Use of health hazard criteria for estimating the hazard potential of chemicals to water in case of a spill

Accidental spills resulting in severe pollution can occur during transporta tion or handling of large volumes of chemicals. To address this problem, ch emicals are classified according to the level of hazard to man and the envi ronment in order to then define graduated technical standards. Three regula tory examples (enforced or drafted for transport and industrial installatio ns in Europe) covering aspects of limnic as well as sea water are discussed in regard to health aspects of pollution. Whereas for the safety of seagoi ng tankships an exposure orientated combination of health and environmental aspects is used, for industrial plants in Germany a scoring system based o n the European Union's Risk Phrase system is applied. The health-related pa rameters primarily used for hazard classification are repeated dose toxicit y and acute oral and dermal toxcity. Acute oral toxicity is most widely use d because of the ready availability of data. Carcinogenicity is treated as the most important hazard. The report discusses the importance of dermal ex posure, aspiration, and endocrine disruption as parameters as well as the i mportance of health criteria for the protection of aquatic organisms. (C) 2 000 Academic Press.