Environmental and health related criteria for buildings - ANEC

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IBO - Environmental and Health related Criteria for Buildings and electronical equipment (called “EEE”). The maximum concentration limits for these substances are 0.1 % (w/w) in homogenous materials for all substances except cadmium where the maximum concentration limit is 0.01 % (w/w) for homogenous materials (Commission Decision 618, 2005, acc. to POULSEN et al, 2010). It is valid for large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunication equipment, consumer equipment, lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industry tools), toys, leisure and sports equipment, and automatic dispensers. The Öko-Institut claims that ROHS should be extended to other hazardous substances (TBBP-A, HBCDD, DEHP, BBP, DBP). Four of these substances (HBCDD, DEHP, BBP, DBP) are listed in Annex III of the new ROHS proposal (POULSEN et al, 2010) Regulation of nanosubstances A special topic which has also been investigated in POULSEN et al (2010) is the use of nanosubstances. Whilst the Commission considers the current regulatory framework sufficient to address risks relating to nanomaterials and only in need of some modifications at the implementation level, this position seems more than doubtful to the authors and is also not supported by the EU Parliament. Reasons for the doubt are various. The exposure behaviour and impacts on the environment are not investigated sufficiently yet, existing testing methods may not be appropriate for nanosubstances and will have to be adopted, and clear-cut assessment is missing. Construction Products Directive (CPD) and Regulation (CPR) For building materials the Construction Products Directive (CPD) and the proposal for the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) are of special interest. The objective of the Construction Products Directive (CPD) 103 is to ensure that reliable information of construction products is presented in a common technical language. The manufacturer of the construction product is responsible for the attestation that the product is in conformity with the technical specifications set out by CEN in the harmonised standards, European Technical Approvals and national technical specifications. Hence, the CPD provides a framework for a harmonised testing and declaration scheme, but the building regulations are in the remit of the Member States. Member States are free to specify product requirements as long as they use the harmonised specifications. Annex I of the CPD lists essential requirements (ER) that the construction works has to satisfy: 1. Mechanical resistance and stability 2. Safety in the case of fire 3. Hygiene, health and the environment 4. Safety in use 5. Protection against noise 6. Energy economy and heat retention The essential requirements shall be given in a concrete form in interpretative documents. 103 Council Directive of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products, http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/construction/construction-products/index_en.htm Final Report 130 31 03 2011
IBO - Environmental and Health related Criteria for Buildings With the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) 104 a new regulation will replace the existing Directive, but the goals and concepts stay the same as those of the CPD. CPD and CPR do essentially not establish product requirements. This is also true for the “essential requirements” and the corresponding interpretative documents. Consequently, also chemical requirements are missing. ER3 “Hygiene, health and the environment” specifies that “the construction works must be designed and built in such a way that it will not be a threat to the hygiene or health of the occupants or neighbours, in particular as a result of any of the following: • The giving-off of toxic gas • The presence of dangerous particles or gases in the air • The emission of dangerous radiation • Pollution or poisoning of the water or soil • Faulty elimination of waste water, smoke, solid or liquid wastes • The presence of damp in parts of the works or on surfaces within the works.” The Interpretative Document of the European Commission to the ER 3 “Hygiene, Health and Environment” (1994) explicitly mentions that indoor pollutants, e.g. volatile organic compounds (VOC), shall be avoided and controlled. Meanwhile, in Annex I of the CPR the entire life cycle of the construction works is mentioned and it is specified that emissions of dangerous substances, volatile organic compounds, greenhouse gases or dangerous particles into indoor or outdoor air are not wanted. But still concrete requirements are missing. Additionally, the specification of requirements is up to the Member States. If a Member State has no requirements on a specific parameter, the values will even not have to be declared (“No performance determined”). If e.g. a harmonized testing and declaration scheme on indoor air emissions from building materials is provided by CEN/TC 351 (see next chapter concerning European regulations concerning VOC-emissions), this will have no consequence in most Member States since only Germany and France have defined corresponding requirements yet. Conclusions (POULSEN et al, 2010): “Neither the CPD nor the proposed CPR is an instrument to set requirements for chemicals in construction products, as they only are instruments that provide the framework for ensuring harmonised testing and declaration schemes. Furthermore, as the requirements themselves have to be prepared by the individual Member States, the CPD/CPR is not an instrument to ensure common European requirements for chemicals.” European Commission: “The objective of the CPD (and the CPR alike) is thus not to define the safety of construction products, but to ensure that reliable information is presented in relation to their performance. This is achieved by providing, mainly in standards, a common technical language, to be used not only by manufacturers, but also by public authorities when defining their requirements on construction works, directly or indirectly influencing the demands placed on the products to be used in them”. (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/construction/construction-products/index_en.htm) 104 COM(2008) 311 final (proposal of 23 May 2008); the proposal has been approved while finalising the study Final Report 131 31 03 2011
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