Pollution of heavy metals and other toxins in the sea around the country is generally well below international standards, as stated in Matís' new report on changes in the marine environment around the country (report 28-12).
The concentration of cadmium in Icelandic mussels, however, is higher than is generally the case in mussels from the waters of Europe and America, and the reason is due to the natural cadmium background from the strata.
Since 1989, an annual monitoring project of pollutants in the marine environment of Iceland has been underway. The project is funded by the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and Matís ohf. The Environment Agency is the administrator of the project.
The aim of the monitoring project is to identify changes that may occur in the concentration of trace elements in the marine environment around the country during a certain period and between different ocean and coastal areas. Various pollutants in the ocean can enter marine organisms or organisms that feed on seafood. In many cases, this pollution is man-made and there is growing concern about this development. Pollutants are transported by air and sea currents from mainland Europe and America as well as pollution from Iceland. It is therefore important to monitor the amount of pollutants in Iceland, both in the environment and in the organisms that live in the country. It is also important to be able to compare the state of the marine life around Iceland with the situation in other countries, not least because of the importance of marine products to the nation. Among other things, the research is of great importance for the sale of Icelandic seafood in both domestic and foreign markets, where it can be demonstrated with scientific data that Icelandic fish is caught in an unpolluted environment.
In Matís' report (report 28-12 on Matís' website) the results of measurements of pollutants for the years 2010 and 2011. The trace elements lead, cadmium, mercury, copper and zinc, arsenic and selenium, the persistent organic pollutants HCH, HCB, PCB, chloride, are published. trans-nonachlor, toxaphen, DDT and PBDE. The report states that the concentration of heavy metals such as mercury is very low. However, the concentration of cadmium has sometimes been higher in the marine environment in Iceland than in more southerly areas. However, the amount of cadmium is low in the organisms studied, for example in the range of 0.1-1 mg / kg in mussels. The high concentration of cadmium in Iceland is regional and is considered to have natural causes as there is no evidence of man-made cadmium pollution. The results show changes in the pattern of chlorine organic matter in mussels collected near Hvalstöðin in Hvalfjörður in September 2010 which are comparable to results from the same place since 2009. There were no visible changes in the concentration of these substances at the mussel collection point at Hvammsvík in Hvalfjörður or at any another collection site around the country that was studied in 2010. It is important to monitor these changes in the pattern of the concentration of chloro-organic substances in mussels in the monitoring project in the coming years to see if they are still present. A detailed statistical analysis of the data is in progress, i.e. it will be possible to estimate with scientific methods the increase or decrease of pollutants in the marine environment in this country.
For further information Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir at Matís.