scope:

The present standard is limited to fish from freshwater habitats and to their use as bioaccumulators. This already covers a wide range of applications. Moreover, the rules and provisions for use of fish as impact indicators differ substantially therefrom and justify a separate standard for impact monitoring (VDI 4230 Part 5).

The scope of the present standard lies in the areas of environmental monitoring and monitoring of pollutants and other substances (see Introduction).

Areas of application include, for example:

• chronological tracking of environmental pollution due to hazardous incidents

• monitoring the success of regulatory measures and voluntary restrictions

• emission monitoring

• monitoring of contaminated sites

• provision of samples retained for long-term monitoring initial exploratory studies for determination of pollution hotspots/screening

• establishing causative relationships, e.g. in connection with environmental liability