Within the NonHazCity project a screening survey of hazardous substances has been performed in wastewater and stormwater samples from six municipalities around the Baltic Sea: Pärnu, Kaunas, Šilalė, Riga, Gdańsk, and Turku. Furthermore, a suite of chemicals were analysed in a range of indoor items from Stockholm preschools and offices.
Hazardous substances were widely detected in the NonHazCity screening campaigns. They were found in everyday items including furniture and children’s toys, in stormwater and wastewaters from residential and commercial areas and in all partner municipalities. The hazardous substances detected included heavy metals, several endocrine disrupting compounds and REACH-listed substances of very high concern (SVHC), including phthalates, alkyphenols, bisphenol A, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Source tracking showed that consumption-related diffuse sources, like indoor dust and laundry wastewater are important sources for some hazardous substances and that it is likely the NonHazCity project findings are representative also of other municipalities in the Baltic Sea catchment area.
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