A major on-going research project is described that aims at generating relevant data for future risk assessments of environmental effects caused by copper, zinc, chromium and nickel release from roof materials. Cross-disciplinary activities have been implemented that range from the metal release situation through transport in soil and aquatic environments to the metal receptor situation. Key concepts include atmospheric corrosion, metal runoff, metal chemical speciation, bioavailability, changes in metal speciation and bioavailability during transport, metal retainment, and ecotoxicity effects. In all, tools are available to describe fully the situation from the roof to the recipient. These tools will be described briefly, together with selected results. The results show consistency with respect to chemical speciation, bioavailability and ecotoxicity, at least when describing the metal effect immediately after release from the roof. However, much work remains in order to characterize more complex situations closer to the recipient.