Evaluation of a biotest battery for the ecotoxicological characterisation of waste: ring test with 60 laboratories from 15 countries

The ecotoxicological characterization of waste is part of its assessment as hazardous or non-hazardous according to the European List of Wastes (LoW, 2000/532/EC) amended by Directive 2008/98/EG and Regulation 2017/997. For this assessment, 15 hazard properties are evaluated. So far, there is no harmonised guidance for evaluation of the hazard property ‘ecotoxic’ (HP 14) using ecotoxicity tests.

Based on the recommendations of EN 14735, an international ring test was initiated by the German Environment Agency (UBA) in order to identify suitable test methods for the biological assessment of waste and waste eluates. The German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) prepared, characterized and distributed the waste samples. ECT was responsible for the scientific project co-ordination, including the preparation of standard operation procedures and the training workshop. The statistical evaluation was performed by the University of Applied Science Giessen-Friedberg (Germany). A total of 60 laboratories (16 universities, 16 public research institutions and 28 contract laboratories) from 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, UK and the USA) participated in the ring test. The basic biotest battery consisted of the algal growth inhibition test, the acute Daphnia test, the luminescent bacteria test, the acute earthworm test and the growth inhibition test with two higher plant species. It was used by all participants. Additional ecotoxicity tests – five aquatic tests (including a genotoxicity test) and five terrestrial tests (including the avoidance test with earthworms and the solid contact test with Arthrobacter globiformis) – were performed by some of the laboratories. The tests were conducted with three representative waste types: municipal waste incineration ash (MWI ash), soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and waste wood mainly contaminated with copper-based wood preservatives.

Almost all tests were performed according to ISO guidelines. Overall, 634 data sets were produced in the basic biotest battery and 204 data sets in the additional tests. Only few data were not acceptable (e.g. due to lack of reference data) or identified as statistical or biological outliers. Generally, the soil contaminated with PAHs had the lowest ecotoxicity, the MWI ash showed an intermediate toxicity, and the waste wood contaminated with copper-based wood preservatives was most toxic. Among the aquatic tests, daphnids and one algal species were most sensitive. In the terrestrial tests, plants were always more sensitive than earthworms. Results of the ring test showed good agreement with previously published literature data. Based on the test results, suggestions were made for modifying the basic biotest battery. In particular, the acute earthworm test should be replaced by a soil invertebrate test with higher sensitivity. The project results show that combining a battery of ecotoxicity tests and chemical analyses of the waste constituents is the most suitable approach for an ecotoxicological characterization of wastes.

The final report of the project (in German) is available here.

The project results were also published as book:

Moser, G., Römbke, J. (eds.) (2009). Ecotoxicological characterisation of waste. Results and experiences of an international ring test. Springer, New York. [read more]

 

Last update: August 2024