Environmental pollutants in the terrestrial and urban environment 2014.

Abstract

On an assignment from the Norwegian Environmental Agency, the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) collected and analysed biological samples from terrestrial and urban regions for various inorganic and organic contaminants. The purpose of this report is to provide an updated assessment of pollution present within an urban environment in Norway, compared with that of more rural sites. The selected species were sparrowhawk and fieldfare (eggs), red fox (liver) and earthworms. Of all the organisms and tissues measured in the study, sparrowhawk eggs had the highest average concentration of the sum of all organic pollutants measured, followed by fieldfare, earthworm and red fox on a wet weight basis. Higher concentrations in the urban site, Oslo, compared to the rural site were observed for sparrowhawk and earthworms.