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Persistent organic pollutants in Icelandic cod

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Biotechnology

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg.

Master's thesis at the Faculty of Natural Resources, School of Business and Science, University of Akureyri

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg. Vordís' project is entitled: "Occurrence of different persistent organic pollutants in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) in Icelandic waters”.

Vordís' project was a joint project of Matís ohf., The University of Iceland and the University of Akureyri.

The project was part of the project, "Let's take a closer look at the Yellow from fishing in the stomach - a study of factors that affect the value of cod catches", Which was funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund. Vordís' master's program was also funded by Matís ohf. and BYR Sparisjóður.

In the dissertation, Vordís discusses persistent organic pollutants in Icelandic cod. The amount and variability of persistent organic pollutants were examined and whether factors such as gender, age, puberty, fishing season and season affect the amount of the substances. Also whether the measurement methods that have been developed on the equipment of Matís ohf. in Akureyri for the measurement of persistent organic pollutants in fish products would be comparable to the methods used elsewhere. Some persistent organic pollutants were measured in the flesh of 64 cod and 38 of them in the liver. A small amount of persistent organic pollutants was detected in the cod. The amount measured in the liver was approx. 300 times more than in meat, but the substances follow the fat and the cod muscle is very low in fat. The measurement method used is perfectly comparable to the methods used elsewhere, and the method also seems to be useful for detecting the same substances in chicken.

Vordís Baldursdóttir completed a bachelor's (B.Sc) degree in biotechnology from the University of Akureyri in 2008 and started working as a specialist at Matís ohf. in the spring of 2010. She has been working on her research and dissertation for the past three years.

Main supervisor was Dr. Kristín Ólafsdóttir, Head of the Toxicology Department of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Iceland.

Co-supervisors were Dr. Rannveig Björnsdóttir, Associate Professor at the University of Akureyri and Director of Matís ohf. as well as Dr. Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, director of Matís ohf. and Dr. Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, project manager of Matís ohf., Who were also the project supervisors.

Opponent is Dr. Stefán Einarsson, expert on climate and global pollution at the Ministry for the Environment. Stefán has, among other things, worked on the development of methods for the analysis of persistent organic pollutants and participated in international co-operation regarding the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, among other things in drafting guidelines on the best available technology to limit the release of persistent organic pollutants into the environment.

EN