TY - JOUR A1 - Heisterkamp, I. A1 - Ratte, M. A1 - Schoknecht, Ute A1 - Gartiser, S. A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Ilvonen, O. T1 - Ecotoxicological evaluation of construction products: inter-laboratory test with DSLT and percolation test eluates in an aquatic biotest battery JF - Environmental Sciences Europe N2 - Background A European inter-laboratory test with 29 participating laboratories investigated whether a battery of four ecotoxicological tests is suitable for assessing the environmental compatibility of construction products. For this purpose, a construction product was investigated with the dynamic surface leaching test (DIN CEN/TS 16637-2) and the percolation test (DIN CEN/TS 16637-3). The eluates were produced centrally by one laboratory and were tested by the participants using the following biotests: algae test (ISO 8692), acute daphnia test (ISO 6341), luminescent bacteria test (DIN EN ISO 11348), and fish egg test (DIN EN ISO 15088). As toxicity measures, EC50 and LID values were calculated. Results Toxic effects of the eluates were detected by all four biotests. The bacteria test was by far the most sensitive, followed by the algae test and the daphnia test; the fish egg test was the least sensitive for eluates of both leaching tests. The toxicity level of the eluates was very high in the bacteria, daphnia, and algae test, with lowest ineffective dilution values of LID = 70 to LID = 13,000 and corresponding EC50 values around or even below 1 volume percent. The reproducibility (approximated by interlaboratory variability) of the biotests was good (< 53%) to very good (< 20%), regardless of the toxicity level of the eluates. The reproducibility of the algae test was up to 80%, and thus still acceptable. Conclusion It can be confirmed that the combination of leaching and ecotoxicity tests is suitable to characterize with sufficient reproducibility the environmental impact posed by the release of hazardous substances from construction products. KW - Inter-laboratory test KW - Construction products KW - Leaching tests KW - Ecotoxicity tests KW - Grouts PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529198 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-021-00514-x VL - 33 IS - 1 SP - Article number: 75 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-52919 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heisterkamp, I. A1 - Gartiser, S. A1 - Schoknecht, Ute A1 - Happel, O. A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Kretzschmar, M. A1 - Ilvonen, O. T1 - Investigating the ecotoxicity of construction product eluates as multicomponent mixtures JF - Environmental Sciences Europe N2 - The release of hazardous compounds from construction products can harm human health and the environment. To improve the sustainability of construction materials, the leaching of substances from construction products and their potential environmental impact should be assessed. Twenty-seven construction products from different product groups were examined with a combination of standardized leaching tests (dynamic surface leaching test and percolation test) and biotests (algae, daphnia, fish egg, luminescent bacteria, umu and Ames fluctuation tests). To identify the released substances, extensive qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses were performed, including gas chromatographic and liquid chromatographic screening techniques. Results: Many of the tested eluates caused signifcant ecotoxic efects. Particularly high ecotoxicities were observed for grouts (lowest ineffective dilution (LID) up to 16384) and cork granules (LID up to 24578). The results of ecotoxicity tests allow the prioritization of the eluates that should be subjected to detailed chemical analyses. Organic screening by different methods and ranking the identifed substances based on recorded hazard classification is a suitable approach to identify the relevant toxic substances. Conclusions: Determining the ecotoxicity of eluates from construction products records the summary effect of all leachable substances. This instrument is especially useful for construction products of complex and largely unknown composition. The ecotoxicological and the chemical–analytical approach complement each other in an ideal way to characterize the potential hazard of eluates from construction products and to identify the environmentally hazardous components in these eluates. Our results confirm that the proposed harmonized methods for testing eluate toxicity are an adequate and applicable procedure to move toward a more sustainable way of building and to reduce toxic effects of construction products in their use phase in the environment. KW - Construction products KW - Building materials KW - Ecotoxicity KW - Biotests KW - Leaching KW - Eluates KW - Chemical analysis KW - Analytical screening techniques KW - Mixture toxicity PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-568864 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00711-w VL - 35 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-56886 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -