News

Report ‘Soil monitoring in Europe’ now published

A tremendous effort has been invested in soil monitoring in Europe, at country- as well as EU-level. However, there is so far no comprehensive and updated state of knowledge to identify healthy soils and those requiring protection. For the last few years, the European Topic Centre on Urban Land and Soil Systems (ETC/ULS) has followed […]

Report published on further development of screening tests for the evaluation of potential PBT substances

Different ready biodegradability tests (OECD 301 series and OECD 310) are currently used for evaluating if a substance is readily biodegradable and for identifying potentially persistent substances. Although the methods differ considerably, the test results are considered equivalent. In persistency assessments under REACH, enhanced ready biodegradability tests with an extended test duration (up to 60 […]

Jörg Römbke is retiring at the end of 2022

Jörg Römbke is retiring at the end of 2022

Jörg Römbke, Thomas Knacker and Hans Schallnaß funded ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH in 1993. After 31 years of service to ECT and after securing ECT’s future as part of the Syntech Research Group in 2021, Jörg Römbke will retire at the end of 2022. We all at ECT are grateful for all the years of cooperation, […]

New test guideline: Organic matter decomposition in contaminated soil

The decomposition of organic matter is a key microbiological function in soil. A soil is healthy when organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling are intact. Against this background, a laboratory-based method was developed for quantitative evaluation of microbial decomposition of organic matter in contaminated soil. This method is based on the quantification of the ability […]

Publication on validation of a method to determine transformation of chemicals in manure

Manure is widely used as a fertilizer and applied to agricultural land. It may contain highly active chemicals like veterinary medicinal products or biocides, which enter the environment by this pathway. This is recognized by several regulatory frameworks, however, a detailed method for examining the transformation of chemicals in manure was lacking. The present publication […]