Publications

Whether in mouse pads, toys, or bathing shoes – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous. We encounter PAHs as atmospheric pollutants produced by small combustion units (such as fireplaces and stoves in homes), traffic, industrial processes, and tobacco smoke. They can also be detected in foodstuffs, especially at summertime BBQ events or in smoked products.

This report analyses the technical provisions related to monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions under the EU ETS and the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national GHG inventories as of beginning 2014. Differences can lead to different reported CO2 (equivalent) emissions under the EU ETS and in the GHG inventory.

This report supports the implementation of European regulations on biocidal products for the product types 7, 9 and 10. Emission of active substances from material preservatives into environmental compartments can occur due precipitation. Risk characterisations have to be based on estimations of environmental concentrations of target substances leached from material preservatives.

These questions were addressed intensively during a two-day ‘future workshop’ (Zukunftswerkstatt) in March 2015. The following short text summarises the main results for the following areas ▸ Ethical framework ▸ Research and Development (R&D) ▸ Role of the state ▸ Economy and finance.

This master thesis deals with the evaluation of the analysis tool EDIT Value (Eco-innovation Diagnosis and Implementation Tool for Increase of Enterprise Value) with respect to the tool’s pilot phase.

In recent decades, with EU and national subsidies for farming in Germany, the conventional cultivation of crops has established itself as the basis of an increasingly intensified agriculture and food production. For many crops, a key requirement for this form of production is the intensive application of chemical plant protection products, on which the system is now practically dependent.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as a significant pathway for the introduction of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to natural waters. It was observed in several studies that the concentration of certain PFASs were higher in the WWTP effluent compared to the corresponding influent.

The development of screening methods has increased over the last years due to the possibility to search for multiple targets and suspected and so far unknown compounds. Non-target screening has mostly been restricted to water and food samples, only a few studies have shown an application to biological samples.

As a Party to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), since 1994 Germany has been obliged to prepare, publish and regularly update national emission inventories of greenhouse gases. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force.

The present study analyzes the legal framework of Antarctic tourism in the light of its factual development. The first part defines Antarctic tourism and identifies the objectives of the Antarctic Treaty system that are relevant for Antarctic tourism.

Multiple methods to observe cetaceans in Antarctic waters were concurrently conducted during two expeditions of RV Polarstern in the Antarctic summers of 2008/9 (ANT25-2) and 2010/11 (ANT27-2). The Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) conducted aerial (helicopter) as well as ship-board (crow's nest) distance sampling Surveys and a Tracking study.

Emperor penguins breed solely on the landfast sea ice of the Antarctic. Due to climate change the sea ice undergoes major changes in some regions of Antarctica. To assess a possible endangerment of an emperor penguin colony in Atka Bay (East Antarctica) the changes of the local extent of sea ice have been analyzed in this study for the period of the last 15 years by help of satellite images.