Europe: Assessing the impact of household products on rivers
Unilever works in partnership with detergent manufacturers, chemical companies, academic institutes and government agencies to assess the potential risks of pollution from household products.
Predicting pollution levels in rivers
Home and personal care products such as laundry detergents, shampoos and household cleaners contain chemical ingredients that can harm the environment in high concentrations. Ingredients are usually washed down the drain after use and small amounts may remain in waste water even after it is treated.
One of the results of Unilever's partnerships is a computer model that predicts concentrations of household product ingredients in European rivers.
The model, called GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers), was launched in 1999. It uses local data on river flows, the quantity of products used by consumers, and the locations of sewage treatment facilities to produce maps of colour-coded river segments showing the predicted concentration of "down-the-drain" chemicals. GREAT-ER is much more complex than other models used to assess environmental exposure of chemicals and provides more realistic predictions.
Validating the model
Data have been gathered to validate the model from catchments in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The close match between GREAT-ER predictions and observed concentrations suggests the model works well. Predicted levels can be compared with toxicity data to determine whether they might be expected to affect aquatic life.
Industry-wide effort
GREAT-ER is an industry-wide initiative. The latest model upgrade was funded by the European Chemical Industry's Long range Research Initiative and the resulting software is available to download free of charge at the GREAT-ER website. It is being used mainly by regulatory bodies, including the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), non-governmental organisations and industry.
