- Email: [email protected]
The hazardous priority substances in Italy: National rules and environmental quality standard in marine environment
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1 – 6 www.elsevier.com/locate/eiar
The hazardous priority substances in Italy: National rules and environmental quality standard in marine environment Chiara Maggi ⁎, Fulvio Onorati, Claudia Virno Lamberti, Anna Maria Cicero ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma 00166, Italy Received 15 September 2006; received in revised form 21 December 2006; accepted 2 January 2007 Available online 12 February 2007
Abstract Article number 16 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) lays down the community strategy for establishment of harmonised quality standards for the priority substances and other substances posing a significant risk to the aquatic environment. In order to achieve the protection objectives of the Directive 2000/60/EC, the Italian Ministry of the Environment proposed the quality standards for surface water, sediments and biota related to the priority substances listed in the decision No. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 20 (2001) [Decision N. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2001. The list of priority substances in the field of water policy and amending Directive 2000/60/ EC. Official Journal of the European Communities, 15.12.2001, p. 5]. Particularly, for the protection of the marine environment, the proposed Italian rules state that, from 1 January 2021, the concentrations of the hazardous priority substances in Italian marine and lagoon waters must be near the natural background for natural substances, like metals, and near zero for the anthropogenic one. According to Directive 2000/60/EC, the Italian Ministry of Environment issued in 2003 Decree 367 in which has derived 160 Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for water and 27 Environmental Quality Objective (EQO) for sediment of marine coastal area, lagoons and coastal ponds. Biota quality standards have still to be fixed. The paper illustrates the criteria applied for the definition of the quality standards and some comments are presented. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Environmental quality standard/objective; Priority substances; Directive 2000/60/EC; Marine environment; Ministerial Decree 367/2003
1. Introduction Ideally, the Environmental Quality Objectives (EQO) should be the concentration of a chemical, or the level of a physical factor, that would not produce any adverse effect on the environment. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 661570513; fax: +39 661561906. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Maggi), [email protected] (F. Onorati), [email protected] (C.V. Lamberti), [email protected] (A.M. Cicero). 0195-9255/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2007.01.002
The setting of Environmental Quality Objectives (EQO) is an essential step for the environmental risk assessment of potentially dangerous chemicals. Article 16 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC, 2000) lays down the community strategy for establishment of harmonised quality standards for the priority substances and other substances posing a significant risk to the aquatic environment. The European Parliament and Council decision No. 2455/2001/EC identifies the hazardous priority substances that, according to Directive 2000/60 EC and in
2
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
coherence with the previous “daughter directives” of the EC Directive 76/464 (Directive 76/464/EEC, 1976), have to be progressively reduced or phased out from the discharges. Proposal for environmental quality standards and emission controls for point sources had to be submitted within two years of the inclusion of the concerned substances in the list of the priority substances. From March to June 2003, the Italian Ministry of Environment organized some working groups inviting the main Italian Research Institutes in order to define the national quality objectives for several priority and hazardous substances. Consequently, on 6 November 2003, Decree 367 on environmental quality standards in aquatic environment for the priority substances was promulgated by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. This work describes the approach used to derive the environmental quality standards values reported in the national Decree 367/03. 2. Methodological approach As required by the above mentioned Water Framework Directive, in order to obtain a “good chemical status” of the national surface waters, it is necessary to define appropriate quality standards that include water, sediment and biota elements. In general, the quality standards are intended to protect the structure and the functioning of the marine ecosystems from any significant alterations due to the potential impact of the hazardous chemicals. In addition, the protection of human health from the occurrence of adverse effects due to the ingestion of food originating from aquatic environments or due to the intake of water, is a further objective to be reached by definition of quality standard. To obtain a “good surface water chemical status” the concentrations of pollutants don't have to exceed the EQS. The methods adopted to derive the EQS are therefore intended to protect both freshwater and marine ecosystems from adverse effects, and human health by intake of drinking water and food. 2.1. Human health To protect human health from the indirect toxic effects due to intake of drinking water and bioaccumulation in the food chain the procedure is usually based on the Tolerable Daily Intake values, TDI, or Acceptable Daily Intake values, ADI, adopted by international bodies such as the World Health Organization (Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer
