Hur riskerar föroreningarna att medföra olägenheter för människors hälsa och miljön? En MIFO fas 1 inventering av en nedlagd handelsträdgård i Marieholm, Eslövs kommun

During this thesis I have used a methodology called MIFO ‘Metodik for Inventering av Fororenade Omraden’ (english: Method of Surveying Contaminated Sites), to investigate the contamination situation on a property plot in the municipality of Eslov, Sweden where a former trading garden was active during the late thirties to the early eighties. A contaminated site is a site where the levels of a contamination is higher than the background levels of contamination on a regional or local level. The methodology was developed by the swedish authority Naturvardsverket (english: Environmental protection agency) and is divided into the two phases orientation studies and general surveys. The orientation studies (phase 1) consists of identifying a potentially contaminated site and to gathering information from maps, aerial photos, archive documents, site visits and interviews. The general surveys (phase 2) consists of a more narrow investigating which includes analysis of sampels from the site and a evaluation of all information gathered. The results from the two different phases leads to a risk classification of the site. The risk classification is an overall assessment of the contamination situation and is divided into four levels based on the degree and levels of pollutants, dispersion potential and the risk of the human and environmental exposure. The classification levels is: 1 - very high risk, 2 - high risk, 3 - moderate risk and 4 - low risk. The purpose of this thesis is to primarily assess the risk of pollutants present that could be found on the property plot, and also to investigate what affects the potential pollutants can have on humans health and the nearby environment. The questions that this thesis will answer is how potential pollutants can lead to human and environmental exposure and if the MIFO methodology can be reliable for the assessment of the property plot. An investigation of this property plot is interesting since pollution are common where a trade garden has been active during the 20th century. The results from the investigation are based on aerial photos, archive documents from the municipality of Eslov, geological information and non-structured interviews with former employees. Since the time and financial resources for this work has been limited, no soil samples have been taken. Even though the results is determined on a theoretical level, the results is reliable to some extent since there are indicators that is pointing in the same direction. To determine how polluted the property plot is, a further investigation of the site must be done. Analysis of samples from the soil and sediments in the area are a main thing that must be considered to get a view of the contamination situation. The results from the MIFO phase 1 show that the dangerousness of the suspected industry-specific chemicals is very high since industry-specific chemicals like the insecticide DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and Mercury is likely to be found on the property plot. The dispersion potential of the pollutants is very high due to the high content of sand in the soil. There is a risk that the pollutions from the property plot could affect the children of a nearby preschool due to contaminated dust which can be inhaled and contribute to inconveniences. A DDT exposure can cause hormonal changes. Since children har more vulnerable to pollutants then adults are, the area has a very high worthy of protection for a point of view on human health. In additional there is also an nearby river called Saxan, that could be influenced by the pollutions. The Saxan river has a very high worthy of protection since it’s a habitat for rare fish species like stone loach and gudgeon. If the tradegarden has led to mercury pollutions to the nearby environment the river will probably be affected by methylmercury. Methylmercury is a highly toxic pollutants which bioaccumulate and biomagnify in the food chain of aquatic animals. The compound is formed by bacterias in oxygen poor environments like sediments. If the sediments in Saxan has a low concentration of oxygen theres is an risk of production of methylmercury which can diffuse in to the river. The pollutant can result in negative effects on the hormonal system of fishes and also result in damage of the cells. Humans can also get exposed by the pollutant when consuming fish, primarily fat fish since methylmercury is fat soluble. A methylmercury exposure in the body can result in negative effects on the brain and the nervous system. In conclusion the property plot is classified as a risk object “one” on a scale from one to four, where one is the most notable. The classified is based on the factors mentioned above.