EGURIDAD Sy Medio Ambiente - Mapfre€¦ · Seguridad y Medio Ambiente - Nº 113 Page 2 of 63. 1801/2003 of 26 December. Nonetheless, the aim of establishing the liability of manufacturers,

Year 29 Nr 113 first quarter 2009SEGURIDADy Medio Ambiente

Safety in the use of chemical products in the workplace● Working exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) ● Ecological

footprint of the Campus de Vegazana ● Green taxes

Safety in the use of chemical products in the workplace; legislation, caveats and liabilities INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

What are the legal responsibilities of manufacturers, distributors and user companies of workplace chemical products? This article aims to come up with the answer to this and other related questions about the use of this type of products in the workplace, pooling the author’s research work from February 2006 to February 2007 (and then brought up to date) carried out on a FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE industrial-hygiene research grant. By JOSÉ RICARDO PARDO GATO. Lawyer, Higher Occupational Risks Prevention Officer. Legal Consultant of the Galicia Association of Health-and-Safety-at-Work Professionals (Asociación de Profesionales de Seguridad y Salud Laboral de Galicia: APROSAL).

1. Legislation Framework: the safety of chemical products within the occupational risks prevention system

In relation to employers and user firms in general, the Occupational Risks Prevention Act (Ley de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales: LPRL) lays down a whole set of legal provisions that aim to safeguard the health and safety of workers. The basic tenet is set forth in article 14, establishing the «duty of employers to protect their workers from occupational risks». Their preventive action is to be based, among other things, on an initial assessment of the risks when choosing the chemical substances or preparations [articles 16.2.a) and 25.2 LPRL]. Article 4.2.a) of Royal Decree (Real Decreto) 39/1997 of 17 January approving the Prevention Services Regulation (Reglamento de los Servicios de Prevención) then lays it down that if any of the risks turn out to be unavoidable after this initial risk assessment, then an additional assessment has to be made of the jobs potentially affected by chemical substances and preparations, among other elements.

Nonetheless, the above preamble should not be taken to mean that the buck always stops solely with the employer, for it would seem to be equally reasonable to hold other occupational-risk-prevention stakeholders liable (such as the foreman, chargehand, designated worker, prevention officer, inhouse or outsourced prevention service, etc.), while the workers themselves would also obviously be held accountable for their obligations and concomitant liabilities. In due accordance with their training and following the employer’s instructions, workers will indeed be bound to use and handle hazardous substances properly, inaccordance with their nature and likely risks (article 29.2.1 LPRL). That said, it should also be borne in mind here that our legislation does not flesh out or even sketch in the liabilities to be met by the various operators intervening in the wide range of preventive activities. This has led to many difficulties ofinterpretation, both from the jurisprudential and case-law point of

Year 29 Nº 113 first quarter 2009

Page 1 of 63Seguridad y Medio Ambiente - Nº 113

view.

Our legislation does not flesh out or even sketch in the liabilities to be met by the various operators

intervening in the wide range of preventive activities

The liability of manufacturers, importers and suppliers is much less of a quagmire. These liabilities are at least foreshadowed in article 41 LPRL, where it is generally laid down thatmanufacturers, importers and suppliers of products, as well as machinery, equipment and work utensils, are bound to ensure that these do not represent a source of danger to workers, always on condition that they have been properly installed and are also properly used in due accordance with their rightfulpurpose.

The second paragraph of the article then goes on to stipulate –now in a more specific manner – the actual safety obligations incumbent upon manufacturers, importers and suppliers of chemical products and substances used in the workplace. They are expressly bound to «package and label same so that they may be safely kept and handled, clearly identifying their content and the handling or storage risks to the health and safety of workers».

All these subjects are bound to furnish employers with the necessary information to ensure that the use and handling of said products and also chemical substances and preparations by workers is carried out without health-and-safety risks andemployers are also bound to ask for this information and pass it on in good and due form to their employees.

The manufacturer of chemical products and substances will be required to eliminate risks at source and conduct an assessment of any subsistent risks, while manufacturers together with importers and suppliers of such products and substances shall inform employers of the complementary or additional safety measures to be taken as well as the various occupational risks bound up in their normal use and proper handling andemployment.

Although some critical voices have been raised against article 41 LPRL1 , casting doubts on its feasibility or enforceability, usually on the basis of pre-existing laws or concurrent legislation passedsubsequently, I am of the opinion that the inclusion of this article in the law is in general more than justified2 , especially in light of the fact that the complementary nature of the work-safety and product-safety legislation does not discharge the obligation to provide specific protection from risks inherent to the working activity. Witness the obvious enrichment with the incorporation of the element of protection and prevention from the risk implied in the workplace chemical product.

We therefore believe that this article provides a nexus between both sets of legislation and is also conducive to the overall coherence and unification of the obligations incumbent on manufacturers, importers and suppliers of workplace products, without detriment to the inclusion of specific requirements for chemical products, the legal framework serving as the overall nexus of union and rationale for the rest of the legislation.

The obvious conclusion to be drawn from these opening remarksis that the work-safety and product-safety legislation has to be taken into account together. The legal basis for the latter, in terms of all products designed for consumer use, is Real Decreto


1801/2003 of 26 December. Nonetheless, the aim of establishing the liability of manufacturers, importers and suppliers of workplace chemical products urges us, as in the case of theemployer, to cast a look back at the classical postulates of the Civil Code (Código Civil), bringing into conjunction the general rules on contractual and non-contractual liability with the intrinsic implications of article 41 LPRL in terms of the determination of the safe product. Due consideration will also have to be given to the social security legislation, albeit only in terms of a recargo de prestaciones (employer-paid surcharge in social security benefits) to cover damages. The postulates of the Penal Code (Código Penal) may also have to be taken on board for those liabilities that may be invoked by criminal action.

This panorama of compensation possibilities would also have to take into account recourse to industrial safety legislation if any of these subjects should incur in any breach thereof; we are referring here specifically to the Industry Act (Ley de Industria) 21/1992 of 16 July. Unlike the general product safety law, this act extends its protection umbrella to all subjects, whether or not they are consumers, albeit circumscribing its radius of action to industrial products, including chemical products.

All this legislation would have to be taken into account to try to plug the gaps in prevention legislation in relation to these agents. For although the aforementioned article 41 LPRL lays down the general path to follow in terms of the obligations of these subjects, neither the LPRL itself, nor, subsequently, Royal Legislative Decree (Real Decreto Legislativo) 5/2000 of 4 August approving the revised text of the Labour Infringements and Penalties Law (Ley de Infracciones y Sanciones del Orden Social) sets forth any precept whatsoever to regulate the liability of manufacturers, importers and suppliers of chemical workplace products in the event of any breach of these requirements. In default of the necessary coordination between health and safety legislation and the product and industrial safety legislation, and the latter legislation with the LPRL, this lack shows the loopholes and patchy nature of a system that should strive to be uniform and coherent.

This clutch of circumstances, together with the inconsistent case law dealing with the liability of user companies, make the study of the obligations and liabilities of manufacturers and distributors of chemical workplace products a minefield of conflicting viewpoints and gaping loopholes.

The study of the obligations and liabilities of manufacturers and distributors of chemical

workplace products is a minefield of conflicting viewpoints and gaping loopholes

As if that were not enough, due consideration must also be given to the rest of the legislation specifically regulating the various aspects impinging on preventive matters of products andchemical risk in the workplace, not to mention what we might call the current and future European legal system applicable to chemical substances and preparations. This overarching legislation exacerbates the already complex legal situation to be taken into consideration when tackling this analysis, but leaving any of these factors out of account would to some extent invalidate the conclusions drawn.

2. Conclusions Drawn from the Research Carried Out (Legislation and Case-Law


Decalogue)

Space fails us here to set forth the full research project promoted by FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE, but we will give below a nutshell account of the conclusions drawn therefrom, bearing in mind that the full picture of the liabilities involved could be dealt with only by a study in its own right.

2.1 Obligations

1. The LPRL is basically a prevention regulation, raising awareness of preventive matters in the sectors involved and setting out the path for the regulations to follow, including the regulations dealing directly or indirectly with chemical products in the workplace.

2. Obligations, especially the specific obligations, need to be reinforced, by means of mechanisms facilitating their enforcement and implementation, bearing in mind the variability and different across-the-board treatment of workplace chemical products in current legislation.

3. In the prevention field, preference should be given to the collective prevention measures, before dealing with personal protection (such as personal protection equipment), since the latter, conversely, should be last ditch measures in any ideal prevention system. Among the former, the most effective risk-elimination measures, whenever the hazard cannot be removed at source or the chemical substance in question replaced by a less hazardous one, would be action on the source or focus of the chemical pollutant (localised extraction, general workplace ventilation, generating draughts carrying contaminants away from the workers) or change of the workstation to another in which the particular conditions of the worker (physical, psychic, etc) are safer. In fact the use of personal protection equipment should be the last-ditch preventive choice, whenever it be proven that the collective protection measures adopted do not solve the problem.

4. The damage produced by an occupational accident involving chemical substances or preparations could give rise to diverse reparation arrangements, generating the corresponding obligations for subjects that are also different. In general there is a need for a coordinated and complementary system of reparative economic inputs and also those specific measures designed for this particular situation.

5. The prevention duties fall above all on the employer but also on workers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers, on producers and managers of toxic and hazardous waste, on specialist prevention organisations and services, as well as any third parties that might also be held liable for any damage.

6. The diligence required in each case should be varied to suit the particular circumstances, the persons involved, the time and place, the traffic sector and the social context in which the activity is carried out. This common diligence should therefore be stepped up whenever we are dealing with workplace chemical products of notorious hazardousness.

7. Although the party usually held liable in this matter is the employer, therefore, as the «party with the duty of ensuring workers’ health and safety», the manufacturer and distributor, as well as the other intervening subjects are also held liable whenever – as in this case – their manufacturing or distribution activity involves chemical workplace products.

The damage produced by an occupational accident


involving chemicals could give rise to diverse reparation arrangements, generating the

corresponding obligations for subjects that are also different.

2.2 Liabilities and Penalties

1. Employers are duty bound to exert all due diligence, going even further than the head of household’s duty as cited in the Código Civil. In view of this, if the employer complies strictly with its legal duty to supervise its workers and diligently makes use of its disciplinary powers it may have some chances of avoiding or reducing any civil or even penal liability, even if it is unlikely to escape any administrative liability.

2. Breaches by employers of their health-and-safety duties might make them liable to their workers (liability deriving from the employment contract) and to the public powers (administrative and penal liability), regardless of whether or not the activity involved chemical products.

3. The employer’s liability is not overridden by the mere existence in the firm of workers or services (inhouse or outsourced) with preventive duties or the existence of preventive resources. Bearing in mind the inherent risk activity we are dealing with here, the obligations of one and the other are mutually complementary.

4. In the event of any breach by the employer of the occupational risk prevention legislation, as interpreted jointly by articles 14, 15, 17 and 42 LPRL, its liability may be deemed to be objective, deriving from the damage suffered by the workers whose safety it is the employer’s duty to look out for, although case law has tended to incline towards a more subjective concept of the liability and hence a stricter concept of the fault.

5. Case law in general tends to consider such damage as examples of subjective liability though it may sway towards a more objective view if legal requirements are flouted.

6. In the social order subjective liability is also the general rule, bearing in mind that in activities of risk, such as the use of chemical products in the workplace, the principles of subjective liability and causality have to be equally maintained.

7. Employers’ liability may not be completely overridden by any workers’ liability, though it may be moderated thereby. The compensation may be tempered, therefore, only when the worker’s participation and negligence is proven (offsetting of the fault).

8. The victim’s fault should be considered relevant only in those cases in which it has been proven that the worker has assumed a risk personally and freely, in full awareness of the consequences, breaching the employer’s precise and clear instructions, together with the cases of worker self injury. In the civil ambit, therefore, there is no such concept as prejudicialidad laboral (occupational preliminary ruling).

9. As regards social-security surcharge liability, it suffers from vagueness in its legal definition and also straddles the two concepts of civil compensation and administrative penalties, with overlapping characteristics from both fields. This has led to some confusion in the administrative surcharge proceedings, for example whether or not it prescribes in accordance with the fundamental principles of the common administrative penalising procedure. There is hence a pressing need for the surcharge to be more clearly defined in legal terms, instead of its current situation of dispersion among different precepts of varying rank. Consideration


should also be given, sooner or later, to whether or not it should be abolished or at least reformulated in clearer legal terms. The latter option would be preferable, given its considerable importance in punitive terms and inhibitory effect in terms of preventing occupational diseases, which are often so closely bound up with the treatment given to chemical products in the workplace. This would help to fill many of the loopholes that currently exist in the practical application of this complex legal arrangement.

Employers’ liability may not be completely overridden by any workers’ liability, though it may

be moderated.

2.3 Jurisdictional Competence

1. As regards jurisdictional competence for legal damages claims, in principle, whenever there is a contractual relation (occupational tort liability), this jurisdiction would correspond to labour courts. Civil jurisdiction would obtain in the case of non-contractual liability due to an act outside the sphere of an employment contract or when external subjects impinge on the contractual relation. Nonetheless an open mind should be kept here, for there is always a possibility of variation in the jurisdictional criterion on this matter.

2. Chamber 1 (civil) of the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo:TS) has generally been considered to be competent in civil jurisdiction for dealing with work-accident damages claims, precisely because these accidents are not considered to have occurred strictly within an employment contract relationship linking worker and employer; nonetheless, labour courts are sometimes deemed to be competent, according to the majority legal opinion of the Competence Conflict Chamber (Sala de Conflictos) of the TS. Recently, however, the aforementioned Supreme Court Judgement, also of the Civil Chamber, of 15 January 2008, insisted that, for this jurisdiction to be competent, the damage concerned had to be ruled by legislation other than that regulating the content of the labour relation, whereby worker safety obligations are part and parcel of the employment contract’s content and therefore have to be dealt with by the labour courts. An exception to this is when there are concurrent liabilities and when non-labour liabilities are established, in which case civil jurisdiction is still fully competent.

3. We also need to keep an open mind on the jurisdictional competence for dealing with appeals against administrative penalties (judicial review) and social security surcharge (in principle, labour courts). The proposed amendment of article 3.2 of the revised text of the Labour Procedure Act (Ley de Procedimiento Laboral: LPL), first laid down in the fifth additional provision of the Judicial Review Act (Ley de la Jurisdición Contencioso Administrativa) and then in additional provision 24 of the Act on Tax, Administrative, Labour and Social Security Measures ( Ley de Medidas Fiscales, Administrativas y de Orden Social) for 1999, in the sense of attributing labour courts with the competence of dealing with appeals against administrative penalties of said order, has been stayed sine die. Nonetheless, we consider that its implementation would enable some negative aspects to be avoided, such as the ludicrous cases of contradictory judgements produced by the judicial review and labour jurisdiction when dealing with the same facts, i.e., breaches considered not to deserve an administrative penalty by the judicial review courts but considered to


deserve a social security surcharge penalty by the labour courts. Thus, although it is true that the facts declared to be proven by a final judgement of the judicial review jurisdiction are bound up with the labour jurisdiction in terms of social security surcharges [Judgement of the Superior Justice Court of Cantabria dated 22 October 2003 (JUR 2004\75662)], it is no less true that the legal assessment of said facts is idiosyncratic within the various judicial orders; in other words, each jurisdiction is free to evaluate the same facts and events in different ways (which facts should exist identically for each court, as laid down by the Judgement of the Constitutional Court 158/1985 of 26 November (RTC 1985\158)]. The same discrepancy also leads to frequent inconsistencies in case-based reasoning [e.g., Judgement of the Supreme Court, Labour Chamber, of 30 June 2003 (RJ 2003\7694)3 ]. Given this situation, however, the best option from my point of view would be to follow the path laid down by our legislation hitherto and consider the labour courts to be predominantly competent on this matter.

4. Administrative liability and social security charges are perfectly compatible with civil liability for the compensation of damage. The compensation of damage suffered by workers, of which the workers themselves or their successors are creditors, as obtained under civil jurisdiction, is therefore perfectly compatible with social security benefits deriving from work accidents or occupational diseases, including, as the case may be, the benefit surcharge [(ex article 123 of the General Social Security Act (Ley General de la Seguridad Social: LGSS)].

The amendment of article 3.2 of the LPL would avoid the ludicrous cases of contradictory

judgements produced by the judicial-review and labour jurisdiction when dealing with the same

facts.

2.4 Insurance

1. As regards the possibility of insuring civil liability, it is eligible for insurance in all cases by private companies, in particular the insurance companies specially qualified for this purpose and not, on the contrary, by an employer’s mutual. Although the latter are deemed to be collaborating entities in work accident and social security matters (article 202 LGSS), they cannot be likened to insurance companies and have no powers for establishing applicable premiums.

2. Penal and administrative liability are under no circumstances eligible for insurance. In all cases the natural person (in the case of penal liability) or legal person considered to be responsible for the damage will be held liable.

