Joint committee "fine dust" from ProcessNet / GDCh / KRdL

The joint committee ?Fine Dusts? (GA-F) sees itself as an expert group for chemical, chemical-technical and health aspects of fine dusts in the environment. The term fine dust includes that subset of airborne aerosols that, due to their fineness, pass the nasal bronchial filter and penetrate the deep respiratory tract and the alveoli. Also included are the creation and avoidance of fine dust emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources, the measurement and atmospheric transformation of fine dusts, the spread and fate of fine dusts and the effects on people and the environment. In connection with scientific questions and environmental and regulatory measures, the committee pursues the following objectives:

 

• Discussion and evaluation of the state of research and development in selected areas of the committee.
• Identification of knowledge deficits and, if necessary, the need for action.
• Launch of R&D initiatives to remedy deficits.
• Elaboration of statements on scientific findings and regulatory measures on the subject areas of the committee.
• Holistic assessment of fine dust, including cost-benefit assessments

The working committee is interdisciplinary. He does not do research himself, but discusses and evaluates research and research gaps. Its members come from universities and other research institutions, from environmental authorities and from industry. They are selected by the board of the committee and proposed to the supporting companies for appointment. Additional experts can be invited on certain topics.

The working committee bundles the expertise and interests of several scientific societies (ProcessNet, German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the Clean Air Commission in VDI and DIN (KRdL)) in Germany and is therefore integrative. He does not work in competition with other bodies of these companies. A particular concern of the committee is the processing of topics that are of general social and / or industrial importance. The core of the work is the close interlinking of basic and applied research. However, the purely academic interest is not in the foreground.

The working committee usually works on one or two main topics at the same time. In the interests of increased temporary efficiency, several sessions can be devoted to the same topic in sequence. To prepare the content of the meetings, the chairmen are supported by flexibly selected members of the committee with special expertise. Currently, Prof. Dr. Hartmut Herrmann (Leipzig) is chairman.

As a rule, the meetings of the working committee take place twice a year on a one-day basis. For certain projects (such as the drafting of statements and publications or the preparation of special colloquia), special project groups can be set up that create their own work plans. Special meetings can be arranged at any time. Examples of the results of the previous work are the statement of the GA-F on environmental zones ("Fine dust and environmental zones"; R. Zellner et al. 2009) and the status paper "Fine dust" from September 2010 (KG Schmidt, R. Zellner (Ed.), 2010).

The GA-F can contribute to promoting selected topics of the fine dust problem in terms of improved protection of people and the environment through:

 

• The promotion of an interdisciplinary scientific processing with the aim of an improved system understanding, e.g. by initiating interdisciplinary and coordinated research projects.
• The intensification of the dialogue between science, industry and authorities, e.g. to develop avoidance strategies for existing health and environmental hazards.

Opinion "Covid-19 and the role of aerosol particles" by the joint working committee on particulate matter (AAF) of DECHEMA / ProcessNet, GDCh and KRdL (December 2020)

Strategy Paper of the Working Committee of particulate matter ProcessNet, KRdL and German Chemical Society (English), (Strategy paper fine particles 2014) (November, 2014)

Status paper "Fine dust", prepared by the joint committee "Fine dust" from GDCh, DECHEMA, KRdL and ProcessNet (September 2010)