Stylianos KephalopoulosLeader of Competence Group ‘Exposure’Chemical Assessment and Testing Unit

Institute for Health and Consumer Protection

26-27 May 2016, Helsinki

Assessing chemicals in construction products within a holistic view of buildings’

“efficiency” in EU

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Promoting the implementation of a holistic view of buildings’ “efficiency”: safety, health, energy-efficiency & sustainability

The conception and integrated and efficient implementation of building related policies, regulations and standards in EU should be performed considering the multi-dimensional based holisitic concept of buildings’ “efficiency” which encompasses socioeconomic, energy efficiency, health, safety of constructions and sustainability aspects.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEETING HEALTH

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Building related energy consumption in EU

Buildings account for about 40% of the energy consumption in EU and 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEETING HEALTH

……….…IN PARALLEL………

Building related health impact assessment

2.2 million healthy years are lost annually in Europe due to poor indoor air quality in buildings.

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEETING HEALTH

EUROPE-26

1 288 511

306 181

238 159

154 880

122 169 45 658

CV-diseases

Asthma & allergy

Lung cancer

U&L Respiratory symptoms

Acute toxication

COPD

IAQ associated BoD in kDALY/yr attributed to diseases – in total 2.2 MDALY/yr, excluding ETS

EUROPE-26

1 425 504

224 414

182 448

173 248

122 169 27 776

Combustion particless

Building dampness

Bio-aerosols from outdoor air(seasonality)Radon

Carbon monoxide

VOCs

IAQ associated BoD in kDALY/yr attributed to exposure agents

IAQ associated BoD in DALY/yr attributed to sources of exposure

EUROPE-26

1 447 541

292 836

224 414

173 248 7 276

4 017

6 226

Ambient air quality

Heating and combustionequipment/appliances

Water systems, leaks, condensation

Building site (radon from soil)

Furnishings, decoration materialsand electrical appliances

Cleaning and other householdproducts

Building materials

Source: DG SANCO’s IAIAQ project (2010-2011): Impact Assessment of IAQ related policies, actions

and projects

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STRATEGIES TO REDUCE HEALTH RISKS IN ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS

1. Reducing pollution at source

2. Diluting pollution through ventilation

3. Producing innovative and safety by design solutions for construction materials and consumer products

…………a combination of 3 strategies………

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE HEALTH RISKS

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DG JRC’s European Collaborative Action “Urban Air, Indoor Environment and Human Exposure”

30 state of the art reports since 1986

Focal activities:• Health and comfort of EU citizens • Building technologies and source

control• Requirements of sustainability, energy

efficiency and conservation of natural resources

Main goal: Provision of healthy and environmentally

sustainable buildings by minimising exposure and associated risks to physical, chemical and biological pollutants related to the built environment

CHALLENGES AHEAD

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Harmonisation frameworks for labelling and health-based evaluation of construction products

JRC’s ECA reports n. 27 (2012) &

n. 29 (2013)

STRATEGIES TO REDUCE HEALTH RISKS

In collaboration with:

European Commission (DG SANCO, DG ENTR) Mandatory and voluntary labelling schemes in EU, USA, China and Canada Construction and Chemical Industries Governmental organisations Standardisation bodies NGOs

To decrease existing burdens for the

construction industry in producing and

certifying safe construction materials and products and help removing barriers to

trade across the European market.

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Guidelines for health-based ventilation in EuropeJRC’s ECA report n. 30

(2015)Change of paradigm!

• An integrated approach combining source control measures and health-based ventilation practices that guarantees the protection of health (i.e. according to WHO air quality guidelines) while rationalising over economic and energy expenditure

• Towads performance based ventilation strategies based on a set of common indicators:

(humidity, CO2, few specific pollutants, energy consumption, comfort conditions, ...)

2. DILUTING POLLUTION THROUGH VENTILATION

Ensuring sufficient ventilation and energy efficiency requires optimisation and adaptability of ventilation levels according

to the materials used, the type and level of occupancy and activities taken place in

buildings

Health-based ventilation guidelines

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Health benefits in EU-26 in the 10th year of implementation of 10 building related policies

DG SANCO’s IAIAQ project (2010-2011):

Impact Assessment of IAQ related policies, actions and

projects (Partners: KTL-FI, UMIL-IT,

UPORTO-PT, JRC)

Potential DALY/a benefits at the 10th year of implementation of 10 IAQ policies in EUROPE-26

0 100 000 200 000 300 000 400 000

Integrate IAQ into the EPBD procedure for buildings

Documentation, operating, inspection and maintenance manualsfor buildings and installations, & qualified and trained person with

responsibility for building tasks

Tight building envelopes, balanced ventilation, air cleaning whenAAQ below WHO AQG

Regular inspection and maintenance for all ventilation and ACsystems

European health based ventilation guidelines to control pollution,moisture and temperature

Mandatory flues, CO detectors & regular maintenance/inspectionfor all comnbustion devices

European moisture control guidelines to prevent persistentdampness and mould growth.