3. In the particular case of liability leading to the consequent social security surcharge, it has been upheld, under certain situations and conditions, that it is eligible for insurance, since there have been pronouncements by jurists in favour of overturning the prohibition of doing so in these circumstances. From my point of view, however, as things stand today, in view of the current legislation and legal opinions given, we can safely say that the surcharge payment liability falls directly on the infringing employer and may not be eligible for any sort of insurance arrangement. Any agreement or contract to cover, compensate or transfer this liability would therefore be null


and void, pursuant to the tenor of article 123.2 LGSS.

4. Article 76 of the Insurance Contract Act (Ley de Contrato de Seguro: LCS) openly states that «direct action is immune from such exceptions as may correspond to the insurer vis-à-vis the policy holder», thereby ruling out any contrary interpretation.

5. Inhouse or outsourced providers of prevention services are subject to an obligatory insurance regime, regardless of whether or not their work concerns companies dealing with chemical substances or preparations.

6. As regards clauses working on a claims made basis (clauses expressly laying it down that the insurer has a compensation obligation only in those cases in which the damage-causing event and the damages claim take place within the policy’s term or within a set time after it has run its term), article 73 LCS – after the paragraph added by additional provision 6 of the Private Insurance Organization and Supervisión Act (Ley de Ordenación y Supervisión de Seguros Privados – vetoes their validity when they limit insurance coverage to cases in which both the damage-causing incident and damages claim take place within the policy’s term.

7. For these effects and purposes, article 20 LCS is still applicable, although there is some uncertainty in the social order about whether or not it should be dealt with in civil jurisdiction, in terms of the start date of the insurer’s term for paying the damaged party.

8. In principle there are no specific liability exclusions for risks deriving from the use of chemical products in the workplace; in general they are referred to insurance for companies with risk activities, although reference is made to the possible use of explosives as well as the storage or transport thereof, carcinogenic products, etc. In the absence of any explicit detailed reference, however, I consider that, in view of its singular importance, an explicit statement should be made either way, though its exclusion would be much more likely than its coverage.

Penal and administrative liability are in no case eligible for insurance. In all cases the natural

person or legal person considered to be responsible for the damage will be held liable

3. Caveats to take into account in the use of chemical products in the workplace

3.1 Traceability In the event of any occupational illness deriving from exposure to chemical agents, it is often difficult to ascertain at whichparticular moment the overexposure occurred. The liability might therefore fall on all the mercantile entities or user companies in which the worker concerned has carried out any task that may have caused his illness.

These companies, therefore, are bound to carry out all the corresponding risk assessments to record all cases in which the worker may have been exposed to one or several chemical products causing the damage that might have manifested itself at any given moment.

They therefore have to monitor worker exposure to the diverse chemical pollutants that may be latent in the workstation. Theyare also bound to keep the results of the assessments so that, in


the event of any worker health problem deriving from the working environment, they can make one of the following arguments: either that the working conditions during the time the worker was rendering his services were not the cause of the damage, or that current legislation according to the scientific knowledge at that time (development risks) was at all times complied with, or that the information furnished by the manufacturer or supplier did not reflect any hazard that wouldcall for additional measures, or even that the official disposal authorisation measures for toxic or hazardous workplace (whether for the storage, transport or handling thereof) wereabided by as well as the relevant particular measures in each case.

There is hence an obvious need for a traceability of all thisinformation in the interests of ascertaining the causes of any illness deriving from exposure to chemical products in the workplace, otherwise it would be extremely difficult or even impossible to determine the cause thereof and, ipso facto, the liability or any exemption therefrom for the various interveningagents who may have been at fault by act or omission.

3.2 Exposure Limits In the interests of assessing worker exposure to a contaminatingagent present in or generated by the working environment, the legislation stipulates the need of making measurements and then carrying out a comparative analysis to assess the existing risk.

A look back at the history of exposure limits or threshold values shows that the initially proposed limits for many pollutants have been considerably and steadily brought down in light of theepidemiological studies conducted over the years or increasing knowledge of the toxicology of certain products.

If occupational diseases still occur even though established values are met, there will be a need to reduce the top limit,where the new value is not likely to be low enough to guarantee that there might not be new cases of harm to health fromexposure to a given contaminant.

In any case, in line with the general principles laid down by Royal Decree 374/2001 of 6 April on the protection of workers’ health and safety from risks related to chemical agents in the workplace, it is clear that the exposure of workers to chemicalcontaminants should be reduced to levels as low as current sector technology will allow.

3.3 Contaminant intake In risks deriving from exposure to chemical products due consideration must be given to all the various ways in which the contaminant might be taken into the body: inhalation, ingestion, dermal absorption and intravenously.

Each of these possible inways should be perfectly identified for these purposes, according to the documents furnished by themanufacturer or in terms of the available toxicological information. This is the only way of properly assessing the risksand correctly planning preventive measures to be taken, otherwise the party concerned would be held legally liable for any damage.

3.4 Occupational Cancer and the Estimation Thereof Although estimates of the number of cancers attributable toworkplace exposure depend on very different variables, even the most conservative estimates indicate that several thousands ofthe cancers that appear each year in Spain can be attributed to occupational exposure to chemical products. All these cancers might have been prevented if the proper measures were taken and recommendations followed, failing which the responsible


party would be held liable for the damage.

3.5 Occupational Diseases Society is in general little aware of the long term damage caused by occupational risks. This is therefore a problem of the firstmagnitude, involving all sectors and all stakeholders in the prevention of occupational risks. The problem is particularly acutewhen workplace chemical products are involved, making thediagnosis process even more difficult.

The problem is no doubt due to the lack of awareness andconsequent failure to set up proper recording and control procedures to detect these illness on a consistent and increasing basis.

The under-recording of occupational diseases cannot be explainedaway by any supposed complication, confusion or difficulty in objectively ascertaining them when it is obvious that the necessary legal, technical and healthcare resources have not been put in place for their proper regulation, control and detection.

As a general philosophical postulate it can be said that society is more likely to shirk its responsibility towards insidious butconstant damage caused by the working world than sudden one-off disasters, even though the former gradual damage may in fact be more harmful.

This lack of awareness explains the glaring disproportion between the economic, technological and healthcare resources spent on research into the occupational illness processes as compared to the more ostentatious work accidents. Few people, for example, could venture an answer if asked how many occupational illnessclinics there are in Spain.

This unawareness and the paucity of resources and control mechanisms explain why most cases of occupational morbidity end up being dealt with as occupational accidents, based on article 115 LGSS, or get lost and covered up in the complex fabric of the public healthcare system4.

It is precisely due to this attitude that workers often get diagnosed with their occupational illnesses when they have left the firm concerned, are unemployed or in a situation of voluntary or enforced retirement, often bereft of the necessary support fortaking on their mutual insurance company or the state health system in a long, costly and time-consuming legal battle.

Nonetheless, it is no less true that a heartening effort has recently been made to redress this situation by the subsequent passing of Royal Decree 1299/2006 and setting up a new list ofoccupational diseases in the social security system, with criteria more in keeping with their notification and recording. The new system, based on international recommendations, replaced theformer regulatory framework, obsolete and hidebound. The new list of occupational diseases is more dynamic while the system has been opened up to the notification and inclusion of certainsupport elements geared towards improved detection.

A smidgeon of light is therefore visible at the end of the occupational diseases prevention tunnel. Nonetheless, though we might congratulate ourselves on the revision and opening up of the legislative system, neither should we forget that the reformscurrently being brought in by European and international models are geared towards prevention rather than cure, and to our wayof thinking this outlook has yet to be introduced into our country’s legal system5.


4. Reach and the European Chemicals Agency

The implementation of the REACH system or Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006, concerning the registration, evaluation,authorisation and restriction of chemicals, establishing a European Chemicals Agency (ECA), has brought in a series of benefits and opportunities that are conducive to the setting up ofa proper occupational risk prevention legislation framework in the EU, establishing as it does a single integrated system applicable to most chemicals of this type. This will help to unify theadministrative procedures and streamline legislation.

The European Chemicals Agency should provide a suitable Forum for Member States to swap

information on chemicals legislation enforcement and coordinate their activities in this area

4.1 Challenges and Opportunities The all-embracing6 character of REACH will put an end to the situation of ignorance about the effects of many chemicals currently being marketed. This, together with a better understanding of the nature of the chemicals employed, will help to improve the risk control and management systems, bolsteringconsumer trust in the chemical industry.

It is vital to build up trust in the general quality of registrations, thus ensuring that the public at large and the various stakeholders in the chemical industry are confident that theindividuals and companies duly meet their obligations. To do so it is necessary to establish information registration provisions withthis information being checked by an assessor of tried and testedexperience. The ECA should also check a percentage of these registrations to monitor strict compliance with these requisites.

This Agency should give advice on which chemicals should begiven top priority in the established authorisation procedure, to guarantee that the decisions taken reflect the needs of societyand the most up-to-date scientific knowledge.

Suitable interaction should also be ensured between authorisation and restriction provisions to ensure the smooth operation of thesingle market and the protection of health, safety and the environment. The ECA would therefore have to consider whetherthe risk deriving from the substances present in the articles issufficiently controlled. If not, proceedings should be drawn up for phasing in further restrictions on substances whose use calls for the necessary authorisation.

The ECA hence figures as a key organisation to guarantee that the legislation on chemical substances and preparations, the decision-making procedures and the underlying scientific basisare all regarded as trustworthy by all stakeholders and the public at large. This key role should be extended to the coordination of communications on the REACH provisions and theirimplementation.

To this end it is an essential prerequisite that the community institutions, members states, the public at large and any stakeholders should create the ECA and come to trust in itseffectiveness. It will hence be vital to preserve its independence and certify the high level of its scientific, technical and legislative capacities, as well as its transparency and efficacy. It will therefore need a structure in keeping with its remit. And although the experience of other similar Community agencies could serve


as a guideline, its structure needs to be tailored to the specificneeds of REACH in each case.

This Regulation is also sure to favour proper liaison and information flow throughout the whole supply chain, ensuring abetter application of the legislation on occupational risks prevention and transport safety. A proposal will therefore be made for a more exhaustive and, in the end, more efficient control of environmental aspects associated with the production or handling of chemicals as well as a better knowledge of theecotoxicological characteristics of the chemicals. This will help to pinpoint the occupational- and environmental-damage prevention measures best suited to each case.

Efficient communication on chemical risks and the way theyshould be managed therefore shapes up as one of the mainstays of the system set up by REACH, whereby ECA guidelines for allstakeholders will have to take into account the good practices in the chemical sector and other sectors.

In any case the methods for establishing thresholds forcarcinogenic and mutagenic substances can be developed from the results of the research into REACH-applicable products. Therelevant annex will therefore have to be modified in light of these methods for permitting the use of said thresholds while alsoensuring a high level of health protection for workers, human health in general and the environment.

Experience at international level shows that substances with characteristics rendering them persistent, liable to bioaccumulate and toxic, or very persistent and very liable to bioaccumulate,present a very high concern, while criteria have been developed allowing the identification of such substances. For certain othersubstances concerns are sufficiently high to address them in thesame way on a case-by-case basis. The criteria in Annex XIII of REACH should be reviewed taking into account the current and any new experience in the identification of these substances and if appropriate, be amended with a view to ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment.

It is for this reason that the new system applicable to chemicalsubstances and preparations will also have a series of beneficial knock-on effects, such as the stimulation of research into less harmful products and the development of new technologies. The new system has been designed to boost R&D, exempting substances used in research from the many obligations hitherto incumbent on them7, or at least making these requisites less onerous and more flexible.

4.2 Liabilities and Responsibilities As regards liabilities, the new system fleshes out the concept of producer liability, with inversion of the burden of proof, passing on this burden from member states to the industry. REACH thus identifies the industry as the party responsible for assessing the safety of the uses the chemicals are to be put to, the participation of member states being limited exclusively to those substances that are especially hazardous, where theauthorisation procedures come into their own. Even in this case, however, it will be the industry itself that has to prove that the use of the suspicious chemical substance involves no health or environmental risk whatsoever.

In light of the increased responsibility of natural or legal personsfor ensuring the safe use of chemicals, therefore, enforcementneeds to be strengthened. The Agency should provide a Forumfor Member States to swap information on chemicals legislation enforcement and coordinate their activities. The currently informal cooperation between Member States in this respectwould greatly benefit from a more formal framework.


A Board of Appeal should be set up within the Agency to guarantee processing of appeals for any natural or legal personaffected by decisions taken by the Agency.

Lastly, the power should be conferred on the Commission to amend the Annexes in certain cases, to set rules on test methods, to vary the percentage of dossiers selected for compliance checking and to modify the criteria for their selection, and to set the criteria defining what constitutes adequate justification that testing is technically not possible. Since these measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of REACH or supplement it by adding new non-essential elements thereto, they should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure, with the scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC

It is also essential for chemicals to be regulated in an effective and timely manner during the transitional period running up to full application of REACH and especially during the start-up period of the Agency. Provision should therefore be made for the REACH legislation to be phased in gradually in the interests of a smooth transition to the new system. This will allow all parties involved (authorities, natural or legal persons as well as stakeholders) to focus resources in the preparation for new duties at the righttimes while each of the parties who might be held liable, whether they be manufacturers, distributors or user companies, will be able to take proper cognisance of their new responsibilities and the consequences of any breaches.

There is a glaring disproportion between the economic, technological and healthcare resources

spent on research into the occupational illness processes as compared to work accidents.

(1) See also, SEMPERE NAVARRO, A.V., GARCÍA BLASCO, J., GONZÁLEZ LABRADA, M. and CARDENAL CARRO, M.: Derecho de la seguridad y salud en el trabajo, 3ª ed., Civitas, Madrid, 2001, p.67. Along the same lines, and quoted in the above authors, CABEZA PEREIRO, J. and LOUSADA AROCHENA, J.F.:Comentarios a la Ley de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales, Comares, Granada, 1998, p. 310

(2) Opinion shared by RODRÍGUEZ SANZ DE GALDEANO, B.: Responsabilidades de los fabricantes en materia de prevención de riesgos laborales, Lex Nova, Valladolid, 2005, especially p. 33

(3) This judgement comments on application of the doctrine ofassumed causal nexus of the surcharge in cases where no actual breach of the occupational risk prevention legislation has been brought to light by the Factory Inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo)

(4) See, on this matter, the latest case-law rulings on the burnout syndrome.

(5) Along the same lines, FERNÁNDEZ JIMÉNEZ, M.: El nuevo enfoque de las enfermedades profesionales en España, Gestión Práctica de Riesgos Laborales,. 28, June 2006, pp. 12-16 (viewable at the internet address: http//: www.riesgos-laborales.com).

(6) So qualified by SEBASTIÁN DE DIEGO, E.: El régimen jurídico aplicable a las sustancias y preparados químicos, La Gaceta de los Negocios, Documentos, MA/384/2005, of 22 June 2005, p. 7.

(7) According to the notification system applied hitherto, all new


substances whose output exceeds 10 Kg. a year have to be registered, with the concomitant costs in terms of trials and evaluations. This has acted as brake on research and innovationwithin the sector. The new REACH system, on the contrary, is R&D friendly, raising the cut-off figure from 10 Kg. a year to the current figure of one ton


Comparative Methods; different methodoligies for assessing workplace risks caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

This study examines two different analysis and sample taking-methods for recording the workplace presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to ascertain the risks run by four categories of workers (painters, furniture varnishers, car painters and service station employees) exposed to toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic chemicals. The study provides valuable insights for improving preventive activities in tasks of this type.

By JAVIER CARO HIDALGO1, MERCEDES GALLEGO FERNÁNDEZ2, ROSA MONTERO SIMO3. 1 Chemistry Graduate. Analytical Chemistry Department, Córdoba University. 2 Professor of the Analytical Chemistry Department, Córdoba University. 3 Doctor in Chemistry. Director of the Occupational Risks Prevention Center of Córdoba, Regional Employment Ministry, Regional Council of Andalucí[email protected]

The workplace presence of carcinogenic or mutagenic agents may pose serious health and safety risks to workers and is therefore one of the main concerns of occupational risks prevention. RoyalDecree (Real Decreto) 665/1997 and its two subsequent amendments (R.D. 1124/2000 and R.D. 349/2003) deal with worker exposure to these carcinogenic and mutagenic agents, while also overriding earlier provisions (benzene and vinylchloride), laying down new permissible exposure limits for both compounds. The Spanish Health and Safety Executive (Autoridad Laboral), through the National Health-and-Safety-at-Work Institute (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo: INSHT) of the Employment and Immigration Ministry (Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración) has establishedoccupational exposure limits to chemical agents, as have Health and Safety Executives in other countries through their own technical bodies [1,2].

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the most important classes of toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic agents present in the workplace and posing a potential threat to workers’ health. According to the World Health Organisation VOCs are defined as the group of organic compounds with boiling points between 50 and 250 ºC [3]. In a broader sense VOCs include not only thousands of toxic chemical compounds but also precursors of photochemical smog, which fuel the greenhouse effect and / or accelerate the depletion of the ozone layer. These substances are used extensively in industry as raw materials: pesticide synthesis, synthesis of synthetic polymers such as plastics andrubber, synthesis of chemical or pharmaceutical products, manufacture of lacquers, paints, varnishes, resins and adhesives, etc. These compounds are partly responsible for what has



become known as the sick building syndrome [4] and may be generated by over one hundred products such as toiletry articles,office material, dry-cleaning fluids, fuels, furniture treated with chemical products, disinfectants, etc. They might also be airborne contaminants that have entered the building from outdoor pollution (traffic, service stations, etc).

