Activities Non-Toxic Environment

Pesticides
Knowledge about the dispersal and impact of pesticides in the environment forms the basis for work done by government agencies on pesticide registration and risk reduction. SLU therefore has a collaborative centre focusing on pesticides in the environment. The emphasis of work there is on assessing the environmental situation for pesticides as a basis for monitoring progress towards the environmental objective, the work of government agencies and international reporting.

Heavy metals
Concentrations of mercury in fish and soil are markedly elevated in Sweden as a consequence of international emissions. Our work focuses on producing a scientific basis describing the processes governing the turnover of mercury in soil and water, particularly in relation to forestry methods. We also need to know more about cadmium flows in agricultural soils, as a basis for strategies to reduce cadmium levels in crops.

Exposure and impact of chemicals
There is a great lack of knowledge about the dangers posed by chemicals in our environment, and the adverse impacts that may result from exposure to several chemicals at the same time. Impacts on reproductive ability and the hormone system may be particularly devastating. The programme is therefore developing methods of identifying correlations between environmental pollutants and impacts on aquatic organisms and mammals. This will enable us to develop long-term robust indicators for monitoring the state of the environment and assessing the combined impacts of multiple environmental pollutants.