The authorisation procedure for biocidal products according to the European Biocides Direc¬tive in¬cludes the assessment of possible environmental risks by the emission of ac¬tive ingre¬dients. This needs an input of data on the expected emissions of biocides into environmental com¬part¬ments. The procedures for the estimation of these emissions should be harmonised. La¬boratory test proce¬dures as proposed by the CEN TC38 WG27 might be a suitable means to obtain emis¬¬sion data. However, laboratory data cannot directly represent variable service con¬ditions. Only a limited number of the en¬vi¬ron¬mental conditions that can influence the emis¬¬¬sion of bio¬cides are represented in the la¬bo¬ratory tests. Never¬theless, water contact is a crucial factor for the emission of sub¬stan¬ces into water that can be controlled under labo¬ra¬to¬ry conditions. Al¬though there are only few studies that directly compare biocide emissions in laboratory and field ex¬pe¬riments it is helpful to summarise literature data for active ingre¬dients that have been ex¬ten¬sively investigated. Emission data from different types of experi¬ments are summa¬rised. Limitations and benefits of laboratory tests and field experiments as well as the resulting con¬se¬quences for the assess¬ment of emission data are discussed. Finally, it will be necessary to com¬promise about the suitability and repeatability of the test pro¬cedures and the applicability of the test results to different environmental conditions.

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