Events

Chemical pollution is one of the defining global environmental challenges of our time, yet many hazardous chemicals remain poorly understood in terms of their long‑range transport, persistence and environmental behaviour. Antarctica — often perceived as remote and pristine — has emerged as a powerful global sentinel, revealing the presence and movement of contaminants far from their points of origin and providing early warning of emerging chemicals of concern.

Drawing on the work of the Antarctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AnMAP), this presentation explores how Antarctic environmental monitoring can be used to generate robust research‑to‑policy insights on chemical pollution. Professor Susan Bengtson Nash will examine how AnMAP leverages Antarctica’s unique environmental conditions to identify chemicals that meet key hazard criteria — particularly persistence and environmental mobility — and why these characteristics are critical for informing global regulatory priorities.

This webinar will explore:

• How Antarctica functions as a global sentinel for chemical pollution, and why it is uniquely suited to detecting emerging contaminants
• The role of AnMAP’s monitoring platforms and international partnerships in tracking persistent and mobile chemicals across air, water and biota
• How Antarctic surveillance data are used as discovery pipelines to identify priority chemicals of concern for further assessment and regulation
• The translation of scientific evidence into policy‑relevant advice, including how monitoring data can inform precautionary management and international chemical governance

This webinar will be of particular value to environmental scientists, regulators, policy makers, consultants and researchers involved in chemical monitoring, environmental risk assessment, and the development of evidence‑based strategies to address persistent and emerging chemical pollutants.