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. Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistrynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemssocial sciencessociologygovernancecrisis management Keywords Coastal ecosystems Environmental risks Exposure assessment Marine environment impact Programme(s) FP6-POLICIES - Policy support: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) NEST-2003-2 - Insight activities Call for proposal FP6-2003-NEST-A See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM EU contribution No data Address Spui 21 AMSTERDAM Netherlands See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all DU PONT DE NEMOURS (BELGIUM) BVBA Belgium EU contribution No data Address A. Spinoystraat 6 MECHELEN See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data NETHERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR VISSERIJ ONDERZOEK Netherlands EU contribution No data Address Haringkade 1 IJMUIDEN See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data NORSK INSTITUTT FOR LUFTFORSKNING Norway EU contribution No data Address Instituttsveien 18 KJELLER See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data STOCKHOLMS UNIVERSITET Sweden EU contribution No data Address Universitetsvägen 10 STOCKHOLM See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Belgium EU contribution No data Address Prinsstraat 13 ANTWERP See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data