Environmental risk assessment for relevant ingredients in adhesives and sealants in commonplace industrial uses.

The Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals requires that the risks from the exposure to substances be controlled throughout the life cycle. This includes that conditions of safe use are established via risk assessments, documented and communicated to the downstream users of chemicals. This also applies to the environmental risks originating from downstream uses of chemicals, for instance, those from the industrial uses of adhesives and sealants. Upon application, these products form solid matrices with low emissions to the environment during the application. Hence, it is expected that environmental exposure is low, provided that good industrial practice is followed. To explore this, an environmental risk assessment for industrial uses of adhesives and sealants is performed for the environmentally most hazardous ingredients. These include several solvents, organotin catalysts, fillers, reactive resins, a pigment, and a preservative. Specific environmental release categories (SPERCs) developed by the Association of European Adhesives and Sealants Industries (FEICA) are used to derive emission estimates. In combination with multimedia fate modeling, the environmental risk in water, sediment, soil, and a sewage treatment plant is investigated. The assessment results indicate no environmental risk for any of the ingredients. The discussion evaluates the conservative nature of the assumed values of the use rates, the release factors, the fate modeling, and assessment factors. It concludes that their combination results in a sufficient degree of conservatism. In view of the conservative nature of the assessment and given that the worst-case ingredients of adhesives and sealants are sufficiently controlled under the generically defined use conditions, it is concluded that the SPERCs used represent safe conditions for use, irrespective of the ingredient substances of adhesives and sealants. The essential SPERC information elements are identified for the purpose of communicating the conditions of safe use. The consolidation of this information in safety data sheets for adhesives and sealants is discussed. Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:1288-1296. © 2021 FEICA aisbl. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Use of prospective and retrospective risk assessment methods that simplify chemical mixtures associated with treated domestic wastewater discharges.

A framework is presented that is intended to facilitate the evaluation of potential aquatic ecological risks resulting from discharges of down-the-drain chemicals. A scenario is presented using representatives of many of the types of chemicals that are treated domestically. Predicted environmental chemical concentrations are based on reported loading rates and routine removal rates for 3 types of treatment: trickling filter, activated sludge secondary treatment, and activated sludge plus advanced oxidation process as well as instream effluent dilution. In tier I, predicted effluent concentrations were compared with the lowest predicted-no-effect concentration (PNEC) obtained from the literature using safety factors as needed. A cumulative risk characterization ratio (cumRCR) < 1.0 indicates that risk is unlikely and no further action is needed. Otherwise, a tier 2 assessment is used, in which PNECs are based on trophic level. If tier 2 indicates a possible risk, then a retrospective assessment is recommended. In tier 1, the cumRCR was > 1.0 for all 3 treatment types in our scenario, even though no chemical exceeded a hazard quotient of 1.0 in activated sludge or advanced oxidation process. In tier 2, activated sludge yielded a lower cumRCR than trickling filter because of higher removal rates, and the cumRCR in the advanced oxidation process was << 1.0. Based on the maximum cumulative risk ratio (MCR), more than one-third of the predicted risk was accounted for by one chemical, and at least 90% was accounted for by 3 chemicals, indicating that few chemicals influenced the mixture risk in our scenario. We show how a retrospective assessment can test whether certain chemicals hypothesized as potential drivers in the prospective assessment could have, or are having, deleterious effects on aquatic life. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:690-702. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Specific environmental release categories--A tool for improving chemical safety assessment in the EC--report of a multi-stakeholder workshop.

In April 2011, experts from industry and authorities met for a workshop to discuss experience and future developments regarding the use of specific environmental release categories (SPERCs) in chemicals safety assessment (CSA) under the European Chemicals Regulation Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). This article provides a summary of the workshop. It briefly explains what a SPERC is, why SPERCs are needed, where the challenges of the concept are, and what improvements are needed to make SPERCs a useful tool for assessments under REACH.

A new concept for the environmental risk assessment of poorly water soluble compounds and its application to consumer products.

Many consumer products contain lipophilic, poorly soluble ingredients representing large-volume substances whose aquatic toxicity cannot be adequately determined with standard methods for a number of reasons. In such cases, a recently developed approach can be used to define an aquatic exposure threshold of no concern (ETNCaq; i.e., a concentration below which no adverse affects on the environment are to be expected). A risk assessment can be performed by comparing the ETNCaq value with the aquatic exposure levels of poorly soluble substances. Accordingly, the aquatic exposure levels of substances with water solubility below the ETNCaq will not exceed the ecotoxicological no-effect concentration; therefore, their risk can be assessed as being negligible. The ETNCaq value relevant for substances with a narcotic mode of action is 1.9 microg/L. To apply the above risk assessment strategy, the solubility in water needs to be known. Most frequently, this parameter is estimated by means of quantitative structure/activity relationships based on the log octanol-water partition coefficient (log Kow). The predictive value of several calculation models for water solubility has been investigated by this method with the use of more recent experimental solubility data for lipophilic compounds. A linear regression model was shown to be the most suitable for providing correct predictions without underestimation of real water solubility. To define a log Kow threshold suitable for reliably predicting a water solubility of less than 1.9 microg/L, a confidence limit was established by statistical comparison of the experimental solubility data with their log Kow. It was found that a threshold of log Kow = 7 generally allows discrimination between substances with solubility greater than and less than 1.9 microg/L. Accordingly, organic substances with a baseline toxicity and log Kow > 7 do not require further testing to prove that they have low environmental risk. In applying this concept, the uncertainty of the prediction of water solubility can be accounted for. If the predicted solubility in water is to be below ETNCaq with a probability of 95%, the corresponding log Kow value is 8.