Bewertung der Auswirkungen von Pflanzenschutzmitteln auf Regenwürmer

The fundamental data requirements for the authorization of plant protection products and the inclusion of active ingredients in Annex I of Council Directive 91/414/EEC are described in Annexes II and III of the Directive. The uniform principles for the registration of plant protection products in the Member States described in Annex VI of the Directive were primarily developed to assess the effects on the soil functions with regard to agriculture. A tiered approach was developed to assess the effects of plant protection products on earthworms based on the data requirements of Annex II and III of Directive 91/414/EEC. The risk is assessed using the effect-concentration evaluated in ecotoxicological tests and the predicted or calculated environmental concentration. To protect the whole range of naturally occurring species in terrestrial biocenosis assessment factors need to be considered.     

Entwicklung und Anwendung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln: Wirtschaftliche Aspekte

The development of new active ingredients and formulations is increasingly influenced by costs and regulations in the frame of pesticide registration procedures. Lawmakers and administrators therefore take over more responsibility, not only for the subject of regulation, but also for fair and balanced rules which can be predicted in the long-term. There are, however, deficiencies in the choice of certain quality standards — like in the European drinking water directive — which are not risk-related and which are susceptible to giving misleading guidance. Testing requirements should be scrutinized for efficiency, i.e. whether the increase in knowledge and safety is in reasonable proportion to the invested resources.     

Bewertungskriterien des Umweltbundesamtes: Auswirkungen von Pflanzenschutzmitteln auf terrestrische Arthropoden

The fundamental data requirements for the authorization of plant protection products and the inclusion of active ingredients in Annex I of Council Directive 91/414/EEC are described in the Annexes II and III of the Directive. Definite guidelines concerning investigations with arthropods are partially deficient. The uniform principles for the registration of plant protection products in the Member States described in Annex VI of the directive were primarily developed to assess the effects on the beneficial capacity of arthropods in agriculture. However, the risk for arthopods as an essential part of the environment need to be assessed, too. Hence, the German Federal Environmental Agency has developed a tiered approach to assess the effects of plant protection products on arthopods based on the data requirements of Annex II and III of the Directive 91/414/EEC. The risk is assessed using the effect-concentration evaluated in ecotoxicological tests and the environmental concentration predicted by validated exposure models. To protect non-target species in terrestrial ecosystems assessment factors need to be considered.     

Entwicklung der Ökotoxikologie von Pflanzenschutzmitteln in den letzten 25 Jahren: Von ersten Diskussionen über Prüforganismen zur probabilistischen Risikoanalyse

In Europe as well as in Germany a remarkable development within the last 25 years took place in the assessment of ecotoxicological effects of Plant Protection Products (PPPs). The starting point was a comparative, retrospective toxicity testing of some selected indicator species. Then, first attempts of a quantitative, prospective hazard and risk assessment with relevant exposure evaluations were made. Currently a probabilistic risk analysis on the landscape level is discussed.Based on personal experiences within the last decades this contribution will highlight the different developments of the ecotoxicological evaluation of PPPs. At first, the selection of suitable test species and the development of suitable standardized test methods was the main task. Thereafter, the discussions focused more on long-term, chronic effects instead of solely acute ones, the development of focused higher tier studies adjusted to better address the specific properties of a PPP and/or the specific concerns resulting from its application, as well as multi-species and ecosystem approaches. With the availability of suitable computer based models a more precise exposure calculation was possible, which allows a more realistic exposure assessment instead of simple worstcase assumptions. Current discussions focus on probabilistic exposure assessments at a local scale.All these developments took place regardless of the insufficient (political) definition of the protection goal and — as a consequence — the need and extent of appropriate safety factors. The development of ecotoxicology was mostly driven by political trends in Europe, mainly by the harmonized registration of PPPs under the still valid Annexes II and III (1996) of the EU Directive 91/414 and the thereby initiated further progression. In the context of this development more and more scientists were offered interesting job opportunities.     

