Monitoring of pollutants in the ecosystem off the coast of Iceland has taken place since 1990. The project is carried out by Matís in collaboration with the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Iceland and the Marine Research Institute.
The project is funded by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources and the Environment Agency is the coordinator of the project. The aim of the project is, among other things, to monitor the concentration of pollutants in mussels at 11 locations along the country's coasts and to analyze whether there will be changes in the concentration of the substances. Due to the narrow financial framework of the monitoring project, it has not been possible to assess with statistical methods whether an increase or decrease in pollutants in the marine environment in Iceland can be detected until now. In 2011, a grant was received from the Rannís Research Fund to make a statistical analysis of the change in pollution in the Icelandic Sea. The first scientific article from this research project "Spatial and temporal trends of contaminants in mussel sampled around the Icelandic coastline" has now been published in Science and The Total Environment. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.03.042
Main results of the scientific article
Sources of pollution could be identified in several places. In 2009 and 2010, there was a sudden increase in the persistent organic pollutants DDE, transnonachlor and PCB at the Whaling Station in Hvalfjörður, but in 2009 whaling began again at the station after a long break. It is known that the concentration of persistent organic pollutants is high in whales and it is therefore likely that the whaling has caused this increase at the station. An increase in persistent substances could also be detected in Mjóafjörður in the East Fjords, and it is possible that this is due to aquaculture that was operated there for a while. At Úlfsá in Skutulsfjörður, both much higher concentrations of HCB and arsenic were measured than at the other ten locations. It is likely that the high concentration of HCB can be traced to Funi's waste incineration, but it is not known what source of arsenic could be. Waste incineration has now been shut down and if it is the cause of pollution in Skutulsfjörður, then continued monitoring should show a decrease in concentration in the coming years.
In general, the concentration of persistent organic pollutants had decreased in most monitoring sites during the period 1990-2010. The concentration of persistent organic pollutants turned out to be much lower in Iceland compared to what has been measured in mussels off the coasts of Norway, the United States and China.
The concentration of arsenic, mercury and zinc was fairly stable over the period, but greater fluctuations could be seen in the concentration of cadmium. Compared with what has been detected in mussels off the coasts of Norway, the United States and China, the concentration of mercury and lead is much lower in Iceland, but the concentration of cadmium and zinc has been detected in higher concentrations in Iceland. No sources of cadmium are known in Iceland and it is believed that its higher concentration in Iceland can be traced to the Icelandic rock.
For further information Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir director of Matís.