Publications

Despite of the widely accepted but general goal of the Climate Convention to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, its interpretation with regard to further international commitments is still pending. This situation gives reason for investigations towards reasonable specifications of the Convention’s ultimate goal.  

This Handbook and the associated research report outlines a methodological concept for the procedure for selecting cost-effective combinations of measures in accordance with the Water Framework Directive, including the sample application thereof. The starting point for the methodology developed in this project is the inventory required by the end of 2004 under the Water Framework Directive.

Beschreibung

Due to the predicted growth rates for air traffic and the intended capacity extensions at many international airports, economic instruments have become more important. This study examines how LTO-charges, which are differentiated according to aircraft-noise emissions, can stimulate incentives for airlines to use less-noisier aircraft.

The purpose of this document is to summarize the results of an international round of testing and research aimed at developing and optimizing an amphibian-based screening assay for thyroid axis disruption.

Society places a high value on protecting children. For that reason, the demand is repeatedly made that children’s particular vulnerability be given special consideration when evaluating environment-related health risks and deriving limit values. Current regulatory practice often attempts to do this in a relatively schematic way, in the form of safety factors.

This report reviews the EU Directive’s guidelines for a model’s quality assessment, and examines specific model quality criteria, that may be used for model accuracy assessment according to the intentions of the EU directives. Several model accuracy measures are tested utilizing a one-year simulation with the chemical transport model REM-CALGRID (RCG).

Protecting the Baltic Sea from environmental impact remains important even 30 years after foundation of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM). Every year some one billion kilograms of nitrogen and roughly 40 million kilograms of phosphorous are still being discharged into the Baltic Sea, of which more than half stems from agriculture.

Due to different directives on the national and the European level it is necessary to analyse the fate of chemicals in the environment using exposure models. By combining the results of these models with ecotoxicity data the risk assessment is performed. Usually, this analysis is performed based on EUSES (EC (1996),EC (2003a)). It calculates the fate of chemicals based on generic scenarios.

This brochure ‘Environmental Health in Germany’ (German title: “Umwelt und Gesundheit in Deutschland”) is addressing a set of topics related to environmental health – to our health and our environment. It is illustrated by everyday examples.

We are at the beginning of the year 2004 and thus only few weeks away from the enlargement of the European Union to 25 member states. Objective, reliable, and comparative data and information are a prerequisite for European policy to ensure a sound basis for transboundary and harmonised decision making.

Measurement of air pollution emissions and ambient air quality is an essential instrument for air quality evaluation and control. In such measurements, pollutants are registered both at their place of origin (emissions) and at the place where they may affect people and/or the environment (immissions1).