Bewertung der Umweltrelevanz von Arzneistoffen

Aim The aim of this work was to investigate, which human and veterinary pharmaceuticals are of high ecological relevance due to the input into the environment as well as with regard to the effects and behaviour in the environment. Furthermore, the state of knowledge concerning the ecologically relevant substances and the need of research was evaluated. Methods A two-step approach considering the criteria quantity of sold pharmaceuticals, concentrations, effects and fate in the environment was developed to identify the pharmaceuticals of potential ecological relevance. In a second step the identified individual substances and groups of substances were considered in more detail concerning metabolism, environmental behaviour and ecological effects. Results In a first step 29 out of approximate 2,700 licensed human pharmaceuticals and seven substances as well as three substance groups used in veterinary medicine were identified as potentially ecologically relevant. The detailed assessment in a second step lead to the conclusion, that of the human pharmaceuticals 9 substances as well as two substance groups concerning the environmental behaviour and seven substances concerning the effects are of high environmental relevance. Concerning the environmental behaviour six out of seven veterinary pharmaceuticals as well as three substance groups and only three substances concerning the ecological effects were classified as relevant for the environment. Discussion By means of the presented method it was possible to limit the scope of a wide spectrum of pharmaceuticals, so that a detailed assessment of only relevant active agents was possible. Nevertheless, it is a precondition that investigations concerning the occurrence, fate and effects of the individual compounds in the environment have been already carried out and published in the literature. Conclusions The method is suitable for a comprehensive assessment of the ecological relevance of pharmaceuticals, but for a lot of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals the data available in the literature are insufficient. Recommendations For a final extensive assessment of the environmental relevance for some of the human and veterinary pharmaceuticals more studies are necessary. Especially data concerning the environmental behaviour in water and soils, data from long-term-studies for the assessment of ecological effects and data concerning metabolites and mixtures of pharmaceutical compounds are lacking.     

Wissenschaftstheoretische Grundlagen der Beobachtung von GVO-Umweltwirkungen

Goal, Scope and Background

The release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may result in ecological impacts to be monitored. This series presents the state-of-art concerning the environmental monitoring of ecological impacts of GMOs. Since this monitoring is conducted by several authorities, the methodical comparability and spatial validity of the monitoring data is crucial. Thus, the respective fundamentals of philosophy of science and of statistics as well as the methodical standardisation form the focus of this article.

Main Features

At first, the monitoring requirements will be described from the viewpoint of ecology. Consequently, the GMO monitoring needs to be integrated into existing programmes. Exposure and effects of GMOs have to be monitored across the hierarchy of ecological organisation. For monitoring to be efficient and sufficient, the design must be founded in terms of philosophy of science and statistics. Hence the fundamentals concerning the verification of hypotheses represent another feature of this article. The data used for the verification of hypotheses must comply with quality criteria. One of these criteria is the spatial and temporal extrapolation of the monitoring results, which is the third feature in this introductory article.

Conclusions

The evaluation of hypotheses on GMO impacts requires the linkage to ecosystems research and environmental monitoring. These both are, in terms of methodology, complementary and of significant technical and scientific value for GMO monitoring.

Recommendations

GMO-monitoring should closely be connected with ecosystems research and environmental monitoring. The levels of ecological organisation should be covered as well as the exposure and the effects of GMOs. The expected GMO exposure and effects should be considered by localising the monitoring sites.

Perspectives

Further articles of this series will deal with network designing, GMO pollen monitoring and extrapolation of site-specific measurements and modelling results.     

