ToxicoWatch biomonitoring research on eggs of backyard chickens, and vegetation such as pine needles and mosses as biomarkers is a European project, coordinated by Zero Waste Europe. The project was run simultaneously in Lithuania, Spain, and the Czech Republic in 2021 and 2022. ToxicoWatch (TW) Foundation, based in the Netherlands, participated as a scientific partner together with three environmental organisations: for Spain, Ecologistas en Acción in Madrid, for Lithuania, Žiedinė Ekonomika, and for the Czech Republic, Hnutí DUHA.
1) Most eggs of backyard chickens in the vicinity of the three (3) incinerators exceeded EU limits for the bioassay DR CALUX and the chemical GC-MS analysis as regulated in the EU Regulation 2017/644.
2) Analysis of the vegetation, pine needles and mosses, shows dioxins in elevated concentrations in the areas around the waste incinerators in all three (3) countries by bioassay DR CALUX.
3) High quantities of PFAS are found in mosses, pine needles and eggs of backyard chickens in all three (3) areas around the waste incinerators by bioassay FITC-T4 measurements.
4) High levels of PAH are found in mosses, and pine needles around all three (3) waste incinerators by bioassay PAH CALUX.
Full ToxicoWatch report Biomonitoring 2022 Kaunas (LT), Madrid (ES) and Pilsen (CZ):