These substances are present in the great majority of workingenvironments at concentrations of a few ppm. The Biological Limit Values (BLVs) of the most common VOCs and also their classification as category 1 or 2 carcinogens (C1, C2) are laid down in the document “Occupational Exposure Limits for Chemical Agents in Spain («Límites de exposición profesional para agentes químicos en España»), 2008 [2]. Furthermore, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, 1971-2007), experimental studies on animals and human beings have given ample evidence for the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of some VOCs in human beings. It is currently estimated that between 60% and 90% of human cancers might be triggered by environmental factors, mainly due to chemical carcinogens. An article has recently been published in the review Seguridad and Salud en el Trabajo (Health and Safety at Work) [5] showing the current state of VOC control in theworking environment and also assessment of workers’ exposure to these compounds. This article also comments, among other aspects, on the techniques, both destructive and non-destructive, for removing these compounds [6].

It is currently estimated that between 60% and 90% of human cancers might be triggered by environmental factors, mainly due to chemical

carcinogens

Most of the harmful health effects caused by VOCs have beenknown for some time and have been studied in depth among the workers exposed to this risk, such as car painters [7], house painters [8], furniture varnishers and service station workers. Organic solvents can cause temporary upsets such as euphoria, headache or dizziness when present at low or moderate airborneconcentrations; at higher concentrations they may cause unconsciousness or failures in the respiratory and cardiovascular system or even death [7]. Prolonged exposure to some organic solvents might harm the central nervous system with emotional or cognitive upsets as well as chronic encephalopathy [9] and toxic effects in the liver, kidney and skin [10].

Workplace exposure to VOC mixtures has been assessed in many trades, such as painters, varnishers, polishers, cobblers, laundry workers, cleaners, etc. [11–13]. Several of these studies have dealt with car painters, since these workers are subjected toprolonged exposure to a great variety of organic solvents at relatively high levels [14]. Fortunately, in the last 10-15 years the VOC exposure of these workers has been reduced by application of stricter standards including compulsory use of collective protection measures and / or personal protectionequipment in the workplace, together with the replacement or reduction of the most toxic solvents in these products. The use of water-based paint, for example, has greatly reduced car painters’ exposure to organic solvents [15].

A comparison has been made between the analysis and sample-taking methods for

ascertaining the VOC exposure of house painters, furniture varnishers, car painters and service

Population Studied


station workers

This issue is so important from the occupational health point ofview that an assessment has recently been made of the acuteeffects during controlled exposure to some volatile organiccompounds given out even by water-based paint [16]. In thisstudy a selection was made of a mixture of glycol and ammoniumethers. The results show no substantial differences in threegroups of volunteers: atopic, nonatopic and painters. Otherstudies have shown up psychological deviations such as deficits inconcentration, memory and reaction time among car painters withlong-term exposure to solvents, as compared to unexposedsubjects [17].

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the most important class of toxic, carcinogenic or

mutagenic agents present in the workplace and harming workers’ health

The VOC exposure of service station workers has also beenstudied by several researchers. By way of summary, the mostnotable result is the high level of airborne benzene, toluene andxylene in these service stations while fuel refilling operations areunderway [18], and a high correlation between the airbornelevels of these compounds and levels in the air exhaled by servicestation workers. In this context aromatic hydrocarbons are worthyof special attention given their well-established mutagenic andcarcinogenic properties. Exposure to benzene and derivativesthereof is particularly important in oil refineries in terms not onlyof inhalation but also of skin contact with the fuel oil, with theintermediate products (during the refining process) and with finalproducts such as petrol. A study has recently been made ofrefinery workers to find out the effects of exposure to benzene,toluene and xylenes, based on urine samples (biological index)and peripheral blood (genotoxicity test) [19]. The urine analysisshows that the metabolite levels in exposed individuals is belowthe biological limit and the higher levels seem to bear a relationto tobacco consumption; the comet test (genotoxicity test)showed the genotoxic effects (DNA damage and possible cancerrisk) caused by exposure to these compounds.

In light of all the above, this study tried to compare the analysisand sample taking methods, assessing the exposure levels ofworkers in contact with VOCs, such as house painters, furniturevarnishers, car painters and service station workers.

To do so samples were taken of the ambient air and the alveolarair of the workers; this latter reading is more trustworthy thanexhaled air because it is actually in contact with the blood. Theworkers’ alveolar air samples were taken before (blank samples)and after the work shift to assess the workers’ real VOCcontamination during same. Devices of proven validity in takingalveolar air samples were used, namely the Bio-VOC breathsamplers. Simultaneous samples of workplace ambient air werealso taken to test the efficacy of the collective protectionmeasures and personal protection equipment and also toestablish possible correlations between biological and ambient airsamples.

Population Studied

The exposed occupational group comprised 24 volunteers fromeach of the following trades: house painters, furniture varnishers,car painters and service station workers. All volunteers


participating in the study were adult and healthy. The 6 house painters were men aged 30 to 55 who spent an average of 4 hours a day painting without using collective or personal protection equipment. The varnishers were 4 men and 2 women aged 22 to 49 who worked in furniture workshops varnishing various pieces of furniture 4 hours a day under an air-extraction hood but without wearing personal protection masks. The car painters were 6 men aged 19 to 51 working in mechanical vehicle repair workshops where they spent about 3 hours a day painting different parts of the repaired cars’ bodywork in a spray booth wearing protective clothing and a type-approved mask. The other study participants were 6 service-station workers (half of them women) aged 21 to 43 who work 8 hours a day serving drivers and filling cars with petrol without wearing any type ofprotection. All study participants signed a consent form and their personal data and habits were noted down (consumption of alcohol and tobacco). This study was carried out by means of various sampling sessions between January and August 2008.

Sample-Taking Method

The sampling of ambient air in the various working environments under study and the workers’ alveolar air was donesimultaneously with the aim of establishing any correlation there might be between the VOC levels found.

The sampling of ambient air in the various working environments under study and the

workers’ alveolar air was done simultaneously with the aim of establishing any correlation there

might be between the VOC levels found

The first stage for determining VOCs present in the ambient air of the various workplaces studied was carried out by transferring the airborne compounds by suitable collecting equipment to ananalytical device. This was done by means of an active sampling method (personal sampling pump) on an adsorbent solid contained in specific stainless steel tubes (6.4 mm external diameter x 90 mm long, 5 mm internal diameter) as the thermaldesorption unit (Markes International Unity). Each tube contains 200 mg of adsorbent material and is connected up to the pump at the moment of sampling. Although the air sampling method MTA/MA-032/A98 accepted by the National Health and Safety at Work Institute (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo) of the Ministry of Employment and Immigration (Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración) uses tubes filled with activated carbon as adsorbent, this material was ruled out in our method after a wide-ranging study in which other types of adsorbent were assessed, such as Tenax TA, Chromosorb 102 and Carbosieve SIII. In the end the adsorbent material Tenax TA was selected on the strength of its higher breakthrough volume, adsorption capacity and recovery rates close to 100% for most of the 26 VOCs under study. The sampling pump (Sidekick SKC) was calibrated by rotameter at a flow rate of 100 ml/min before each sampling operation and then calibrated anew at the end to check that the flow rate had remained constant throughout. The VOC samples were taken by passing 1 litre of ambient air for 10 minutes through the tubes filled with adsorbent material. Beforehand, the tubes filled with Tenax TA were preconditioned by passing a hot nitrogen current through them. The sample-taking device used (pump and adsorbent tube) was placed close to the individual’s respiratory zone without causing any nuisance to same, and worn by the latter during the sampling (except for the car painters in a spray booth, where it was fitted to a side wall close to the worker). Once each sample had been taken, thetubes were immediately sealed, taken to the laboratory and kept


in a fridge for at most one week until the moment of analysis. Three ambient air samples were taken during each sampling session.

As regards biological monitoring, the conventional methods for organic and inorganic compounds involve sampling blood. Blood sampling is the clearest biological indicator of exposure to a givencompound but is invasive, unpopular and calls for medically trained staff. As a counterpoint non invasive methods such as urine samples can be used [20] or the workers’ alveolar air [21], given the direct correlation between the blood concentration of volatile organic compounds and presence thereof inside thelungs. Sampling devices are currently being marketed for these controls (Bio-VOCTM breath sampler, Markes International Ltd.) for non-invasive and simple biological monitoring. This breath sampler considerably simplifies the whole procedure as no specialised staff are called for. The alveolar air samples of the various workers under study were taken using the abovementioned Bio-VOC breath sampler, comprising a 100 ml capacity cylindrical polyethylene recipient. It is open at one end for fitting a nozzle, with another smaller opening at the other end where the air leaves. At the moment of sampling, each worker,breathing normally, exhales through the nozzle until completely emptying the lungs. As the air enters the recipient it leaves by the other end, since the pulmonary capacity of a person breathing normally is usually about 500 ml. In this way only the last 100 ml of air remains in the sampler (100 ml recipient),which corresponds to the air from the pulmonary alveoli where the abovementioned balance is struck between the blood concentration of volatile compounds and alveolar air. When this operation is over the Bio-VOC nozzle is replaced by a plunger; the other end is fitted to an adsorbent tube filled with Tenax TA (the same used for ambient air). The plunger pushes the air contained in the recipient (100 ml) towards the tube, whereby the VOCs contained in the sample are trapped in the adsorbent material. When the breath sampler has been emptied, the tube is removed and immediately sealed. Following this protocol, theworkers’ alveolar air is sampled before and after the working day. The alveolar air samples are taken in an area free of VOC exposure, outside the workplace, to avoid any risk of VOC contamination. The tubes are then taken to the laboratory in portable fridges and kept in a fridge until the analysis, which is always conducted within one week.

Determination of VOCs in Ambient and Alveolar Air

MTA/MA-032/A98 is the VOC-determination method accepted and applied by the laboratory of the Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo (Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración). It is an active sampling method onto an adsorbent solid, active charcoal, based on desorption with carbon disulphide as solvent. This is then injected into a gas chromatograph fitted with a flame ionisation detector. This type of desorption has some drawbacks,however; it cannot be applied to all VOCs since some are more volatile that the carbon disulphide, and the solvent delay effect impedes VOC determination. This methodology has other limitations, such as interference from other organic compounds showing similar retention times to those sought, due to the lowselectivity of the chromatograph used: a flame ionisation detector. Some of these limitations of the official method can be overcome by using more recent alternatives such as thermal desorption with cold-trap preconcentration (for detecting very low VOC concentrations) and mass spectrometry detection, proposedby prestigious international organisations such as the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) [22] or the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [23]. Following these recommendations, therefore, VOC determination in this study was carried out by using a thermal desorption unit (Markes


International Ltd.) fitted to a gas chromatograph 6890 (Agilent Technologies) equipped with a 5973 mass spectrometer as detector. The selected temperature programme allowedseparation of the 26 VOCs, while the mass spectrometer ensured mistake-free identification of each one. The detection limitsobtained by this method for a sampling volume of 1 litre were similar for all the VOCs under study, ranging from 0.03 to 0.20 μg/m3, while the precision expressed as relative standarddeviation varied from 3 to 10%.

The official method MTA/MA-032/A98 – «Air quality. Workplace atmospheres. Determination of airborne organic vapours.Active/desorption charcoal tube method using solvent / gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector» – was applied in the Madrid laboratory of the INSHT for analysis of the ambient air samples (only for six varnishers and two car painters), taken by technical staff of the Occupational Risks Prevention Centre(Centro de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales) of the Regional Employment Ministry (Consejería de Empleo) of the Regional Council of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) in Córdoba, in a dynamic regime in the worker’s respiratory zone, by means of active charcoal tubes. At the same time we took the samples in a dynamic regime close to the worker’s respiratory zone in tubes of Tenax TA.

An account is given below of the indications sent by thelaboratory. Analysis method used: routine analysis of active charcoal tubes desorbed with carbon disulphide by gas chromatography, EAM 301.1.B/94. The laboratory participates regularly in the following quality control programmes in the determination of organic vapours in active charcoal: PICC-VO and WASP. Results are expressed in mg/sample with an estimated uncertainty of 10%; detection limits range from 0.01 to 0.02 (methyl acetate ethyl acetate, methyl i-butyl ketone, toluene, isobutyl acetate and n-butyl acetate, xylenes and ethylbenzene) mg/sample.

VOC Exposure in Painters (inside and outside buildings)

VOC exposure in several house painters was assessed byanalysing ambient air in the workers’ respiratory zone and their own alveolar air. Bearing in mind the biological effects of the exposure, the study was rounded out by monitoring the exposed workers’ alveolar air as a biological indicator.

Table 1 shows the VOC concentrations found in the painters’alveolar air and in the workplace ambient air. As the table shows, a total of 18 compounds was detected in greater or lesser concentrations in the ambient air, these also being found in theworkers’ alveolar air after a 4-hour working day. The alveolar air sample taken before the beginning of the working day did notrecord most of these VOCs, so these figures have not been included in said table. Benzene was found only at levels of between 15 and 30 μg/m3 in the alveolar air samples of workers 3, 4 and 6 (smokers) taken before exposure (8 a.m.); these concentrations are normal in the alveolar air of smokers. This isborne out by the fact that benzene was not found in any ambient air sample during the days of study, so the levels of this compound in the alveolar air of said workers can be put down only to smoking. Low levels of toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene mixtures were also found in some workers at the beginning of the working day, as residual levels from the previous working day,since high concentrations of these solvents are present in the ambient air.

See table 1


The levels found for each contaminant in the ambient air samples varied according to where the sample was taken. Thus, workers 1 and 2 were exposed to higher VOC concentrations than workers 3 and 6. These differences in ambient-air VOC concentrations aredue to the type of product being used by the worker concerned (paint, varnish, lacquers, etc) while the sample was being taken and also the greater or lesser degree of workplace ventilation.The compounds found at highest concentrations in ambient air were toluene, with levels of between 147 and 8000 μg/m3, thexylene mixture, with levels between 225 and 12687 μg/m3 and1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, with values between 127 and 7277μg/m3. On the other hand, compounds such as trichlorethylene, tetrachlorethylene and naphthalene, with maximum values of138, 146 and 28 μg/m3, respectively, were found only in the ambient air of workers 1, 2 and 4, and proved to be the compounds appearing at the lowest concentration in ambient air samples. Logically, the compounds found at highest levels inambient air are also those appearing at highest concentrations in the workers’ alveolar air. The compounds recorded can be broken down into two major groups: those in which the alveolar-air/ambient-air ratio ranges from 16 to 20%, which are those least absorbed by workers (2-butanone, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, isobutyl methyl ketone, isobutyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate, ethylbenzene,propylbenzene, styrene and naphthalene); and those (toluene, xylene mixture, tetrachlorethylene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene) whose ratio rises to 45-66%. Benzene derivatives are therefore the compounds absorbed in the highest proportion. The conclusion can be drawn that contamination by the 18 VOCs in the individuals under study occurred during the working day, except for benzene, which is linked to smokinghabits. These painters work without any type of individual or collective protection. Results therefore show the need for suitable ventilation during the painting operation and the use of some sort of device to protect the respiratory tracts from organic vapours.

VOC Exposure in Furniture Varnishers

An assessment was made of VOC exposure in 6 varnishers (4 men and 2 women). Table 2 shows the VOC concentrations in theambient-air collected in the workplace during several sampling sessions and also the VOC levels found in the workers’ alveolar air after a 4 hour work shift. It should be pointed out that these varnishers worked in rooms fitted with an air-extraction hood.

A total of 17 volatile organic compounds was found in the ambient air taken in the respiratory zone of the workers under study, also appearing in the workers’ alveolar air sample. The compounds found in the ambient air were similar to the previous case, except for trichlorethylene, tetrachlorethylene and naphthalene, which were not recorded, while 2-ethoxythylacetate and methyl tertiary butyl ether turn up for the first time. The compounds recorded at highest concentrations in ambient air of these workshops are n-butyl acetate, toluene and a xylene mixture, with concentration levels between 1193 and 51112 μg/m3, 1503 and 23799 μg/m3 and between 1365 and 40514μg/m3, respectively. On the other hand, isopropyl acetate, 2-ethoxythyl acetate, propylbenzene, styrene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene appear only in some cases and at average concentrations of 88, 35, 51, 21 and 82 μg/m3, respectively.

See table 2

As for the biological indicator, the following conclusions can bedrawn from Table 2:

1. The highest levels in alveolar air are shown by some compounds that also appear at high concentrations in ambient air: n-butyl acetate, toluene and a xylene mixture,


as well as ethyl acetate.

2. There are two workers (9 and 12) that work in the same factory and use the same varnishes but still show different concentrations in the ambient air and alveolar air because the samples were taken on different days. This shows that, although air-extraction hoods are used in the workshop, they are not efficient enough to eliminate the solvents and maintain an even atmosphere when the airborne pollution levels are high.

