Driven by a wide set of European regulations, strategies and action plans, to cope with and to minimize environmental pollution in Europe, the need for pollution monitoring especially on chemicals and radionuclides is constantly growing in importance as it supports the ambition of the European Union: “In 2050, we live well within the planet’s ecological limits”. This can be reached only on the basis of high-quality data on pollution monitoring as well as strong metrological cooperation between all relevant European partners and stakeholders. To foster this goal a strong, collaborative, multi-disciplinary, long-term and self-sustaining “European Metrology Network on pollution monitoring
”, as a metrological reference infrastructure, needs to be generated and managed. Such a metrological network will be developed over the next years within the framework of an EMPIR network project called POLMO.
POLMO will focus first on chemicals and radionuclides pollution in the different compartments of the environment (water, air, soil) but also will strive to expand its expertise to other areas such as light or noise pollution on longer terms. The detailed objectives of the POLMO network are:

1. To become an international point of focus and create stronger connections for all the different stakeholder communities (active networks and associations, research centres, testing laboratories, manufacturers, industry, standardization bodies, regulators) with NMIs/DIs. This should allow new approaches to meet stakeholder requirements by developing multidisciplinary metrological research overpassing current regulatory principles.
2. To maximize efficiency of NMIs/DIs activity and minimise resources (human, infrastructures, financial) as well as knowledge, data and best-practice transfers between NMIs/DIs and with the main EU organisations as well as stakeholders in the POLMO context.
3. To Demonstrate the role of metrology in the European research area. Moreover, to define the place and role of the metrology in the pollution monitoring chain of measurements and to demonstrate its added value and benefit.
4. To maximize and accelerate dissemination of reliable metrology practices for pollution monitoring through mutually recognized and agreed approaches.

The POLMO Metrology Network will be implemented from mid 2022 in particular by the means of an EMPIR JNP (Joint Network Programme) in the framework of EURAMET (European Association of National Metrology Institutes).

 

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