. For effective monitoring of and appropriate response to the international exotic pet trade, it is imperative that the reliability and detail of CITES trade reports improve and that scientific research be directed toward those taxa and locations that are most vulnerable. El Mercado Global de Mascotas Exóticas 2006‐2012     

Book Reviews

Bioaccumulation - What Is Its Value for Risk Assessment? R. Nagel and R. Laskill (Editors): Bioaccumulation in Aquatic Systems - Contributions to the Assessment. Proceedings of an International Workshop, Berlin, 1990, Published 1991 Vch Weinheim, New York, Basel, Cambridge. 239pp. Illus.

Chemical Hazards, R.P.Cote and P.G.Wells (editors): Controlling Chemical Hazards; Fundamentals of the Management of Toxic Chemicals, 1991, publ. Unwin Hyman, London, distributed by Chapman and Hall, 310pp., price £40.00. ISBN 0-04-604002.     

Sustainable development: the challenge of implementation

This paper focuses on efforts to produce an operational definition of the concept of ‘sustainable development’ as articulated by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). ‘Sustainability’ has become an increasingly significant environmental issue; the problems in articulating a workable concept will differ among nations and international organizations attempting to define the term. Additionally, the term encompasses the varied fields of ecology, philosophy, and economics; every discipline imparts its own bias. Various definitions are provided and the significance and difficulty of developing an operational definition of Sustainable development is discussed. For example, sustainable development has become a ‘needs'-oriented term, an entitlement that priority should be given to the needs of the world's poor. Some argue that living standards which go beyond the basic minimum are sustainable only if consumption standards everywhere have regard for long-term sustainability. Scientifically, sustainability involves replicability and regeneration through an unforeseeable future. When prices reflect social cost and there are no externalities, optimal choices will be made between present and future consumption. Much of the debate involving sustainability involves deep-rooted fears or phobias, e.g. resource depletion, ‘energy crises’ and ‘timber crises’.     

我国会展业发展的若干思考

本文从会展业的概念,会展业的效用分析和国际国内会展业发展的状况入手,对我国会展发展对策作初步研究.     

Managing natural resources with eco-friendly technologies for sustainable rural development: a case of Garhwal Himalaya

Traditional Central Himalaya societies face a range of socio-economic and environmental problems. The potential of science and technology has not yet been adequately and appropriately harnessed to overcome the development constraints posed by the fragile Himalayan environment. Thus there is a need for large-scale establishment of technology resource centers. The Garhwal Unit of GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development established rural technology demonstration and training centers in three different agroecological zones between 550 and 2200 m asl and in 13–15 locations, with suitable technologies based on appropriate use and management of locally available bio-resources that ensure people participation. About 35 on-site training courses were organised for about 2329 participants. The participants were given on-site demonstrations, training and technical know-how on various technologies, to enable farmers to better understand problems faced during implementation of new technologies for sustainable management of natural resources. An action research framework and training manuals were also developed in consideration of local socio-economic condition. The documentation and analysis of research (quantitative and qualitative) and data related to cost–benefit analysis of the technologies adopted by farmers generated through this study has created wider sharing of farmer training outputs, at farm level, amongst the scientific communities and with policy planners.