In vitro-Screening von Gefahrstoffen in der Arbeits- und Umweltmedizin

Chromium, especially the metal and its trivalent and hexavalent compounds, are of great industrial interest. As a matter of fact, chromium workers have an occupational risk. While trivalent chromium compounds are of low toxicity, the hexavalent compounds are strong oxidants which cause not only a direct tissue damage (=acute toxicity), but also possess a carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic potential (=chronic toxicity). Since the kidney is the main target organ after oral and/or dermal uptake of hexavalent chromium is the kidney, tubular necrosis might be the result of an acute toxification. This report presents anin vitro assay with cultured renal epithelial cells which allows the evaluation of the acute toxicity not only of trivalent and hexavalent chromium compounds, but also of various hazardous substances used in industrial production process. As shown here, an acute toxic effect was not detectable for the trivalent chromium (chromium (III)-chloridehexahydrate) within 24 h of exposure to concentrations as high as 200 μmol/l. In contrast, renal epithelial cells which were exposed to hexavalent chromium (potassium chromate) for the same time period exhibited marked signs of toxicity such as a rounding and detachment of the cells from the floor of the culture plates, an elongation and perinuclear development of vacuoles in the vital cells which were still attached, as well as a cells swelling and cellular fragments caused as a result of necrotic cell death and subsequent lysis. This toxic effect was already observed at concentrations above 5 μmol/l. In conclusion, thein vitro assay might be a good tool for the screening of hazardous substances in industrial medicine. More-over, by using additional tests, the chronic toxicity of such substances can also be examined. The selection of specific cell strains such as hepatocytes, neural cells etc. also allows the evaluation of toxic effects in individual organs. Thein vitro assay can not only be applied for the investigation of basic mechanisms of toxification and detoxification of specific compounds, but also delivers a basis for the screening of the reactivity of individual hazardous substances. Finally, the assay would allow a reduction in animal experiments as well as the simultaneous testing of a reactivity to multiple, hazardous substances.     

Der Einsatz von Pflanzentests bei der Sedimentbewertung

Background and aim Aquatic organisms of the three trophic levels (producers, consumers, reducers) have been used for a long time for ecotoxicological assessments of water quality (HABAB 2000; HABAK 1999). In biotest systems that have become established standards, algae, daphnia, and luminescent bacteria as test organisms are often used so far. However, comparative studies have shown that algae are not sufficiently sensitive to all phytotoxic agents and thus cannot be the exclusive indicator organism of any toxic effects on autotrophic life. Moreover, the EU Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD 2000) sets macrobenthos, fish, phytoplankton, and macrophytes equally side by side as indicators of the status of waters. Nevertheless, biotest systems relying on higher plants have been rarely used in assessments of aquatic sediments so far. Against this background, the aquatic duckweed test (DIN EN ISO 20079) was developed and standardized, and a sediment contact test was developed with Myriophyllum aquaticum (Feiler et al. 2004). The latter was subject of a joint research project of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF-Verbundprojekt “SeKT”) that examined and compared several sediment contact tests (Feiler et al. 2005). Compared to tests with algae, a biotest using macrophytes has the advantage to be more representative of higher plants, since target organism and test organism are closer related in terms of evolutionary history. The present study demonstrates that the application of biotests with higher plants in analyses of contaminated sediments yields valuable results that may contribute to a concept for the integrative assessment of water quality.     

Der Einsatz von Pflanzentests bei der Sedimentbewertung

Up to now, sediment studies have mainly used standardized aquatic bioassays with organisms of the three trophic levels. Among these, algae are the only representatives of the entire plant kingdom. Bioassays with higher plants have hardly been used for the assessment of sediments. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate that the use of higher plants in biotests for analyses of anthropogenically contaminated sediments yields valuable results, which may be included in a concept for the integrated assessment of waters. The contamination by environmental chemicals was determined in the River Elbe by means of samples taken at the Fahlberg-List industrial site at Magdeburg in combination with studies in a reference area on the Müritz-Elde Waterway (Eldenburger Kanal). Sediment extracts and pore waters were tested with the aquatic lemna test. For comparison, first sediment contact tests withLemna minor were tried out. The whole extract of the sediment from Fahlberg-List Magdeburg and one fraction F5 caused distinct damages of the plants. Obviously, the phytotoxic substances of the whole extract are preferentially concentrated in the highly polar fraction F5. A comparison with chemical analytical data proved that the whole fraction F0 and the fraction F5 were heavily contaminated with chemicals. Assays with pore water from this sediment and with the whole sediment also caused a strong inhibition of growth. These results confirm the high contamination of the sediment from Magdeburg. The tests with the reference sediment suggested only a moderate toxic contamination. The results of this study prove that the selected aquatic plant,Lemna minor, is basically able to indicate contamination. In the aquatic test of the sediment extracts, it showed weak, but very selective, responses to certain classes of contaminants. Fractionating of the sample and subsequent chemical analysis combined with toxicity tests allow to narrow down the groups of substances causing toxic effects. This toxicity was confirmed by analyses of the pore waters and whole sediment samples. Together with other toxicity tests (e.g. standardized bioassays) and combined with biological benthos examinations, an overall judgment can be given for the integrated assessment of waters.     

