How to tackle chemicals of high concern in products – The construction Sector as a case study. Christine Däumling, Senior Scientist, German Environment Agency, Germany.

1. Christine Däumling
AgBB and EU-LCI WG
(former German Environment Agency, UBA)
Example for the Need of Emission
Tests for Building Products
AgBB history
European Perspectives

2. 2
Importance of emission testing
- our own experience
When
building our
new
headquarter
in
Dessau,
Germany
2004
….
" Only materials which respond to high health- and environment
compatibility standards with regard to source, transport,
manufacture, use and disposal shall be used“

3. e.g. 18,600 m² rubber flooring…
Samples
had a strange smell..

4. 4
Standardized
sample preparation
(accord. EN ISO 16000-11)
Standardized
emission test
in chamber
after
3 and 28 days
(EN ISO 16000-6, -9, -10)
Evaluation
of results
according to
AgBB-scheme
Results were
beyond the limits of
AgBB-criteria
for suspected
carcinogen
Naphthalene:
3 fold beyond
the limits
for
proven
carcinogen
1,3 Dichlorpropanol
22-fold beyond
the limits

5. 5
German Approach in AgBB-Scheme:
Fundamentals in Assessment of Chemical
Emissions from Building Products
1. assess the toxicological relevance
of all detected single substances
- identify harmless or relevant
VOC with help of LCI values
- identify carcinogens
3. limit the total amount of emissions
of volatile organic compounds
- TVOC, TSVOC
2. limit the unassessable substances
(precautionary principle)
….Notified to Brussels in 2005

6. History of Harmonisation Initiatives
• 2007: International Conference “Construction Products and Indoor
Air Quality”, Berlin, 4-5 June
UBA initiative to investigate potential for harmonisation
• 2008 - 2009: Work on Harmonisation of labelling systems
M1 DICL AgBB AFSSET Results in ECA 27
• 2010 International expert hearings on Labelling and on LCI,
both coordinated by JRC Ispra
• 2011 – 2012 Work on Harmonization of LCI; Results in ECA 29
Procedure and consequences presented 12/2012 …
• 2013 – 2015 further work under own steam for EU-LCIs
• 2015 – 2019 mandated by COM DG Growth work for the full list
of EU-LCIs as needed for CPRegulation and CE marking
6
+ JRC + BREEAM + …
HCF - Christine Däumling UBA

7. Different regulations in Germany, France and Belgium..
Lituania to come?
SWEDEN……?
Problem:
French and German regulations
include different substances,
LCI values and approaches
to labelling;
Belgium refers to EU-LCI list and AgBB
Reality challenges:
7HCF - Christine Däumling UBA

8. 8
Development of harmonized EU-LCI values
NIK WG
AgBB
ANSES
CLI WG
1st EU LCI
Lis published
2010
2012
EU-LCI
working
group
2013
2014
ECA Report 29
2015
JRC
Coordination
Underownsteam
Germany
France
Sweden
Germany
2013
www.eu-lci.org
2016
Mandated by
DG Growth

9. 9

10. Christine Däumling UBA 10