Von der Erkenntnis zur Entscheidung

This contribution highlights the role and importance of ecotoxicology in regulatory decisions of chemicals legislation focussing on the responsibilities of the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA). Therefore, organisational structures and processes relevant for making decisions concerning the risks of chemicals to men and the environment are described. As any regulatory decision starts with scientific findings, a brief overview of UBA’s activities with regard to own research and to initiate research in the area of ecotoxicology is provided. In addition, the vast importance of standardisation and international harmonisation of guidelines for testing and assessment of chemicals is illustrated, including the time- and ressource consuming character of these harmonisation processes. Subsequently, the involvement of regulatory decision making in intense and controversial scientific and political debates is emphasised. The transparency of these discussions and the independence of science is critically addressed in this context. In a final chapter the job requirements and options for qualification in Germany are described, ending up with a brief summary of the positive experiences with UBA’s contribution to the new advanced training course in ecotoxiciology realised by GDCh/SETAC GLB. A summary of the discussions on these different topics emphasises the specific challenge in regulatory ecotoxicology: To generate knowledge relevant for decision making, while acting in an area of conflict between scientific demands and economical as well as political interests.     

Bewertung der Luftqualität in Rheinland-Pflaz mittels verschiedener Luftqualitätsindizes

Goal and Scope

The constant increase of traffic and the rising energy and material consumption both in industry and trade as well as in private households mean a constant challenge to environmental protection and to the air pollution control. With the commencement of the Federal ambient pollution control act in April 1974, the legal basis for the monitoring of air pollution was created. In future, the limit values laid down in the Council Directive 1999/30/EG, 2000/69/EG and 96/62/EG, will be valid. In town and regional planning there is a great demand for a simple index to evaluate the air quality. From the available data of PM₁₀, NO₂, O₃, CO, SO₂, trends of the air quality will be derived.

Methods

The indices LQI and TLQ suggested by Mayer et al. (2002) were calculated for selected stations of the air pollution monitoring network (ZIMEN) in Rhineland-Palatine. All analysis are based on hourly recorded value, Mean values and frequency distributions are used for the interpretation. Furthermore, the characteristics and trends of the indices under different weather conditions were examined and discussed.

Results

The examination figures out that the air pollutions indices at all stations show similar patterns in the period between January 2001 and December 2002. Neither the LQI, nor the TLQ shows an annual variation. Existing variations are mainly controlled by the general weather situation and the air temperature. High values of the indices appear at extremely high or low mean daily air temperature. The absolute value of the air pollution index is determined by local pollution factors.

Outlook and Recommendations

Both indices are well suitable to evaluate the air quality and to assess the effects of state-aided measures for air pollutant control. Therefore, the indices TLQ and LQI should be published as an additional information in the world wide web.