Products and the Environment, 2000; WHO/IARC, 1997; WHO, 1991). 2.2. Marine ecosystem To protect the marine ecosystem, article 10 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93, the revised chapter 3 of Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment of European communities (Technical Guidance (EC) n. 1488/94, 1996; part II, chapter 3) describes the procedure to derive the Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) for (salt)water and marine sediment. Two approaches may be used to calculate the PNEC, depending on the quantity and quality of available effects data: using statistical extrapolation methods or the assessment factor (AF) method. For most substances, the data available to predict ecosystem effects are very limited and it is, therefore, required to use empirically derived assessment factors. The intention of the application of such factors is to predict a concentration below which an acceptable effect will most likely not occur. The assessment factors reflect the degree of uncertainty in extrapolation from laboratory test data for a limited number of species to the “real” environment. The size of assessment factor depends on the confidence with which a PNEC can be derived from the available data. Thus, lower assessment factors can be used with a larger and more relevant data-set. The assessment factors to derive a PNEC for aquatic environment: – AF 1000 — at least on short-term L(E)C50 from each of three trophic levels of the base set (fish, Daphnia, algae); – AF 100 — one long-term NOEC (either fish or Daphnia); – AF 50 — two long-term NOECs from species representing two trophic levels (fish and/or Daphnia and algae); – AF 10 — long-term NOECs from at least three species (normally fish, Daphnia and algae) representing three trophic levels. According to the suggestions of the Directive 2000/ 60/EC, as well as of the Legislative Decree 152/99, two different values should be fixed to define EQS for marine water, sediment and biota to be reached respectively in the years 2008 and 2015. The Directive 2000/60 EC imposes the priority substances’ presence has to be phased out from the discharges by 2008. Criteria adopted by Italy to define the environmental quality standards for the first deadline (2008)
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
3
Table 1 Italian proposal for Water Quality Standard and Sediment Quality Objective WQS
SQO
CAS number
Parameters
A 2015 (μg/L)
B 2008 (μg/L)
μg/kg d.w.
Metals 7440–43–9 7439–97–6 7440–02–0 7439–92–1
Cadmium a Mercury a Nickel Lead
0.03 0.003 0.6 0.06
0.2 0.03 1.5 0.15
300 300 30000 30000
Organothyn compounds 688–73–3 366643–28–4
Tributyltin compounds a Tributyltin (cation) a
0.0001 0.0001
0.001 0.001
5
0.005 0.001 0.001
0.015 0.003 0.003
200 30 40
0.001
0.003
20
191–24–2 193–39–5 120–12–7 206–44–0 91–20–3
Σ PAH a Benzo(a)pyrene a Benzo(b) fluoroanthene a Benzo(k) fluoroanthene a Benzo(g,h,i)perylene a Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene a Anthracene Fluoroanthene Naphtalene
0.001 0.001 0.006 0.01 0.01
0.003 0.003 0.01 0.1 0.1
55 70 45 110 35
VOCs 71–43–2 120–82–1 107–06–2 87–68–3 67–66–3
Benzene 1,2,4 Trichlorobenzene 1,2 Dichloroethane Hexachlorobutadiene a Trichloromethane
0.1 0.005 0.1 0.001 0.01
0.25 0.05 0.4 0.01 0.1
Pesticides 115–29–7 959–98–8 58–89–9 319–84–6 319–85–7 118–74–1 330–54–1 34123–59–6 1912–24–9 122–34–9 470–90–6 2921–88–2 15972–60–8 1582–09–8
Endosulfan Alpha endosulfan g— HCH (Lindane) a α — HCH a β — HCH a Hexachlorobenzene a Diuron Isoproturon Atrazine Simazine Chlorfenvinphos Chlorpyrifos Alachlor Trifluralin
0.00001 0.00001 0.0005 0.0002 0.0002 – 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0002 0.0001 0.01 0.0006
0.0001 0.0001 0.005 0.002 0.002 0.0003 0.1 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.002 0.001 0.03 0.03
SVOCs 608–93–5
Pentachlorobenzene a
0.003
0.03
Other compounds 85535–84–8 32534–81–9 25154–52–3 104–40–5 1806–26–4
Chloroalkanes C10–C13 a Pentabromodiphenyl oxide a Nonylphenol a Phenol p-Nonyla2 Octylphenol
– 0.0005 0.003 0.0006 0.001
0.1 0.001 0.03 0.006 0.005
PAH 50–32–8 205–99–2 207–08–9
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
(continued on next page)
4
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
Table 1 (continued) WQS
SQO
CAS number
Parameters
A 2015 (μg/L)
B 2008 (μg/L)
140–66–9 117–81–7
TMBP DEHP
0.001 0.03
0.005 0.1
a
μg/kg d.w.
