Submitted by PBMS Admin on
As part of its activities in the LIFE APEX project, the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme (PBMS) recently submitted samples for non-target chemical analysis. This forms part of a demonstration of the value of using apex predators as sentinels for time-trends in environmental pollution. The samples that the PBMS provided were common buzzard livers that were collected and archived through the scheme between 2000 and 2016.
“This is a clear demonstration of the value of environmental tissue archives to allow retrospective studies to characterise and construct time trends for pollutants” comments Lee Walker, coordinator for the PBMS. “The non-target chemical analysis is also an exciting development in this area of study as it allows us to identify and measure hundreds of potential pollutants from one sample.”
LIFE APEX is a demonstration project that explores pan-European collection and use of chemical monitoring data. The Union-wide novelty of LIFE APEX’s approach centres around the use of chemical monitoring data from apex predators and their prey (AP&P) for the purposes of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of CHemicals (REACH) and Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR).
The LIFE APEX website can be viewed here: https://lifeapex.eu/ and you can follow the progress of the project on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LIFEAPEX1