Environmental Goals Addressed in Assessments of Contaminated Sediments

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Risk Assessment
• Environmental Management

Background:

• National environmental objectives and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central to Swedish environmental management.
• Contaminated sediments pose a challenge to achieving these goals, requiring effective environmental risk assessment (ERA).
• Clarity is lacking for assessors and authorities on which environmental goals to consider in ERA for contaminated sediments and how to integrate them.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify which environmental goals Swedish regulatory and advisory authorities believe should be considered in ERAs of contaminated sediments.
• To assess the extent to which these goals are currently addressed in practice within Swedish ERAs.
• To explore the potential for implementing SDGs in environmental management concerning contaminated sediments.

Main Methods:

• Surveying representatives from Swedish regulatory and advisory authorities regarding relevant environmental goals for contaminated sediment ERAs.
• Analyzing a selection of Swedish ERAs to determine the practical consideration of identified environmental goals.
• Comparing the priorities of risk assessors and authorities concerning ecological aspects.

Main Results:

• Protection of aquatic ecosystems and their services is a primary concern for authorities.
• Most identified environmental goals were addressed in ERAs, but inconsistently.
• Risk assessors appear to place less emphasis on ecological considerations compared to authorities.

Conclusions:

• Authorities must emphasize environmental aspects and provide clearer guidance for addressing them in ERAs.
• ERAs can support the fulfillment of environmental goals and SDGs if they form the basis for management decisions, but clearer guidance is needed.
• Existing Swedish legislation and national objectives provide a strong foundation for integrating SDGs into environmental management, particularly for contaminated sediments.