Priority and hazardous substances based on the decision n. 2455/2001/CE of the European Parliament.
is based on the approaches described above; these approaches permit the derivation of the quality standard not merely as threshold levels ensuring a protection objective, but taking into account direct ecotoxicological effects in different habitats (water, sediment), indirect ecotoxicological effects occurring after bioaccumulation in biota (secondary poisoning of top predators) and effects on human health by oral uptake of water and food, including long-term toxicity and CMR mechanisms. For 2015 a more advanced “good chemical state” has to be reached; the environmental quality standards, in this case, were fixed approximately to detection limit values (of modern analytical instruments) for each substance. The reduction from 2008 to the 2015 values is been done taking into account that a lot of priority substances are persistent and not biodegradable, and the controls proposed according to Article 16 (6) of WFD will go at the cessation or phasing out of discharges no longer than 20 years after the adoption of this Directive. 3. Results 3.1. Marine water The Italian Decree 367/03 defined the Water Quality Standard (WQS) for 160 priority and priority hazardous substances in marine water to be reached in the years 2008 and 2015 (Table 1). Considering the lack of national monitoring data on priority substances concentration in marine waters the WQS was defined by taking into account the international literature data from main European scientific Institutes (the Fraunhöfer Institute of Germany; the Scientific Committee on Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and the Environment of the EC; the National Institute of Public Health (RIVM) of the Netherlands; the Research National Council — Institute of Water Research (CNR-IRSA) of Italy; and the Environmental Protection Agency) and from international regulations were used as references to define the WQS for marine waters (Fraunhöfer-Institute, 1999; Lepper, 2002; Traas, 2001).
One example for fluoranthene: long-term NOEC from at least three species (Dicentrarcus labrax, Daphnia magna and Dunaliella tertiolecta): 1 μg/L AF: 10 EQS (transitional and coastal water) for 2008: 0.1 μg/L EQS (transitional and coastal water) for 2015: 0.01 μg/L. 3.2. Marine sediment Ministerial Decree 376/03 derived Sediment Quality Objective (SQO) for 27 priority and priority hazardous substances in the sediment of marine coastal area, lagoons and coastal ponds. SQO were defined for several metals and several organic substances with log kow ≥ 3: organometals, PAH, chlorinated pesticides, PCB, PCDD and PCDF. Only one reference value was fixed for the sediment without a specific time limit to observe (Table 1). Only a limited number of literary information is available about the distribution and the environmental effects of the priority substances bounded to the marine sediments. So, to define the SQO for marine sediments the following available sources of data were used: the National Marine Environment Monitoring data (http:// www.minambiente.it); the Central Institute of Marine Research of Italy (ICRAM) experimental data; the Scientific Committee on Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and the Environment (CSTEE) data; the National Institute of Public Health of The Netherlands (RIVM) data (Fraunhöfer-Institute, 1999; Lepper, 2002; Traas, 2001); and the Environmental Protection Agency (Baan and Groeneveld, 2002). The Ministry of the Environment data was derived from the National Monitoring Program of Marine and Coastal Environments (2001–2003) conducted according to the 979/82 Italian law (http://www.minambiente. it/sito/settori_azione/sdm/tutela_ambiente_marino/ monitoraggio_ambiente_marino/triennio_01_03.asp). The program involves 14 Italian regions, 73 coastal areas investigated (6000 km long) of which 57
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
contaminated and 16 reference areas (mainly located inside marine protected areas) were identified. Experimental data, derived from the National Monitoring Program and ICRAM studies, for some parameters, selected according to national and international laws (Legislative Decree No. 152/99 and 76/464 EC Directive), were used to discuss references values for the derivation of SQO. One example for cadmium: long-term NOEC from at least three species (D. tertiolecta, Paracentrotus lividus and Vibrio fischeri): 3 mg/kg AF: 10 SQO (transitional and coastal water) 0.3 mg/kg. The Ministerial Decree No. 367/03 decided the proposed values for sediment should not to be considered for the definition of the chemical status of the water body as required by the 2000/60 EC Directive; nevertheless, these values are a support tool to evaluate the contamination and contribute to define the actions that should be carried out to protect the body of water. 3.3. Biota Few national (experimental results of the National Monitoring Program and ICRAM data derived from others research projects, only) and international literature data (reference values proposed by OSPAR, 1997, 1998) are available on the bioaccumulation, bioconcentration and biomagnification factors in marine organisms; moreover few chemical analyses on different Mediterranean species are supported by ecotoxicological bioassay. These information are necessary to evaluate better the impact of aquatic ecosystem and the adverse effects on human health. The acquisition of additional experimental data that would provide a realistic evaluation and definition of the BQS is necessary. For these reasons Biota Quality Standards (BQS) still needs to be elaborated. 4. Conclusion The Italian proposal of Environmental Quality Standards must be considered as provisional, if compared with the requirements of Directive 2000/60/EC. The Italian Ministry of the Environment will set up a permanent Technical Committee in compliance with Directive 2000/60/EC in order to modify and integrate the Italian proposal.
