Six years ago, minister of eight arctic nations - the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia -joined together six years ago to form the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). They sought to collect data about levels of contaminants, their pathways into the north, and all other relevant components of the Arctic environment.

The Arctic Council is comprised of representatives of each nation, who recommend policy on northern issues to their respective governments. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Saami Council, and Indigenous Minorities of the Russian North, Far East and Siberia have permanent membership on the Arctic Council.

The AMAP report, "Arctic Pollution Issues: A State of the Environment Report", delivered in Norway this summer, provides a layman's look at the presence of persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, radionuclides and other contaminants across the arctic. It has focused on long range trans-boundary pollutants carried through wind or water to places far from their origin. It is intended to be readable and readily comprehensible, and does not contain the extensive background data or references to scientific literature. The complete scientific basis and documentation is contained in a related report, "The AMAP Assessment Report: Arctic Pollution Issues." It will be published in autumn 1997.

Among the reports findings:

• Levels of some contaminants, like lead, are decreasing, demonstrating that efforts to reduce emissions can work.
• Some contaminants have sources within the arctic, such as PCBs from old military sites and heavy metals from mining activities. Untreated sewage and burning of fossil fuels also affects some communities.
• Some contaminants, such as mercury, cadmium and PCBs are present in animals harvested for subsistence foods at levels that cause concern about long-term effects of consuming wild foods.
• Much of the radioactive contamination occurred in testing in the 1950's and 1960's, but old reactions and decomissioned nuclear submarines in the former Soviet Union remain a threat.
• Ultraviolet radiation and climate change are a great concern, but little is currently know about their potential impacts.

Information regarding AMAP and the Arctic Council may be found on the World Wide Web, at http:/ /www.grida.no/amapi

For further information, the U.S. AMAP national contact is: Edward Myers, National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Research Laboratory, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA, e-mail: Ed.Myers@NOAA.gov or EdM@oar3l.oar.noaa.gov .

Lars- Otto Reiersen, AMAP Secretariat, can provide information regarding AMAP publications. He can be reached at: P.O. Box 8100 Dep., N-0032 Oslo, Norway, tele: +4722 5735 44, fax: +4722 676706, e-mail: lars-otto.reiersen @sftospost.md.dep.telemax.no .

ICC may also be able to provide some information. The Anchorage office can be reached at 274-9058.