The overall goal is to establish a Thematic Network amongst experts of different disciplines and from all three major northern regions on “persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in the Asian Arctic”. The goals of the Thematic Network:
- to establish a special meridian sampling program including 6 monitoring sites, from Asian Arctic of Russia (Batagaika, Verkhoyansk Region) to the City of Shenzhen, South of China,
- to understand the occurrence, trends, and sources of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in multiple environmental compartments in the Asian Arctic and the Arctic as a whole,
- to study the impact of emissions of POPs and CECs on the health of the ecosystems and indigenous people in the Asian Arctic, and their response to climate change,
- to investigate the differences in sources and fate of the contaminants in both outdoor and indoor environment between Russia in the north and China in the south, and human exposure assessment in the regions.