5
Additional experimental and monitoring data on priority hazardous substances and contamination sources information have to be collected and evaluated in order to update the Italian proposal and to support decision-makers. The UNEP Global Program of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from LandBased Activities could be an effective help to represent integrated scenarios of potential impacts in order to reduce the risks and then to protect the marine ecosystem. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Italian Ministry of the Environment, the Italian Water Research Centre (IRSA), the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection (APAT) and the National Institute of Public Health for the useful contribution in the development of quality standard for marine environment. References Baan PJA, Groeneveld GJJ. Testing of indicators for the marine and coastal environment in Europe, Part 2: hazardous substances. Technical report. European Environment Agency; 2002. Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. Chlorinated drinking water and reproductive outcomes. 1998 Annual report of the Committees on Toxicity Mutagenicity Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. London: Department of Health; 2000. p. 7–8. Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93 of 23 March 1993 on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances. OJ L 084, 05/04/1993, p. 1–75. Decision N. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2001. The list of priority substances in the field of water policy and amending Directive 2000/60/EC. Official Journal of the European Communities,15.12.2001, pp.5. Decreto Legislativo n. 152 del 11 maggio 1999. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica italiana, 124, 29 maggio 1999. Decreto n. 367 del Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio del 6 novembre 2003. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana Serie Generale n. 5 del 8.1.2004. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23.10.2000. A framework for community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities 22.12.2000, pp. 72. Directive N. 76/464/EEC of the Council of the European Community of 4 May 1976. Pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community, Official Journal of the European Communities,18.05.1976, pp.7. Fraunhofer-Institut. Revised proposal for a list of priority substances in the context of the Water Framework Directive (COMMPS procedure), Final report; 1999. http://www.minambiente.it/sito/settori_azione/sdm/tutela_ambiente_ marino/monitoraggio_ambiente_marino/triennio_01_03.asp.
6
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
Lepper P. Towards the derivation of quality standards for priority substances in the context of the of the Water Framework Directive. Final report; 2002. p. 124. Fraunhofer-Institut. OSPAR. OSLO and PARIS CONVENTIONS for the prevention of marine pollution. Joint meeting, 97/15/1 Annex 5. Brussels, 2–5 September 1997; 1997. OSPAR. Oslo and Paris conventions for the prevention of marine pollution. Ad hoc working group on monitoring (MON), Annex 5. Copenhagen, 23–27 February 1998; 1998. Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment for New Notified Substances and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 on Risk assessment for existing substances. Office for the official publications of the European communities, Luxembourg, 1996. Traas TP. Guidance document on deriving environmental risk limits. RIVM report 601 501 012. Bilthoven, the Netherlands: National Institute for Public Health and The Environment (RIVM); 2001. WHO/IARC. Polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins and dibenzofurans. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risk to humans, vol. 69. Geneva; 1997. WHO. Summary report of “Consultation on Tolerable Daily Intake from Food of PCDDs and PCDFs” — EUR/ICP/PCS 030(s)0369n.; 1991. Chiara Maggi ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of heavy metals contamination in marine waters, sediments and organisms. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Fulvio Onorati ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in ecotoxicological assessment of the quality of the marine ecosystems. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Claudia Virno Lamberti ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of the biological quality of the marine environment. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Anna Maria Cicero ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 General Director of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of persistent organic pollutants contamination in marine sediments and organisms. Expertise in monitoring and assessment of marine and coastal water trophic levels. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1 – 6 www.elsevier.com/locate/eiar
