OBJECTIVES
The aim of EmerCon project is to investigate the presence and distribution of perfuorinated alkylated compounds (PFC) in selected represented Czech environmental / food samples collected from aqueous environments. Thus it contributes significantly to the national and international scientific knowledge on PFC in the Czech food basket.
The project team will:
- Develop and optimize new ultra-trace analytical methods for the compound specific quantification of selected PFC compounds.
- Evaluate potential hazardous effects of PFC on humans and environment through own investigations as well a literature studies.
- Provide effective knowledge and method transfer between involved analytical laboratories in Norway and the Czech Republic.
The overall objective of the sub-project is to develop robust and reliable analytical tools for the determination of PFC in food items and to use these to qualify and quantify PFC in fish and selected food products and assess their dietary intake by humans in the Czech Republic. The methods are planned to be utilised for a first screening of PFC levels in the Czech environment.
The main project sub-objectives are:
- To develop robust, easy-to-use, reliable, sensitive, and where necessary, new analytical methods for quantification of a suite of fluorinated compounds including both predominant PFOA and PFOS and non-persistent precursors in a wide variety of matrices, including fish and different food matrices.
- To ensure that the quality of the data from analytical measurements meets criteria related to reproducibility, repeatability and traceability.
- To organize inter-laboratory comparison to confirm applicability of developed analytical methodologies into the practice and support knowledge transfer.
- To use the analytical methods to produce a database on PFC levels in fish and other food matrices.
- To make an assessment of the daily intake of PFC by humans in the Czech Republic due to the consumption of fish and selected food products.
- To compare PFC levels found in the Czech Republic aquatic environment with the ones in water bodies of Norway and other European and non-European countries.
- To create website dedicated to the sub-project where methodology, database with results obtained and other information will be available for all interested stakeholders, particularly to relevant control bodies in the Czech Republic and governmental institutions, to support technology transfer.
- To identify potential suspected point sources of PFC to the aquatic environment system of the Czech Republic based on database prepared with the information on PFC contamination in fish.
