Risk assessment

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?

ENTRANS (Investigating the ENvironmental impacts of TRANSformed engineered nanomaterials released from wastewater treatment plants) is an interdisciplinary four-year project funded by the Research Council of Norway (Nano2021 call) and brings together scientists from fields of environmental, material science and material characterization, chemistry, biology, nanotoxicology and risk assessment.

EpicCanal will help identify the best management option for historically polluted site near Liepaja, Latvia. Norwegian expertise on contaminated sediments from NIVA and NGI will be provided to local authorities.

We need to improve our understanding of the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in surface waters, particularly downstream of urban waste water treatment plants. However, at present there is no European overview of the presence of AMR in surface waters. This project will develop a basic approach and methodology for a European scale AMR monitoring of surface waters.

The Arctic environment is facing evident changes such as temperature increase and consequent rapid decline in the sea ice. These conditions will favour the development of industrial activities, e.g., oil & gas exploration and aquaculture. We need to assess the potential environmental risks from the anticipated industrial development in the Arctic, and to do that, we need to develop robust methods and approaches that characterise the pollution pathway from the emission to the environment to the display of adverse outcomes in the biota.

MicroLEACH (Microplastics – Long-term Effects of plastics and Additive Chemicals on marine organisms) is an interdisciplinary four-year project funded by the Research Council of Norway (Marinforsk call) that brings together scientists from fields of microplastic and other particulate research, analytical chemistry, ecotoxicology and risk assessment

Computational and experimental identification and characterisation of cumulative hazard and risk of complex mixtures and multiple stressors under ecologically-relevant exposure scenarios.

SPHERTOX is an independent ground-breaking project for young research talents (FRIPRO) funded by the Research Council of Norway.

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.