Case Studies Index

Case Studies Template

CASE STUDIES

Building on the experience and lessons learnt from colleagues around the world, the Community Monitoring Body Burden Working Group is endeavouring to collect and disseminate information from a global network of community monitoring projects focusing on POPs and related persistent pollutants.

Many community based organisations across the globe are involved in community monitoring. Groups such as the Phillipine based Healtoxics have a wide range of community monitoring case studies that demonstrate the importance of monitoring to protect communities against pesticide exposure.

The Coming Clean Network Community Monitoring Handbook describes the seven forms of community monitoring and provides case studies to demonstrate them. The seven types of monitoring are:

1. Monitoring Chemicals in the Environment - Direct measurement of releases or ambient of concentrations of chemicals or pollutants in the environment.

2. Monitoring Chemicals Contained in Products or Food - Documentation of known or suspected toxic chemical substances contained in commercial products or of hazards associated with the use of commercial products.

3. Monitoring Body Burden - Measurement of chemicals or pollutants in people's bodies.

4. Monitoring Human Health - Measurement of human health indicators or patterns of disease.

5. Monitoring Regulatory Performance - Monitoring the performance of both public and private organizations responsible for enforcing regulation designed to protect health or the environment.

6. Monitoring Ecological/Biological Health and Effects - Documenting the impacts of chemical pollutants on living organisms.

7. Monitoring of Hazardous Incidents - An acutely hazardous incident poses an immediate threat to human or ecological health.

Members of the CMWG have undertaken a range of community monitoring initiatives. These include site assessment of an old pesticide storage area in Tanzania; developing a strategy for water quality monitoring for POPs in the Cook Islands, monitoring pesticide use in Australian forestry plantations using bioassays; and in Russia, NGOs and researchers have developed a rural and agricultural health questionnaire to provide opportunities to assess health impacts of POPs pesticides in agricultural communities.

For the full case study reports go to the Case Study Index at the top of this page and click on the arrow.

If your organisation is involved in a community monitoring project, let us know.