Summary and Conclusions

The aim of ESPREME was to develop methods and to identify strategies to support EU environmental policy-making for reducing the emissions and thus the harmful impacts of heavy metals (HMs). The core aim of the research was to carry out damage assessment considering heavy metals to the environment and human health in the long term. The priority metals mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel, arsenic and chromium have been covered.

The following conclusions can be deduced

• Further progress has been made in estimating emissions of HMs to the atmosphere at a country and regional (European) level.
• Emission estimates prepared by ESPREME are higher than the estimates previously provided by countries (so-called official estimates) within the EMEP programme.
• Selection, description and verification of the abatement options were one important part of the ESPREME project. A list of 48 individual processes (activities) responsible for HM emission was the base for the selection of abatement options of heavy metals emission to the air.
• A number of abatement options for reducing the metals occurrence in Europe were collected. All in all 483 emission abatement measures have been analysed.
• The emission abatement measures database contains information on each individual control method as well as combinations of the methods. These are the measure's efficiency, that is percentage of emission reduction in relation to unabated emission (unabated emission factors were also determined), the method's implementation degree for 2000 and 2010 and the investment and operating costs for all the European countries.
• Pb, As and Hg cause higher overall health impacts and, thus, related costs than Cd, Cr(VI) and Ni.
• Undiscounted marginal external costs per kg released range from several € (Ni and Cr(VI)), about several ten € (Cd), several hundred € (As and Pb) to several thousand € (Hg).
• Generally, damage due to ingestion is higher than damage due to inhalation. However, it occurs farer in the future, thus it is issue of sustainability versus current welfare.
• Agricultural activities cause the highest (long term) human health damage for Cr, Ni, Pb, Cd and possess the highest reduction potential.
• Combustion of fuels in stationary sources, especially for cement production, iron & steel manufacturing, and non-ferrous metal production, is still the main source of ESPREME heavy metals, except for Pb (gasoline combustion).
• The contribution of annual emissions to critical load exceedances is low. However, critical loads will be frequently exceeded in the far future, if emissions continue for very long time spans.
• For reducing HM emissions from coal combustion and industrial processes, an improvement of implementation and of efficiency of dust filters may be efficient – this is also a PM10 reduction strategy.
• For mercury emissions, a further implementation of flue gas desulphurization is efficient..
• For household heating, switch from coal and oil to natural gas or renewables or to central heating (CHP) – this is also a climate strategy.
• For lead the possibilities to further reduce lead in 'lead-free' gasoline and the use of biofuels should be explored.
• Generally, more extensive introduction of renewable energy sources may result in reducing the coal combustion and thus heavy metal emissions.