Eurometaux, the European nonferrous metals association, and Arche Consulting of Belgium have released an educational video entitled “An Introduction to Environmental Quality Standards for Metals,” which is available at the association’s website.
The video, produced in collaboration with ARRIBA, Triangle 7 and with support from several experts of Eurometaux’s Water Taskforce, targets a non-specialist audience from both regulators and industry, and is designed to provide an introduction to Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for metals, included in the European Union’s work to protect and sustain the quality of surface waters.
The video demonstrates the principles of metals bio-availability and how they can be used to calculate site-specific environmental quality standards, or bio-available metal concentrations, and how environmental compliance can be achieved in a tiered approach.
Eurometaux points out that including metals specificities in environmental quality standards is important when considering permits for companies. The video aims to improve the general understanding of this complex process, providing a step-by-step explanation of the underlying principles and what is required.