3. The presence of benzene in these workers is very low (average in alveolar air of 13 μg/m3) and can be put down mainly to smoking habits (workers 9 and 11) and, to a lesser extent, to ambient pollution, since there are also three non-smoking individuals (8, 10 and 12) that still show slight concentrations of benzene corresponding to the 30% ambient contamination. Their recorded levels are much lower than the smokers’.

As with the house painters, the compounds can be broken down into two groups: those in which the alveolar-air/ambient-air ratio ranges from 16 to 20%, which are those least absorbed by workers (2-butanone, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, isobutylmethyl ketone, isobutyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate, 2-ethoxythyl acetate, methyl tertiary butyl ether, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene and styrene); and those (toluene, xylene mixture, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene) whose ratio rises to 37-56%. Once more the benzene derivatives are the compounds absorbed in the highest proportion.

The conclusion can be drawn that, even if workers in the varnishing section of furniture factories work under air-extraction hoods, the efficiency of the latter is low since very high concentrations are found in ambient air, and ipso facto in alveolar air. In view of the fact that these workers do not use any type of personal protection equipment (masks), they inhale the solvents they are handling at a very short distance from the respiratory system. Air-extraction hoods with greater extraction power should therefore be fitted, such as the spray booths of car workshops, while gloves and standardised personal masksagainst organic vapours should be worn.

The study shows that the use of spray booths and protection clothing and masks is essential for reducing or preventing VOC contamination in

workers

VOC Exposure in Car Painters

The same type of study was carried out with 6 car paintersworking in mechanical vehicle repair workshops. Table 3 shows the VOC concentrations (up to 19 compounds) found in thealveolar air of these workers after a 3 hour working shift (maximum allowed in spray booths) and also those found in the ambient air taken in the respiratory zone. The compounds found in the ambient air were similar to those of the former case, with the addition of trichlorethylene and naphthalene. It is important to note that workers 14, 17 and 18 are habitual smokers, as can be seen from the benzene concentrations found in their alveolar air samples, since this compound is either not found in the other workers (see worker 15) or is found at a much lower concentration than in the ambient air (workers 13 and 16). These workers can be broken down into two groups: workers 13 and 16, who work partly in a paint store with no extractor fan where, without wearing any type of personal protection, they mix the


various paints then to be used in the booths and even paint small car parts in this store; and the remaining workers, who mix thepaint in stores with extractor hoods and wearing masks or mix the paint in the spray booths themselves. Obviously, the first group of workers shows the higher contamination levels. The ambient-air results shown in Table 3 correspond to the paint mixing stores (workers 13 and 16) and spray booths for the rest of the workers, for the reasons given above. All spray-booth workers wear protection masks against organic vapours, protective gloves and clothing, so the contamination in this case is much lower. Thus, the ambient-air analysis of these paint mixing stores (workers 13 and 16) record the highest average concentrations of n-butyl acetate, toluene and xylene mixtures, with 47179, 42790 and 42744 μg/m3, respectively. Nonetheless, as clearly shown in Table 3, the VOC concentrations of ambient air collected in the usual workplace (spray booths) for workers 14, 15, 17 and 18 were much lower than in the former, the meanvalues found being 10057, 7359 and 9670 μg/m3 for n-butyl acetate, toluene and the xylene mixture, respectively. This reduction of VOC levels in ambient air is mainly due to theefficacy of the extractor fans used in the paint stores and spray booths, since the type of paint is similar in both cases.

In relation to the biological indicators of VOC exposure, aspointed out earlier, workers 13 and 16 carry out part of their work in the paint store without using any type of protection, sotheir VOC contamination was much higher than the rest of the workers, as is also shown in Table 3. The high VOC concentrations in the alveolar air of workers 13 and 16 could be solved by wearing organic vapour masks as well as fitting thepaint store with suitable extractor fans or mixing the paint in the spray booth itself. On the other hand, workers 14, 15, 17 and 18 also recorded significant VOC contamination even though they work with preventive measures. This could be put down to a low efficacy of the personal protection masks and extractor hoodsand/or dermal absorption of these compounds when not wearing gloves or special clothing. In this context, a study publishedrecently [13] shows that, although the use of such protective resources as masks and air-extraction hoods cuts down these workers’ VOC contamination by inhalation, dermal absorption now shapes up as the main source of VOC contamination bythese workers. In line with the study of the workers analysedearlier (painters and varnishers), the compounds can once more be broken down into two major groups: those in which thealveolar-air/ambient-air ratio ranges from 14 to 20%, which arethose least absorbed by the workers (2-butanone, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, isobutyl methyl ketone, isobutyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate, 2-ethoxythyl acetate, methyl tertiary butyl ether, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, styrene and naphthalene); and those (trichlorethylene, toluene, xylene mixture, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene) whose ratio rises to 31-36%. Once more benzene derivatives arethe compounds with the highest absorption rate. Nonetheless, this ratio is much lower than that recorded with the painters and varnishers analysed earlier (40-60%) due to the fact that theyused practically no personal or collective protection.

See table 3

VOC Exposure in Service Station Workers

Finally, a study was made of the VOC exposure of 6 workers (none of them smokers) from several service stations. In these working environments special care has to be taken withcompounds like benzene, toluene and the xylene mixture; the first of them is known to be a strong mutagenic and carcinogenicagent, while the others have not been classed as human carcinogens. As regards the occupational exposure to these compounds, R.D. 374/2001 points out the need for controlling


present levels, whether by monitoring of these compounds in theworking environment or by means of biological exposure indicators (generally blood or urine). This study chose the monitoring of the working environment and of the workers’ alveolar air, since they allow the same measuring instrument tobe used in both cases; this is a great advantage over the rest of the proposed measures.

Table 4 shows the VOC concentrations found in ambient air andin the alveolar air of the 6 workers after an 8 hour working shift. As might be expected the compounds showing the highestconcentration in ambient air were the xylene mixture, tolueneand methyl-tertiary butyl ether, with mean values of 3878, 2183 and 1818 μg/m3, respectively, followed by ethylbenzene andbenzene, with mean values of 1293 and 1080 �g/m3 respectively. It is reasonable to assume that these workers’ alveolar-air concentrations would show the same trend asprevious workers (40-60% of absorption). Nonetheless, these workers’ alveolar-air percentage of contaminants falls sharply inrelation to ambient air. Thus, the proportion is 20% for all compounds and even lower for ethylbenzene and methyl-tertiary-butyl ether, which represent only 10%. This is crucial, because these workers wear no protection masks against organic vapours.The reason for this is that these workers carry out their tasks in well ventilated areas and with only intermittent exposure duringpetrol filling operations; this avoids any greater contamination levels. Thus, despite the high levels of toluene and xylene mixture in the ambient air, the relative concentrations in alveolar air are the lowest of all studied cases. It should be pointed out here, however, that the alveolar air samples of these workersrecorded the highest concentrations of two extremely toxic compounds, namely benzene and methyl-tertiary-butyl ether, due to the high levels of these compounds in the petrol.

See table 4

Possible Correlations between Ambient and Biological Exposure Indicators

A study has been made of the possible correlations between the concentrations found in the ambient air and in the alveolar air of the workers, i.e., between the ambient and biological indicator of VOC exposure. Car painters (the most exposed) generally wearprotective clothing and masks against organic vapours while working; they also work in spray booths. Conversely, servicestation employees (the least exposed) work outdoors but without any type of protection. These two classes of workers therefore bear no relationship to each other in terms of preventive measures or exposure time and all were therefore excluded from this test. The study therefore centred on house painters (not using any protection and working 4 hours) and varnishers (painting in rooms fitted with air-extraction hoods but without wearing personal protection equipment and working 4 hour shifts), who have more comparable working conditions. The selected workers are therefore those numbered 1 to 12 in the tables. By way of example, Figure 1 shows the relation between toluene and ethyl acetate concentrations found in the 12 workers’ alveolar air after 4 hours of exposure in comparison to the levels of these compounds found in the ambient air samples taken simultaneously in the workplaces. The figure clearly shows that the correlation coefficients are close to 1. This shows the excellent correlation between both indicators, ambiental and biological. The figure also shows that the slopes of the lines aredifferent, indicating that these two compounds are absorbed differently by the human body; in fact the mean absorption percentage for the 12 workers is 60% and 17% for toluene and ethyl acetate, respectively. Figure 2 shows the levels of n-butyl acetate and the xylene mixture found in the alveolar air samples as compared with the ambient air for the same workers. Once


again we see a good correlation in the values shown by bothexposure indicators, as well as the difference in the slopes of the graphs: while the benzene-derived compounds, represented by the xylene mixture, show a higher absorption percentage (45%) by the human body, the esters, represented by n-butyl acetate in this graph, are the least absorbed (17%). This same trend has been reflected in the tables of figures presented throughout the whole study as well as the graphs drawn up for all compounds found. Figures 1 and 2 show this clearly for the four solventsrepresented. The good correlation between the ambient and biological exposure indicators (R2 is greater than 0.96 for allsolvents) is of great practical use, since it facilitates monitoring of VOC exposure and enhances our knowledge of contamination in the individuals exposed.

Figure 1. Ratio between the concentrations of ethyl acetate and toluene found in the alveolar air of the workers numbered 1 to 12 in the tables and the concentrations of ambient air nearby the work zone.

Figure 2. Ratio between the concentrations of n-butyl acetate and xylenes mixtures found in the alveolar air of the workers numbered 1 to 12 in the tales and the concentrations of ambient air nearby the work zone.

Comparison between the results obtained by the method proposed (TD-GC-MS) and the


MTA/MA-032/A98 method

Finally a comparison was made between the results obtained bythe proposed method and those obtained by the MTA/MA-032/A98 method, the former based on thermal desorption of the tubes filled with Tenax TA and recommended by internationalorganisations (CEN, EPA, OSHA), and the latter based on elution with carbon disulphide. Both methods have been described in some detail in the methodology section. The technicians of the Centro de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales collected samples of ambient air in the respiratory zone of some of the workers who took part in the study (workers 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 17). The results obtained by the MTA/MA-032/A98 method are shown in Table 5. For comparison purposes the results obtained by TD-GC-MS (brought in from tables 2 and 3) are also shown. This comparative study includes all varnishers (workers 7 to 12) and only two car painters (workers 14 and 17). The results of the INSHT laboratory applying the MTA/MA-032/A98 method take in only 9 organic solvents, and some, like isobutyl methyl ketone, are found only in two workers (14 and 17); ethyl acetate turns up only in workers 9 and 12; methyl acetate is recorded in worker 10 and isoamyl acetate in workers 9 and 12, respectively, but nocomparison can be made with our results because we did not include these solvents among the 26 selected VOCs; benzene derivatives (toluene, xylenes and ethylbenzene) are the compounds giving most information for comparative purposesexcept for some ethylbenzene lacunae for workers 8, 9, 12 and 17. The discrepancies in solvencies detected might be due to the fact that fewer solvents were selected than in our study or because they were not retained in active charcoal and therefore went undetected. Be that as it may, there are clear discrepancies also in the sampling procedure, since the INSHT method did not include the alveolar sample but only the ambient air sample taken nearby the worker’s respiratory zone (dynamic method). If we centre on the results obtained by both methods, we see that there are no systematic errors in any of the two methods; the differences in absolute terms vary in both directions. Both methods were compared by means of linear regression between both groups of results. Figure 3 shows the resulting graph, together with the linear equation and the regression coefficient. The correlation between the figures given by both methods is good, since the ordinate is negligible and the slope is close to thevalue of 1. A paired sample t test was also carried out to compare the same results: the experimental t value (0.51) is much less that the critical t value for 37 degrees of freedom. The twoassessment methods clearly show that there are no significant differences between the results produced by the proposedmethod (TD-GCMS) and the MTA/MA-032/A98 method, or, whatcomes to the same thing, that both methods lead to similarresults.


Figure 3: Comparison between VOC concentrations obtained in the ambient air of the workplace (of workers 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12and 17) using the method proposed by us and the MTA/MA-032/A98 method.

See table 5

Conclusions

Control of exposure to chemical agents through analysis of the exposed workers’ alveolar air can be an essential tool, as acomplement to ambient control, for assessing and preventing the effects of this exposure. The study presented in this paperassessed the exposure of 24 workers, ascertaining the levels of 26 VOCs (basically esters, benzene and derivatives, and chlorethylenes) in the alveolar and ambient air. The resultspresented show that the alveolar air (as opposed to the exhaled air) of the VOC-exposed workers might contain high levels of thecompounds existing in the ambient air, in proportion to their real exposure. The VOC levels in the alveolar air thus vary directly with the levels existing in the ambient air, but there are two very different absorption kinetics, one for benzene-derived aromatics (toluene, xylenes and alkylbenzene), with mean absorption percentages of 50%, and another for esters, with mean absorption percentages below 20%. In other words the higherabsorption rates correspond to the most toxic compounds,benzene and its derivatives, which are also the compounds that genotoxicity studies have associated with chromosome aberrations and DNA damage [19]. Special mention must go to benzene, since it is linked in many workers to the smoking habit;thus, in house painters, varnishers (barring worker 12) and car painters (barring workers 13 and 16), the benzene levels inalveolar air are higher than or similar to the ambient levels in smokers. Service station workers show the highest levels ofbenzene in alveolar air of all workers studied; this is related solely to ambient levels, for the workers concerned were non smokers. Of all workers studied, if we concentrate on meanvalues found in alveolar air, the most exposed are car painters, followed by the varnishers. As regards the individuals exposed, no meaningful relationship has been found between age, sex or exposure time (the years that each individual of the group has spent carrying out the same tasks). This is because the alveolarair has been analysed and existing toxic compounds are generally eliminated completely after the working day. Witness the factthat, at the beginning of the working day (8 a.m.) practically none of the 26 VOCs analysed was found in the 24 workers (except benzene in smokers). Quite another thing is the harm done to the organism by these solvents. Here, genotoxicity


studies show that exposure, even at low but continuous levels (here the number of years in the post does indeed matter), to many of these solvents (especially benzene and derivativesthereof) does carry a cancer risk.

Control of exposure to chemical agents through analysis of the alveolar air of the exposed workers

can be an essential tool, as a complement to ambient control, for assessing and preventing the

effects of this exposure

This study also shows that the use of spray booths and protection clothing and masks is vital for cutting down or avoiding completely VOC contamination in these workers. The staff responsible for preventive activity within the firm, by any of the arrangements provided for by law, should therefore keep an eye on this problem and check the efficacy of this equipment and fittings. Thus, although car painters are in theory those who have the greatest control over airborne chemical agents by general use of spray booths, the study has shown that, if they do not wear protection equipment while mixing the paint, there might be dermal absorption of the VOCs.

They should also wear suitable protective clothing and gloves to prevent dermal absorption. Finally, contrary to common belief, service station workers are not in fact a risk population, and the risk rate is falling even further in view of the spread of self-service establishments with minimum handling of the petrol bythe employees themselves. In sum, preventive activities in tasks of this type need to be improved and workers trained in good working practices.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article has been subsidised by the research grant CTQ2007-63962 from the Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerio de Educación and Ciencia), and research grant SC/UNI/00013/2007 from the Regional Employment Ministry (Consejería de Empleo) of the Regional Council of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía). The authors wish to thank all workers who collaborated in this study.

TO FIND OUT MORE

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[21] J. Caro, A. Serrano, M. Gallego. Metodologías de evaluación de riesgos emergentes originados por trihalometanos en piscinas cubiertas, Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, (2009) forthcoming.

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1:2000 (E). Indoor, ambient and workplace air. Sampling and analysis of VOCs by sorbent tube/thermal desorption/capillary gas chromatography.

[23] US EPA Compendium Method TO-17. The determination ofVOCs in ambient air using active sampling onto sorbent tubes.


Ecological footprint of the campus de Vegazana, León university; a calculation approach. Implications for the sustainability of the university community ENVIRONMENT

In 1996, the Canadian Scientists Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees published the book Our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth, defining a new sustainability indicator dubbed the ecological footprint. This paper reports on the ecological footprint study made of León University’s Campus de Vegazana. The ultimate aim of this study is to determine this footprint and pinpoint the possible reduction measures. By Paula Arroyo, Environmental Science Graduate. Researcher of the Environment Institute (Instituto de Medio Ambiente). Leon University. León. Ecology Area. Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Campus de Vegazana. León. [email protected] José Manuel Álvarez, Environmental Science Graduate. Researcher in the Ecology Area. Leon University Jorge Falagán Fernández, Biological Sciences Graduate. Associate Ecology Professor. Leon University Carlos Martínez Sanz, Biological Sciences Graduate. Researcher in the Ecology Area. Leon University Gemma Ansola González, Doctor of Biological Sciences. Tenured Ecology Professor. Leon University Estanislao de Luis Calabuig, Doctor of Sciences. Ecology Professor. Leon University.

In recent decades many indicators and methodological approaches have been developed for evaluating the sustainabilityof a region or given social activity. Some of these evaluation methods are related to the Earth and the resources used by a given society to live and carry out an activity. Such is the case of the ecological footprint indicator.

