Introduction

Abstract

This book is based on the results of a three-year research project under the 4^th Framework Programme for Research of the European Union (EU) called EUPHEMET; an acronym for the full title ‘Towards an Integrated EU Policy for Heavy Metals’. The initiators from the University of Athens, the Institute for European Environmental Policy — Brussels V.z.W. and the ICON group of Imperial College, London, drafted the project proposal because they felt that, in spite of the many efforts of the European Commission and national and other international institutions, the resulting policies and regulations insufficiently reflected the specific characteristics of heavy metals.