The goal of Finland and other Baltic Sea countries is to have a clean and thriving sea. However, various assessments have indicated that the state of the Baltic Sea is largely poor. One significant factor contributing to the deterioration of the Baltic Sea is harmful substances.
Sampling point in the sea off the coast of Suvisaaristo. © Kuva: Ville Junttila
Pharmaceuticals are designed to improve, prevent, and alleviate diseases and their symptoms in humans and domestic animals. Nevertheless, the beneficial and curative mechanisms of pharmaceuticals can lead to adverse effects in the environment. Pharmaceuticals affect organisms even at low concentrations, and as a result, the role of pharmaceuticals as environmental contaminants has received increasing attention in recent years. Current wastewater treatment processes do not remove all pharmaceuticals from sewage, and some of these substances find their way into the Baltic Sea, either directly or through rivers.
Passive samplers used in the study. © Kuva: Ville Junttila
In this project, passive samplers
are used to study pharmaceuticals in marine waters.
A passive sampler is a research instrument that, over the course of several weeks, collects harmful substances from the surrounding water.
After a sufficient deployment period, the passive samplers are retrieved from the water and delivered to a laboratory where the accumulated pharmaceuticals are analyzed. Based on the results, average pharmaceutical concentrations in seawater can be assessed and compared to levels known to be harmful to organisms.
The research project is conducted in Finland in the coastal waters of Espoo and Helsinki, as well as off the coast of Tallinn in Estonia. Passive samplers are also used in the open sea areas of the Gulf of Finland. The project runs from September 2023 to November 2024 and is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
Lisätietoja
Ville Junttila, researcher,
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Circular economy solutions
firstname.lastname@syke.fi