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Veröffentlichung The critical raw materials concept(2018) Keßler, Hermann; Kosmol, Jan; Müller, FelixCriticality analysis has established itself as a multifactorial, action-oriented, socio-economic raw materials scarcity assessment method which is subject to continuous development. A raw material is critical when its supply is at risk and a company or economy is vulnerable to supply restrictions of that raw material. The binary labelling of raw materials as either critical or not delivers a strong message. However, each raw material has a characteristic risk profile which may not be described by an aggregated criticality score and a discrete treshold value. A differentiated interpretation allows for a deeper understanding of the raw material supply situation and for the adoption of appropriate measures. Criticality should be understood as a continuum, subjective to the raw material system in question. A harmonised criticality methodology presented in the industrial guideline on resource efficiency (VDI 4800-II) allows for a flexible application of the concept. ÖkoRess, a research project of the German Environment Agency, examines why and how environmental aspects should be included into the criticality concept. A raw material is consequently environmentally critical if it exhibits a high overall environmental hazard potential and is at the same time of great importance for a company or economy. A high environmental hazard potential can indicate a future supply risk. The conclusions to be drawn, however, differ from the conclusions from conventional criticality analysis. Ecological criticality widens the focus to include measures used to foster responsible sourcing and mining practices, which until now have not been discussed in the context of criticality. Quelle: VerlagsinformationVeröffentlichung Population vulnerability to COVID-19 in Europe: a burden of disease analysis(2020) Wyper, Grant M.A.; Assunção, Ricardo; Cuschieri, Sarah; Plaß, DietrichBackground Evidence has emerged showing that elderly people and those with pre-existing chronic health conditions may be at higher risk of developing severe health consequences from COVID-19. In Europe, this is of particular relevance with ageing populations living with non-communicable diseases, multi-morbidity and frailty. Published estimates of Years Lived with Disability (YLD) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study help to characterise the extent of these effects. Our aim was to identify the countries across Europe that have populations at highest risk from COVID-19 by using estimates of population age structure and YLD for health conditions linked to severe illness from COVID-19. Methods Population and YLD estimates from GBD 2017 were extracted for 45 countries in Europe. YLD was restricted to a list of specific health conditions associated with being at risk of developing severe consequences from COVID-19 based on guidance from the United Kingdom Government. This guidance also identified individuals aged 70 years and above as being at higher risk of developing severe health consequences. Study outcomes were defined as: (i) proportion of population aged 70 years and above; and (ii) rate of YLD for COVID-19 vulnerable health conditions across all ages. Bivariate groupings were established for each outcome and combined to establish overall population-level vulnerability. Results Countries with the highest proportions of elderly residents were Italy, Greece, Germany, Portugal and Finland. When assessments of population-level YLD rates for COVID-19 vulnerable health conditions were made, the highest rates were observed for Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A bivariate analysis indicated that the countries at high-risk across both measures of vulnerability were: Bulgaria; Portugal; Latvia; Lithuania; Greece; Germany; Estonia; and Sweden. Conclusion Routine estimates of population structures and non-fatal burden of disease measures can be usefully combined to create composite indicators of vulnerability for rapid assessments, in this case to severe health consequences from COVID-19. Countries with available results for sub-national regions within their country, or national burden of disease studies that also use sub-national levels for burden quantifications, should consider using non-fatal burden of disease estimates to estimate geographical vulnerability to COVID-19. © 2020 BioMed Central Ltd.Veröffentlichung Close to reality? Micro-/mesocosm communities do not represent natural macroinvertebrate communities(2022) Duquesne, Sabine; Foit, Kaarina Pirko; Liess, Matthias; Karaoglan, Bilgin; Reiber, Lena; Wogram, JörnBackground: The European environmental risk assessment of plant protection products considers aquatic model ecosystem studies (microcosms/mesocosms, M/M) as suitable higher tier approach to assess treatment-related effects and to derive regulatory acceptable concentrations (RAC). However, it is under debate to what extent these artificial test systems reflect the risks of pesticidal substances with potential harmful effects on natural macroinvertebrate communities, and whether the field communities are adequately protected by the results of the M/M studies. We therefore compared the composition, sensitivity and vulnerability of benthic macroinvertebrates established in control (untreated) groups of 47 selected M/M studies with natural stream communities at 26 reference field sites. Results: Since 2013 the number of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa present in M/M studies has increased by 39% to a mean of 38 families per study. However, there is only an average of 4 families per study that comply with the recommendations provided by EFSA (EFSA J 11:3290, 2013), i.e.: (i) allowing statistical identification of treatmentrelated effects of at least 70% according to the minimum detectable difference (here criteria are slightly modified) and (ii) belonging to insects or crustaceans (potentially sensitive taxa for pesticidal substances). Applying the criterion of physiological sensitivity according to the SPEARpesticides concept, the number of families decreases from 4 to 2.3 per study. Conclusions: Most taxa established in recent M/M studies do not suitably represent natural freshwater communities. First, because their abundances are often not sufficient for statistical detection of treatment-related effects in order to determine an appropriate endpoint and subsequent RAC. Recommendations are given to improve the detectability of such effects and their reliability. Second, the taxa often do not represent especially sensitive or vulnerable taxa in natural communities in terms of their traits. The uncertainties linked to vulnerable taxa in M/M studies are especially high considering their representativity for field assemblages and the comparability of factors determining their recovery time. Thus considering recovery for deriving a RAC (i.e., ERO-RAC) is not recommended. In addition, this paper discusses further concerns regarding M/M studies in a broader regulatory context and recommends the development of alternative assessment tools and a shift towards a new paradigm. Quelle:© The Author(s) 2022Veröffentlichung Heat in Germany: Health risks and preventive measures(2023) Winklmayr, Claudia; Matthies-Wiesler, Franziska; Mücke, Hans-Guido; Muthers, StefanHintergrund: Der Klimawandel hat in Deutschland bereits zu einer deutlichen Temperaturzunahme geführt. So lag die Mitteltemperatur im vergangenen Jahrzehnt rund 2˚C über dem vorindustriellen Niveau und acht der zehn heißesten Sommer seit Beginn der systematischen Wetteraufzeichnungen im Jahr 1881 wurden in den letzten 30 Jahren verzeichnet. Methode: Der Artikel fasst, basierend auf einer selektiven Literaturrecherche und eigenen Auswertungen, den aktuellen Wissensstand zu Hitze und ihren gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen für Deutschland zusammen, geht auf Anpassungsmaßnahmen ein und gibt einen Ausblick auf Umsetzungs- und Forschungsfragen. Ergebnisse: Hitze kann bestehende Beschwerden wie Erkrankungen des Herz-Kreislauf-Systems, der Atemwege oder der Nieren verschlimmern und bei zahlreichen Medikamenten teils schwerwiegende Nebenwirkungen auslösen. Während Hitzeperioden wird regelmäßig ein deutlicher Anstieg der Sterbefälle beobachtet. Bisherige Ansätze zur Abmilderung gesundheitlicher Auswirkungen hoher Temperaturen umfassen z.B. die Hitzewarnungen des Deutschen Wetterdienstes sowie Handlungsempfehlungen für die Erstellung von Hitzeaktionsplänen. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Evidenz zu Gesundheitsauswirkungen von Hitze und das Bewusstsein für die Notwendigkeit von gesundheitsbezogenem Hitzeschutz sind in den letzten Jahren gewachsen, dennoch besteht weiterer Handlungs-und Forschungsbedarf. Quelle: © Robert Koch Institut