National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

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National Vaccin Institute
National Institute for Public Health and the
Environment Bilthoven, The Netherlands
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Core facts

• Established in 1909
• Employs 1500 men and women
• Has a budget of 180 million
• Consists of 30 labs/centres, 4 divisions
• Carries out independent research (laid down in
  the RIVM Act)
• Boasts 300 projects annually

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The RIVM is the National Institute for Public
Health and Environment
Research on environment and health protection
policy support
Political responsibility and strategic decisions
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Mission of RIVM

• Development integration of actual scientific
  knowledge
• Makes this knowledge accessible for policymakers
• Facilitates policymakers
• and inspectorates
• Scope
• Public Health
• Infectious Disease
• Environment and Safety
• Nutrition and Food safety
• Nature

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RIVM organization chart
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Research for Policy Support

• Environment and Health
• Measurement of air water and soil pollution
• Human and ecological exposure assessment
• Toxicological, human clinical and epidemiological
  research
• Health risk assessment
• Ecological risk assessment
• Risk management options
• Impact of contaminating substances
• Disaster control

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The source-risk chain
Source
Emission
Dispersion
Exposure
Dose effect
Risk
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Our tasks within the safety chain
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All environmental risks
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Laboratory for Ecological Risk Assessment (LER)
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Personel LER december 2008
43 permanent staff 38 fte 6 temporary staff
trainees Of whom 40 academics
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Most important policy dossiers

• Surface water and groundwater (EU Water Framework
  Directive)
• Soil (Policy Letter Soil, European Soil Strategy)
• Plant Protection Products
• Biodiversity
• Soil sanitation
• Chemical compounds

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Most important activities

• Development ecological risk assessment
  methodology
• Partners SEC / Alterra / RIZA / universities /
  international
• Development proposals environmental quality
  criteria
• Partners SEC / SIR / LVM / IMD / Alterra / univ.
  / international
• Inventarisation soil sanitation operation
• Partners SenterNovem / local governments
• Development decision support systems
• Partners Alterra / RIZA / international

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LER tasks

• Assessment and advice on effects of different
  types of environmental stress, in their mutual
  coherence, on structure and functioning of
  ecosystems.
• Weigh up of human and ecological risks of
  contamination, followed by proposals of
  environmental quality criteria
• experimental and model research
• development of decision support systems.
• expertise areas
• exposure assessment and environmental chemistry
• ecotoxicological effects
• ecological effects (foodwebs / multistress)
• risk assessment