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At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk. Paid open access

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

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The steering committee of VKM has self-initiated a mandate for an opinion on microplastics based on recently published international and/or national reports complemented with literature from December 2016 to February 2019. The mandate requested a summary of the state of knowledge on the presence of microplastics in the environment and the implications for the ecosystem, terrestrial and aquatic organisms, food production and human health. An overview of main national and international ongoing initiatives was also requested, and highlighting of data gaps where specific Norwegian data was needed. VKM appointed a working group consisting of two VKM members and eight external experts (two are former VKM-members), in addition to a project leader from the VKM secretariat to write the assessment.

Source at https://vkm.no/download/18.7d363f6e16d16151068849d0/1568620629508/Ranking%20of%20substances%20for%20monitoring%20in%20foods,%20drinks%20and%20dietary%20supplements.pdf The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) to provide an overview of substances in foods, drinks and dietary supplements that may constitute a potential health risk for humans, based on the VKM members’ expert judgements. VKM was further requested to perform a ranking of these substances. Additionally, VKM should give an overiview of the foods, drinks and dietary supplements most relevant for monitoring, and describe what would be the adequate sampling procedure and number of samples. Monitoring procedures were included to ensure that the monitoring performed is representative for the occurrence of the substances in foods, drinks and/or dietary supplements consumed by the Norwegian population. The substances requested to be included were food additives and flavourings, substances used in food contact materials, environmental contaminants, process-induced substances and natural toxins. Substances not to be included were veterinary medicine residues, illegal pharmaceuticals and pesticide residues. The overview provided by VKM included substances belong to the following groups and subgroups of substances: Natural toxins; with the sub-groups mycotoxins, plant toxins, marine and freshwater algae toxins Metals and metalloids Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); with the sub-groups brominated flame retardants, dechloranes, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs), non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs), perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and siloxanes Substances in food contact materials; with the sub-groups bisphenols and phthalates Flavourings Additives; with the sub-groups nitrites and nitrates, phosphates, sweeteners and synthetic antioxidants Process-induced contaminants; with the sub-groups acrylamide, esterified 3- and 2- monochloropropane-1,2-diol (MCPD), glycidyl fatty esters (GEs), furans, heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) «Other substances» Trace elements The ranking of the substances is based on inherent toxicity (hazard) and level of exposure (both occurrence and intake). In addition, vulnerable groups, adequacy of toxicity data and lack of exposure data were considered. A simple methodology was chosen. More advanced methodology may be used in later updates of this ranking, if found useful.

In this study, we analyzed long-term trends in calcium (Ca) concentrations for 70 Norwegian lakes spanning a broad geographical range and for a wide range of ambient drivers. A striking decline in Ca concentrations was observed during the past 30 yr. The trend was most pronounced in southern, previously acidified localities, while there were weaker and less consistent patterns for central and northern regions. For previously acidified areas, this observed decline in Ca is likely related to base cation depletion or reduced Ca mobilization as a consequence of reduced H2SO4-deposition. However, lower chloride concentrations, increased runoff and forest density (represented by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) also exerted strong negative impacts on Ca-concentrations. For lakes with a significant negative trend (n = 34), the average decline was −11.05% per decade, corresponding to −0.023 mg Ca L−1 yr−1. This trend may pull levels of Ca in these already Ca-deficient poor lakes toward, or below, critically low levels for a range of organisms. A somewhat paradoxical effect of the successful battle against anthropogenic acidification is thus that it may impose an increased Ca-deficiency of freshwater ecosystems. © 2016 The Authors Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

1. Invasive species can transform aquatic ecosystems, and the nuisance growth of the freshwater macrophyte Juncus bulbosus has become a problem in many lakes and rivers in northern Europe. It affects biodiversity strongly and conflicts with human uses, not least compromising the generation of hydroelectricity. The causes of the proliferation of these massive stands of J. bulbosus are not finally resolved, however. 2. In this study, a wide range of catchment, lake and sediment parameters (n = 34) were assessed for 139 lakes in Southern Norway, with the aim of explaining the presence or absence of J. bulbosus and to assess potential drivers behind its prolific growth. 3. Juncus bulbosus was more often present in lakes with lower pH and phosphate concentrations, and a higher element ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to total phosphorus (DIN : TotP). 4. Despite the many parameters measured across substantial environmental gradients, none explained nuisance growth. Genetic screening (amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting) of plants from a subset of lakes and additional river sites also showed no genetic differences between the various growth forms. A macrophyte trophic index, however, suggested that the most problematic growth occurred in the most oligotrophic lakes. 5. The lack of consistent patterns may reflect either factors not assessed in our survey, or that the current extension of stands represents a gradual cumulative response over time, not characterised effectively in our snapshot survey. Nevertheless, we can now exclude some putative causes of nuisance growth, including in particular genetics and N‐deposition.