Hazardous and Noxious
Substances Online Platform

Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) can be defined as any substance other than oil likely to induce harm to living resources and human health or that has a harmful impact in the environment if introduced in the sea.

The severity of a spill impact depends on several variables such as location, weather conditions, properties of the hazardous substances transported, way of substances packaging and storage, and response operations. Unlike oil spills, less information is available to establish risk criteria and assessment protocols for HNS spills due to the wide variety of HNS physical, chemical and toxicological properties.

This HNS online platform provides systematized information of HNS properties, past spill incidents and responses, educational tools, guidelines and protocols, an environmental sensitive index for the Portuguese coast, and modelling tools. This platform aims to support the preparedness and response to accidental spills (including Oil), in order to foster a more effective decision-making process.