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(05-02) What is Risk Assessment under EU Chemicals Legislation. De Bruijn, Jack*,1, Payá-Pérez, Ana1, Kaland, Toralf2, 1 EC Joint Research Centre, Ispra (Va), Italy2 The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, Oslo, Norway ABSTRACT- Previously, risk management and regulation of chemicals in the European Union (EU) was based on ad hoc solutions resulting from a need to harmonise national initiatives. During the last decade, a formalised priority setting and risk assessment approach has been developed and implemented. Likewise, the activities of OSPAR on protection of the marine environment have developed into a more formalised procedure. The activities of OSPAR on hazardous substances are based on the "OSPAR Strategy with regard to Hazardous Substances" which was endorsed by the Ministerial Meeting of the OSPAR Commission in 1998. The objective of the strategy is to prevent pollution by continuously reducing emissions to the marine area. The guiding principles for the work are the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle, the use of best available techniques and best available practice and, additionally, the principles of substitution. The current EU RA methodology is focusing on the PEC/PNEC approach, which is mainly applied for local inland scenarios. Contrary to that, the OSPAR approach as a starting point focuses on those properties that are associated with a widespread and long-term occurrence in the marine environment in combination with a potential for toxic effects, i.e. the PBT criteria. The current development is building a bridge between these two approaches and takes place as a joint effort between the EU and the OSPAR. A common marine Risk Assessment approach will be integrated in the EU Technical Guidance Document (TGD), which revision is almost finalised, and on the other hand will be used by OSPAR for a more detailed risk assessment and prioritisation of substances that are discharged or emitted to the marine environment. The Technical Guidance Document has been adapted and marine risk assessment is now included in TGD. In this paper the main features of the new marine risk assessment methodology will be described and discussed. Key words: chemicals policy, technical guidance document, risk assessment, marine environment |