The ecological footprint

In the nineties William Rees and his pupils (Bicknell et al., 1998) from the Canadian university of British Columbia coined the concept of ecological footprint (hereinafter EF) as the newindicator of a population’s degree of sustainability. The main idea behind this research is that each individual, each process, each activity and each population has an impact on the Earth, due to the resources they consume, the waste they produce and also the use of the services furnished by nature. This information can be converted into the biologically productive area needed to meet these flows.

The footprint calculation method proposed by Wackernagel and Rees (1996) works from the assumption that each unit of matter or energy consumed calls for a certain tract of land for providing the resources consumed or dealing with the waste produced. This is why the calculation of this indicator involves an estimation of the necessary land for producing each consumption element per person. This area is obtained by dividing the annual mean consumption of each of these elements (Kg / inhabitant) by the



annual mean productivity (Kg /hectare) (Mayor et al., 2003).

Objectives: application of the ecological footprint calcultatio to the campus de Vegazana of León university

This paper presents the EF calculation for León University’s Campus de Vegazana in 2006. Due to the particular features of the study’s territorial sphere, the methodology needed to be adapted in certain aspects to bring it into line with what some authors have called the “EF of a closed economy”, i.e. a community engaging in no trade with other economies. This means that consumption does not exceed interior production,because no more products can be consumed than those coming from the biologically productive area available. The EF would therefore offer no information on the existence of any ecological reserves or deficits and would hence forfeit much of its utility (Penela and Villasante, 2007).

There are two standardised methods for EF calculation, the compound method and the component method (see Simmons et al., (2000) and Chambers et al., (2000), for more information thereon). This study has adopted the second method.

EF calculations in other universities would enable a comparison to be made of the values obtained.

The Campus de Vegazana of León University Most studies of León University concentrate on the campus called Campus de Vegazana, located to the north of the city of León. Atthe moment it offers a total of 53 degree subjects taught in 17 Centres by 26 Departments. In the academic year 2006/2007 the total number of students was about 14,000.

Calculation of the ecological footprint

Drawing from the classic resource categories established by Rees and Wackernagel (Table 1), this study has worked with a total of 11 variables. Only the food category has been left out, since there were not enough data and methodological motives to goon.

Energy Consumption All buildings of the Campus de Vegazana use natural gas as fuel. The only exception is the Sports and Physical Activity Faculty(Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte) which uses gas oil for heating. As well as the energy used as fuel, consideration was also given to the electricity consumed by all campus buildings.

Electrical Energy

Table 1. Resource categories considered in the EF of the Campus de Vegazana.

Energía Mobility Goods and Services

Built-up area

Electricity Car Unrecycled waste Space occupied by buildings

Natural Gas

Bus Drinking-water and wastewater treatment

Space occupied by pavements, gardens, etc.

Gas oil Motorcycle Building construction material

Campus de Vegazana

CO2 emission


Spain’s electricity supply comes from diverse production sources (Table 2).

A different calculation method was used for each type, in terms of its impact on the environment. In the case of fuels that emit CO2 in their production or consumption, a

calculation is made of the kilograms of CO2 emitted by each

Gj of fuel consumed. In the case of electricity produced by nuclear plants, its emission has been likened to liquid fossil fuels, following the method proposed in other studies (Relea and Prats, 1998).

The CO2 emission factors used are those presented in the

Renewable Energy Sources Plan of Spain (Plan de Energías Renovables de España) 2005-2010 of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade (Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio).

Energy for Heating Purposes As in the case of electricity, CO2 emission calculations have

used the conversion factor laid down in the Plan de Energías Renovables de España 2005-2010 of the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio.

Table 2. Source of the electricity consumed. 2006 Report of Red Eléctrica Española.

Type of power plant GWh Total %

Coal fired 66,006 27,78

Combined cycle plant 63,506 26,73

Nuclear 60,126 25,31

Hydroelectric 25,330 10,66

Wind power 22,631 9,52

Table 3. CO2 emission due to electricity consumption considering

the “electricity mix”.

Electricity consumption

% Kwh Gwh CO2

emission factor (t CO2/Gwh)

t CO2

Coal fired 27,78 1.789.996,81 1,79 961,0 1.720,19

Combined cycle plant

26,73 1.722.340,34 1,72 372,0 640,71

Nuclear 25,31 1.630.843,03 1,63 262,8 428,59

Hydroelectric 10,66 686.874,23 0,69 0 0

Wind power 9.52 613.418,63 0,61 0 0

TOTAL (t) 2.789,48

TOTAL (kg) 2.789.483,09

Table 4. CO2 emission due to the consumption of energy

for heating purposes.

Consumption of fossil fuels

Kwh CO2 emission

factor (kgCO2/Kwh)

Kg CO2


Goods and Services Unrecycled Waste The unrecyclable portion of solid urban waste generated in the province of León is taken to the Provincial Solid Waste Treatment Centre in San Román de la Vega.

It was originally intended to include this variable in this study’s EF calculation but lack of concrete data made the calculation thereof impossible.

Water The drinking water supplied to the city of León and the Campus de Vegazana comes from the River Porma catchment area.

This study presents the energy consumption calculations associated with the transport, drinking-water treatment and subsequent wastewater treatment.

Drinking Water. The water consumed on the Campus de Vegazana is treated in a treatment plant lying only a few kilometres away in the municipality of Valdefresno. The plant lacks any supply pumps because the water is taken by gravity from the River Porma through a pressurised canal. The final energy consumption is 0.016 Kwh/m3.The calculation also includes the water used for irrigating the campus green areas. The garden area spreads over 100,098.89 m2 and is watered with drinking water. As an exception, the sports facilities receive their water supply from a well; the water is not treated for drinking purposes and the watered area adds up to 8,626.98 m2. Water consumption for irrigating the campus is 6 litres/m2/day. The green areas do not need watering in winter.

Treated Wastewater. The Campus wastewater is led off to the wastewater treatment plant of the city of León. The wastewater treatment process with one water line (activated sludge) and one sludge line involves electricity consumption of 0.03 kwh/m3.

Natural Gas 8.950.225,00 0,201 1.798.995,23

Gas oil* 24.320,92 0,264 6.420,72

TOTAL (kg) 1.805.415,95

Table 5. Water consumption for irrigating the campus green areas.

Water consumption (l/m2/día)

Irrigation area (m2)

Watering days

Total (l) Total (m3)

6,00 100.098,89 210,00 126.124.601,40 126.124,60

Table 6. Energy consumption necessary in 2006 for the drinking-water and wastewater treatment of the water consumed and produced on Campus.

Faculty, College or Building

Consumption (m3)

Energy consumption for drinking water treatment (0.016

Energy consumption for wastewater treatment (0.03


kwh/m3) kwh/m3)

Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales

1.846,00 29,54 55,38

Fac. de Educación

1.828,00 29,25 54,84

Fac. de Ciencias del Trabajo

797,00 12,75 23,91

Esc. de Ingenierías Industrial e Informática

2.138,00 34,21 64,14

Fac. de Filosofía y Letras

5.914,00 94,62 177,42

Fac. de Derecho

970,00 15,52 29,10

Service building

1.592,00 25,47 47,76

Cafeteria I 2.097,00 33,55 62,91

Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales

8.343,00 133,49 250,29

Fac. de Veterinaria

25.046,00 400,74 751,38

Clínica Veterinaria

5.193,00 83,09 155,79

Biblioteca Univ. «San Isidoro»

2.435,00 38,96 73,05

Teaching block

424,00 6,78 12,72

INDEGA 2.126,00 34,02 63,78

Pavilion 1.604,00 25,66 48,12

Fac. de CC. Actividad Física y del Deporte

7.688,00 123,01 230,64

Irrigation water

126.124,60 2.017,99

TOTAL 70.041,00 3.138,65 2.101,23

Table 7. CO2 emission due to the necessary energy consumption

for the drinking-water and wastewater treatment of the water consumed and produced on Campus.

Electricity consumption

% Kwh Gwh CO2

emission factor (t CO2/Gwh)

t CO2


Paper Due to the eminently academic activity carried out on the whole Campus de Vegazana, it was thought necessary to include paper consumption by the university community in the EF calculation.

This consumption has been estimated from the data furnished by López et al. (2008) who have calculated paper consumption in two faculties of Santiago University, rounding this out with campus surveys.

The emission factor associated with this consumption has been calculated from the figures of López et al. (2008) who in turn worked from the figures obtained by the Environment Department of the Aragón Government, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Polytechnic College of Manresa and the Greenpeace organisation.

It should be pointed out here that the paper industry is the fifth biggest energy-consuming sector, accounting for 4% of the world’s energy consumption.

This study has considered the CO2 emissions associated

with the energy consumption in the paper manufacturing process (table 8) working from the figures of López et al. (2008).

Coal fired 27,78 1.468,14 0,0014681 961 1,41

Combined cycle plant

26,73 1.403,03 0,0014030 372 0,52

Nuclear 25,31 1.337,60 0,0013376 262,8 0,35

Hydroelectric 10,66 563,37 0,0005634 0 0,00

Wind power 9,52 503,12 0,0005031 0 0,00

TOTAL (t) 2,28

TOTAL (kg) 2.284,33

Table 8. Estimated number of folios of paper used on the Campus in 2006.

Number of sheets Tons of paper

Virgin paper

Recycled paper

Virgin paper

Recycled paper

Note-taking sheets

8.242.290 3.532.410 41.134 17.629

Essay-writing sheets

2.747.430 1.177.470 13.711 5.876

Photocopies 10.030.000 50.056

Total Folios 104.901 23.505

Table 9. CO2 emissions due to energy consumption in paper

manufacture.

Tons of paper Emission factor (t CO2/t paper)

CO2 Emissions (kg)

Virgin paper

Recycled paper

Virgin paper

Recycled paper

Virgin paper

Recycled paper


Mobility The transport of all individuals of the university community to the Campus de Vegazana has been studied by way of surveys. A stratified sample survey was made of the various components, the variables considered being the faculty or school of each person polled as well as his/her status of student, teaching fellow

Total Folios

104,901 23,505 1.84 0.61 193,017.84 14,338.05

(personal docente investigador: PDI), service personnel (personal de servicios: PAS) and others (such as the cleaning personnel).

The poll offers information on diverse variables or factors impinging on the EF calculation. Information has been culled on the type of transport used for travelling to the university, the journey distance, the number of vehicle occupants or number of daily journeys to Campus, plus other important factors.

The survey results show that nearly half of the university community walk from the point of origin to the Campus (49.87%), followed by those who come by car (27.92%) and bus (15.08%).

Graph 1. Main means of transport used for getting to the Campus de Vegazana

The means of transport used varies according to the faculty or college concerned (table 12). Cyclists are commonest among those going to the Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte; motorcyclists among those going to the Industrial Engineering and IT School (Escuela de Ingenierías Industrial e Informática); car drivers those going to the Economics and Business Administration School (Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales); bus users those going to the Education Faculty (Facultad de Educación) and, lastly, walkers those heading for the Biological and Environmental Sciences Faulty (Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales).

Table 10. Percentage using each means of transport in terms of the destination faculty or school. Grey shading shows the most frequent destination for each means of transport.

Building On foot %

By bike %

Motorcycle %

Car % Bus % Other %

Teaching block

0 0 0 0,32 0 0

Library 0,18 0 0 0,32 0 0

Ciencias biológicas y ambientales

24,51 20,90 22,22 12,78 11,83 25,00


Graph 2. Main means of transport used for getting to the Campus de Vegazana in terms of the subject matter studied.

Cars The report of the Sustainable Building Research Model (Model d’Investigació d’Edificació Sostenible: MIES), Cuchí et al. (1999) shows that a vehicle’s CO2 emissions do not depend in the number of passengers it carries. The emissions would be similar whether it held a single person, two, three, four or five; the only variant is that the impact is shared out among more people.

Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte

5,01 31,34 0 4,15 7,10 0

Ciencias del Trabajo

3,04 7,46 0 4,47 5,33 0

Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales

13,06 0 11,11 19,17 13,61 50

Derecho 6,44 2,99 11,11 7,03 7,69 0

Sports building

0 0 0 0,32 0 0

Service building

0,18 0 0 1,28 0 0

Educación 12,34 7,46 11,11 15,65 18,34 0

Filosofía y Letras

5,19 1,49 0 6,39 10,65 0

Ingenierías industrial e Informática

12,16 11,94 33,33 13,74 11,24 0

Veterinaria 12,16 10,45 0 7,67 7,69 0

Others 5,72 5,97 11,11 6,71 6,51 6,51

TOTAL 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00

Table 11. Mean distance (km) in terms of the main means of transport used for reaching the Campus.

On foot

By bike

By motorcycle

Car Bus Other

1,86 km

2,20 km

3,83 km 4,36 km

5,41 km

3,67 km


Other authors, like López et al. (2008), argue that there is a specific consumption of primary energy depending on the number of passengers and the power of the vehicle and also whether it is diesel or petrol driven. This study has considered the thesis of López et al. (2008) to be the best option for our purposes. The mobility calculations have thus been made on the basis of the findings made by these authors for the two faculties of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

Graph 3. Mean occupancy of vehicles arriving on campus. This calculation is made only for cases where the car is the main means of transport used.

The surveys show that 56.45% of the people using the car as the main means of transport make the trip twice a day, i.e. they go to the campus in the morning, go home again at midday and return to the university in the afternoon.

The type of fuel is very evenly shared out among the cars used for commuting back and forth to the Campus, 51% of them using diesel and 49% using petrol.

On the basis of the main journey figures and the vehicle occupancy level, type of fuel used (all information gleaned from the poll) a calculation has been made of the total CO2

emissions for the whole Campus. Table 14 shows the results. The calculation has been simplified by taking a mean CO2 emission value among diesel and petrol vehicles.

* Figures taken from Noy Serrano (1996), ** 150 teaching days a year have been taken into account, *** Figures drawn up from Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Reference Manual, International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC),

Motorcycles

Table 12. Transport-associated CO2 emission, travelling by car and by vehicle

occupancy.

Consumption of primary energy per person * (MJ/km)

Consumption of primary energy per vehicle* (MJ/km)

Kilometres covered on selective days of the year 2006**

Emission factor kg CO2/km)

***

Kg CO2

Low occupancy

2,87 2,87 2.746.521,456 0,199 546.557,77

Middling occupancy

1,43 4,29 2.532.903,121 0,298 754.805,13

High occupancy

0,95 4,75 376.578,023 0,329 123.894,17

TOTAL 1.425.257,07


As in the case of cars, the university community’s mean commuting distance from point of origin to the Campus has been gleaned from surveys. The total figure of kilometres covered has been calculated from the survey figures. Consideration has also been given to the number of trips made each year by each person. As with cars, a CO2emission factor per kilometre covered has been applied toascertain total emissions.

* Taken from López et al, (2008),

Buses The study of CO2 emissions stemming from bus-based

mobility has been carried out in the same way as for cars and motorcycles. The distance covered by the bus has beenestimated from surveys, although the method could also be applied on the basis of the distance covered from point oforigin on bus lines running from different parts of the city tothe Campus de Vegazana.

The primary energy expense has been estimated from a 75% occupancy rate according to the figures established by López et al. (2008). There were no calculation differences for urban and suburban buses.

Occupied Land The study related to the use of land and construction of allphysical elements making up the Campus de Vegazana has been tackled from two points of view: analysis of land occupation and the impact associated with the construction of the Campus itself.

Land directly occupied by the Campus The method followed for ascertaining the occupied land involved on-screen digitalisation of all campus buildings and infrastructure on high resolution geo-referenced digital orthophotography, based on AutoCAD-type .dwg files and using Arc GIS 9.2 software (ESRI, 2006). From the birth of León University as a self-governing organisation in 1979 until 2006, the Campus de Vegazana took the structure shown in figure 1. This digitalisation has shown the land area occupied by faculties, multipurpose buildings, roads and paths, car parks, plots with planning permission for

Table 13. Emission factor and final CO2 emission

associated with motorcycle transport.



***

Kg CO2

Motorcycle 897,27 0,06 53,84

TOTAL 53,84

Table 14. CO2 emissions stemming from bus

transport.

Consumption of primary energy * (MJ/km)



***

Kg CO2

0,39 28.283,485 0,028 791,94

TOTAL 791,94


future constructions and green zones (Table 17).

Figure 1. 3D view of Campus de Vegazana in 2006, digitalised with Arc GIS 9.2 (ESRI, 2006).

Table 15. Land area occupied by buildings, roads and path, plots with planning permission and green zones on the Campus de Vegazana. 2006.

Descrip-Organisation tion Área (m2)

Escuela de Ingenierías Industrial e Informática

9.987,02

Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales

5.157,00

Facultad de Ciencias del Trabajo 2.462,13

Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales

7.753,04

Facultad de Derecho 4.064,92

Facultad de Educación 2.462,13

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras 4.703,60

Facultad de Veterinaria 9.146,00

Instituto de CC. Actividad Física y Deporte

5.192,65

Sports facilities 12.802,24

Sports buildings 4.797,40


To sum up the results, the Campus de Vegazana spreads over a total area of 422,760.06 m2 (42.28 hectares). Thisincludes not only the land occupied by the various faculties and schools, libraries, cafeterias and multipurpose buildings (with a total area of 87,665.25 m2) but also the areaoccupied by roads and footpaths (71,494.24 m2), car parks(25,374.07 m2), plots with planning permission for futureconstructions, which currently house the new Education Faculty (Facultad de Educación) and High-Performance Centre (Centro de Alto Rendimiento) (129.500,64 m2) and green zones (108,725.86 m2).

