Environmental risk assessment for some additives used in hydrocarbon extraction activities into the sea

Concerning the oil and gas offshore platform activities, the Italian Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea has adopted a new approach to decide for the release/renewal of the authorisation to discharge the Produced Formation Water (PFW),a by-product of both oil and gas extraction, into the sea. This approach aims at assessing more deeply the possible environmental impact of the additives used in hydrocarbon extraction activities. In this context, we present the application of the environmental risk assessment methodology, set out by REACH Regulation on chemicals, for some additives (e.g. Dietylene glycol) used in oil and gas platform activities. This approach allowed to determine specific concentration limits eligible for seawater discharge of these additives. By applying this methodology we compared the Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) with the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) related to the release of the substance in the seawater. The work already concluded on Dietylene glycol showed that the concentration below which the risk is considered adequately controlled is 730 mg/l for constant/frequent release and 5900 mg/l for intermittent release. These limits have been included by the Ministry of Environment as a binding condition for granting the authorisation of discharge to the platform manager. Session: 3.12 Improvements in environmental exposure assessment: development and application of tools industry sectors, regulatory agencies and international boundaries