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Proactive limit values for responsible management of chemicals

Part I: Environmental hygiene and management of chemicals Part II: Defining proactive limit values (ESPR 5/2, 1998)

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Abstract

Limit values (LVs) are legal concentration limits for constituents, residues and contaminants in consumer products or for emissions from production processes into environmental compartments. They are a traditional regulatory aid to manage chemicals in human environments. To make them proactive, LVs should become enforced by means of a transparent and informed decision process whose starting point is the Basic Rule of Environmental Hygiene, BREH:Avoid useless exposure as far as possible, minimize useful exposure in a reasonable manner, and prevent that exposure which is dangerous. The BREH calls upon minimizing exposure not only according toon site risk potentials and acceptance, but also tooff site avoidability and acceptability.

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Abbreviations

BREH:

Basic Rule of Environmental Hygiene

Ea :

Adverse Effect Threshold (applies only for substances with an effect threshold)

EDTA:

Ethylene Diamino Tetraacetate

GART:

Generally Acknowledged Rules of Technology

LK:

Latest Knowledge

LV:

Limit Value

StA:

State of the Art

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Dieter, H.H. Proactive limit values for responsible management of chemicals. Environ. Sci. & Pollut. Res. 5, 51–54 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02986374

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