prEN 17516

This document specifies an up-flow percolation test (PT) which is applicable to determine the leaching behaviour of inorganic and non-volatile organic substances from granular solid waste materials with potential for beneficial use as construction products. The test is not suitable for substances that are volatile under ambient conditions. The granular solid waste is subjected to percolation with water as a function of liquid to solid ratio under specified percolation conditions. The method is a once-through column leaching test. NOTE 1 Volatile organic substances include the low molecular weight substances in mixtures such as mineral oil. NOTE 2 It is not always possible to adjust test conditions simultaneously for inorganic and organic substances and test conditions can also vary between different groups of organic substances. Test conditions for organic substances are generally more stringent than those for inorganic substances. The test conditions are described in a way that they fit for testing of organic substances and are also applicable to inorganic substances depending on the set-up. Granular solid waste without potential for beneficial use is excluded from the scope. NOTE 3 Granular solid waste materials without potential for beneficial use can be materials with gas generation or biodegradation during a potential reuse scenario. NOTE 4 This procedure is generally not applicable to solids that are easily biologically degradable and solids reacting with the leachant, leading to, for example, excessive gas emission or excessive heat release, impermeable hydraulically bound solids or solids that swell in contact with water. This test is applicable to types of granular solid waste of which the general long-term leaching behaviour is known based on previous investigations. This up-flow percolation test is performed under specified test conditions, which are equal to the test conditions given in CEN/TS 16637-3 (for granular construction products). It does not necessarily produce results that mimic specific intended use conditions. This test method produces eluates, which can subsequently be characterized by physical, chemical and ecotoxicological methods according to existing standard methods. The results of eluate analysis are presented as a function of the liquid/solid ratio. NOTE 5 For ecotoxicity testing, eluates representing the release of both inorganic and organic substances are needed. In this document, ecotoxicological testing is meant to include also genotoxicological testing. Identical test conditions as for CEN/TS 16637-3 are applied in this test in order to allow full comparability for verifying compliance to regulatory limit values of construction products and waste-derived construction products and to avoid double testing. Due to this prerequisite it is accepted that, once CEN/TS 16637-3 is carried out under the legislative context of testing construction products and the granular solid material is rejected as a construction product so that it remains waste, the test results are eligible in the context of testing waste materials as well and that prEN 17516 does not need to be carried out again. Granular solids that exhibit a saturated hydraulic conductivity of about 10−8 m/s or higher can usually be subjected to this test. This procedure is also applicable to granular solid waste showing solidification in the column, if the final hydraulic conductivity is within the specified range.