The hazardous priority substances in Italy: National rules and environmental quality standard in marine environment Chiara Maggi ⁎, Fulvio Onorati, Claudia Virno Lamberti, Anna Maria Cicero ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma 00166, Italy Received 15 September 2006; received in revised form 21 December 2006; accepted 2 January 2007 Available online 12 February 2007
Abstract Article number 16 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) lays down the community strategy for establishment of harmonised quality standards for the priority substances and other substances posing a significant risk to the aquatic environment. In order to achieve the protection objectives of the Directive 2000/60/EC, the Italian Ministry of the Environment proposed the quality standards for surface water, sediments and biota related to the priority substances listed in the decision No. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 20 (2001) [Decision N. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2001. The list of priority substances in the field of water policy and amending Directive 2000/60/ EC. Official Journal of the European Communities, 15.12.2001, p. 5]. Particularly, for the protection of the marine environment, the proposed Italian rules state that, from 1 January 2021, the concentrations of the hazardous priority substances in Italian marine and lagoon waters must be near the natural background for natural substances, like metals, and near zero for the anthropogenic one. According to Directive 2000/60/EC, the Italian Ministry of Environment issued in 2003 Decree 367 in which has derived 160 Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for water and 27 Environmental Quality Objective (EQO) for sediment of marine coastal area, lagoons and coastal ponds. Biota quality standards have still to be fixed. The paper illustrates the criteria applied for the definition of the quality standards and some comments are presented. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Environmental quality standard/objective; Priority substances; Directive 2000/60/EC; Marine environment; Ministerial Decree 367/2003
1. Introduction Ideally, the Environmental Quality Objectives (EQO) should be the concentration of a chemical, or the level of a physical factor, that would not produce any adverse effect on the environment. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 661570513; fax: +39 661561906. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Maggi), [email protected] (F. Onorati), [email protected] (C.V. Lamberti), [email protected] (A.M. Cicero). 0195-9255/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2007.01.002
The setting of Environmental Quality Objectives (EQO) is an essential step for the environmental risk assessment of potentially dangerous chemicals. Article 16 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC, 2000) lays down the community strategy for establishment of harmonised quality standards for the priority substances and other substances posing a significant risk to the aquatic environment. The European Parliament and Council decision No. 2455/2001/EC identifies the hazardous priority substances that, according to Directive 2000/60 EC and in
2
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
coherence with the previous “daughter directives” of the EC Directive 76/464 (Directive 76/464/EEC, 1976), have to be progressively reduced or phased out from the discharges. Proposal for environmental quality standards and emission controls for point sources had to be submitted within two years of the inclusion of the concerned substances in the list of the priority substances. From March to June 2003, the Italian Ministry of Environment organized some working groups inviting the main Italian Research Institutes in order to define the national quality objectives for several priority and hazardous substances. Consequently, on 6 November 2003, Decree 367 on environmental quality standards in aquatic environment for the priority substances was promulgated by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. This work describes the approach used to derive the environmental quality standards values reported in the national Decree 367/03. 2. Methodological approach As required by the above mentioned Water Framework Directive, in order to obtain a “good chemical status” of the national surface waters, it is necessary to define appropriate quality standards that include water, sediment and biota elements. In general, the quality standards are intended to protect the structure and the functioning of the marine ecosystems from any significant alterations due to the potential impact of the hazardous chemicals. In addition, the protection of human health from the occurrence of adverse effects due to the ingestion of food originating from aquatic environments or due to the intake of water, is a further objective to be reached by definition of quality standard. To obtain a “good surface water chemical status” the concentrations of pollutants don't have to exceed the EQS. The methods adopted to derive the EQS are therefore intended to protect both freshwater and marine ecosystems from adverse effects, and human health by intake of drinking water and food. 2.1. Human health To protect human health from the indirect toxic effects due to intake of drinking water and bioaccumulation in the food chain the procedure is usually based on the Tolerable Daily Intake values, TDI, or Acceptable Daily Intake values, ADI, adopted by international bodies such as the World Health Organization (Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer
