Health, Hygiene and Environment

Assessment and Verification in

Harmonized Product Standards
G. Thielen, Düsseldorf
Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e. V.

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel Gerd Thielen
 The Construction Products
Directive

Essential Requirement No. 3

The construction work must be designed and built in

such a way that it will not be a threat to the hygiene
or health of the occupants or neighbours

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Legal requirements
Member state legislation
e. g.• Building Law
• Water Act
• Soil Protection Act
• Chemical Legislation

European Directives
e. g.• Construction Product Directive [CPD]
• Groundwater Directive
• Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation
and Restrictions of Chemicals (REACH)

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Guidance for Standardization
Horizontal (product independent) aspects
• Release scenarios
• Verification principles
• Verification criteria

Vertical (product dependent) aspects

• Product specific verification rules

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Release scenarios
Release of dangerous particles or gases in the air
with particular emphasis to the indoor air

Emission of dangerous radiation

Pollution or poisoning of the water or soil through

leaching into the ground and/or surface water
or into the subbase soil

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Bottom-up concept to address the Essential
Requirement No. 3:
Hygiene, health and environment
1. Step
Analyse existing „barriers to trade“ resulting from non-harmonized
product specifications in the EU-Member States
Action: EU and Member States
2. Step
Develop horizontal guidance in form of verification principles and criteria
with the aim to allow CEN Product TCs to develop the necessary verifi-
cation rules concerning the essential requirement No. 3: Hygiene, health
and environment
Action: CEN-BT
3. Step
Develop the necessary verification rules on the basis of the horizontal
guidance in the relevant CEN Product TCs
Action: CEN-Product-TCs
25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel
 Bottom-up procedure to identify necessary
HORIZONTAL GUIDANCE FOR CEN TCs for
the verification of the Essential Requirement
No. 3: Hygiene, health and environment
1 Consider the relevant release scenario
2 Analyse existing national or European regulations in view
of the relevant regulated substances (type and possible
treshold or limit value)
[Reference: EU Data Base]
3 Identify the mandated product families concerned
4 Identify the necessary verification instruments
5 Propose a framework for verification principles, criteria and
rules
25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel
 Bottom-up procedure to identify necessary
HORIZONTAL GUIDANCE FOR CEN TCs for the
verification of the Essential Requirement No. 3:
Hygiene, health and environment
Release Regulated substances Mandated Verification instruments
scenario Type Nat. or Euro- product families Release Chem.
pean treshold/ concerned test analysis
limit values
Release by
evaporation
Indoor Air eg organic eg wall
(acc: EN xxx)
compounds claddings, acc. to EN. ..
(VTOC) tiles etc. Release by
radiation
(acc: EN yyy)
Ground Water eg heavy eg injection Release by
metals materials or leaching
Surface water well shafts (acc: EN zzz) acc. to EN. ..
Soil eg organic eg construction
compounds piles
(TOC)

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
HORIZONTAL GUIDANCE FOR CEN TCs
Example: Ground water protection
(based on: „Bewertung der Auswirkungen von Bauprodukten auf Boden und Grundwasser“,
DiBt- Merkblatt, Berlin, Nov. 2000)
Release Regulated substances Mandated Verification instruments
scenario product
Type German limit family Release Chem.
value [µg/l] concerned test analysis
DIN EN ISO 11885
Antimony (Sb) 10 DIN 38406-29
DIN EN ISO 11969
DIN EN ISO 11885
Arsenic (As) 10 DIN 38406-29
DIN EN ISO 11969
Released DIN EN ISO 11885
Lead (Pb) by DIN 384406-29
25 DIN 38406-16
Ground leaching DIN 38406-6
e.g. tested DIN EN ISO 11885
water Cementitious acc. to DIN 38406-29
Cadmium (Cd) 5 soil injection E DIN ... DIN 38406-16
material DIN EN ISO 5961
DIN EN ISO 11885
Chromium (Cr) 50 DIN 38406-29
DIN EN 1233
8 DIN 38405-24
Chromate (Cr VI) DIN EN ISO 10304-3
DIN EN ISO 11885
Cobalt (Co) 50 DIN 38406-24
 Horizontal verification
principles

Indirect verification
Generic approval [Products Without Further Testing (WFT)]
(actually applied in most of the cases)

Direct verification

Specific approval based on

compliance tests/calculations

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Products Without Further Testing
(WFT-Products)
Criteria for WFT-Products
• Clear definition of the product constituents, composition
etc.,e.g. reference to hEN
• Contents of dangerous substances resulting from traces in
raw and process materials (no active use of dangerous substances)
• Adequate state of the art of the release performance
• Experience in intended uses under relevant scenarios
• Application rules for the intended use (e.g. in EN)
• Safe distance to required limits (if relevant)

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 Example: Cement according to EN 197
Contents of dangerous substances
Average trace element contents in German cements [ppm]
compared with diabas, clay shale and the lithosphere
Element Diabas Clay shale Lithosphere Cement

Arsenic (As) 1.9 13 1.8 7.0

Lead (Pb) 7.8 20 13.0 17

Cadmium (Cd) 0.15 0.30 0.20 0.4

Chromium (Cr) 114 90 100 41

Cobalt (Co) 47 19 25 8.7

Copper (Cu) 110 45 55 31

Nickel (Ni) 76 68 75 23

Zinc (Zn) 86 95 70 192

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel
 Example: Cement according to EN 197
State of the art of release performance of cement bound
materials into the ground and/or surface water or into the
subbase soil - Chromium content in German cements
140
120
chromium content in mg/kg

100
g

80
n

60
h

40
m

20
h

0
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
cement
25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel
 Leaching of chromium in standard leaching test
(Tank test acc. to E-DIN ..)
5.0
leached amount of chromium in mg/m2

German limit value

m

4.0
g

3.0
m

2.0
g

1.0
a

leaching
0 time in days
0 10 20 30 40 50 56
25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel
 SUMMARY
• According to the CPD, construction products must be suitable for con-
struction works so that these will not be a threat to the hygiene or health
of the occupants or neighbours
• Harmonized product standards should provide adequate specifications
to demonstrate conformity to this requirement
• To draft such specifications CEN Product TCs need horizontal guidance
• This guidance must address the relevant release scenario and propose
standard verification principles and criteria
• The verification principles must allow to classify construction products as
products without further testing (WFT products)
• Priority must be given to those products and uses which cause „barriers
to trade“

25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction

Brussel
 SUMMARY continued
• A bottom-up approach for the identification of the necessary standardisation
work in CEN should be according to the following sequence:

- Consider the relevant release scenario

- Identify the mandated construction products applied in corresponding
use scenarios
- Review existing European or National Regulations concerning possible
limits on „dangerous substances“
- Initiate standardisation work for the necessary verification instruments
(tests, chemical analysis)

- Develop horizontal guidance in form of verification principles and rules

to allow CEN Product-TCs to elaborate the necessary verification rules
covering WFT products as well as non-WFT products
25 March 2004 CEN Environmental Seminar Construction
Brussel