PARENT SESSION

5B a - RA/ Ranking and Chemical Specific
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Tuesday, 29 April 2003
Chair: Loonen, H.¹, ¹
Co-chair: McCarty, L.², ²

(TUP/201) Existing chemicals in science and international programs: the role of the German Advisory Committee on Existing Chemicals (BUA).

Licht, Oliver¹, Weyers, Arnd¹, Widmann, Karin², Greim, Heidrun², Behret, Heinz³, Nagel, Roland¹, Zellner, Reinhard⁴, Greim, Helmut², ¹ Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany² Munich University of Technology, Munich, Germany³ German Chemical Society (GDCh), Frankfurt, Germany⁴ University of Essen, Essen, Germany

ABSTRACT- In 1982, the Advisory Committee on Existing Chemicals of Environmental Relevance (BUA: Beratergremium für Altstoffe) was established by the German Chemical Society (GDCh) in co-operation with the federal government, the scientific community and the chemical industry. The Committee consists of 13 members from academia and industry, with chair from academia. BUA is responsible for the German Existing Chemicals Program. Over 500 substances were investigated and a priority list for the further work was adopted. For approximately 300 of this list extensive reports have been published. Several project groups have been established to address recurring problems concerning hazard and risk assessment of chemicals. Examples for the latter include strategies to assess impact of substances in soil and sediment, POP′s (persistent organic pollutants) and substances with endocrine disrupting potential. Another important task is the peer review of documents for the OECD programme on the Investigation of Existing Chemicals. An overview of the ongoing ICCA HPV chemical initiative (ICCA: International Council of Chemical Associations; HPV: High Production Volumes, >1000 t/a) illustrates the contribution of BUA within the national implementation of the program. Until SIAM 15, the OECD Substance Initial Assessment Meeting from October 2002, 84 substances were assessed. Of these, 18 were sponsored by Germany and peer reviewed by BUA. The resulting recommendations for human health and environment are compared with substance specific parameters e.g. annual production and use pattern. These comparisons give a first view of the outcome of the ICCA HPV initiative.

Key words: existing chemicals, hazard assessment, ICCA HPV