title: Recommendation for a test battery for the ecotoxicological evaluation of the environmental safety of construction products.
abstract: The European Construction Products Regulation allows Member States to adopt rules for evaluating the environmental impact of their buildings. The aim of the project was to develop recommendations for a test battery for the ecotoxicological assessment of the environmental impact of construction products for outdoor use and contribute to the European harmonization of test methods. From a shortlist of 39 products 20 products were included in the ecotoxicological testing program. Monolithic and plate-like construction products were eluted in the Dynamic Surface Leaching test (DSLT) in accordance with CEN/TS 16637-2, granular products were eluted in a one stage batch test in accordance with DIN EN 12457-1. The eluates were examined in four aquatic toxicity tests (algae, daphnia, luminescent bacteria, fish eggs), a genotoxicity test (umu test) and in the respirometer test (OECD 301 F). Here, low to very high ecotoxicity was observed (up to a dilution factor of 1536). Six out of 8 eluates, whose TOC exceeded 10 mg L-1showed a good biodegradability above 75%. The intra-laboratory repeatability of the Lowest Ineffective Dilution (LID) usually was within ±1 dilution steps (ecotoxicity tests) and ±2 dilution steps (leaching and ecotoxicity tests). This is acceptable, when considering that the overall variability of sample preparation, leaching test, and bioassays add up. The conclusions lead to practical recommendations for a suitable combination of leaching and ecotoxicity tests.
authors.affiliation: Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: gartiser@hydrotox.de.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gartiser
authors.affiliation: Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heisterkamp
authors.affiliation: BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schoknecht
authors.affiliation: BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bandow
authors.affiliation: HSR University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil, Institute for Environmental and Process Engineering (UMTEC), Rapperswil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: N Michael
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Burkhardt
authors.affiliation: ToxRat Solutions GmbH, Alsdorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ratte
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency, Dessau, Germany.
authors.forename: Outi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ilvonen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001681:Biological Assay; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000633:toxicity*; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014733:Vibrio / Q000187:drug effects; D015027:Zebrafish
keywords: Biodegradability; Construction products; DSL-test; Ecotoxicity; Leaching tests; One stage batch test