Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals, Economy | Consumption, Health

Toxicological basic data for the derivation of EU-LCI values for 1,4-cyclohexane dimethanol, 3-methoxybutanol, 1,2-propylene glycol n-propyl ether, methyl formate and butyl formate

The subject of this project was the preparation of substance reports for five substances relevant for building products emissions. For these substances, the toxicological data basis was researched, compiled and evaluated, and EU-LCI values were proposed. The EU-LCI values allow the harmonisation of the health assessment of building products emissions throughout Europe. The EU-LCI Working Group is...read more

Water

The value of the German marine environment

Costs of degradation of the marine environment using the example of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea

Strong algal growth, water turbidity, overfishing, underwater noise or trash not only on the beaches are just a few examples that the North Sea and Baltic Sea are confronted with. The latest status assessment of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea waters from 2018 shows that a good status of marine waters is still a long way off.From a human well-being perspective, a marine environment in poor con...read more

Chemicals, Air, Health, Water, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters, Soil | Land, Transport

The Zero Pollution Action Plan as a chance for a cross-regulatory approach to pollution prevention and reduction

To further prevent and reduce the pollution of air, water, and soil and to safeguard human health and well-being, the European regulatory framework needs to be improved to include a cross-regulatory approach. This scientific opinion paper presents such an approach for the systemic protection of air, water, soil and human health – the Zero Pollution Ambition Cycle developed by the German Environmen...read more

Klima | Energie

Renewable energies in Germany

Data on the development in 2020

On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics (AGEE-Stat) takes stock of the use of renewable energies and annually prepares an official estimate of the development of renewable energies for the previous year. This background paper describes the initial findings for the electricity, heatand transport sectors, supplemented by fig...read more

Climate | Energy

Criteria for the evaluation of climate protection scenarios

Climate protection scenarios are an important basis for long-term climate protection planning. The modelling, which is often carried out in extensive studies, is a central source of information for decision makers and stakeholders in the development of climate protection strategies. This report outlines a catalog of criteria for the systematic evaluation of long-term climate protection scenarios. ...read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Critical loads for eutrophication and acidification for European terrestrial ecosystems

The project aimed to improve the European background database used by the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) to calculate Critical Loads (CLs) for eutrophication and acidification for (semi-) natural European terrestrial ecosystems. The database is used when member countries do not provide their own CL data to the CCE. In this case, the missing country data are replaced by the results of the ba...read more

Water, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Development of concepts and methods for compilation and assessment of selected anthropogenic pressures in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

In 2008, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive entered into force, with the overall objective to achieve and/or maintain a good status of the marine environment by 2020. The good environmental status has to be defined in accordance with qualitative Descriptors specified through a Commission Decision. The project developed a first understanding and assessment concepts for descriptors 2 (non-indig...read more

Chemicals

Bioaccumulation of ionic compounds - Deriving of alternative screening criteria from experimental studies

Many chemicals for which a PBT assessment is necessary are ionized in the environment. Therefore, the project aimed to find appropriate screening criteria for ionic organic chemicals (IOCs) to estimate their bioaccumulation potential. Twenty possible parameters were examined. The partitioning coefficient between water and fish calculated with COSMOmic showed the strongest correlation with experime...read more