Graph 4. Land occupancy in Campus de Vegazana in 2006.

Impact of Campus construction The environmental impact of Campus construction has been studied in terms of the amount and type of materials usedin constructing the different campus buildings plus roads, footpaths and parking areas. There values were determined by querying experts inside and outside the university. The results are shown in tables 16 and 17.

Once converted to cubic values by the best possible

Teaching block 703,45

Service building 1.125,23

Biblioteca Universitaria «San Isidoro» 1.497,71

Institutos de Investigación 2.323,59

Clínica Veterinaria 4.585,00

Animalario 687,76

Cafeteria I 959,47

Cafeteria II 621,151

Cafeteria III 744,27

Caja España (bank) 252,04

'Emilio Hurtado' University Residence 3.431,70

Centro TIC de Recursos para el Aprendizaje y la Investigación (CRAI)

1.497,71

Power supply buildings 299,87

Roads 38.803,05

Footpaths 32.691,19

Green areas 108.725,86

Parking areas 25.374,07

Plots with planning permission 129.500,64

TOTAL AREA OCCUPIED 422.760,06


estimation (total built area and average height for eachedifice, estimated at 3.5 m, 7 m and 12.5 m accordingly), a calculation was made of the total CO2 emissions following

the guidelines of the MIES report (Cuchí et al., 1999). A series of conversion factors are then applied to the materials used and the amount thereof to give the tons ofCO2 emitted by the use of certain fixed amounts of these

materials.

Table 16. Kilograms of materials used in the construction of all campus buildings.

Material Kg /10000 m3 built

Total tons Campus

Gravel and aggregate

2.000 2.623,00

Bricks 3.000 3.934,49

Wood 200 262,30

Plaster 2.500 3.278,74

Plywood panels 100 131,15

Portland cement 1.500 1.967,25

Asphalt 100 131,15

Chipboard 300 393,45

Glass 800 1.049,20

Plastic paint 400 524,60

Steel 500 655,75

Polyurethane 160 209,84

Polyethylene 100 131,15

PVC 300 393,45

Copper 100 131,15

Paint (enamel) 150 196,72

Expanded polystyrene

200 262,30

Neoprene 100 131,15

Aluminium 400 524,60

Table 17. Kg of materials used in the construction of all the roads, footpaths and carparks of the Campus.

Material Kg /10000 m3 built

Total tons Campus

Gravel and aggregate

660 63.933,08

Bricks 2.5 242,17

Portland cement 50 4.843,42

Asphalt 40 3,874,73

Steel 0,3 29,06


On the basis of this information and measurements of thenecessary energy for making diverse materials used in the construction work, a calculation was made of the total energy consumed in creating the Campus de Vegazana from its origins in 1979 up to 2006. The information of materials invested in the construction can then be finally used for calculating CO2 emissions, replacing the amount of

these materials used by the energy required to make them, and this in turn by the CO2 emissions associated with the

use of this energy. The calculations are based on the figures recorded in the MIES Report (Cuchí et al. 1999). It should be pointed out here that new construction materials call for much more manufacturing energy than other morebasic types.

The construction of the Campus de Vegazana, therefore,including buildings and sundry infrastructure and parking areas, involved the emission of 31,919.29 tons of CO2 into

the atmosphere. The annual rate for a 27-year period is therefore 1,182.20 tons. The faculties and the rest of the Campus buildings are made up by the basic structure thereof, as well as the physical image of León University. The construction of all of them involved the emission of 31,907.59 tons of CO2, implying an annual rate of 1,181.76

tons of CO2, again for the period running from 1979 to

2006. Construction of the asphalted surfaces for vehicle circulation and pedestrian zones within the campus perimeter, for their part, involved the emission of 11.7 tons of CO2, with an annual rate of 0.43 tons.

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF THE CAMPUS DE VEGAZANA.

Once we have worked out the global consumption of Campus deVegazana for 2006, we turn to the calculation of the biologically productive hectares necessary for producing the resources used on campus.

Calculated consumption figures have been converted into globalhectares by dividing the total amount consumed of each good byits biological productivity and multiplying it by an equivalence factor. In the particular case of CO2 emissions the total amount

of emissions is divided by the CO2-fixing capacity of woodland

masses and oceans and multiplied by the corresponding equivalence factor. This gives us the ecological footprint of each good consumed.

Adding together the ecological footprints of all the goods and dividing this figure by the number of people making up the university community of Campus de Vegazana gives us the total per capita ecological footprint. This then represents the necessary surface area for satisfying the consumption and absorbing the waste of each campus member.

The factors used are those established by the classical methodology. According to Rees and Wackernagel these represent the primary biomass equivalence factors. The ratiobetween them defines their relative biomass-production capacity. In addition, the factors are scaled by an index that keeps the global per capita capacity constant. A factor of 3.2 signifies that this capacity of the land is 3.2 times as productive as the world-

Polyethylene 0,1 9,69

PVC 0,2 19,37


average land productivity.

The final result shows an ecological footprint per member of the university community of Campus de Vegazana of 0.45 gha/cap. The spreadsheet drawn up by Domenech (http://www.huellaecologica.com/) is highly useful for making the final calculation.

The main component of the EF is the necessary surface area for absorbing CO2 emissions. This surface area takes up 0.44

gha/cap, representing 99% of the EF. It should be pointed out here that this calculation does not include the surface area associated with the consumption of farm products, a surface area that, in other EF studies, is another significant component of the total area.

The world biocapacity, according to the EF methodology, refers to the maximum per capita consumption that it is possible to sustain with the available area of the planet without permanently altering its structure. According to the figures put forward by Rees and Wackernagel (1996) and also by the World Wildlife Fund, WWF (2002), the world’s available productive area is about 2 hectares per person (or 1.75 hectares per person if consideration is given to the 12% of the area necessary forpreserving biodiversity) according to Rees and Wackernagel, and 1.9 hectares per person according to the WWF.

Table 18. Equivalence factors used in the study.

Equivalence Factor

Fossil energy 1.138688

Cropland 2.821875

Pastureland 0.541097

Woodland 1.138688

Built up land 2.821875

Sea 0.217192

Table 19. Ecological footprint of the Campus de Vegazana.

Types of area Global hectares

Global hectares /per capita (gha/cap)

Cropland 0 0

Pastureland 0,11 0,00001

Productive woodland

6,72 0,00045

Sea 0 0

Built up land 51,64 0,00344

CO2 Absorption 6.587,57 0,43917

TOTAL 6.646,04 0,45

Table 20. World biocapacity and EF of the Campus de Vegazana. Ecological deficit.

Available Biocapacity 1,75 gha/cap-1,9 gha/cap


A comparison of Campus de Vegazana’s EF with the worldwide biocapacity could be misleading and the particular idiosyncrasies of the field under study have to be taken into account again in the analysis. The concept of local ecological carrying capacity or local biocapacity also has to be brought into the picture along with the planet’s available biocapacity, but in reference to the real surface area of each type of terrain in the actual place where the EF is calculated. The local campus biocapacity, as can easily be understood from the information given so far (74% unproductive space occupancy, the remaining 24% being nearly all non-productive garden space), is very low.

The results obtained are not comparable to other EF studies carried out in the national or regional sphere because of the particular features of the community studied. They are comparable, however, to the results obtained from other universities. In recent years several universities have conducted EF-assessment studies. Table 25 shows the results obtained in the different studies as well as the categories of resources taken into account.

The EF of Campus de Vegazana (0.45 gha/cap) is the second lowest of all EFs calculated. Only Newcastle University in Australia records a significantly lower value.

Ecological footprint 0,45 gha/cap

Table 21. Ecological footprint in different universities and comparison with the ecological footprint of Campus de Vegazana, León University.

University Location Study year

Resource categories

Ecological footprint (gha/cap)

University of Toronto at Mississauga

Ontario (Canadá)

2005 Food, energy, transportation, waste, water and construction

1,04

University of Newcastle

Newcastle (Australia)

1999 Food, energy, transportation and construction

0,19

University of Holme, Lacy College

Herefordshire (Inglaterra)

2001 Food, energy, transportation, waste, and water

0,56

Colorado College

Colorado (EEUU)


2,24

University of Redlands

California ((USA)

1998 Energy, transportation, waste and water

0,85

Universidad de Santiago, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Facultad de Formación de

Santiago de Compostela (Spain)


579.5 hectare/year


Climate-change implications. CO2 emission

Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), the

chlorofluorocarbon compounds (CFC) and ozone (O3) are the

main greenhouse gases. These gases have the particular property of permitting the entry of short wave solar radiation but trapping a large part of the long-range radiations bouncing back from the earth’s surface. Any variation in the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere will lead to variations in the earth’s climate.

This paper presents the results of the study of one of the emissions of one of the greenhouse gases, CO2, caused by the

activities of Campus de Vegazana.

Most of the emissions come from energy consumption for electricity (38%) and heating (24%). Mobility or transport arrangements represent the third biggest source of CO2

emissions (19%).

The province of León has a wide range of woodland masses capable of fixing the atmospheric CO2. León’s woodland area, as

Profesorado

Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana

León (Spain) 2006 Energy, transportation, water and construction

0,45

Table 22. Total CO2 emissions of the Campus de

Vegazana in 2006.

Source CO2 Emissions (kg)

Electricity consumption 2.789.483,09

Consumption of fossil fuels 1.805.415,95

Campus Construction 1.182.195,95

Water consumption 2.284,33

Paper consumption 207.355,89

Mobility (cars) 1.425.257,07

Mobility (motorcycles) 53,84

Mobility (buses) 791.94

TOTAL 7.412.838,06

recorded by the National Forestry Inventory (Inventario Forestal Nacional), is shown in the following table.

Table 23. Woodland area in the province of León. Figures taken from the Inventario Forestal Nacional.

SURFACE AREAS (hectares)

Inventory year

Climax woodland

Thinned pasture woodland

Low, scattered woodland

Total woodland

Clear felled woodland

Total forestry land

Total non forestry land

Province Total

2003 508.875 0 17.695 526.570 473.744 1.000.313 557.772 1.558.085

1992 167.281 0 101.928 269.209 590.316 859.525 698.560 1.558.085


The CO2-offsetting capacity differs from one type of woodland to

another. The province of León has a high diversity of woodland due to its intermediate position straddling the Mediterranean region and the Eurosiberian region.

As a broad estimate, the total woodland area of the province ofLeón is capable of offsetting a total of 8,470,168.06 tons of CO2.

This means that 46% of this woodland area is necessary as a sink for the CO2 emitted by Campus de Vegazana. This estimate has

been made on the assumption that only the woodland masses are CO2 sinks. In fact it is not only the woodland masses that carry

out this function in nature but also the soil, water and crops.

SWOT analysis of Campus de Vegazana

The SWOT analysis (Albert S Humphrey, 1970) arose as amethod for analysing the competitiveness of companies and alsofor self-evaluation purposes. It is a question of ascertaining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in an attempt to arrive at an effective strategy to suit the firm itself and marketcharacteristics. In the case of Campus de Vegazana, to allow for the differences from a company, the chosen methodology consisted of four steps:

1. External analysis (Opportunities and Threats) vis-à-vis competitors. Porter’s five forces model, (Porter, 1979). Opportunity: Favourable situation proffered by the environment. Threat: Unfavourable situation existing in the environment.

2. Internal analysis Weakness: Unfavourable position of the university, of an internal character. Strength: Favourable position of the university, of an internal character.

3. Drawing up the SWOT matrix

4. Determination of the strategy to be employed for lessening the impact of the campus’s ecological footprint.

Starting point Figures. The ecological footprint calculated for the Campus de Vegazana is 0.45 (gha/cap), as well as the environmental impacts deriving from its activity.

Measures to be taken. Reduction of the ecological footprint,development of campus sustainability strategy. Reduction of environmental impacts: emission of greenhouse gases (CO2).

León University Initiatives underway. Creation of the Green Office, development of sustainability strategies.

Needs detected

Current values

UNIVERSITY BY THE POPULATION (students, PAS, PDI)

Reduce consumption of water, electricity and paper.

Lighting increase,

Selective waste containers

Bike park,

Bike lane.

UNIVERSITY BY THE POPULATION (students, PAS, PDI)


SWOT analysis:

Conclusions and recommendations. The Campus de Vegazana has an ecological footprint lower than the average university figure. Even so the consumption deriving from the factors analysed threaten its ongoing viability. It would be desirable toreduce these consumption levels to increase the university’ssustainability.

Potential approach towards the ecological footprint.Reduction by raising awareness of the environmental impact of the campus’s current ecological footprint.

Acknowledgements

This research work has been carried out under the 2008 researchgrant scheme of the Institute of Prevention, Health andEnvironment (Instituto de Prevención, Salud y Medio Ambiente) of FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE.

Our thanks also go to all the following:

To all those persons and institutions that have helped us in carrying out this research work, in all its phases.

To URBASER and to GERSUL, especially to Antonio Nicolás, José Manuel and Secundino Prieto, for the input of figures on the waste generated by the Campus de Vegazana.

To Vicente Fernández, for all the figures on the university’s energy consumption.

To Luis Roy, for the information on campus occupancy and the buildings making it up. And to Nacho and Miguel of SERCAR, who are ever willing to do everything they can to help.

To Francisco Gallego, for his input of information on paper

Geographical location

Green zones

Public transport

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

The campus’s ecological footprint is lower than the university average (See table 25).

Proximity to the city, reducing average commuting distance.

High paper consumption.

Watering of the campus green areas represents its biggest water consumption, accounting for 64% of the total.

Electricity consumption is high.

High use of private vehicles.

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Efficient public transport.

Possibility of rooftop installation of solar panels.

Reduction of green areas by the local council.

Reduction of enrolments.

Reduction of public money allocated to the university.


consumption and photocopies of all the faculties.

And to all of you for your interest in how much we consume and what our ecological footprint is. And to all of you once again for starting, little by little, to apply the measures most conducive towards the sustainability of our university.

Bibliography

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4. Chambers. N. Simmons. C. Wackernagel. M. Sharing nature's interest: ecological footprints as an indicator of sustainability. Earthscan. 2000. London.

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15. WORLD WILDLIFE FUND. Living Planet Report 2002,. Gland


Green taxes; the taxation system as a complement of the Kyoto protocol economic mechanisms ENVIRONMENT

How might a country’s taxation system help to combat climate change? This article explores the use of taxes not to raise revenue but to mould people’s behaviour, encouraging favourable conduct and discouraging unfavourable conduct in the fight against climate change. By IÑAKI BILBAO ESTRADA. Professor of the ENDESA Chair of «Taxation and Climate Change». CEU Institute of Environmental Ethics and Law

Taxes and climate change. The Spanish Model

This article examines how the taxation system might help to combat climate change as a complement to the trading scheme.Before going ahead with this analysis we should point out that there are already many taxation measures bearing on greenhouse gas emissions1. It is therefore vital to ensure that any new measures are knitted into the system in a coordinated way otherwise there might be a counterproductive clutter ofoverlapping instruments. Working from this premise, we aim to show how the taxation system could be used as an ally in the fight against climate change. In other words we will analyse how taxes may encourage or discourage the behaviour of private individuals in this pursuit. As we will see later the possibility ofusing the taxation system to achieve certain public ends is what has come to be dubbed by the Spanish Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) as the “función extrafiscal” (non-fiscal function) of the tax.

We should make it clear, first and foremost, that the implementation of the greenhouse gas emission trading scheme does not rule out other environmental policies, not even the fiscal policy. Taxation measures are by no means incompatible with a greenhouse gas emission trading scheme, since the latter is an economic instrument without any fiscal component, although its implementation might well have taxation knock-on effects2. Quite on the contrary we advocate harnessing the synergy that might exist between them, so that technical regulations, taxation3 and environmental agreements might all complement the new mechanisms laid down in the Kyoto Protocol.

Specifically, in relation to air-emissions taxation, we believe that this should be complementary to the emission trading scheme with regard to those sectors that do not come within the field of application of Act (Ley) 1/2005: namely, transport, housing, etc. The non-fiscal function of the tax could come into its own here for taxing diffuse emissions, in view of their exclusion from the trading scheme on the grounds of the difficulty of controlling them. Reference should be made here, among other measures, to the new Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport (Impuesto Especial Sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte), to energy

Green taxes

Measures such as the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport (Impuesto Especial Sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte), energy taxation or the CO2tax for the aviation sector are all geared towards fighting climate change.

The Spanish Constitutional Court has legitimised use of the taxation system



taxation, to the new CO2 tax for the aviation sector, to the tax on

the incorporation by electricity companies of the cost of their freely assigned emission right in the supply price, etc.

When it comes to using tax benefits as a means of encouraging conduct conducive to sustainable development, reference should be made to the corporate income tax reductions for environmental investments, tax incentives for clean energy, exemptions for less polluting means of transport, etc.

