EU-China efforts to harmonise international standards for risk assessment and management of contaminated sites
Specifically, the EU-funded GLOCOM (Global contaminated land management) project worked to enhance communication, expertise exchange and the transfer of know-how in this area, between China and Europe. Overall, the goal was to support the definition and implementation of regulatory and operational frameworks for managing chemical substances and contaminated land. A series of exchange and knowledge transfer activities were carried out. In total, 60 researchers from China, Italy and Sweden took part in staff exchange activities. More than 60 training sessions on scientific and technical aspects related to the project were held and/or attended by Chinese, Italian and Swedish seconded researchers. During their secondments, researchers participated in several lectures, two summer schools and 10 conferences beyond GLOCOM. Overall, 18 site visits were carried out in the participating countries. Three international workshops were organised to disseminate results. About 29 presentations were delivered at workshops or conferences outside of the project. An additional workshop was organised in China together with the Tianjin Academy of Environmental Sciences. In terms of scientific work, 17 case studies were identified and analysed. Topics included risk assessment approaches for the remediation of contaminated sites, analysis of human health exposure to contaminants, water quality assessment, effect characterisation of new emerging pollutants and sustainability impact assessment of urban water management. To date, 13 collaborative papers and 10 articles have been published in international peer-reviewed journals. GLOCOM will support the harmonisation of international standards for risk assessment and management for contaminated sites. At the same time, international cooperation encouraged by the project will help improve mutual communication and understanding in the particular area of study.
Keywords
Risk assessment, contaminated sites, GLOCOM, land management, human health