Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
which is freely distributed upon request (Van Vlaardingen et al.
2004
). Data for the
examples were obtained from
the RIVM e-toxBase
, a storage and retrieval system
for ecotoxicity data, currently containing more than 188,000 entries, representing
more than 5000 contaminants and more than 2000 species tested in water, sediment
or soil.
14.13.2 Criterion Risk Assessments, the Oldest Use of SSDs
A review of the presence of Risk Assessment elements in soil policies in Europe
showed that at present only three EU countries (Germany, Finland and the
Netherlands) have an approved guidance policy on soil Ecological Risk Assessment
(Carlon et al.
2007
). These three countries also include ecologically-based criti-
cal soil concentrations in their soil quality standards. The review also showed that
several other countries (Sweden, the Flanders region in Belgium and Denmark)
developed ecologically-based critical soil concentrations, but these values were not
yet established as formal soil quality standards. SSDs may be used for deriving stan-
dards, but the minimum required number of species varies between jurisdictions. In
Italy, the UK, the Walloon region of Belgium and the Czech Republic, ecologi-
cal soil quality standards are in development. There is, according to this overview,
political interest in ecological soil protection in the EU Member States.
The endpoints (types of test data) considered for use in deriving soil qual-
ity standards vary amongst nations, as shown in Table
14.1
(from Carlon et al.
(
2007
)).
Soil Quality Standards are easy to use in practical soil protection frameworks.
They may be used to assess whether the risks from emissions would surpass the
safe standard, and to assign sites as being (seriously) contaminated. In many cases,
however, soil contains contaminants for which a standard is not available. When a
Table 14.1
The ecological receptors for which (test) data are considered in the derivation of soil
quality standards vary amongst some studied nations (data from Carlon et al. (
2007
)); standards
are not necessarily derived with SSDs
Micro.
process
Soil
fauna
Above-soil
ecosystem
Aquatic
ecosystem
Plants
Austria
X
Belgium
(Walloon)
X
X
X
X
X
Belgium
(Flanders)
X
X
X
Czech Rep.
X
X
Germany
X
X
X
X
Spain
X
X
X
X
X
Finland
X
X
X
X
Netherlands
X
X
X
X
Sweden
X
X
X
X
X
United Kingdom X
X
X
X
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