Environmental monitoring program area: Toxic substances coordination
The program connects and compliments the monitoring of pollutants in other monitoring programs by enabling retrospective investigations on new substances and analysis of environmental pollutants closer to point sources.
Subprogams
The following subprograms are included in the program:
The Environmental Specimen Bank
The Environmental Specimen Bank is an essential part of the monitoring of contaminants in the Swedish fauna. The specimen bank is situated at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and it has one of the oldest and greatest collections of environmental specimens in the world. The oldest samples are collected in the mid-1960s, and for some species continuous series of samples from the late 1960s up to now are stored. A large part of the samples is collected through the national environmental monitoring programmes. These long and continuous series of biological samples are used, among other things, for
- measuring levels of known environmental pollutants
- searching for new environmental pollutants
- following how levels of newly discovered environmental pollutants have changed over time
- monitoring harmful effects of environmental pollutants in organisms.
Screening
Screening projects are designed to identify new and potentially harmful pollutants that could cause negative effects in humans and in the environment.
Environmental pollutants in urban environments
A wide range of pollutants including pharmaceuticals, is monitored annually in sludge and outgoing water from nine municipal sewage plants. The data gives an overview of the impact cities have on the environment. The results are used to follow up the environmental objective A Non-toxic Environment.
Additional information about monitoring pollutants in the environment can be found in the description for each program area under environmental monitoring.
Monitoring data at our data host SGU (sgu.se)