“EU Directive Seveso II, 96/82/EC Substances qualifying quantities

2.3 Activity workshop

Angeliki Tsatsou DritsaChemist, TA Key Expert 2

Zagreb 16-17 June 2011

EU Seveso II qualifying quantities

To apply Seveso II for establishments, the following assumptions stand:

Assumption 1 – Quantities to be considered (substances or mixtures) are the maximum quantities present or likely to be present at any time (in controlled or uncontrolled conditions) within establishment boundaries.

EU Seveso II qualifying quantitiesAssumptions

To apply Seveso II for establishments, the following assumptions stand:

Assumption 2 – Qualifying quantities are inversely proportional to hazards posed by chemical, i.e. a very hazardous chemical has a small qualifying quantity.

Why ? Take a minute to think about this

cont.

EU Seveso II qualifying quantitiesANSWER:

We saw earlier today that risk is proportional to hazard.

R = ƒ (quality of hazard, quantity of hazard)Therefore a big hazard makes the risk bigger. Therefore the bigger the hazard is, the smaller the quantity required to bring about the risk of the said hazard. The qualifying quantity is, in other words, a trigger of risks. It shows at which quantity level the risk is triggered to realization. While the lower tier triggers a pistol, the upper tier triggers a cannon.Even in cases if lower than the low trigger, proportional measures must be taken. There is no such thing as a non risky sandwich.

EU Seveso II qualifying quantitiesAssumptions

To apply Seveso II, the following assumptions stand:

Assumption 3 – Substances and Mixtures are classified as per EU Directives 67/548/EEC and 99/45/EC.

Quantities of substances and quantities of mixtures qualify an establishment in the same manner – no special treatment for mixtures –

EU Seveso II qualifying quantitiesCases

There are 3 broad cases operators may have to face:

CASE 1: THE PIECE OF CAKE – EASYTo have present within establishment a named substance or mixture (previous lecture). This is the easy scenario because the qualifying quantity is at our disposal and tabularized in Annex I Part 1 of Seveso II Directive.Example: formaldehyde, lower tier > 5 tones upper tier > 50 tones.

EU Seveso II qualifying quantitiesCases

CASE 2: THE SOFT NUTT – MEDIUM To have present within establishment a

substance not named In Annex I Part I but of known hazard, i.e. classified substance or mixture as per Directives 67/548/EEC or 99/45/EC.

In this case the qualifying quantity is given tabularized per category of hazard in Part 2 of Annex I of Seveso II Directive. cont.

Seveso II qualifying quantitiesCases

CASE 2: THE SOFT NUTT – MEDIUM cont. Example: hexane, highly flammable, toxic to

aquatic organisms, lower tier 50 tones, upper tier 200 tones (note that between lower tier of 50 tones for highly flammables and lower tier 200 tones for toxics to aquatic organisms, the lower limit of 50 tones prevails, i.e bigger hazard prevails)In cases of mixtures, classification as per Directive 99/45/EC is equivalent and same tonnage applies

Seveso II qualifying quantitiesCASE 3: THE HARD NUTT – HARDER To have present within establishment a substance or mixture not named In Annex I Part I of Seveso II of unknown hazard. In this case we have to establish the classification of the substance / mixture as per Directives 67/548/EEC or 99/45/ECWhile supplier of the chemical is obliged under law to provide us with the safety data sheet of the chemical, the case might be that it is a product of our process either in substance or mixture form.In this case we have to reduce the problem to a CASE 2 problem

cont.

Seveso II qualifying quantitiesCASE 3: THE HARD NUTT – HARDER cont.i.e. we have to establish the classification of the substance as per 67/548/EEC or mixture as per 99/45/EC Directives so that we can find the respective qualifying quantity in Part 2 tables of Seveso II (unnamed substances – hazard category quantities)

for example: 10%w.w. water glufosinate ammonium mixture is toxic as per 99/45, therefore qualifying quantity is lower tier 50 tones, upper tier 200 tones (as per Part 2 of Seveso II, Annex I,for classified Toxic materials)

Seveso II qualifying quantities

REALITY SCENARIO:VARIOUS SUBSTANCES / MIXTURES PRESENT WITHIN ESTABLISHMENT IN NON QUALIFYING QUANTITIES

THE FUNCTION OF QUALIFYING QUANTITIES IS AN ADDITIVE PROPERTY IN THERMODYNAMIC TERMS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE STANDARD PHYSICOCHEMICAL & TOXICOLOGICAL MODEL

Cont.

Seveso II qualifying quantities

What this means is: In the case of an establishment where no individual substance or mixture is present in a quantity above or equal to the relevant qualifying quantities the following rule shall be applied to determine whether the establishment is covered by the relevant requirements of this directive:If (q1 / Q1) + q2 / Q2 + q3 / Q3+…+qv / Qv ≥ 1Where qx is the present quantity of each chemical and Qx is the tier tonnage under investigation.

Thank you for your attention