PBT- qou vadis? Examination and further development of the PBT assessment approach for identification of environmental SVHC: final report
In: Texte 2020, 230
In: Environmental Research of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
The aim of the project was a review of the current version of the concept to identify persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances under the EU regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), hereafter referred to as "PBT concept". The German Environment Agency (UBA) contracted Oeko-Institut, ETH Zürich and BiPRO to review the current PBT concept and to propose updates and adjustments. The project was designated to support UBA in its active contribution to the identification of new PBT substances. In a first step, an evaluation of a number of already existing PBT/vPvB classifications was conducted, 57 of which were classified as non-PBT substances with a strong indication that 8 substances might be PBT substances. For the assessment of environmental monitoring data, substances detected in remote areas were compiled and examined based on EpiSuite estimations for their P and B properties. In order to further strengthen the PBT concept two main steps were carried out: a review of the PBT/vPvB concept as implemented under REACH, and the implementation of the concept with the aim to identify substances of very high concern, and proposals for updating the PBT concept by developing suggestions on how to overcome the major challenges. Proposals for amendments or adjustments of PBT concept were discussed on a workshop with international PBT experts in June 2017.