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GENERAL INTRODUCTION<br />

PNEC is regarded as a concentration below which an unacceptable effect will most likely not<br />

occur.<br />

Dependent on the PEC/PNEC ratio the decision whether a substance presents a risk to organisms<br />

in the environment is taken. If it is not possible to conduct a quantitative risk assessment, either<br />

because the PEC or the PNEC or both cannot be derived, a qualitative evaluation is carried out<br />

of the risk that an adverse effect may occur.<br />

As will be explained in more detail in the section on exposure assessment, PEC values are<br />

derived <strong>for</strong> local as well as regional situations, each of them based on a number of specific<br />

emission characteristics with respect to time <strong>and</strong> scale. As a consequence, the comparison of<br />

PNEC values <strong>for</strong> the different compartments with different PEC values <strong>for</strong> different exposure<br />

scenarios can lead to a number of PEC/PNEC ratios.<br />

In some cases, the current quantitative risk assessment approach does not provide sufficient<br />

confidence that the environmental compartment or targets considered are sufficiently protected.<br />

The PBT assessment, given in Section 4.4, has been developed with the aim of identifying these<br />

cases.<br />

Table 1 shows a summary of the different targets of the risk characterisation <strong>and</strong> the exposure<br />

scenarios to which they apply <strong>for</strong> inl<strong>and</strong> risk assessment <strong>and</strong> Table 2 summarises those used <strong>for</strong><br />

the marine environment. In addition to the PECs mentioned in Tables 1 <strong>and</strong> 2, several other<br />

exposure levels are derived in Section 2. These are used <strong>for</strong> the assessment of indirect human<br />

exposure through the environment, which is described in Chapter 2 on Risk Assessment <strong>for</strong><br />

Human <strong>Health</strong>. The PECs that are specifically derived <strong>for</strong> this indirect exposure assessment are<br />

summarised in Table 3.<br />

Table 1 Relationship between different targets of the risk characterisation <strong>for</strong> different inl<strong>and</strong> compartments<br />

Target Medium of exposure<br />

(PEClocal / PECregional)<br />

Aquatic organisms Surface water 2.3.8.3<br />

2.3.8.7<br />

Benthic organisms Sediment 2.3.8.4<br />

2.3.8.7<br />

Terrestrial<br />

Organisms<br />

Fish-eating<br />

Predators<br />

Worm-eating<br />

Predators<br />

Agricultural soil 2.3.8.5<br />

2.3.8.7<br />

Section PNEC Section<br />

Fish 3.8 PNECoral from<br />

PNECwater 3.3<br />

PNECsed 3.5<br />

PNECsoil 3.6<br />

NOAELavian/mammalian<br />

Earthworms 3.8 PNECoral from<br />

NOAELavian/mammalian<br />

Microorganisms STP aeration tank 2.3.7 PNECmicroorganisms 3.4<br />

3.8<br />

3.8<br />

11

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