English Abstract This report serves as a basis for the discussion aimed
at the decision whether an integrated criteria document should be drawn up.
Although world-wide only 10% of the emissions of hydrogen sulfide are of
anthropogenic origin, in the Netherlands the contribution of anthropogenic
sources to the total atmospheric emission is estimated at about 90%.
Important industrial sources are food industry, furniture, chemical and
metal industry. Other sources are agriculture and traffic. The
contribution of traffic is expected to increase in the future. Risk
assissment is seriously hampered by the lack of data on both exposure and
effects. Available information indicates that hydrogen sulphide does not
present a nation-wide problem. Locally problems may occur related to
industrial, agricultural and urban sources. The nature of the problem is
different for humans and ecosystems: for humans it is primarily an odour
nuisance problem, for ecosystems it is toxicological (direct effects) and an
ecological (indirect -acid rain- effects) problem. It is recommended to
make an inventory of the environmental hydrogen sulphide concentrations in
relation to sources in relevant industrial, agricultural and urban areas
before deciding about the integrated criteria document.
