Sources, fate, behaviour and effects of organic chemicals at the regional and global scale

Introductory remarks to the themed issue

Seeking to understand the sources, fate, behaviour and effects of chemicals in our environment is a worthy academic challenge. However, it is much more than that; it requires understanding of issues that affect and shape the use, regulation and control of thousands of chemicals of commerce. It requires a multi-disciplinary scientific understanding, which should inform effective and responsible ‘chemicals management’.

In the international arena, there are major developments around chemicals management. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation being instigated by the European Union will have far reaching impacts on all aspects of chemicals manufacture, use, testing and evaluation in Europe and globally. The Stockholm Convention and proposals for a Global Monitoring Network are other examples of ‘chemicals management’ which need high quality academic input and informed decision making. The growth of green chemistry where sound decisions are essential for sustainability has been exponential in recent years. Elsewhere, a body of academics are seeking support for an independent International Committee of Chemical Pollution (ICCP), to mirror the engagement that experts have in the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Public interest in the use and impacts (beneficial or adverse) of chemicals has also never been greater. Media attention is constantly drawn to topics such as toxic waste disposal, pesticide residues in foodstuffs, and the implications of trace chemical residues in humans and wildlife. Scientists have a key role to play, in helping to develop and inform ‘responsible chemicals management’. This requires us to go beyond the worthy goals of simply ‘measuring, detecting and monitoring chemicals’ in the environment. We need to use and improve our understanding of chemicals processes and impacts, and to conduct or inform balanced assessments of risk. Sound science is needed to help shape future legislation and chemicals risk assessments.

The Centre for Chemicals Management at Lancaster University (http://www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/ccm/) has developed a network of international partners from academia, industry and regulatory agencies. We held a joint meeting at Lancaster University in September 2006, with ‘Sources, Fate, Behaviour and Effects of Organic Chemicals at the Regional and Global Scale’ as the central theme. Presentations and discussions ranged across topics as diverse as global chemicals emissions inventories and mass balances, chemical fate modelling and monitoring networks, evaluating new and emerging classes of chemicals, new monitoring tools, bioavailability and biodegradation of chemical residues, chemical mixtures and ecotoxicology.

We are very grateful to the Journal of Environmental Monitoring for the opportunity to publish a collection of papers from the meeting. The selection here demonstrates the necessary breadth of topics which informs chemical management and is, we believe, consistent with the breadth and scope of JEM itself.

Kevin C. Jones, Crispin J. Halsall, Frank Martin, Kirk Semple, Andrew J. Sweetman and Gareth O. Thomas

Centre for Chemicals Management, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK LA1 4YQ

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