As we will see later, the fight against climate change cannot be left in the hands of States alone, but must also involve other governmental levels such as the Spanish regional authorities (Comunidades Autónomas) and local authorities. Furthermore, the measures to reduce global warming cannot be directed solely at the economic agents and main polluting industrial sectors butmust also embrace the whole set of citizens on a person-to-person basis. Regional and local authorities are especially suited to the pursuit of this aim, mainly with regard to diffuse emissions from such sectors as transport, commerce and housing. At times, however, our hands will be tied by our membership of the EU, making decision-taking more difficult for harmonised taxes that need to be monitored at Community level. Nonetheless, successful pursuit of this aim will necessarily depend on proper coordination with existing measures at state and regional level, to avoid overlapping legislation that might balk the end in view.

The Non-Fiscal Purpose of the Tax

As we have already pointed out this complementary function of the taxation system with respect to the emission trading scheme is possible thanks to its non-fiscal function. Along these lines the Tribunal Constitucional laid it down in judgement 37/87 of 26 March that “it is constitutionally sound for the remit of states andComunidades Autónomas to include the establishment of taxes that, without forfeiting or flouting the principle of economic or payment capacity, correspond mainly to economic or socialcriteria geared towards the fulfilment of purposes or the satisfaction of public interests that the Constitution advocates or guarantees”, stipulating even more forthrightly in its judgement186/1993 of 7 June (FJ 4) that “ constitutionally there can be no objection to the use of taxes with a non-fiscal purpose”.

The use of the taxation system for environmental protectionpurposes4 and especially to fight climate change is fully justified in light of the environment-protection obligations laid down in the Spanish Constitution5 and especially the public authorities’ duty to watch out for a rational use of all natural resources with a view to protecting and improving the quality of life and preserving and restoring the environment. Furthermore, article 191 of the Treatyon European Union (ex Article 174 TEC) from the Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union lays it down that the union’s environmental policy will be based, among other principles, on the polluter pays principle.

Although it is not a constitutional taxation principle, therefore, we do wish now to stress its importance and the need of studying its relationship to the duty of contributing towards sustaining public expenditure but eschewing its link to the taxation system. This is because the requisites involved in combatting climate changemake new economic instruments increasingly difficult to graft onto the current taxation set-up. As Villar Ezcurra points out“maybe we cannot graft today’s financial formulae onto yesterday’s repertory of taxation instruments. Efforts are now being made to free the Exchequer from the future obligation of providing public services of general interest, encouraging cooperation in the private sector that might render direct

for the purposes of protecting and enhancing the quality of life and defending and restoring the environment.

The granting of environmental tax incentives is justified in terms of encouraging conduct conducive to sustainable development and checking global warming.

Cereal harvesting for biogas production.

Councils have little leeway for bringing in tax incentives to encourage eco-friendly conduct.


intervention of public authorities unnecessary in the near future”6.

In relation to said purpose, and as we have already pointed out, a distinction should be drawn between the two aspects of imposition and relief, in other words, placing a tax charge on undesirable behaviour and establishing tax relief for desirable behaviour7. In the first case particular consideration should be given to the environmental tax’s observance of the polluter paysprinciple and the suitability of the tax “for redressing the damage and costs caused to the environment through an environmental tax”8. Nonetheless, the main objective sought by this type of tax is none other than creating a disincentive strong enough to bringabout a change in the conduct of individuals and economic agents.

It is therefore essential to strike a proper balance between the environmental objective and the revenue purpose of the tax, tomake sure that the former does not play second fiddle to the latter. Economic jurists have in fact pointed out in relation to some environmental taxes that “the growing revenue haul itselfwould seem to suggest that the tax is not encouraging a change of conduct for the better. Polluters merely pay the tax and carry on with the polluting emission, probably because the tax rate has been pitched too low. In fact the electricity firms (who pay practically all the tax) have themselves pointed out that the environmental effects are practically nil because it is not profitable for them to introduce corrective technologies”9.

In the second case, by contrast, the aim is to bring in a sufficiently attractive tax incentive to generate certain behaviour patterns more in keeping with sustainable development andhelping to check global warming. This is why it is vital to make a proper study of the real efficacy and effectiveness of the taxbenefits to make sure it is not just a lip-service gesture that only clutters up our already complicated legal system. It should be remembered here that the negative meaning of the principle of generality prohibits the granting of tax benefits, in a broad sense,without constitutional cover in cases of manifest economic capacity to pay. Nonetheless, it is perfectly legitimate for laws tofree certain taxpayers from their duty to pay or lessen their tax burden to achieve other constitutional ends such as those laiddown in Chapter 3 of Spain’s Constitution and specifically, in thecase of interest to us here, the environment.

Encouragement of conduct favouring sustainable development (tax benefits)

As we have already pointed out, together with the raising of necessary revenue for meeting various public needs, it is fully legitimate to use the taxation system in pursuit of other constitutionally recognised ends. Thus, although it might not beacceptable from the economic capacity point of view to establish a tax benefit when this economic capacity exists, it might well be legitimate to do so in pursuit of other ends laid down in theconstitution. The concession of diverse environmental tax incentives, therefore, is justified in terms of the benefits that theincentive-stimulated activity might have in pursuit of sustainable development that helps to check global warming. In short, thetaxation system in which the latter is used as an instrument of economic policy in the service of public interests10.

In these cases the lower revenue haul is offset by the publicpowers’ savings elsewhere in combatting climate change. That said, these incentives would have to be duly “capable of steering the individuals’ conduct towards the desired behaviour change, otherwise it would be a case of incentives that do not

To influence the environmental behaviour of economic agents the Spanish State has opted to provide for tax benefits on direct taxes instead of bringing in new taxes.

The comunidades autónomas have introduced a wide range of taxes on air emissions.

At local level the rapidly spreading idea of congestion charges in major cities aims to cut down the use of the private car in favour of public transport


incentivate.”11. These fiscal measures should therefore have a real effect on private investment, otherwise, should they be merely symbolic, they would merely clutter up the tax system without contributing towards the ends in view12. In this case it would be better to replace the tax incentive system by a subsidy system13.

We are now going to make a brief analysis of the climate-change-combatting tax benefits that are being used or could be used in Spain’s tax system. We will begin this study at state level, with tax incentives that already exist or could be introduced, then working down to regional and local level.

Mention must be made first and foremost of the environmental investment deductions in Spain’s corporate income tax. These are the deductions laid down in Chapter IV of Title VI of the Corporate Income Tax Act (Ley del Impuesto sobre Sociedades); article 39 establishes a 10 percent corporation tax reduction for three types of activities: investment in facilities designed to protect the environment, the purchase of new industrial or commercial road-transport vehicles and, lastly, investment infacilities and equipment for harnessing renewable energy sources14. Nonetheless, after the corporation tax reform brought in by Ley 35/2006, these deductions are going to be phased out by 2011, after which there will no longer be any corporation fiscal incentive in said tax for activities of an environmental nature.

This situation has prompted the Non Government Bill on tax incentives for environment-protection investments (Proposición de Ley sobre los incentivos fiscales para las inversiones destinadas a la protección del medio ambiente) (122/000067) moved by the parliamentary grouping Esquerra Republicana-Izquierda Unida-Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds. This Bill recently began to pass through Parliament, on 23 April 2008, and provides for the restoration of said deductions and an amendment thereof to improve them. The aim of this Bill is the maintenance of the incentive for companies that make an economic outlay to protect and improve the environment, treating them differently from those that make no environmentalinvestment whatsoever. They point out in this sense that, with the phasing out of the non-returnable subsidies for investments designed to reduce pollution, as from 2011 the only "incentives" for investing in environmental improvement will be coercive in nature. The amendment of article 39 of the revised text of theCorporate Income Tax Act proposes enlargement thereof to take in activities not necessarily industrial such as intensive animal farming or crop farming or shopping centres with a large waste production.

Consideration is also given to improvements in product design and manufacture that cut down pollution in the usage phase15.

Experiences in comparative law point to the need of studying the following measures:

Accelerated depreciation for assets conducive to sustainable development and checking global warming

Zero duty for importing goods that allow sustainable development and check global warming, on condition that the same class of goods does not exist in Spain

Special corporation tax systems for those activities that allow sustainable development and check global warming, such as those designed for house-leasing companies

Corporation tax deductions for using raw materials that help to check global warming

Reduced VAT rates for green products, as proposed by the French Government and also for certain types of energy


and/or fuels. Nonetheless, mention must be made of thespecial difficulties of VAT measures as a harmonised tax.

Tax benefits in the excise duty on mineral oils (Impuesto sobre Hidrocarburos) for certain classes of biofuel (biogas, biomethanol, synthetic biofuels, etc.) and also the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport using such fuels. Nonetheless, it should be borne in mind that biofuel tax exemptions are subject to community authorisation and are dependent on an agreement with the regions as a tax partially devolved thereto.

At the regional level the sphere of action is smaller given the limited capacity of action of the Comunidades autónomas, boiling down to tax benefits on excise duties and devolved taxes. This is due to the fact, as we will see later, that the regional taxsystem’s sphere of action lends itself more to imposition, dissuading conduct that fuels the climate change. Even so, we find that there are regional PAYE deductions for sums spent on the harnessing of renewable energy sources in the habitual residence and donations with an ecological purpose16. A study might also be made here of the establishment of certain tax benefits in Stamp Duty (Impuesto de Actos Jurídicos Documentados) when setting up companies helping to check the climate change such as photovoltaic solar energy firms.

Furthermore, in the case of partially devolved taxes, the regionscould facilitate a state agreement for the establishment of certain tax benefits (e.g: taxes on mineral oils and vehicle registration). Certain tax benefits might also be feasibly brought in for taxes that are the rightful remit of the regions, such as the Tax on Large Shopping Centres (Impuesto sobre Grandes Establecimientos Comerciales), either for laying on public means of transport to cut down journeys by private transport or the introduction of energy efficiency measures, etc.

Local taxes and rates, as is well known, are one of the cities’ prime means of combatting climate change, without their use necessarily meaning an increase in the tax burden. Taxation here could be a useful tool not only for penalising eco-unfriendly conduct by placing a tax charge on it but also for establishing tax benefits for actions and investments designed to check global warming. Nonetheless, this objective would call for a previous reform of the Local Exchequer Act (Ley de Haciendas Locales) to free municipalities from the straightjacket imposed on them by the current legal system.

It should be pointed out here that, at the time of writing, the municipalities have little leeway for establishing tax benefits to encourage conduct conducive to the fight against global warming. The following possibilities exist for establishing allowances in various local taxes:

Tax on Business Activities (Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas): rebate of up to 50 % in the tax liability for taxpayers who use or produce energy from facilities for harnessing renewable energy sources or cogeneration systems and for those who establish a transport plan for their workers with the aim of cutting down energy consumption and emissions caused by work commuting journeys and encouraging the use of more efficient means of transport, such as collective or shared transport.

Property Tax (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles): rebate of up to 50% in the total tax due for property in which systems for thermal or electrical harnessing of solar energy have been installed.

Tax on Mechanically Powered Vehicles (Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica): rebate of up to 75% depending on the class of fuel used in the vehicle and its


combustion impact on the environment.

Tax on Building and Installation Projects and Construction Work (Impuesto sobre Construcciones, Instalaciones y Obras): rebate of up to 95% in favour of buildings, installations or construction work incorporating systems for thermal or electrical harnessing of solar energy.

Despite these possibilities, we believe that a greater autonomy in regional legislative powers is necessary to allow additional tax charges or relief geared towards the modification of citizen conduct in terms of sectors producing diffuse emissions that escape the market-based economic mechanisms. Lastly, in those cases in which the success of the local tax reform cuts down the municipalities’ revenue trawl, it will be necessary to make due arrangements for financial compensation from the state, in view of the saving for the state brought about by achievement of theseenvironmental objectives.

As a final reflection we wish to record the need of maintaining a certain caution in terms of adopting tax benefits to ensure thatthey are not counterproductive. Thus, as we have already pointed out, they would need to take due consideration of communitylegislation and case law in state aid matters. Secondly, a check should be made that their effects do not offset or balk the effects of other economic instruments adopted in the fight againstclimate change.

Discouraging Eco-Unfriendly Conduct (Additional or Higher Tax Charges)

As we have already pointed out, environmental taxes have been the main economic instruments used until recent times for solving the pressing problems of pollution. This would be a case of the imposition side of the non-fiscal purpose of the tax, complying with the polluter pays principle. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out here that, for a tax to be classified asenvironmental it is not sufficient for the revenue obtained to be spent on environmental purposes. On the contrary the tax also needs to establish incentives for economic agents to reduce the eco-unfriendly consequences of their activities17. In this way, and given the meagre revenue-raising importance of said taxes18, stress should be laid on their non-fiscal purpose, specifically the intention of protecting the environment by discouraging eco-unfriendly conduct.

Furthermore, the introduction of environmental taxes into a legalsystem has been qualified by economic doctrine as green tax reform. In this respect, one of the main characteristics thereof isthe use of the revenue to reduce other taxes related to the labour factor as well as social security contributions. This taxation policyhelps to keep the taxation balance despite the introduction ofnew taxes and also to avoid loss of competitiveness by companies. Nonetheless, due consideration should be given here to the risk that this neutrality policy might entail if the environmental taxes achieve their object. In this case therevenue reduction as a consequence of the disincentive effect together with the reduction from other taxes elsewhere might have grave effects on the overall budget.

Nonetheless, in comparison to other countries that have undertaken true green tax reforms19, Spain has opted for adifferent route. Several different frameworks of action need to bedistinguished here: state, regional and local. The state was initially loathe to bring in environmental taxes at state level and there have also been difficulties in applying them at other government levels – regions and local authorities – due to the limitations deriving from the Constitution and state legislation


and the consequent institutional tension20.

At the first of these levels, as we have already pointed out, the Spanish state has mainly opted for introducing diverse taxbenefits in direct taxes – personal income tax (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas) and especially Corporate Income Tax (Impuesto sobre Sociedades)21 – to influence the conduct of economic agents. It has shied away from introducing new taxes22, to avoid jeopardising employment and productivity and also due to the pre-existence of environmental taxes at regional level. Nonetheless, there are signs of a change in this trend with the recent amendment of the Special Tax on Certain Means ofTransport23.

At state level, the main manifestation of the imposition side of the tax’s non-fiscal purpose, until recently, has been energytaxation, especially the Tax on Electricity (Impuesto sobre la Electricidad) and the Tax on Mineral Oils (Impuesto sobre Hidrocarburos). Here its disincentive function has a secondary effect, responding to a harmonisation of minimum energy taxation throughout the EU. Thus, judging from the tenor of the preamble of the Special Taxes Act (Ley de Impuestos Especiales)38/1992 of 28 December, the main function of these taxes is to bring in revenue, deriving from the aforementioned community-wide harmonisation, although they may also have a non-fiscal purpose as an instrument of energy and environmental policies.

As we have already pointed out in previous sections, the main problem of these instruments is the overlapping of measures and the competitiveness problems generated for companies. Thesecircumstances might lead to pragmatic decision-taking in which the environmental protection objective is played down by means of the free allocation of emission rights rather than other more controversial options at a political level such as border tax adjustments. For this reason the Green Paper on Market-Based Instruments for Environment and Related Policy Purposesrecommended that modifications to energy taxation should preferably be brought in at community rather than national level, albeit warning about the difficulties that may arise due to the unanimity requirement in the tax area.

Nonetheless, as we have already pointed out, the recent amendment of the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport has made it the main environmental tax at state level. This chimes inwith the recommendations made by the Green Paper on Market-Based Instruments for Environment and Related Policy Purposeswhich suggests amendment of the annual circulation tax and registration tax within the EU. Likewise, according to the Green Paper on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Within The European Union these taxes could be focussed on smaller or mobile sources whose emissions are more difficult or expensive to monitor.

The main points of this reform could be summed up, according to Cornejo Pérez24, in the following aspects: tax rates are set in light of the CO2 emissions per kilometre, the rate for lowest-

emission vehicles is zero, the rate for the highest-emission vehicles is higher than the highest rate obtaining on 30 June2007; the highest rates would be charged on jet skis and quads. To these principles should be added the principle of tax neutrality, given that the revenue obtained from the tax once amended would be the same as before the amendment. An objection that could be made to this reform, according to CORNEJO PÉREZ, is the maintenance of the ad valorem tax base, given that, in the case of highly-polluting but low-price cars, the payable tax would be very low25.

As regards future proposals it should be pointed out that the


auctions of emission rights by the Spanish state could fall within the concept of a tax if we consider the atmosphere as a public good, as we pointed out when speaking of “global commons”. Likewise, and although the proposal has been made within the context of world taxes, reference should also be made to the taxation on airline fares and a tax on aircraft-emitted CO2. In this

case the harmonised character that taxes of this type would have makes them an obligatory reference in this section although they have already been dealt with in earlier sections.

