Pharmaceuticals

A comprehensive Norwegian study has investigated the environmental effects of pharmaceutical discharges via wastewater from hospitals. Some drugs may pose a hazard to the environment, while for several drugs we lack knowledge about the effects on aquatic life.

ANTIfoulants, VEterinary MediciNal Products and Organic Material can affect marine sediment organisms, but to what extent?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest health challenges of our time with serious economic consequences for society globally. The goal of HOTMTAS is to design, implement and assess modular advanced solutions for effective and decentralized wastewater treatment at selected point sources of AMR emergence, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

PAIRWISE aims to advance knowledge of antimicrobial resistance as a pollution in aquatic environments, wildlife, and livestock. PAIRWISE focuses on dispersal and dynamics of antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotics in aquatic environments affected by wastewater treatment plants.

Increasing water scarcity is one of the biggest challenges worldwide. The reuse of the effluents of wastewater treatment plants constitutes a significant and constantly available water resource that can be used for purposes such as irrigation. However, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants face an increasing amount of emerging pollutants.

SIREN (Integrated system for simultaneous recovery of energy, organics and nutrients and generation of valuable products from municipal wastewater) will develop a system that recovers energy, organics and nutrients from municipal wastewater while simultaneously generating valuable products.

The section covers all aspects of environmental hazards and risk assessments of chemicals. We are continuously developing new systems and improving existing methods, to better assess the effects of chemical substances in both freshwater and marine environments. 

 The section works with the unregulated chemicals. We are developing new sampling methods and analysis methods that make it possible to investigate whether they are present in the environment and, if so, where. 

NIVA has a broad research community that develops new knowledge about pollution.