Products and the Environment, 2000; WHO/IARC, 1997; WHO, 1991). 2.2. Marine ecosystem To protect the marine ecosystem, article 10 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93, the revised chapter 3 of Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment of European communities (Technical Guidance (EC) n. 1488/94, 1996; part II, chapter 3) describes the procedure to derive the Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) for (salt)water and marine sediment. Two approaches may be used to calculate the PNEC, depending on the quantity and quality of available effects data: using statistical extrapolation methods or the assessment factor (AF) method. For most substances, the data available to predict ecosystem effects are very limited and it is, therefore, required to use empirically derived assessment factors. The intention of the application of such factors is to predict a concentration below which an acceptable effect will most likely not occur. The assessment factors reflect the degree of uncertainty in extrapolation from laboratory test data for a limited number of species to the “real” environment. The size of assessment factor depends on the confidence with which a PNEC can be derived from the available data. Thus, lower assessment factors can be used with a larger and more relevant data-set. The assessment factors to derive a PNEC for aquatic environment: – AF 1000 — at least on short-term L(E)C50 from each of three trophic levels of the base set (fish, Daphnia, algae); – AF 100 — one long-term NOEC (either fish or Daphnia); – AF 50 — two long-term NOECs from species representing two trophic levels (fish and/or Daphnia and algae); – AF 10 — long-term NOECs from at least three species (normally fish, Daphnia and algae) representing three trophic levels. According to the suggestions of the Directive 2000/ 60/EC, as well as of the Legislative Decree 152/99, two different values should be fixed to define EQS for marine water, sediment and biota to be reached respectively in the years 2008 and 2015. The Directive 2000/60 EC imposes the priority substances’ presence has to be phased out from the discharges by 2008. Criteria adopted by Italy to define the environmental quality standards for the first deadline (2008)
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
3
Table 1 Italian proposal for Water Quality Standard and Sediment Quality Objective WQS
SQO
CAS number
Parameters
A 2015 (μg/L)
B 2008 (μg/L)
μg/kg d.w.
Metals 7440–43–9 7439–97–6 7440–02–0 7439–92–1
Cadmium a Mercury a Nickel Lead
0.03 0.003 0.6 0.06
0.2 0.03 1.5 0.15
300 300 30000 30000
Organothyn compounds 688–73–3 366643–28–4
Tributyltin compounds a Tributyltin (cation) a
0.0001 0.0001
0.001 0.001
5
0.005 0.001 0.001
0.015 0.003 0.003
200 30 40
0.001
0.003
20
191–24–2 193–39–5 120–12–7 206–44–0 91–20–3
Σ PAH a Benzo(a)pyrene a Benzo(b) fluoroanthene a Benzo(k) fluoroanthene a Benzo(g,h,i)perylene a Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene a Anthracene Fluoroanthene Naphtalene
0.001 0.001 0.006 0.01 0.01
0.003 0.003 0.01 0.1 0.1
55 70 45 110 35
VOCs 71–43–2 120–82–1 107–06–2 87–68–3 67–66–3
Benzene 1,2,4 Trichlorobenzene 1,2 Dichloroethane Hexachlorobutadiene a Trichloromethane
0.1 0.005 0.1 0.001 0.01
0.25 0.05 0.4 0.01 0.1
Pesticides 115–29–7 959–98–8 58–89–9 319–84–6 319–85–7 118–74–1 330–54–1 34123–59–6 1912–24–9 122–34–9 470–90–6 2921–88–2 15972–60–8 1582–09–8
Endosulfan Alpha endosulfan g— HCH (Lindane) a α — HCH a β — HCH a Hexachlorobenzene a Diuron Isoproturon Atrazine Simazine Chlorfenvinphos Chlorpyrifos Alachlor Trifluralin
0.00001 0.00001 0.0005 0.0002 0.0002 – 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0002 0.0001 0.01 0.0006
0.0001 0.0001 0.005 0.002 0.002 0.0003 0.1 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.002 0.001 0.03 0.03
SVOCs 608–93–5
Pentachlorobenzene a
0.003
0.03
Other compounds 85535–84–8 32534–81–9 25154–52–3 104–40–5 1806–26–4
Chloroalkanes C10–C13 a Pentabromodiphenyl oxide a Nonylphenol a Phenol p-Nonyla2 Octylphenol
– 0.0005 0.003 0.0006 0.001
0.1 0.001 0.03 0.006 0.005
PAH 50–32–8 205–99–2 207–08–9
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
(continued on next page)
4
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
Table 1 (continued) WQS
SQO
CAS number
Parameters
A 2015 (μg/L)
B 2008 (μg/L)
140–66–9 117–81–7
TMBP DEHP
0.001 0.03
0.005 0.1
a
μg/kg d.w.
