Ziel
Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the world's natural treasures, a unique ecosystem in which 70 % of the species are endemic. However, research indicates that the lake is heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and that these compounds may be harming the ecosystem. Preliminary studies for this proposal have shown that the contamination of Lake Baikal with PCBs is linked to a large atmospheric source located somewhere in the area of Usol'e Sibirskoe, a city 100 km from the southern end of the lake. There is evidence that this source is currently impacting cows' milk produced in the surrounding heavily populated area and that it has caused elevated concentrations in the local population that are in some cases alarming. There is a clear and urgent need to identify the source of the contamination, to establish whether emissions are ongoing, and to conduct an assessment of the risks arising from this source for humans and the environment. Furthermore, the fact that one atmospheric source has contaminated an inland sea and a whole region extending over 1000 km is unique in the history of persistent organic pollutant (POP) research. It is an invaluable case study for evaluating and enhancing our understanding of the environmental chemistry of POPs, most particularly long-range transport, and the phenomenon, which has made these chemicals an international environmental issue.
This proposal was conceived to both address the urgent environmental/social problem and to utilise this unique opportunity for basic research. The objectives are as follows:
- To identify the primary source(s) of PCBs in the Lake Baikal region;
- To quantify the spatial distribution of PCB contamination in the Lake Baikal region;
- To quantify the accumulation of PCBs in the human food chain and human exposure;
- To assemble a mathematical multi-media model of the fate of PCBs in the Lake Baikal region and to calibrate this model for long range transport of persistent organic pollutants using field data and source information;
- To conduct a risk assessment of human exposure to PCBs and evaluate the potential to reduce the risk through different management options.
These objectives will be achieved with a consortium of 8 teams of outstanding scientists in the fields of trace analysis, environmental chemistry, numerical modelling and risk assessment that will address the following tasks:
Establishment of a laboratory for PCB analysis in Irkutsk;
Quantification of the spatial distribution of PCBs in the environment, localisation of the atmospheric source and evaluation of ongoing emissions by analysing 100 soil samples and 50 snow samples collected through the Lake Baikal region for PCBs;
Investigation of the accumulation of PCBs in the food chain by analysing 30 cows' milk samples and 30 samples of garden produce collected along a gradient of soil/atmospheric contamination moving away from the source.
Investigation of the contamination in humans by analysing 100 samples of human milk and blood;
Creation and calibration of a mathematical model to predict the fate of PCBs in the Lake Baikal region. Use of the model to evaluate our current understanding of the environmental chemistry of PCBs and to run scenarios to predict future levels of PCBs in the environment and humans;
Risk assessment of the impacts of the PCB contamination on humans and the ecosystem;
Dissemination of results including an international scientific symposium and a workshop targeted at representatives of government and public interest groups.
This project will allow us to identify the PCB source(s), to quantify the impact on the health of the population and the ecosystem, to propose different management options to reduce this impact, and to quantify the potential benefits of these management options. In addition, it will allow us to evaluate our current ability to describe the long range transport potential of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as PCBs, and it will provide a baseline data set for following the fate of these compounds in the future, opening new and unique research opportunities. Finally, the project will provide the NIS partners with a laboratory infrastructure that will allow them to independently pursue research into organic contaminants in the Lake Baikal region, and in this way the project will make a long-term contribution to the preservation of the Lake Baikal ecosystem.
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung
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18 112 Rostock
Deutschland