This assessment report presents the results of the 2015 AMAP Assessment of Human Health in the Arctic. This is the fourth AMAP assessment dealing with this issue in a sequence and updates the assessments delivered in 1998, 2002 and 2009.

The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) is a group working under the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council Ministers have requested AMAP to:

• produce integrated assessment reports on the status and trends of the conditions of the Arctic ecosystems

• identify possible causes for the changing conditions

• detect emerging problems, their possible causes, and the potential risk to Arctic ecosystems including indigenous peoples and other Arctic residents

• recommend actions required to reduce risks to Arctic ecosystems.

This report provides the accessible scientific basis and validation for the statements and recommendations made in the Summary for Policy-makers: Arctic Pollution Issues 2015 report that was delivered to Arctic Council Ministers at their meeting in Iqaluit, Canada in April 2015. It is also the basis for a related AMAP State of the Arctic Environment report Arctic Pollution Issues 2015: Overview. It includes extensive background data and references to the scientific literature, and details the sources for graphics reproduced in the overview report. Whereas the Summary for Policy-makers report contains recommendations that focus mainly on policy-relevant actions concerned with addressing contaminant impacts on Arctic human populations, the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report also cover issues of a more scientific nature, such as proposals for filling gaps in knowledge, and recommendations relevant to future monitoring and research work.

For further details, please access this report here:

http://www.amap.no/documents/doc/AMAP-Assessment-2015-Human-Health-in-the-Arctic/1346