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Based upon social constructionism and Foucauldian accounts of how psychology as a discipline takes part in constituting and governing subjects, this study presents a critical view on the role of psychology in defining and constructing old age and old persons. The analysis was carried out in two parts: First, psychological theories of aging were deconstructed, with respect to the conditions that made their emergence possible. This analysis showed how management of old age was constructed as an individual project, in which old persons were made responsible for their own wellbeing. Aging was constructed as a question of "mind over matter", the ability of the soul to counter material circumstances. Second, the study addressed the relation between theory and practice by analysing texts, written by psychology students, after having interviewed an older person. In these texts three major discourses were drawn upon; biological, social and psychological. Ways of relating to and challenge subjectpositions offered by these discourses were discussed. The constructions, in the texts as well as in the theories, were discussed concerning the effects they may have for the subjectivity of older persons. Implications for psychological research and psychologists working with older people were discussed.

To expand our monitoring focus and to make complementary additions to the POPs traditionally measured we undertook a POP screening study of human tissue representative for Swedish adults in 2007. Among the compounds assessed in this study are several classes of organohalogen contaminants, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and their brominated homologues (PBDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and other bromine containing compounds, a number of organochlorine Stockholm Convention pesticides including toxaphene, and several recently identified perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs). The analytical techniques used were based on various GC and HPLC massspectrometry applications after clean-up and fractionation of blood and adipose tissue samples. The profile of the PCDD/F in 2007 is considered to be unchanged since the 90’s. The shift in congener profile from BDE #47, earlier being the dominant congener in human tissues, to BDE# 153 being dominant is confirmed in this study. Levels of PCBs are lower in this study group in relation to earlier fish consumers’ levels. Six individual PFCs were detected in the blood samples analysed. PFOS was detected at the highest concentration, with a geometric mean of 16 ng/ml, followed by PFOA, 2,4 ng/ml, PFHxS, PFNA, PFDA and PFUnDA were present at similar levels. There is a need to further investigate individual exposures to PFCs and identify high exposure groups. Brominated PBDFs were found in human adipose at concentrations of 0.27-2.24 pg/g, being the first results on a larger material of the general population in Sweden. The screening of a larger sample seize of human adipose tissue revealed several unknown, bromine containing POPs. Both smaller and larger bromine containing compounds besides the known BDEs were found. Positive identification of these compounds will require authentic standards and high resolution GC/MS an

Breast milk samples and blood serum collected from primipara women in Sweden during the period 1996 to 2004 were analyzed with the aim to study levels of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and the concentration ratio between milk and blood. A total of five perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) were detected in breast milk, of which perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS) were found most frequently. In addition, perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were detected. The highest mean concentration in individual milk samples was obtained for PFOS (0.172 ng/mL) followed by PFHxS (0.068 ng/mL) and PFOSA (0.012 ng/mL). The quantification of PFOA was hampered in most of the samples due to a high procedural blank contamination. A total of eight PFCs were detected in the serum samples. Breast milk levels in this study were on average 113 times lower compared to serum levels for PFOS, 57 times lower for PFHxS and 23 times lower for PFOSA. There was a strong association between increasing serum concentration and increasing milk concentration for PFOS and PFHxS. During the period 1996-2004, the levels in pooled breast milk samples were relatively constant with a slightly decreasing trend for the pools collected in years 2003-2004. Analysis of breast milk, consecutive sampled over a period of several days, did not indicate a decrease in levels with progression of lactation., Mätningar av PFOS i bröstmjölk och blod

Individual levels of 33 PCBs (#28, #52, #47/48, #74, #66, #101, #99/113, #110, #118, #114/122, #105, #153, #138, #128/167, #156, #157, # 178, #182/187, #183, #174, #177, #172/192, #180/193, #170/190, #189, #202, # 194, #199, #196/203, #195, # 208, #207, #206), HCB, oxychlordane, p,p’-DDE and PBDE #47 were determined in 141 plasma samples (0.5-3 ml) from Swedish females with documented high consumption of fish. The analytical method used includes solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS EI SIM). Concentrations reported are given in pg/ml plasma and in ng/g plasma lipid (ppb). Lipid contents were determined enzymatically. For the sum of the 33 PCBs the average level, on lipid basis, was 340 ppb (range 1979-61 ppb), for PCB 153 the average was 81 ppb (range 460-13 ppb), HCB 41 ppb (range 143-12 ppb), oxychlordane 2.3 ppb (range 27- 0.06), p,p-DDE 131 ppb (range 1114-7.3 ppb) and PBDE #47 had an average level of 2.5 ppb (range 25-0.4 ppb). A reference sample confirms the method performance to have a SD of 13% for the total PCB.