Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals, Economy | Consumption

Round Robin Test for the Implementation of Odour Measurements regarding ISO 16000-28 into the Evaluation of Building Products – Part II (Specified by VDI 4302-1)

While in 2012 a commercially available acrylic sealant was used as sample material, in 2014 a lacquer doped with specific substances was sent to the participants for the ⁠VOC⁠ and odour measurement. The resulting measurement values for the perceived intensity were evaluated in consideration of various boundary conditions to identify parameters that could possibly influence the measur...read more

Chemicals, Waste | Resources

Development of a test protocol to study the transformation of veterinary pharmaceuticals and biocides in liquid manure

It was the aim of the project to develop a method to determine the transformation of substances in liquid manure. In a first step, the heterogeneity of manure of different type and origin was tested. Furthermore, a procedure was tested which is capable to take samples homogeneously from a manure storage tank. Obviously, representative sampling is possible in case mixing devices which are routinely...read more

Climate | Energy

Evaluation of the German Strategy for Adaption to Climate Change (DAS) – Reporting and Closing Indicator Gaps

The Indicator System underlying the Monitoring Report and the overall report itself were created and agreed politically in an inter-departmental process with the participation of numerous experts from the competent sectors of agencies at Federal and Länder level and from scientific and private institutions. This painstaking theme-specific process took nearly six years. In future the monitoring rep...read more

Chemicals, Waste | Resources, Water

Sources of microplastics relevant to marine protection in Germany

The Federal Environment Agency was commissioned a study to produce a first approximation of the amounts of microplastics used in cosmetic products on the market in Germany and the European Union, conduct research into further areas of application for microplastics and determine their amounts of use, and identify other sources of microplastics and estimate their quantity. The nova-Institute gathere...read more

Soil | Land

Land Degradation Neutrality: An Evaluation of Methods

Land degradation is a global issue with local solutions. Therefore, a concerted global effort on the post-2015 development agenda should also include the many promising SLM technologies and ap-proaches that are already applied. This would help empower the global community to learn from each other, and contribute to building resilience at local, national, and regional levels. This document portrays...read more

Chemicals

Pharmaceuticals in the environment - avoidance, reduction and monitoring

Residues of pharmaceuticals pollute our waters and soils. Their traces are found in groundwater and in some cases in drinking water. A risk for the environment has already been identified for a few pharmaceutical active substances. However, according to current knowledge, no risk for human health is indicated. In order to protect our waters and soils on a long-term basis and as well for reasons of...read more

Air

Assessment of the impacts of ozone on biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems: Literature review and analysis of methods and uncertainties in current risk assessment approaches

Part II: Literature review of the current state of knowledge on the impact of ozone on biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems

Tropospheric ozone is considered as the most significant phytotoxic pollutant in the atmosphere. While it has been shown that ozone concentrations have significant adverse effects on crop yields, forest growth and species composition, the impacts of ozone on biodiversity are uncertain. The project aims to assess the impacts of O3 on vegetation and biodiversity in Germany. For this purpose, the pre...read more

Water

Impacts of Scrubbers on the environmental situation in ports and coastal waters

International and European regulations permit the use of scrubbers to comply with the sulfur limits for marine fuel. Some scrubbers generate wastewater, which is discharged into the marine environment. The current environmental status of German coastal waters is moderate to poor. The contaminated wastewater adds a further stress factor for marine organisms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea as well a...read more