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Perfluorinated organic compounds in the European environment

Objective

Abstract Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have recently gained socio-economic and scientific interest because they have been found in biota from remote areas as well as in blood from humans. PFCs constitute a newly emanating group of environmental contamina nts, with physico-chemical as well as toxicological properties different from those of other halogenated compounds. Their possible sources and environmental routes are currently unknown for the most part, mainly due to a lack of physicochemical property da ta and reliable detection methods. The information on the prevalence of PFCs in the European environ- ment is scattered and incomplete and does not include all environmental compartments, in contrast to more elaborate ongoing monitoring and assessment prog rams in North America. The PERFORCE project has the aim to bring the European scientific arena in this field to a level that can match with current developments across the Atlantic Ocean. The major objectives of the project are to introduce and evaluate ne w chemical and biological techniques and tools to assess the occurrence and distribution of PFCs in the European ecosystems, to reveal the sources and routes of PFCs, and to determine experimentally their key environmental properties. In this way a reliabl e exposure assessment of PFCs can be made as a final deliverable of the project This exposure assessment will, together with ongoing hazard assessment and toxicity testing elsewhere, enable a proper environmental risk assessment of PFCs to be made in the n earby future.

Call for proposal

FP6-2003-NEST-A
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Coordinator

UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
EU contribution
No data
Address
Spui 21
AMSTERDAM
Netherlands

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Total cost
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Participants (5)