European protocols for IAQ testing & labelling for materials,equipment and products

Extract ventilation for kitchens, extract ventilation andwaterproofed surfaces for bath rooms

Radon safe construction

ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEETING HEALTH

EC Communication: The combination effects of chemicals – Chemical mixtures COM/2012/0252 final)

7th Environment Action Programme. Priority objective 5: to improve the knowledge and evidence base for Union environment policy

Key policy questionSupport improved understanding of the chemicals and chemical mixtures to which human populations and the natural environment are actually exposed

The lack of information on chemical exposure and its impact on humans and the environment represents a major gap in knowledge base for the European chemical policies. It is challenging to assess the real impact of the exposure to chemicals and their mixtures It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of chemical policies in reducing the health impacts of

chemical exposures Combining knowledge from various ad-hoc disaggregated individual data collections to

respond to complex policy questions could be a very time consuming and inefficient process

Problem statement

https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.euInformation Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCheM)

A unique access point to discover and access chemical monitoring data

collections of Europe

4 modules: Environmental Monitoring data Food and Feed data Product and Indoor air data Human Bio-monitoring data

ContributorsPolicy Coordinator: DG ENVPolicy Masters: DG SANTE, DG RTD, JRC, DG MARETechnical-Scientific coordinator: JRC

Data providers:

European Agencies

National Bodies

Research Consortia

4 thematic module coordinatorsEnvironmental monitoring data EEA

Human Biomonitoring EEA

Food and feed EFSA

Indoor air and products JRC

Promote/improve:• Data comparability• Data quality• Information Systems’ Interoperability

AIRBASE SINPHONIE INDOOR AIRBIOSOIL

The challenge

Where is Cadmium in Europe

ESB Germany

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IPCheM next generation development

Help reducing cost burdens by allowing a more efficient use of data and reporting obligations, in line with the latest Commission Communication on REFIT (2015) which has announced a fitness check of environmental legislation.

Contribute to the circular economy package by providing the basis for addressing chemicals in products and enhancing traceability of chemical composition (which is important for recycling).

IPCheM will progressively build into an information hub for retrieving and integrating environment, health and chemicals data that are really fit-for-purpose to serve particular societal/policy challenges. The aim is to combine environmental monitoring and exposure data with toxicology and health information, seeking to establish meaningful correlations that can inform and guide policy decisions in the field of health and environmental protection

IPCheM videos on Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5IR6CXBPZw&feature=youtu.be&list=PLGI5zHT2w7jCXDhxf32JGP6ChuUyfp4HZ

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CONCLUSIONS (1/2)

Assessing chemicals in construction products within a holistic view of buildings’ “efficiency” in EU requires an integrated approach combining source control measures and health-based ventilation practices that guarantees the protection of health (i.e. according to WHO air quality guidelines) while rationalising over economic and energy expenditure.

The interface between chemicals, products and waste legislation is complex, and the Circular Economy action plan indicates that further analyses should be carried out before proposals are made. Two directions are considered: the tracking of chemicals and the promotion of non-toxic material cycles.

EC efforts are dedicated to facilitating the systematic retrieval and use of quality and comparable data concerning product emissions, exposure and human bio-monitoring data as an important prerequisite for assessing the effectiveness of chemical policies in reducing the health impact of chemical exposure (IPCheM).

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CONCLUSIONS (2/2)

Understand and prioritize chemicals/parameters causing risk, and track the chemicals back to their sources/uses.

Chemical toxicity of products should be evaluated besides from a risk assessment perspective also within a Life Cycle Analysis perspective. EC’s work is on-going with the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) to built a database of emission-specific characterisation factors using REACH data to evaluate the impact of products in the context of LCA.

EC is working to increase coherence across EU product policies (in particular Ecolabel, Green Public Procurement, Ecodesign and Energy Labelling).

Two recently launched REFIT (Regulation Fitness Check) exercises by the EC focus on European regulations covering health and safety in construction and aim to assess the burdens, costs and benefits of the implementation of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) in relation to Energy Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD), dangerous substances and sustainability.

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