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  3. Engineering (general)

schwer abbaubar

English translation: poorly degradable; persistent

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:schwer abbaubar
English translation:poorly degradable; persistent
Entered by: Rowan Morrell

03:08 Nov 25, 2006
German to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Engineering (general) / Nano-Products
German term or phrase: schwer abbaubar
"Felgenreiniger

Reinigt nahezu alle Arten von Felgen mühelos und gründlich, ohne durch schwer abbaubare Inhaltsstoffe die Umwelt zu belasten."

From a text about nano-products. I know what "schwer abbaubar" means, but I'm just having a little trouble rendering it into neat English. At the moment, I have "not very degradable", but that doesn't ring quite right. I'm tempted to say "non-degradable", but I don't think that's correct - these are ingredients that DO degrade, but only do so very slowly, as far as I can tell. TIA for your help.
Rowan Morrell
New Zealand
Local time: 14:34
poorly degradable
Explanation:
This phrase is rather common in the US in the environmental protection community.

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:17:47 GMT)
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or weakly degradable

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:21:12 GMT)
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difficultly degradable has also been used I see upon further investigation
Selected response from:

Protradit
Local time: 19:34
Grading comment
I have used "poorly degradable" here, as it seemed to fit better than "persistent". Nevertheless, I will enter "persistent" in the glossary as well, as it appears to be a valid translation and would undoubtedly work well in other contexts. So many thanks to you both, and also to the peer graders. Appreciate everyone's assistance.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3persistent
David Hollywood
3 +2poorly degradable
Protradit


  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
persistent


Explanation:
I think this is the correct term ....

abbaubar/nicht non-degradable. abbaubar/schwer persistent. Abbaubarkeit f degradability. Abbaubarkeit f/biologische biode-. gradability ...
www.langenscheidt.de/media/muster/3861172550.pdf - Similar pages

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:11:35 GMT)
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DDD entsteht als Nebenprodukt der DDT-Herstellung oder durch anaerobe Biotransformation aus DDT, es ist ausgesprochen persistent, biologisch schwer abbaubar ...
www.umweltbundesamt.de/umweltproben/upb19.htm - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

[PDF] Expertengesprch zum Thema Duftstoffe mit der Industrie und ...File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Moschus-Xylol – sind schwer abbaubar (persistent) und bioakkumulierend, das heißt,. sie reichern sich in der Umwelt an und gelangen so in die Nahrungskette ...
www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-presse/hintergrund/duftstof... - Similar pages



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Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:14:48 GMT)
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POP steht für Persistent Organic Pollutants (schwer abbaubare organische ... Es sind genau diese robusten Eigenschaften, die PCBs so schwer abbaubar und für ...
www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=183225 - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

[DOC] CODE1AMFile Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTML
Es sollen daher die Stoffe auf der Liste prioritärer Stoffe als „priority hazardous“ markiert werden, die schwer abbaubar (persistent), ...
www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/committees/envi/20010226/41... - Similar pages


David Hollywood
Local time: 23:34
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 102

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Heike Behl, Ph.D.
2 hrs
  -> thanks Heike :)
agree  Andrew D: persistent is good, but doesn`t make the produckt shine so much as it does not sound as nasty as badly degradeable ;-)
7 hrs
  -> thanks andrewd and will depend on register here IMO :)
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X)
13 hrs
  -> thanks Ingeborg :)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
poorly degradable


Explanation:
This phrase is rather common in the US in the environmental protection community.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:17:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or weakly degradable

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-11-25 04:21:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

difficultly degradable has also been used I see upon further investigation

Protradit
Local time: 19:34
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11
Grading comment
I have used "poorly degradable" here, as it seemed to fit better than "persistent". Nevertheless, I will enter "persistent" in the glossary as well, as it appears to be a valid translation and would undoubtedly work well in other contexts. So many thanks to you both, and also to the peer graders. Appreciate everyone's assistance.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  John Fenz: see: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/312942 for antonym
5 hrs
agree  jhp (X): Quite common in US decriptions, in my opinion the better term, in for the negative effects of such chemicals.
12 hrs
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