Priority and hazardous substances based on the decision n. 2455/2001/CE of the European Parliament.
is based on the approaches described above; these approaches permit the derivation of the quality standard not merely as threshold levels ensuring a protection objective, but taking into account direct ecotoxicological effects in different habitats (water, sediment), indirect ecotoxicological effects occurring after bioaccumulation in biota (secondary poisoning of top predators) and effects on human health by oral uptake of water and food, including long-term toxicity and CMR mechanisms. For 2015 a more advanced “good chemical state” has to be reached; the environmental quality standards, in this case, were fixed approximately to detection limit values (of modern analytical instruments) for each substance. The reduction from 2008 to the 2015 values is been done taking into account that a lot of priority substances are persistent and not biodegradable, and the controls proposed according to Article 16 (6) of WFD will go at the cessation or phasing out of discharges no longer than 20 years after the adoption of this Directive. 3. Results 3.1. Marine water The Italian Decree 367/03 defined the Water Quality Standard (WQS) for 160 priority and priority hazardous substances in marine water to be reached in the years 2008 and 2015 (Table 1). Considering the lack of national monitoring data on priority substances concentration in marine waters the WQS was defined by taking into account the international literature data from main European scientific Institutes (the Fraunhöfer Institute of Germany; the Scientific Committee on Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and the Environment of the EC; the National Institute of Public Health (RIVM) of the Netherlands; the Research National Council — Institute of Water Research (CNR-IRSA) of Italy; and the Environmental Protection Agency) and from international regulations were used as references to define the WQS for marine waters (Fraunhöfer-Institute, 1999; Lepper, 2002; Traas, 2001).
One example for fluoranthene: long-term NOEC from at least three species (Dicentrarcus labrax, Daphnia magna and Dunaliella tertiolecta): 1 μg/L AF: 10 EQS (transitional and coastal water) for 2008: 0.1 μg/L EQS (transitional and coastal water) for 2015: 0.01 μg/L. 3.2. Marine sediment Ministerial Decree 376/03 derived Sediment Quality Objective (SQO) for 27 priority and priority hazardous substances in the sediment of marine coastal area, lagoons and coastal ponds. SQO were defined for several metals and several organic substances with log kow ≥ 3: organometals, PAH, chlorinated pesticides, PCB, PCDD and PCDF. Only one reference value was fixed for the sediment without a specific time limit to observe (Table 1). Only a limited number of literary information is available about the distribution and the environmental effects of the priority substances bounded to the marine sediments. So, to define the SQO for marine sediments the following available sources of data were used: the National Marine Environment Monitoring data (http:// www.minambiente.it); the Central Institute of Marine Research of Italy (ICRAM) experimental data; the Scientific Committee on Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and the Environment (CSTEE) data; the National Institute of Public Health of The Netherlands (RIVM) data (Fraunhöfer-Institute, 1999; Lepper, 2002; Traas, 2001); and the Environmental Protection Agency (Baan and Groeneveld, 2002). The Ministry of the Environment data was derived from the National Monitoring Program of Marine and Coastal Environments (2001–2003) conducted according to the 979/82 Italian law (http://www.minambiente. it/sito/settori_azione/sdm/tutela_ambiente_marino/ monitoraggio_ambiente_marino/triennio_01_03.asp). The program involves 14 Italian regions, 73 coastal areas investigated (6000 km long) of which 57
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
contaminated and 16 reference areas (mainly located inside marine protected areas) were identified. Experimental data, derived from the National Monitoring Program and ICRAM studies, for some parameters, selected according to national and international laws (Legislative Decree No. 152/99 and 76/464 EC Directive), were used to discuss references values for the derivation of SQO. One example for cadmium: long-term NOEC from at least three species (D. tertiolecta, Paracentrotus lividus and Vibrio fischeri): 3 mg/kg AF: 10 SQO (transitional and coastal water) 0.3 mg/kg. The Ministerial Decree No. 367/03 decided the proposed values for sediment should not to be considered for the definition of the chemical status of the water body as required by the 2000/60 EC Directive; nevertheless, these values are a support tool to evaluate the contamination and contribute to define the actions that should be carried out to protect the body of water. 3.3. Biota Few national (experimental results of the National Monitoring Program and ICRAM data derived from others research projects, only) and international literature data (reference values proposed by OSPAR, 1997, 1998) are available on the bioaccumulation, bioconcentration and biomagnification factors in marine organisms; moreover few chemical analyses on different Mediterranean species are supported by ecotoxicological bioassay. These information are necessary to evaluate better the impact of aquatic ecosystem and the adverse effects on human health. The acquisition of additional experimental data that would provide a realistic evaluation and definition of the BQS is necessary. For these reasons Biota Quality Standards (BQS) still needs to be elaborated. 4. Conclusion The Italian proposal of Environmental Quality Standards must be considered as provisional, if compared with the requirements of Directive 2000/60/EC. The Italian Ministry of the Environment will set up a permanent Technical Committee in compliance with Directive 2000/60/EC in order to modify and integrate the Italian proposal.
