Overview on European specimen banking activities: taking the past into the future

Transcription

1 Overview on European specimen banking activities: taking the past into the future Dr. Andreas Gies Umweltbundesamt German Federal Environment Agency Definition An environmental specimen bank is an archive of representative environmental and human samples which are collected in regular intervals.

2 Take home messages In Europe specimen banks exist since the early 1970s All of them store biological samples under conservating conditions The specimen banks were founded for different purposes and under different legislations They proved to be useful tools for retrospective monitoring of chemical pollution levels Photo Tjelvar Odsjö The Swedes were first: In the early 1960s scientists in Sweden commenced archiving samples, which lead to the start of the Swedish Specimen Bank. The Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) at the Swedish Museum of Natural History is an integrated part of the monitoring of contaminants in the Swedish environment. The National Contaminant Monitoring Programme is carried out under the authority of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Biotic samples from terrestrial, freshwater and marine reference sites are collected annually and are prepared and stored in the ESB. The low temperature freezers at the ESB for storing samples at -80 C The ESB has at its disposal samples of tissues and organs from more than 250,000 organisms, mostly from animals but also samples from plants (cf. moss). The Environmental Specimen Bank, the freezing room

3 The Nordic co-operation: Under the control of the Nordic Council of Ministers a close co-operation between different nordic specimen banks was initiated. Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark (Greenland), Sweden Faroe Island Inventory of collected species Manual for specimen collection and storage Birds, Marine mammals, Terrestrial mammals, Fishes, Invertebrates Algae, Fungi and bacteria, Lichens,Macrophytes, Bryophytes 20 years later: The German approach 1985 the German Evironmental Specimen Bank started its systematic work as a control instrument for the new chemicals legislation Environmental specimens ESB Human specimens Operation of the ESB Sampling planning Sampling Anamnesis Analyses Storage

4 The German ESB: Environmental Part ESB concept:,,the environmental specimens are obtained from representative areas (ecosystems); representative ecosystems from the terrestrial, limnetic and marine environment have been selected as examples.... twelve species from 13 sampling areas of six typical ecosystems samples are archived at -150 C after homogenisation and chemical characterisation The German ESB: Human part Conception UPB:... specimens ascertain normal body burden and are stored in a change-free environment. Selection of student groups ensures nationwide representation of average (and not identifiably specific) contamination levels amongst the German population. four cities: Münster, Ulm, Greifswald, Halle student communities aged 20-29, subjects/city main samples: urine, hair, blood individual samples archived

5 At the start: 2 Specimen Banks from France Very recently two French Specimen Banks started their work Observatoire Pérenne de l Environnement Observatoire de Recherche sur la Qualité de l Environnement 2 Specimen Banks from France Observatoire de Recherche sur la Qualité de l Environnement Archiving and determination of environmental samples from the State of Aquitaine Areas of interest: Bayof Arcachon, Adour Estuary, Aspe Valley National reference microbiological strain bank Sediment archives of the State of «Provence Côte d Azur» for dredging strategies. Samples for the Observatoire Pérenne de l Environnement (ANDRA)

6 2 Specimen Banks from France Observatoire Pérenne de l Environnement Forest samples Soil percolated water Soil Wood Leaves Mushrooms Lichen Moss Earthworms Insects Food chain samples Rivers / sub-surface waters Soils Grass Maize, Wheat, Milk Cheese Poultry eggs Meat? Full implementation is planned for 09 / 2011 Why? What is specimen banking good for? Specimen banking opens the possibility to monitor retrospectively. Time is not any more our enemy but is on our side We can apply new methods to old samples. The history of a contamination gives us a clue to to sources and makes control strategies more efficient

7 Biomonitoring Phthalates data from the German ESB 1000 DnBP DEHP DiBP BzBP DiNP median concentration [µg/l] year Wittasek et al (2007) Striking relationship between DEHP sales data and uptake modelled from UPB analyses Helm (2008) Take home messages In Europe specimen banks exist since the early 1970s All of them store biological samples under conservating conditions The specimen banks were founded for different purposes and under different legislations They proved to be useful tools for retrospective monitoring of chemical pollution levels REACH requires the independent control of industries risk assessments: ESBs are prepared to do this job Frequently it was not the chemicals risk assessment but biomonitoring that initiated risk control: PBDE, PFT, Phthalates, Bisphenol A

8 Thank you for listening. Thanks to the German ESB team Thanks to our international friends and national partners They provided help and information and many of the pictures