Levels of many toxic organic pollutants in the Swedish natural environment have been reduced since the 1970s and damage to fauna is also decreasing, thanks to the work of the Swedish EPA among others. But the danger is not yet over. New chemicals are constantly being developed that end up in the natural environment.
In the last hundred years humans have made and used tens of thousands of organic substances, often in large quantities. The first signs that some chemicals had become widely—if unintentionally—disseminated in the natural environment came at the end of the 1960s. Some of them were classified as toxic pollutants because animals exposed to them showed signs of damage or bad health.
CMRs are substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or toxic for
reproduction. Products containing CMRs are used throughout society.
Source: Swedish Chemicals Agency.
We now know that many organic substances are serious health hazards, causing long-term damage to plants and animals. The greatest risks to animals and humans are from substances that persist in the natural environment or are stored in living tissues.
Levels of many pollutants have decreased
Much improvement has occurred in recent decades, and levels of many toxic pollutants in the environment have decreased. Long-term observation series by the Swedish EPA show, for example, that levels of PCBs in guillemot eggs in the Baltic have decreased significantly. The levels of DDT and dioxins in the Swedish natural environment have also declined steeply since the 1970s.
One reason for this is that industry and agriculture have limited their use of the most toxic substances, partly in response to demands by the Swedish EPA and other agencies. Emissions from manufacturing, waste incineration and sewage treatment have come down as control technologies have improved.
But not all the news is good. Dioxin levels in Baltic fish have barely changed since the 1990s, while levels of some brominated flame retardants in human milk have actually increased in Uppsala since 2000. Meanwhile, the use of chemicals is still on the rise in consumer products and elsewhere, and there is a risk that they may find their way from there into the natural environment.
Source: ITM, Stockholm University, National health-related
environmental monitoring, and the National Food Administration.
Contact: Jan Christiansson, jan.christiansson@swedishepa.se, and Maria Linderoth, maria.linderoth@swedishepa.se