Identification of Chemical Pollution Problems and Causes in the Baltic Sea in Relation to Socio-Economic Drivers

摘要

Drivers, pressures, state changes, impacts and responses (DPSIR) is a general framework for organising information about the state of the environment. The idea of the framework derives originally from the field of social studies. Now it is being applied on a much wider scale, in particular for organizing systems of indicators in the context of environmental studies and also sustainable development.rnMany datasets on Baltic pollution, the state of its environment, infrastructure, emissions and monitoring networks are available. Yet without suitable tools they cannot be used properly and effectively. This paper contains a review of the current state of the Baltic region and the most useful sources of relevant information. A partial analysis - including only drivers, pressures and state changes - was carried out. To this purpose two tools were utilized: an experts' poll and reports of organizations - providers of the datasets. The former resulted in the following top three Ds, Ps and Ss: D - urban waste (1), transport, shipping (2), agriculture (3); P -rivers (1), direct discharges (2), atmospheric deposition (3); and S - decrease in population density (1), individual effects (scope for growth, imposex, endocrine disruption) (2), tissue pathology (3). Moreover, both methods produced similar results, which brings us to the conclusion that instead of providing new analytical/experimental programs, the existing databases could be better utilized. The significance of rivers should also be stressed.rnLimitations in access to the data were specified. These were, first of all, lack or gaps in the datasets both in spatial and temporal scale. Differences in the data formats and the principle of data presentation - tables are preferred over graphs and maps - should also be mentioned.