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This report is Denmark’s National Inventory Report 2014. The report contains information on Denmark’s emission inventories for all years’ from 1990 to 2012 for CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6, NOx, CO, NMVOC, SO2

New insights into the sustainable use of natural resources in human systems can be gained through comparison with ecosystems via common indices. In both kinds of system, resources are processed by a number of users within a network, but we consider ecosystems as the only ones displaying sustainable patterns of growth and development. This study aims at using Network Analysis (NA) to move such " ecosystem perspective" from theory into practice. A Danish municipal Water Management System (WMS) is used as case study to test the NA methodology and to discuss its generic applicability. We identified water users within the WMS and represented their interactions as a network of water flows. We computed intensive and extensive indices of system-level performance for seven different network configurations illustrating past conditions (2004-2008) and future scenarios (2015 and 2020). We also computed the same indices for other 24 human systems and for 12 ecosystems, by using information from the existing scientific literature on NA. The comparison of these results reveals that the WMS is similar to the other human systems and that human systems generally differ from ecosystems. The WMS is highly efficient at processing the water resource, but the rigid and almost linear structure makes it vulnerable in situations of stress such as heavy rain events. The analysis of future scenarios showed a trend towards increased sustainability, but differences between past and expected future performance of the WMS are marginal. We argue that future interventions should create alternative pathways for reusing rainwater within the WMS, increasing its potential to withstand the occurrence of flooding. We discuss advantages, limitations, and general applicability of NA as a tool for assessing environmental sustainability in human systems.

As part of a larger exposure study, samples of dust and indoor air were collected in the homes of 43 pregnant women living in the Copenhagen area (Denmark) and analysed for 12 polybrominated diphenyl ethers using GC-MS. A second dust sample collected after delivery was analysed for BDE-183 and BDE-209, which were highly correlated with the pre-delivery samples, but did not reproduce the actual values. Concentrations as high as 80 µg/g were measured for the dominant BDE congener BDE-209, with median concentrations of 332 and 432 ng/g, respectively, in pre- and post-delivery dust samples. In 12% of the dust samples, the concentration of BDE-209 was lower than that of the summed concentration of PentaBDE congeners. The median concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-99 in dust were 16.9 and 13.6 ng/g, respectively. The dust concentrations were in line with other European studies and confirmed previously established geographical differences between continental Europe and North America. Additional octa- and nonaBDE congeners (BDE-197, BDE-203, BDE-206, BDE-207, and BDE-208) were analysed in dust and analytical issues were discussed as these congeners also can be a product of thermal degradation of BDE-209 in gas chromatographic analysis. BDE-206 was the dominating nonaBDE, with median and maximum concentrations of 12.8 and 2217 ng/g, respectively, but the ratio of nonaBDEs to the sum of nona- and decaBDEs was relatively constant, despite a large range in absolute dust concentrations. While the congeners of the PentaBDE mixture were highly inter-correlated for both dust and air, no correlation was found with BDE-209 in either matrix. Air concentrations were relatively high in an international context, with median concentrations of 134, 63.7 and 119 pg/m³ for BDE-47, BDE-99 and BDE-209, respectively, and not correlated with dust concentrations. Additional placenta data were available for the study group and found to correlate significantly with dust concentrations for some PentaBD

Udgivelsesdato: 2010-May-12, Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), in particular the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), have been used in consumer products for many years to increase fire resistance. Recently, developmental neurotoxicity at very low levels has increased the concern about these compounds. The major objectives of this study were to investigate the maternal and fetal exposure to PBDEs on the basis of maternal and umbilical cord plasma samples and to study the extent of placental transfer for different PBDE congeners. The findings were also compared with previously observed PBDE levels and patterns determined in placental tissue from the same individuals, and the relationship with the external exposure from house dust from the participants' homes was explored. Samples of maternal and umbilical cord plasma from a cohort of 51 pregnant women from the Copenhagen area were collected. Paired maternal and umbilical cord plasma were analysed for BDE-28, 37, 47, 85, 99, 100, 119, 138, 153, 154, 183, 209 and the brominated biphenyl BB-153 using automated SPE extraction and GC-HRMS for the tri- to hepta-BDEs and GC-LRMS (ECNI) for BDE-209. PBDEs were detected in all maternal and umbilical cord plasma samples. The sum of tri- to hexa-BDEs (SigmaPBDE) in maternal plasma varied between 640 and 51,946pg/g lipid weight (lw) with a median level of 1765pg/g lw. In the umbilical cord samples SigmaPBDE varied between 213 and 54,346pg/g lw with a median of 958pg/g lw. The levels observed in fetal and maternal plasma were highly correlated, but the placental transport of PBDE congeners was found to decrease with increasing diphenyl ether bromination. Maternal concentrations were significantly correlated (p<0.05) for most congeners with the previously determined concentrations in placental tissue from the same individuals. Furthermore, positive correlations (p<0.05) were found for BDE-28, 47, 100, 209 and SigmaPBDE in maternal plasma and house dust as well as for SigmaPBDE in umbilical cord pla

Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Mar, This paper reviews the existing literature on human exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), with particular focus on external exposure routes (e.g. dust, diet, and air) and the resulting internal exposure to PBDEs (e.g. breast milk and blood). Being lipophilic and persistent organic compounds, PBDEs accumulate in lipid-rich tissues. Consequently, food items like fish from high trophic levels or lipid-rich oils have been found to contain relatively high concentrations of PBDEs, thus presenting an important exposure pathway to humans. The presence of PBDEs in various products of everyday use may lead to some additional exposure in the home environment. Dust seem to be an aggregate of the indoor source, and the ingestion of dust conveys the highest intake of BDE-209 of all sources, possibly also of other PBDE congeners. The PBDE exposure through dust is significant for toddlers who ingest more dust than adults. Infants are also exposed to PBDEs via breast milk. Internal human exposure has generally been found to be one order of magnitude larger in North America than in Europe and Asia. These differences cannot solely be explained by the dietary intake as meat products are the only food group where some differences has been observed. However, indoor air and dust concentrations have been found to be approximately one order of magnitude higher in North America than in Europe, possibly a result of different fire safety standards. Within Europe, higher PBDE concentrations in dust were found in the UK than in continental Europe. Recent studies have shown that BDE-209 also accumulates in humans. A shift in congener composition from maternal to umbilical cord blood has been observed in several cases. A shift has also been observed for BDE-209, which is present in larger ratios in umbilical cord blood and in particular in placenta than in maternal blood.

Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Sep, The levels and congener patterns of PBDEs were investigated in human placental samples in Denmark. The median concentrations of sigmaPBDE(tri-hepta) and BDE-209 in the 50 samples were 1.22 and 1.14 ng g(-1) lw, respectively, with the total sum ranging from 0.51 to 17.1 ng g(-1) lw, which is similar to previous placental studies. The PBDE content in placental tissue was dominated by BDE-209, which accounted for approximately 50% of the total amount of PBDEs. BDE-47, -99, and -153 were detected in all samples. Approximately equal amounts of BDE-47 and BDE-153 were observed in the placental tissue, which is in agreement with previous European studies of human serum. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to analyze congener patterns within and between mothers. The loading plot showed groupings of the measured PBDE variables in three groups, representative of Penta-, Octa- and Deca-BDE technical mixtures. Congeners representing the individual technical mixtures were close to orthogonal or inversely correlated, indicating variation in the congener patterns of internal exposure corresponding to the patterns of technical mixtures used in products. Visualisation of the participant objects according to body mass index (BMI), revealed inherent congener patterns (19% X-variance) showing increased frequency for participants within the highest BMI group to have elevated concentrations of BDE-209 in the placental tissue.

The aim of this paper is to present the conceptual framework for a Danish human biomonitoring (HBM) program. The EU and national science-policy interface, that is fundamental for a realization of the national and European environment and human health strategies, is discussed, including the need for a structured and integrated environmental and human health surveillance program at national level. In Denmark, the initiative to implement such activities has been taken. The proposed framework of the Danish monitoring program constitutes four scientific expert groups, i.e. i. Prioritization of the strategy for the monitoring program, ii. Collection of human samples, iii. Analysis and data management and iv. Dissemination of results produced within the program. This paper presents the overall framework for data requirements and information flow in the integrated environment and health surveillance program. The added value of an HBM program, and in this respect the objectives of national and European HBM programs supporting environmental health integrated policy-decisions and human health targeted policies, are discussed.In Denmark environmental monitoring has been prioritized by extensive surveillance systems of pollution in oceans, lakes and soil as well as ground and drinking water. Human biomonitoring has only taken place in research programs and few incidences of e.g. lead contamination. However an arctic program for HBM has been in force for decades and from the preparations of the EU-pilot project on HBM increasing political interest in a Danish program has developed.

Udgivelsesdato: 2008