NORMAN, network of reference laboratories, research centres and relate organisations for monitoring of emerging environmental pollutants
Résumé
NORMAN co-ordination action will develop and implement a methodology within a network of reference laboratories and related organisations (including standardisation bodies) to enable and improve EU capabilities for monitoring emerging pollutants, thereby ensuring the production of data that are valid, comparable and fit for purpose across EU25.The project will align the activities of the network with the requirements of organisations / stakeholders in charge of risk assessment and management. It will organise, via workshops, the EU-wide exchange of information between monitoring experts, environmental agencies and standardisation and regulatory bodies. NORMAN will facilitate access to existing data / information from research programmes by developing a database of:- leading European experts, organisations and projects dealing with emerging pollutants;- geo-referenced monitoring data;- mass spectrometric information on provisionally identified and unknown substances.Particular effort will be made to enable the final user to interpret the data and judge their representativeness, quality and comparability. Moreover, protocols for validation, harmonisation and dissemination of chemical and biological monitoring methods (including sampling methodology) will be provided. These protocols will be developed into technical guidelines / reports (e.g. CEN TR).To test these protocols and the ability of the network to meet EU demands for monitoring emerging pollutants, three case studies will be undertaken, involving partners from a wide selection of Member States, including New Member States. This will enable benchmarking of the competencies and expertise and foster the transfer of knowledge and techniques. The final goal of the project is the implementation of a network operating after the end of the project. The organisation of the follow-up of the network will therefore be one of the main tasks of the project