Environmental contaminants

The assessment of environmental contaminants has been a core activity of the Institute since its foundation. More than 100 contaminants relevant at hazardous waste sites were evaluated for the German Environmental Agency in the 1990ies, with derivation of tolerable daily doses (TRD, tolerable absorbed doses) as well as soil trigger values for the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance. Site-specific assessments, sometimes involving less well-known substances (e.g. explosives and chemical warfare agents) required detailed exposure assessments and the derivation of guidance values for soil, air and groundwater.

In the context of permitting procedures, FoBiG supports companies and authorities in the toxicological assessment of emissions and exposures from industrial facilities. In addition, we have extensive experience in the toxicological assessment of chemicals in ambient air (e.g. in the development of an air quality indicator system for the federal state of Baden-Württemberg) as well as in indoor air.

• Toxicological assessment of environmental contaminants and derivation of tolerable intake levels
• Toxicological assessment of hazardous waste sites and derivation of compartment-specific trigger values for water, soil and air
• Derivation of levels of no concern (“Geringfügigkeitsschwellen“) for groundwater
• Health-based assessments in the context of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and authorisation/permitting procedures according to the German Federal Immission Control Act
• Derivation of guide values for indoor air according to the methodology of the former Ad-hoc-Working group (IRK/AOLG) (now: German Commitee on Indoor Guide Values)