Einsatz der Hassediagrammtechnik zum Vergleich von Bergbaubetrieben unter dem Aspekt der Nachhaltigkeit

Ziel und Hintergrund

Der Vergleich von Bergwerken unter dem Gesichtspunkt einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung erfordert die Berücksichtigung einer Vielzahl von Kriterien die gleichermaßen ökonomische, ökologische und soziale Aspekte berücksichtigen. Bergwerksbetreiber stehen bei ihren strategischen und operativen Entscheidungen vor der Schwierigkeit diese Kriterien angemessen zu berücksichtigen. Durch den Einsatz, der HDT wird die Komplexität der Entscheidungssituation reduziert. Sie unterstützt die Aufbereitung der verfügbaren Informationen und erleichtert so die Entscheidungsfindung.

Methodik

Das Ziel einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung im Bergbau kann durch den Einsatz von Indikatoren konkretisiert werden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit erfolgt ein Vergleich ausgewählter Bergwerke durch die Definition geeigneter Indikatoren, ihre numerische Belegung und durch ihre Verwendung in der HDT. Dabei werden verschiedene methodische Aspekte wie die Klassifizierung von Daten, deren Aggregierung und Gewichtung sowie die Einbeziehung von Expertenwissen dargestellt.

Ergebnisse

Am Beispiel ausgewählter Bergwerke wird gezeigt, dass eine Sortierung der Bergwerke anhand ihrer charakteristischen und als wesentlich erachteten Eigenschaften möglich ist. Durch den Einsatz der Hassediagrammtechnik wird die Komplexität der Entscheidungssituation reduziert. Es wird aber auch deutlich, dass mit diesem Instrument kein Verfahren vorliegt, dessen Einsatz automatisch zu einer eindeutigen Rangfolge führt. Es bleibt notwendig, die Anwendung der Hassediagrammtechnik in einen umfassen deren Entscheidungs-und Zielfindungsprozess zu integrieren.

Diskussion

Die Sortierung erfolgt bewertend, d.h. sie nutzt aus, dass charakteristischen Eigenschaften von Bergwerken inhärent eine Orientierung nach ?gut’ und ?schlecht’, zugeordnet werden kann. Es wird aber auch deutlich, dass mit diesem Instrument kein Verfahren vorliegt, dessen Einsatz, automatisch zu einer eindeutigen Rangfolge führt.

Schlussfolgerungen

Es bleibt notwendig, die Anwendung der Hassediagrammtechnik in einen umfassenderen Entscheidungs- und Zielfindungsprozess zu integrieren. Vorschläge zu einer Erweiterung der Hassediagrammtechnik werden formuliert.

Empfehlungen und Perspektiven

Die Hassediagrammtechnik versteht sich als eine Bewertungsmethodik, die das in der Nachhaltigkeits-/Bewertungsdiskussion so gefürchtete Vergleichen von ?Äpfeln mit Birnen’ vermeidet. Als relativ neue Methode, die sich als Alternative zu etablierten Bewertungsverfahren sieht, lässt sich weiterer Forschungsbedan ableiten.