Suspect screening in Nordic countries

This report describes the results of a suspect screening study in samples from city areas in the Nordic countries. In contrast to target analysis, suspect screening starts with a general sample preparation and identification including as much compounds as possible. The resulting list of recorded compounds will be identified by comparison with a list of suspected compounds. Suspect screening has shown to be very useful for identification of emerging environmental pollutants. It was possible to identify: Perfluorinated compounds (PFC), chlorinated and brominated compounds, flame retardants, bisphenols, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), industrial additives, and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP). This study was jointly performed by NILU, NIVA, and Umeå University on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The study was supervised by the Nordic screening group.