5
Additional experimental and monitoring data on priority hazardous substances and contamination sources information have to be collected and evaluated in order to update the Italian proposal and to support decision-makers. The UNEP Global Program of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from LandBased Activities could be an effective help to represent integrated scenarios of potential impacts in order to reduce the risks and then to protect the marine ecosystem. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Italian Ministry of the Environment, the Italian Water Research Centre (IRSA), the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection (APAT) and the National Institute of Public Health for the useful contribution in the development of quality standard for marine environment. References Baan PJA, Groeneveld GJJ. Testing of indicators for the marine and coastal environment in Europe, Part 2: hazardous substances. Technical report. European Environment Agency; 2002. Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. Chlorinated drinking water and reproductive outcomes. 1998 Annual report of the Committees on Toxicity Mutagenicity Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. London: Department of Health; 2000. p. 7–8. Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93 of 23 March 1993 on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances. OJ L 084, 05/04/1993, p. 1–75. Decision N. 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2001. The list of priority substances in the field of water policy and amending Directive 2000/60/EC. Official Journal of the European Communities,15.12.2001, pp.5. Decreto Legislativo n. 152 del 11 maggio 1999. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica italiana, 124, 29 maggio 1999. Decreto n. 367 del Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio del 6 novembre 2003. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana Serie Generale n. 5 del 8.1.2004. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23.10.2000. A framework for community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities 22.12.2000, pp. 72. Directive N. 76/464/EEC of the Council of the European Community of 4 May 1976. Pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community, Official Journal of the European Communities,18.05.1976, pp.7. Fraunhofer-Institut. Revised proposal for a list of priority substances in the context of the Water Framework Directive (COMMPS procedure), Final report; 1999. http://www.minambiente.it/sito/settori_azione/sdm/tutela_ambiente_ marino/monitoraggio_ambiente_marino/triennio_01_03.asp.
6
C. Maggi et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008) 1–6
Lepper P. Towards the derivation of quality standards for priority substances in the context of the of the Water Framework Directive. Final report; 2002. p. 124. Fraunhofer-Institut. OSPAR. OSLO and PARIS CONVENTIONS for the prevention of marine pollution. Joint meeting, 97/15/1 Annex 5. Brussels, 2–5 September 1997; 1997. OSPAR. Oslo and Paris conventions for the prevention of marine pollution. Ad hoc working group on monitoring (MON), Annex 5. Copenhagen, 23–27 February 1998; 1998. Technical Guidance Document on Risk Assessment for New Notified Substances and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 on Risk assessment for existing substances. Office for the official publications of the European communities, Luxembourg, 1996. Traas TP. Guidance document on deriving environmental risk limits. RIVM report 601 501 012. Bilthoven, the Netherlands: National Institute for Public Health and The Environment (RIVM); 2001. WHO/IARC. Polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins and dibenzofurans. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risk to humans, vol. 69. Geneva; 1997. WHO. Summary report of “Consultation on Tolerable Daily Intake from Food of PCDDs and PCDFs” — EUR/ICP/PCS 030(s)0369n.; 1991. Chiara Maggi ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of heavy metals contamination in marine waters, sediments and organisms. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Fulvio Onorati ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in ecotoxicological assessment of the quality of the marine ecosystems. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Claudia Virno Lamberti ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 Researcher of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of the biological quality of the marine environment. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.
Anna Maria Cicero ICRAM — Central Institute for Marine Research, Via di Casalotti, 300 Roma (Italy) 00166 General Director of Central Institute for Marine Research. Extensive experience in monitoring and assessment of persistent organic pollutants contamination in marine sediments and organisms. Expertise in monitoring and assessment of marine and coastal water trophic levels. Provides scientific and technical support to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in terms of development of guidelines, quality control measures and research outputs on a variety of issues related to the marine environment.