In comparison with state action, several Comunidades Autónomas have chosen to create their own environmental taxes under the “polluter pays” maxim. This option derives from the regional taxation powers as laid down in article 133 of the Spanish Constitution with the limitations established in article 6 of the Region Financing Act (Ley Orgánica de Financiación de las Comunidades Autónomas)26. An important point here is the prohibition of creating taxes that fall on the same transactions taxed by the state. This restriction does not effect theComunidades Autónomas in terms of air emissions because there is no state tax on the matter. Moreover, as we have already pointed out, this is not incompatible with a greenhouse gas emission trading scheme, since the latter is an economic mechanism without any strict taxation nature though implementation thereof may have knock-on effects in the taxation field.

Within the context of regional environmental taxation, a distinction has to be made between diverse taxes falling on different types of pollution. They can be broken down into five groups: taxes on facilities with an environmental impact, taxesrelated to energy-based polluting emissions, taxes on energy products and processes, taxes on emissions of liquid waste and, finally, taxes on the depositing of solid waste of varying nature. For our purposes here the most interesting ones are the first three.

In relation to taxes on air emissions, special mention must go to Galicia’s tax on air pollution, Murcia’s fixed charge on air emissions, Andalusia’s tax on gas emissions into the air andCastilla La Mancha’s tax on certain activities with an environmental impact27. As already pointed out at the start of this work, it is important to understand that implementation of the greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme does not rule out other environmental policies, not even fiscal ones. Specifically, with regard to taxation on air emissions, we believe that this taxation should be complementary to the emission rights tradingscheme.

We are now going to look at the taxable transactions of theregional taxes on air emissions to find out the actual activity taxed. This might be CO2 emissions covered by the free allocation

of emission rights or the emissions of other greenhouse gases not covered by the trading scheme, implemented in Spanish law by Act (Ley) 1/2005. The taxable transaction is constituted by the emission of certain gases:

Galicia28 and Castilla-La Mancha29 : emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx).

Andalucía30 and Aragón31: emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Murcia32: emission of sulphur dioxide SO2, nitrogen oxides

NOx, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonium

NH3.


Together with the taxes on air emissions there are also other important taxes on facilities with an environmental impact and on energy products and processes. In the first case mention must be made of the taxes on the environmental damage caused by largecommercial establishments and specifically the huge movements of vehicle traffic they provoke with the consequent negative impact on the natural and built surroundings (for example Aragón’s Tax on the environmental damage caused by large commercial establishments). As regards the second group of taxes, the most important ones are those on the thermonuclear production of electricity (Tax on activities with an environmental impact of the Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha) and on the activities of production, storage or transformation of electricity and also the activities of the transport of electricity, telephony and telematics effected by the fixed elements of theelectricity supply or the communications networks (Tax on facilities with an environmental impact of the Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura).

In the local sphere the limitations deriving from the Local Exchequers Act leave municipalities with little leeway33.Practically their only sphere of action is that of special contributions and charges. The latter34 include the rapidly spreading congestion charge in major cities, with the aim of cutting down the use of private transport in favour of public transport. Reference must also be made to the greenhouse gasemission authorisation charge, the taxable transaction of which will be the municipal, technical and administrative activity, with the aim of checking whether the necessary conditions obtain for authorising continuance of the activities35. In this last case however there is a notable risk of overkill with economic instruments impinging on emissions and the consequent risk of overlapping legislation and a counter productive effect.

In relation to the special contributions, ROZAS VALDÉS argues that it is possible to establish these taxes "due to the establishment or enlargement of public services for the financing of infrastructure and local services related to the preservation and improvement of the environment, insofar as a definition can be made of the specific population sector that benefits from the public action”, not without drawing attention to the difficulties and limits in quantifying and managing them36. Nonetheless it should be pointed out that it would be difficult to establish them when the municipality needs the infrastructure or service for health reasons. Furthermore, it is difficult to think of any localinfrastructures and services that might combat the climate change and whose financing might generate said tax.

Reference must also be made here, however, to a possible amendment of the Tax on Mechanically Powered Vehicles(Impuesto de Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica) so that, in keeping with the criteria brought into the Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport, the tax liabilities are based on CO2 emissions instead

of vehicle class and power as hitherto.

(1) INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: The Fiscal Implications of Climate Change, International monetary fund, Washington, 2002, page 3.

(2) On this question see BILBAO ESTRADA, I. and MATEOS ANSÓTEGUI, A. I.: “Régimen tributario de los derechos deemisión de CO2”, Tribuna Fiscal 190-191, pages 36 to 39.

(3) BUÑUEL GONZÁLEZ, M.: “Tributos medioambientales frente apermisos de emisión negociables en la lucha de la Unión Europea contra el cambio climático: la Directiva sobre comercio de derechos de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero” in the collective work Tributación medioambiental: teoría, práctica y


propuestas, Civitas, 2004, pages 405 ff.

(4) BOKOBO MOICHE, S.: Gravámenes e incentivos fiscales ambientales, Civitas, Madrid, 2000; HERRERA MOLINA, P.M.: Derecho tributario ambiental: la introducción del interés ambiental en el ordenamiento tributario, Marcial Pons, 2000; VAQUERA GARCÍA, A.: Fiscalidad y medio ambiente, Lex Nova, 1999

(5) See note 2.

(6) See VILLAR EZCURRA, M., “Exigencias del derecho comunitario a la metodología del derecho financiero y tributario”, Crónica Tributaria 100, 2001, pages 23 ff.

(7) CASADO OLLERO, G.: “Los fines no fiscales de los tributos”, Revista de derecho financiero y de hacienda pública 213, 1991, pages 455 ff.

(8) BOKOBO MOICHE, S.: “Tributación ambiental. Una respuesta a las necesidades económicas de los municipios turísticos” in the collective work Municipios turísticos, tributación y contratación empresarial, formación y gestión del capital humano, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2000, pages 279 ff.

(9 LABANDEIRA, X.: “Instrumentos Económicos para el Control de Fenómenos de Lluvia Ácida. Una Ilustración para el Caso Español”, Información Comercial Española. Revista de Economía 761,1997, page 171.)

(10) CAYÓN GALIARDO, A.: “Los incentivos fiscales y su legitimación finalista” in the collective work Xornadas sobre fiscalidade no Camiño de Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, 1994, pages 39 ff. See also, for example, Constitutional Court Judgement 87/1987 of 26 March establishing that “the non-fiscal function of the state taxation system does not seem to be expressly provided for in the Constitution, but said function could derive directly from those constitutional precepts establishing the guiding principles of social and economic policy, given that both the taxation system as a whole and each specific tax form part of the state’s array of instruments for fulfilling the constitutionally ordered economic and social ends”.

(11) BARBERENA BELZUNCE, I.: “La protección fiscal del Camino de Santiago en el ordenamiento tributario navarro” in the collective work Xornadas sobre fiscalidade no Camiño de Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, 1994, page 37.

(12) LÓPEZ DÍAZ, A.: “Conclusiones-II. La fiscalidad y el Camino de Santiago: propuestas de futuro” in the collective workXornadas sobre fiscalidade no Camiño de Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, 1994, page 16

(13) CAYÓN GALIARDO, A.: “Los incentivos fiscales y su legitimación finalista” in the collective work Xornadas sobre fiscalidade no Camiño de Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, 1994, pages 41, 51 and 52.

(14) An in-depth study of this deduction can be found in COBOS GÓMEZ, J. M.: Las Deducciones por Inversiones Medioambientales: Aproximación Legal, Administrativa y Jurisprudencial, Aranzadi, Pamplona, 2004.

(15) Section 1 of article 39 of the revised text of the Corporate Income Tax Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2004 of 5 March is worded as follows: "1. Investments made in tangible assets designed to protect the environment, involving facilities that avoid or reduce air pollution from industrial facilities or the like, that avoid or reduce the


polluting load discharged into surface waters, underground waters and seawater, which favour the reduction, recovery or correct treatment, from the environmental point of view, of industrial waste or the like, will be entitled to a 10 percent reduction in the total tax due on investments included inprogrammes, conventions or agreements with the competent environmental authority, which shall issue the certificate vouching for said investment. The deduction will be applied specifically in the case of noise-reduction investments in industrial establishments or the like, and also for improvements in product design and manufacture that cut down pollution in the usage phase".

(16) Some of these measures are provided for in the regions of Aragón, Canaries, Castilla y León, Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia.

(17) Along the same lines, ORDÓÑEZ DE HARO, C. and RIVAS SÁNCHEZ, C.: "Los nuevos impuestos ecológicos andaluces.",Revista Técnica Tributaria. 71, 2005, pages 52 ff.

(18) GAGO, A., LABANDEIRA, X., PICOS, F. and RODRÍGUEZ, M.: 'La Imposición Ambiental Autonómica' (Regional Environmental Taxation in Spain), in the collective work La Financiación de las Comunidades Autónomas: Políticas Tributarias y Solidaridad Interterritorial. Edicions i Publicacions de la Universitat deBarcelona, Barcelona, 2005. These authors point out that, in 2002, environmental taxes properly speaking represented only two percent of taxation income as compared with the huge revenue importance of the taxes devolved from the state.

(19) As regards the concept of green tax reform see GAGO, A. and LABANDEIRA, X.: La Reforma Fiscal Verde. Teoría y Práctica de los Impuestos Ambientales (Green Tax Reform. Theory and Practice of Environmental Taxation), Mundi Prensa, Madrid, 1999.

(20) GAGO, A., LABANDEIRA, X., PICOS, F. and RODRÍGUEZ, M.: 'La Imposición Ambiental Autonómica' (Regional Environmental Taxation in Spain), in the collective work La Financiación de las Comunidades Autónomas: Políticas Tributarias y Solidaridad Interterritorial. Edicions i Publicacions de la Universitat deBarcelona, Barcelona, 2005.

(21) See the deduction to encourage environmental investments of article 39 of Royal Legislative Decree 4/2004 of 5 March approving the revised text of the Corporate Income Tax Act (Real Decreto Legislativo 4/2004, de 5 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el texto refundido de la Ley del Impuesto sobre Sociedades). Allowance is made for a 10% deduction on investments in tangible assets designed to protect the environment, involving facilities that avoid air pollution from industrial facilities, that stem the pollution of surface waters, underground waters andseawater, which favour the reduction, recovery or correct treatment of industrial waste for improving current legislation in said fields of action.

(22) Nonetheless, it should also be pointed out that, although we have not been able to pinpoint any state tax that has the mainaim of changing polluting behaviour or encouraging efficient energy use, there are taxes on various energy sources. Particular mention should be made here of the Special Tax on Mineral Oils (Impuesto Especial sobre Hidrocarburos) and the Special Tax on Electricity (Impuesto Especial sobre la Electricidad).

(23) On this matter see CORNEJO PÉREZ, A.: “La reestructuración del Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte en el contexto de la implantación de una fiscalidad verde por el Estado”, Estudios financieros. Revista de contabilidad y tributación 302, 2008, pages 3 ff.


(24) CORNEJO PÉREZ, A.: “La reestructuración del Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte en el contexto de la implantación de una fiscalidad verde por el Estado”, Estudios financieros. Revista de contabilidad y tributación 302, 2008, pages 3 ff.

(25) This author argues that “it is worth dwelling on this pointsince, ideally, a tax used to change certain behaviour patterns, such as encouraging the purchase of low-pollution vehicles, should have a specific tax base constituted, for example, by the grams of CO2 emitted per kilometre. Tariff restructuring in view

of this parameter but leaving the tax base expressed in euros would turn out to be less precise in terms of encouraging the purchase of low pollution vehicles. A poorly-kept highly-polluting vehicle with a low purchase price due to its age might well turn out to be taxed less than a new, relatively low-pollution vehiclecommanding a much higher purchase price. The new tax has been criticised on these grounds by those in favour of a more environmental orientation of the tax. A good example of the distortion that might be brought in by maintaining the ad valoremtax base could be the recent launch of the “world’s cheapestcar” , with a purchase price of 1700 euros, which does not meet EU rules on greenhouse gas emissions. Such a car, relatively high polluting, would never pay a high registration tax (if its sale was ever allowed in the EU), since the tax base is ad valorem. It could therefore be argued that this is inconsistent with the new structure of a tax that aims to favour the purchase of low polluting vehicles” (“La reestructuración del Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte en el contexto de la implantación de una fiscalidad verde por el Estado”, Estudios financieros. Revista de contabilidad y tributación 302, 2008, page 25).

(26) Specifically, article 133 of the Spanish Constitution lays it down that “1. The primary power to raise taxes is vested exclusively in the State by means of law. 2. Self-governingCommunities and local Corporations may impose and levy taxes, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws”. For its part, article 6 of the Region Financing Act (Ley Orgánica de Financiación de las Comunidades Autónomas) lays it down that “1. The Self-Governing Communities will be entitled to establish and require their own taxes in due accordance with the constitution and the laws. 2. The taxes established by the Self-Governing Communities may not fall on the same objects taxed by the State. 3. The Self-Governing Communities will be entitledto establish and manage taxes on such matters as are reserved by local legislation for the local corporations, where said legislation provides for same and under such terms as are laid down therein. In any case due compensation or liaison arrangements should be made in favour of those corporations to ensure that the revenue of said local corporations is not reduced and that their possibilities of future growth are not balked. 4. When the state, in exercising its taxation powers, establishes taxes on transactions taxed by the Self-Governing Communities, thereby reducing their revenue, it will make due compensation or liaison arrangements in favour of these regions.”

(27) A detailed study of these regional environmental taxes isgiven in CHICO DE LA CÁMARA, P. y HERRERA MOLINA, P.M.: “La fiscalidad de las emisiones atmosféricas en España” in the collective work Tributación medioambiental: teoría, práctica y propuestas, Civitas, 2004, pages 185 ff.

(28) Article 6 of the Act 12/1995 of 29 December on the Air Pollution Tax (Ley 12/1995, de 29 de diciembre, del impuesto sobre la contaminación atmosférica).

(29) Article 2 of the Act 16/2005 of 29 December on the tax on certain activities with an environmental impact and the regional


rate of the tax on the retail sales of mineral oils (Ley 16/2005, de 29 de diciembre, del Impuesto sobre determinadas actividades que inciden en el medio ambiente y del tipo autonómico del Impuesto sobre las Ventas Minoristas de determinados Hidrocarburos).

(30) Article 23 of the Act 18/2003 of 29 December approving fiscal and administrative measures (Ley 18/2003, de 29 de diciembre, por la que se aprueban medidas fiscales y administrativas) containing the regulation of the Tax on gas emissions into the air (Impuesto sobre emisión de gases a la atmósfera). On this matter see CASANA MERINO, F.: “El hecho imponible del impuesto sobre emisión de gases a la atmósfera y la Directiva 96/61/CE, relativa a la prevención y control integrados de la contaminación”, Noticias de la Unión Europea 261, 2006, pages 3 ff. and GALÁN SÁNCHEZ, R. M.: “El impuesto andaluz sobre emisión de gases a la atmósfera. Análisis sistemático”, Noticias de la Unión Europea 261, 2006, pages 19 ff.

(31) Article 15 of Act 13/2005 of 30 December on Fiscal and Administrative Measures in regard to Devolved Taxes and Rightful Taxes of the Region of Aragón (Ley 13/2005, de 30 de diciembre, de Medidas Fiscales y Administrativa en materia de Tributos Cedidos y Tributos Propios de la Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón) which regulates the tax on the environmental damage caused by the air emission of pollutants.

(32) Article 42 of Act 9/2005 of 29 December on Taxation Measures in regard to Devolved Taxes and Regional Taxes (Ley 9/2005, de 29 de diciembre, de Medidas Tributarias en materia de Tributos Cedidos y Tributos Propios) which regulates the tax on the air emission of contaminating gases in the new wording given it by Act 12/2006 of 27 December on Fiscal and Administrative Measures of the Social Order for 2007 (Ley 12/2006, de 27 de diciembre, de Medidas Fiscales, Administrativas y de Orden Social para el año 2007). In the old wording of article 42 the taxed gases are the following: CH4, CO,

CO2, HFC, N2O, NH3, NMOV, NOx, PFC, SF6 and SOx.

(33) GALAPERO FLORES, R.M.: “Tributación medioambiental en el ámbito de las haciendas locales”, Nueva fiscalidad 9, 2003, pages 39 ff.

(34) See GUERVÓS MAÍLLO, M.A.: “Tasas ambientales” in the collective work Estudios en homenaje al profesor Pérez de Ayala, Dykinson, Madrid, 2007, pages 627 ff.

(35) See the Byelaw on the CO2 and SO2 Emissions Regulation

Charge of the Municipality of Cerceda (Ordenanza de la Tasa Fiscal Reguladora de Emisiones de CO2 y SO2 del Municipio de

Cerceda). See also ORTEGA MALDONADO, J.M.: Tasas sobre molestias y riesgos permitidos, Inv. Jurídica 1/05, Instituto de Estudios Fiscales, Madrid, 2005, pages 231 ff.

(36) ROZAS VALDÉS, J.A.: "Haciendas Locales y Medio Ambiente", Impuestos 13, vol. II, 1997, page 515.


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EGURIDAD Sy Medio Ambiente - Mapfre€¦ · Seguridad y Medio Ambiente - Nº 113 Page 2 of 63. 1801/2003 of 26 December. Nonetheless, the aim of establishing the liability of manufacturers,