Agriculture, land use management, and industrial production of goods and energy can potentially result in a variety of potential direct impacts on the environment that can be identified and quantified. Through a collection of risk assessment procedures and policies, these direct impacts can to some extent be regulated. However, it is known that there are many subtle indirect effects on the environment resulting from the combined effects of man’s activities. These include examples such as climate change, changes in biodiversity, nitrogen deposition, and the global distillation of chemicals.

A significant research focus of our department is to develop better assessment methods in order to more effectively account for the impacts from multiple environmental effectors and provide early warning indicators of possible problems and trends. As the principle tools for these assessment methods we are focusing on chemicals and microbial indicators of soil quality. We are continually working to couple monitoring with research, such that one drives the other, leading to a greater understanding of the ecological processes involved in the distribution, fate, and exposure of chemicals.

Our chemical monitoring activities continuously reveal the presence of chemicals for which we have relatively little information regarding their fate and toxicology. Further research is, therefore, being conducted to learn more about their behaviour and activity in the environment. Accordingly, we have a variety of ongoing research programs addressing the occurrence, sources, transport and fate of persistent environmental pollutants in local environments (sewage sludge, sediments and soil, etc.), including the monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) identified by the international community (e.g. OSPAR, AMAP) as priority pollutants. These include brominated flame retardants (BFRs), PAHs, PCBs, phthalates and alkylated phenols. For further information, please contact Pia Lassen, pla@dmu.dk or Katrin Vorkamp, kvo@dmu.dk

As part of our monitoring activities we perform time trend studies of organic pollutants in sediment and biota in the marine environment under the national monitoring program (NOVANA). We also perform time trend studies on PCBs, chlorinated pesticides and brominated flame retardants in Greenland using samples of species that are relevant for human consumption, e.g. fish, bird eggs and seals. These analyses are helping us understand the level of human exposure in the Arctic, and also assist in assessing the effectiveness of international regulation aimed at preventing the use of harmful chemicals. For further information, please contact Katrin Vorkamp, kvo@dmu.dk

We are continuously screening for new possible problematic contaminants. For instance, we have recently been involved in a study to measure alkylated phenols in biota, rain water, sewage sludge from the five Nordic countries. At the moment we are investigating the levels of hexachloro butadiene in biota in different trophic levels. For further information, please contact Pia Lassen, pla@dmu.dk

As part of the Danish Maritime Oil Spill Preparedness program, we are analyzing oil samples from marine spills and from suspected sources in order to provide evidence regarding potential polluters. We participate jointly in a working group on revising the Nordtest method, and in a CEN working group on the harmonization of European standards for oil spill sampling and identification. Likewise, we closely collaborate with the Helcom working group on extending the Eurocrude oil database in order to improve the capability for identifying oil spills, particularly in the Baltic Sea. For further information, please contact Kai Bester, kb@dmu.dk

The department is the National Reference Laboratory for xenobiotic compounds. This role includes activities such as i) providing advice to the Agency for Spatial and Environmental Planning and the Danish EPA, ii) organizing of proficiency testing schemes in water matrices of xenobiotic compounds (NEXT), iii) development and validation of analytical methods of analysis, and iv) quality assurance in connection with the National Monitoring Programme. As an important element of the quality assurance of our own chemical analyses, we regularly participate in QUASIMEME International Performance Studies with good results. For further information, please contact Pia Lassen.

The importance of soil microbial diversity and soil microorganisms for good soil quality is not fully understood. Microorganisms play an essential role in soil ecosystem functioning and respond rapidly to changes in their environment. In addition, microbiological processes are key factors for the mineralization of organic compounds and nutrients. Hence, soil quality and the loss of biodiversity may be monitored by use of microbial indicators such as the occurrence, diversity, activity and function of key groups of microorganisms. The effectiveness of microbial soil indicators is being investigated by using the potential indicators of microbial diversity and function in studies on effects of changes in land use on soil quality. A special focus is on bioenergy production, the effects of changing of crops, and in the organic matter returned to the soil. For further information, please contact Anne Winding, aw@dmu.dk or Anders Johansen, ajo@dmu.dk.

Short abstracts of all ongoing projects can be seen here.