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The report summarises the monitoring activities within the National Swedish Contaminant Programme for freshwater biota. Each monitored contaminant has been examined in pike, perch or Arctic char from 32 lakes from the north to the south in Sweden.Mercury concentrations in perch show no spatial pattern across Sweden and there are no consistent time trends for all lakes. Significantly decreasing concentrations in perch are seen in 25 % of the lakes. The mercury concentrations are above the EU threshold for all sampled fish throughout Sweden.Aluminium, arsenic, nickel, and lead generally show decreasing concentrations during the last ten years.Lead shows concentrations below the threshold for all the perch lakes and for cadmium concentrations are below the threshold for all except one perch lake. For the longest time trends in pike, Arctic char and perch (starting in 1970s or 80s) downward temporal trends are observed for the chlorinated compounds, e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PCDD/Fs). Concentrations of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and HCHs are below LOQ during the last 15 years. Most chlorinated compounds were below the suggested target levels. There is no general spatial pattern for the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in perch. Concentrations of PBDEs are generally, in all three species, going down during the last ten years.The concentration of HBCDD was under LOQ in a majority of the samples. Concentrations of PFOS are somewhat similar among perch lakes but with more lakes in the northern part of Sweden having lower concentrations. There is no spatial pattern for the perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs). For PFOS no clear trends are seen during the last ten years but many lakes show decreasing trends from 2006/2007 until 2020. Significantly decreasing trends are seen for ~30 % of the long-chained PFCAs (PFUnDA, PFDoDA, PFTrDA)

Inom övervakningsprogrammet för miljögifter i limnisk biota samlas fisk in årligen från 32 sjöar. Metaller analyseras årligen i alla sjöar medan klorerade pesticider, PCB:er, bromerade och perfluorerade ämnen samt dioxiner analyseras årligen i nio av sjöarna och med ett omdrev på två-tre år för de resterande sjöarna. Tidstrenderna för de flesta sjöar visar på nedåtgående trender, med några få undantag. De 32 sjöarna finns representerade med flera sjöar i varje vattendistrikt och enligt den typologiindelning som används inom övervakningsprogrammet för Trendstationer Sjöar som SLU utför, representerar NRM:s sjöar 75% av SLU:s sjötyper. Därmed finns en relativt bra representation av dessa sjötyper. Däremot har man i påverkansanalysen från VISS konstaterat att några av sjöarna inom övervakningsprogrammet är påverkade, både av jordbruk men även av några miljögifter. Detta innebär att de påverkade sjöarna inte är helt representativa när det gäller att fungera som referenssjöar för vissa miljögifter. Vidare visar analyserna att några sjöar grupperar sig ihop gällande högre halter av en del miljögifter, det gäller bl.a. dioxiner, PCB:er, PFAS och vissa metaller. Inom övervakningsprogrammet utförs i dag ett omdrev för analyser av organiska miljögifter om två-tre år. En statistisk utvärdering hur detta omdrev påverkar möjligheten att upptäcka trender har gjorts i rapporten och man kan se att för att uppnå samma statistiska styrka som vi får vid att mäta varje år vid 10 års mätningar behöver vi istället mäta 12 år om vi analyserar vartannat år och 15 år om vi mäter vart tredje år. Vidare ser vi att kvalitetsmålet att upptäcka tidstrender på 10% i enskilda sjöar inom en 10-års period sannolikt inte nås för >50% av sjöarna även om man skulle analysera varje år. Vilket visar på att kvalitetsmålen så som de är uppsatta i dag inte kan efterlevas och vi rekommenderar därför en översyn av kvalitetsmålen. En jämförelse mot kraven inom Vattenförvaltningsförordningen har även gjorts

The report summarises the monitoring activities within the National Swedish Contaminant Programmefor freshwater biota. Each monitored contaminant has been examined in pike, perch or Arctic char from32 lakes from the north to the south in Sweden.No general trend could be seen for mercury, and all samples were above the EU threshold. Lead wasgenerally decreasing and concentrations were below the target level in all lakes. Cadmiumconcentrations showed no consistent trends over the monitored period, and cadmium concentrationswere below the target level in all lakes. Chromium concentrations are below the limit of quantification(LOQ) in most lakes after 2010. For nickel, arsenic, copper, zink, silver, and aluminium there were noclear temporal trends, with both upward and downward trends. Tin concentrations were below the LOQfor most sampling sites and throughout all years of sampling.In general, downward trends were seen for; PCBs, HCHs, DDT, DDE and PCDD/Fs in all species (with afew exceptions). The chlorinated compounds generally showed a somewhat higher concentration in thesouthern parts of Sweden. Most chlorinated compounds were below the suggested target levels.No general trend was seen during the monitoring period for PBDEs. However during the most recent 10year period, downward trends were seen in pike from Bolmen. The concentration of HBCDD was underLOQ in a majority of the samples.Several of the perfluorinated carboxylic compounds showed a non-linear increase in concentration inarctic char, while no trend was seen for PFOS. In perch, PFOS has decreased since 1980 while upwardtrends were seen for several carboxylic acids from 1980. Higher concentrations of perfluorinatedcompounds can in general be seen in the southern part of Sweden. In all lakes, PFOS is below thetarget level for all species.

