The role of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) in reducing pollution of the Arctic and around the globe.

This article presents the initiation and implementation of a systematic scientific and political cooperation in the Arctic related to environmental pollution and climate change, with a special focus on the role of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). The AMAP initiative has coordinated monitoring and assessments of environmental pollution across countries and parameters for the entire Arctic region. Starting from a first scientific assessment in 1998, AMAP's work has been fundamental in recognizing, understanding and addressing environmental and human health issues in the Arctic, including those of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, radioactivity, oil, acidification and climate change.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as sentinels for the elucidation of Arctic environmental change processes: a comprehensive review combined with ArcRisk project results.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be used as chemical sentinels for the assessment of anthropogenic influences on Arctic environmental change. We present an overview of studies on PCBs in the Arctic and combine these with the findings from ArcRisk-a major European Union-funded project aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the transport of contaminants to and their behaviour of in the Arctic-to provide a case study on the behaviour and impact of PCBs over time in the Arctic. PCBs in the Arctic have shown declining trends in the environment over the last few decades.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in Arctic environments: indicator contaminants for assessing local and remote anthropogenic sources in a pristine ecosystem in change.

A first review on occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is presented. The literature survey conducted here was initiated by the current Assessment of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). This first review on the occurrence and environmental profile of PPCPs in the Arctic identified the presence of 110 related substances in the Arctic environment based on the reports from scientific publications, national and regional assessments and surveys, as well as academic research studies (i.

Persistent organic pollutants in ringed seals from the Russian Arctic.

Organochlorine compounds total DDT (ΣDDT), total HCH isomers (ΣHCH), toxaphenes (sum of Parlar 26, 50, 62), mirex, endrin, methoxychlor, total chlorinated benzenes (ΣCBz), total chlordane compounds (ΣCHL), polychlorinated biphenyls (total of 56 congeners; ΣPCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (sum of 7 tri- to hepta congeners; ΣPBDEs) were analysed in the blubber of adult ringed seals from the four areas of the Russian Arctic (White Sea, Barents Sea, Kara Sea and Chukchi Sea) collected in 2001-2005. Ringed seals from the south-western part of the Kara Sea (Dikson Island - Yenisei estuary) were the most contaminated with ΣDDTs, ΣPCBs, ΣCHL, and mirex as compared with those found in the other three areas of Russian Arctic, while the highest mean concentrations of ΣHCHs and PCDD/Fs were found in the blubber of ringed seals from the Chukchi Sea and the White Sea, respectively. Among all organochlorine compounds measured in ringed seals from the European part of the Russian Arctic, concentrations of ΣDDT and ΣPCBs only were higher as compared with the other Arctic regions.