A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a slightly different definition for biocides as "a diverse group of poisonous substances including preservatives, insecticides, disinfectants, and pesticides used for the control of organisms that are harmful to human or animal health or that cause damage to natural or manufactured products".
[citation needed] Biocides can be added to other materials (typically liquids) to protect them against biological infestation and growth.
The BPD was revoked by the Biocidal Products Regulation 528/2012 (BPR), which entered into force on 17 July 2012 with the application date of 1 September 2013.
Several Technical Notes for Guidance (TNsG) have been developed to facilitate the implementation of the BPR and to assure a common understanding of its obligations.
Competent Authorities of the EU member states are responsible for assessing and approving the active substances contained in the biocides.
The BPR follows some of the principles set previously under the REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals) and the coordination of the risk assessment process for both REACH and BPR are mandated to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which assures the harmonization and integration of risk characterization methodologies between the two regulations.
The biocides legislation puts emphasis on making the Regulation compatible with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and requirements and with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), as well as with the OECD programme on testing methods.
In Europe, the plant protection products are placed on the market under another regulatory framework, managed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Due to their intrinsic properties and patterns of use, biocides, such as rodenticides or insecticides, can cause adverse effects in humans, animals and the environment and should therefore be used with the utmost care.
The large variety in biocidal applications leads to complicated exposure scenarios that need to reflect the intended use and possible degradation pathways, in order to perform an accurate risk assessment for the environment.
Biocidal products are often composed of mixtures of one or more active substances together with co-formulants such as stabilisers, preservatives and colouring agents.
Gaps in our knowledge of the modes of action of substances as well as circumstances under which such effects may occur (e.g. mixture composition, exposure concentrations, species and endpoints) often hamper predictive approaches.
Such ESDs provide detailed scenarios to be used for an initial worse case exposure assessment and for subsequent refinements.
[10] EUSES enables government authorities, research institutes and chemical companies to carry out rapid and efficient assessments of the general risks posed by substances to man and the environment.
[11] A product cannot be authorized if the desired effect cannot be reached at a dose without posing unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.
It is difficult to imagine hospitals, food industry premises without using disinfectants or using untreated wood for telephone poles.
Another example of benefit is the fuel saving of antifouling substances applied to ships to prevent the buildup of biofilm and subsequent fouling organisms on the hulls which increase the drag during navigation.