Within the Swedish National Monitoring Programme for Contaminants in Freshwater Biota, perch, pike and Arctic char are being analysed from 32 lakes distributed all over Sweden. One of the main objectives of the monitoring has been to detect temporal trends in different areas and for different contaminants. However, the measured concentrations in biota can be affected by biological factors such as age, length, trophic position (TP), fat or dry weight content. A change in one or several of these variables over time, or even among specimens taken within the same year, is likely to result in an increased variation of the measured concentrations and hence in a lower chance of detecting a trend. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if an adjustment of contaminant time trends by primarily stable isotopes, but also other confounding factors can: A) reduce the individual and between-year variation and hence B) improve the likelihood of detecting temporal trends in time series for metals and organic contaminants. The study revealed an improvement in the likelihood of detecting a contaminant trend after adjustment of the data for almost all lakes and for all tested substances. For some lakes and substances, this improvement was substantial. Age seems to be an important confounding factor for metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. For lipophilic substances, fat content also appears to be an important factor in some lakes together with adjustments for carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, which all reduced the variation in contaminant data. This suggests that there is a benefit of adjusting data on a regular basis in contaminant monitoring programmes in the future.

The report summarises the monitoring activities within the National Swedish Contaminant Programme for freshwater biota. Each monitored contaminant has been examined in pike, perch or Arctic char from 32 lakes from the north to the south in Sweden. No general trend could be seen for mercury, and all samples were above the EU threshold. Lead was generally decreasing and concentrations were below the target level in all lakes. Cadmium concentrations showed no consistent trends over the monitored period, and cadmium concentrations were below the target level in all lakes. Nickel, arsenic, and copper showed upward trends in 30-50 % of the sampling sites. For zink, silver, and aluminium there were no clear temporal trends. Tin concentrations were below the limit of quantification for most sampling sites and throughout all years of sampling. In general, downward trends were seen for; PCBs, HCHs, DDT, DDE and PCDD/Fs in all species (with a few exceptions). The chlorinated compounds generally showed a somewhat higher concentration in the southern parts of Sweden. Most chlorinated compounds were below the suggested target levels. No general trend was seen during the monitoring period for PBDEs. However during the most recent 10 year period, downward trends were seen in pike from Bolmen. The concentration of HBCDD was under LOQ in a majority of the samples. Several of the perfluorinated carboxylic compounds showed an increase in concentration in arctic char, while no trend was seen for PFOS. In perch, PFOS has decreased since 1980 while upward trends were seen for several carboxylic acids from 1980. Higher concentrations of perfluorinated compounds can in general be seen in the southern part of Sweden. In all lakes, PFOS is below the target level for all species.

The report summarises the monitoring activities within the National Swedish Contaminant Programme for freshwater biota. Each monitored contaminant has been examined in pike, perch or Arctic char from 32 lakes from the north to the south in Sweden. No general trend could be seen for mercury, and all samples were above the EU threshold. Lead was generally decreasing. Cadmium concentrations showed no consistent trends over the monitored period, and cadmium concentrations in 2017 were below the suggested threshold in all lakes. Nickel showed a general upward trend in 30% of the perch lakes. Arsenic concentrations showed no general spatial pattern and were increasing in liver from Arctic char, pike and perch from approximately 50 % of the sampling sites. Tin concentrations decreased in the majority of the perch time series during the most recent ten years. For copper, no general spatial pattern existed for concentrations in perch and about one third of the monitored lakes showed an upward trend. No general trend was observed for silver and aluminum. In general, downward trends were seen for; PCBs, HCHs, DDT, DDE and PCDD/Fs in all species (with a few exceptions). The chlorinated compounds generally showed a somewhat higher concentration in the southern parts of Sweden. Most chlorinated compounds were below the suggested target levels. No general trend was seen during the monitoring period for PBDEs. However an indication of decreasing concentrations of PBDEs is seen in the most recent years. The concentration of HBCDD was under LOQ in a majority of the samples. Several of the perfluorinated carboxylic compounds showed an increase in concentration in arctic char, while PFOS and FOSA decreased. In perch PFOS has decreased since 1995. Higher concentrations of perfluorinated compounds can in general be seen in the southern part of Sweden. In all lakes, PFOS is below the target level for all species.

The report summarises the monitoring activities within the National Swedish Contaminant Programme for freshwater biota. Each monitored contaminant has been examined in pike, perch or Arctic char from 32 lakes from the north to the south in Sweden. No general trend could be seen for mercury, and all samples were above the EU target level. Lead was generally decreasing. Nickel showed a general upward trend in 50% of the perch lakes. An increase, or indication of an increase, was seen for chromium during the last ten years. Zinc concentrations were decreasing in a majority of the perch samples and in pike from Lake Storvindeln. Arsenic concentrations were increasing in Arctic char and pike from all sites and in perch from a third of the sampling sites. Tin concentrations decreased in the majority of the perch time series during the most recent ten years. No general trend was observed for copper, silver, aluminum, bismuth, and cadmium. In general, downward trends were seen for; PCBs, HCHs, DDT, DDE and PCDD/Fs in all species (with a few exceptions). The chlorinated compounds generally showed a somewhat higher concentration in the southern parts of Sweden. Most chlorinated compounds were below the suggested target levels. No general trend was seen during the monitoring period for PBDEs. Concentrations of PBDEs in Lake Bolmen increased from the 60s and peaked in 1992/1993 and have subsequently decreased. The concentration of HBCDD was under LOQ in a majority of the samples. Several of the perfluorinated carboxylic compounds showed an increase in concentration in arctic char, while PFOS and FOSA decreased. In perch PFOS has decreased since 1995. Higher concentrations of perfluorinated compounds can in general be seen in the southern part of Sweden. In all lakes, PFOS is below the target level for all species.