Background
Release estimation is one of the most critical factors affecting environmental risk assessment. The TGD (EU Technical Guidance Document) provides release tables which give a worst case estimation if no further information are available. In addition, several'Use Category Documents' (UCD's) are available which are industry specific and contain useful information about emissions. However, the UCD's are not all comprehensive and do not currently utilise much of the valuable information on industrial processes that is known and covered under different national and European regulations and directives. In order to improve emission estimation it is essential to bridge this gap.
Objectives
Proposals
Proposals submitted for consideration should follow the format of the application form'Application for a CEFIC-LRI Grant' and should address the following areas under individual sub-headings:
- The title of the research proposal, name and affiliation of the principal investigator and the laboratory or laboratories in which the research will be conducted.
- Evidence of the principal investigator's knowledge of, and contribution to, release estimation methods in the context of EU environmental risk assessment.
- A clear definition of the research objectives, milestones and targets.
- A detailed breakdown of costs.
Monitoring
The successful applicant(s) will be required to submit a progress report every 6 months during the course of the programme. At the end of the project a detailed review of the project and the achievements made will be provided by the principal investigator. The successful applicant or applicants will also be required to prepare for publication a manuscript describing the work undertaken and the results achieved.
Scope
The goal of this project is to improve release estimation by identifying and validating the applicability of existing emission data. Based on a detailed evaluation of available data, the proposal should focus on new methods to improve confidence in emission estimates, with relevance to European risk assessment. Furthermore, it is essential to clarify how emission data should be used, especially in terms of the spatial and temporal variability that should be considered. Representativeness is a key consideration in environmental risk assessment.
An important aspect of the project will be to maintain close links with appropriate Industry and Government bodies working in this area. In particular the project should compliment the development of the new EUSES 2.0 program as this work progresses.
The project is split into two parts as follows:
Part 1: Identification and Evaluation of Existing Data Bases
- Identify existing national and EU databases relating to emissions.
- Evaluate each data base for representativeness (e.g. identify relevant spatial and temporal scales)
- Identify gaps in data such as emission sources not considered in the database (e.g. vehicle emissions or natural sources).
- Identify and evaluate scope of current EU initiatives on release inventories.
Part 2 : Develop Improved Methods for Emission Estimation
- On the basis of data availability identified in part 1 to develop and validate new release estimation methods.
