Roads and motorized transport as major sources of priority substances? A data register study

ABSTRACT

A data register study was performed in order to identify the amounts of hazardous substances in products related to motorized transport in Norway during 2012. The hazardous substances were selected from legislative investigations performed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), European Union (EU), and Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA). Information regarding hazardous substances in 52 selected product categories associated with traffic-related activities was obtained from the Norwegian Product Register administrated by the NEA. Substances present on ECHA list of substances of very high concern (SVHC), NEA national priority list, and priority substances under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) were given most attention, with substances from ECHA community rolling action plan (CoRAP) also included. Results showed that selected products contained a diverse range of substances that were classified as hazardous to either human or environmental health. The quantities of hazardous substances in the selected products were 120 tons (SVHC), 280 tons (Norway priority list), and 2,400 tons (WFD). It proved difficult to pinpoint these quantities only to traffic-related operations since product categories included compounds used for other activities. However, data illustrate that large quantities of hazardous substances are employed concurrent with being prioritized for reduction/elimination by national and international authorities. A list of substances with annual use in 2012 >1 ton was prepared to aid a prioritization for further actions such as substitution, phasing out, or environmental monitoring. The list contains substances that are toxic to humans, especially as adverse reproductive/carcinogenic agents, and/or pose a threat to the environment.

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Monika Lahti (Norwegian Environment Agency) for collection of data from the Norwegian product information bank. She also assisted with valuable discussions and input to the project and this paper.

Funding

This project has been a part of the R&D program Nordic Road Water (NORWAT) financed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, which is therefore gratefully acknowledged for funding.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/15287394.2017.1352206

Additional information

Funding

This project has been a part of the R&D program Nordic Road Water (NORWAT) financed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, which is therefore gratefully acknowledged for funding.