1. INTRODUCTION

The Environmental Health Monitoring System (hereafter Monitoring System) is a comprehensive system of collection, processing and evaluation of data on environmental contaminants and their effects on population health in the Czech Republic (CZ). Its particular subsystems have been run routinely since 1994, so the year 2003 is the tenth year of the standard monitoring activities. The Monitoring System is an open system and has developed continuously in terms of both the range of factors and pollutants monitored and methods of data processing and presentation.

The Monitoring System has been operated as set out by Resolution No. 369/1991 of the Government of the Czech Republic. It is relied upon in the new Act No. 258/2000 on public health protection and is one of the priorities of the National Environmental Health Action Plan in the Czech Republic approved in Government resolution No. 810/1998. The data obtained within this Monitoring System provide important background information for the long-term program focused on the improvement of population health in the Czech Republic, called “Health for All in the 21 Century”, and approved by Resolution No. 1046/2002 of the Government of the Czech Republic. The data have also been used in the assessment of impact of various activities, constructions and projects on health as required within Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

In 2003, a report “Evaluation and revision of the monitoring according to current requirements and legislation” was elaborated by the Monitoring System Headquarters, taking into account the needs for comprehensiveness of data, timing of sampling, selection of representative spectrum of compounds to be monitored, geographical distribution of sampling sites, etc. The ongoing projects were also updated based on experience gained from the Monitoring System operation and with a focus on cost effectiveness. The Report was discussed by the Advisory Board of the Public Health Chief Officer and was accepted by the Ministry of Health.

The Summary Report of the Monitoring System 2003 as the tenth one in the continuous series provides additional data on environmental health monitoring. It recapitulates the results obtained within the individual subsystems in 2003 and compares them with those of the previous years. Aggregated results are presented as background information for the national authorities making decisions on environmental health, for the Public Health Service, co-operating sectors and institutions and for the interested public.

The results are provided in detail in the Technical Reports of the individual subsystems (in Czech) available through the Internet at the address of the National Institute of Public Health www.szu.cz/chzp/index.htm together with the Summary Report (in English) (www.szu.cz/chzpa/sumrep.htm).

Note: The terms and abbreviations used in the text, figures and tables are explained in Chapter 13.

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