Implementation of the test-battery approach into routine effluent control in Lithuania

Recently, HELCOM, expressing a concern on the status of the Baltic Sea, has initiated several international programmes such as Cohiba, BaltHaz, etc., particularly targeted to promote the usage of Whole Effluent Assessment (WEA) methods in routine regulation. Contrary to the control of individual substances, which is based on knowledge of a single concentration, mn unicipal and industrial effluents can be regulated directly on basis of harmful effects that occur in testing organisms. Various countries use laboratory toxicity tests to monitor effluent discharges into surface waters in various degrees. For example, acute and chronic toxicity tests are used in the USAand Sweden, whereas acute tests are used in Canadaand several European countries. Up to date, the majority of countries provide chemical-based effluent controls, however, the progressive increase of chemicals under control and difficulties in measuring them make individual-substance approach problematic. In some countries, toxicity data are included for taxation purposes, in parallel to chemical-based taxation. For example, toxicity data obtained from D. magna acute and fish embryos tests used inFrance andGermany, respectively. In 2011, the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania put forward a national programme with the aim to elaborate a system of effluent control by implementing toxicity tests. The outcome of this programme includes appearance of necessary environmental juristic documents and/or their updates, selection of test-batteries, selection of the cumulative index for toxicity evaluation and performance of initial stage of effluent inventory monitoring. The evaluation of potential harm for aquatic environment is limited to the application of end-of-pipe principle, the assessment of effluent by acute and/or chronic toxicity test-batteries as well as effluent-and stream-flow rates. [...]Aplinkotyros katedraBotanikos institutasVitkus, RVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij