Kansanterveyslaitos, National Public Health Institute, is a governmental research institute, and its aim is to promote people’s possibilities to live a healthy life style KTL is responsible, as an expert body under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, for providing professionals and the public with the best available information. It employs around 1,000 people, and its main aims are disease prevention and improvement of quality of life, focussing on the areas of infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and environmental health. It also performs health surveys to monitor the state of health in Finland. The Department of Environmental Health is located in Kuopio, close to the University of Kuopio with its health and health sciences courses. The University is important as a collaborator and as a source of new personnel. The Department has over 100 employees divided into five units, headed by top-level scientists.

There is a long tradition of research into exposure to environmental factors (chemicals, air pollutants, indoor air), toxicology and environmental epidemiology. The department has an interdisciplinary approach to research topics, engaging three to five units in all areas of major research (chlorination by-products of drinking water, dioxins and PCBs in the environment and food, and their toxicology and health effects, fine particulate matter of urban air, and indoor mould problems). The Department has an excellent reputation in the fields of exposure assessment, environmental analytical chemistry, environmental epidemiology, and toxicology. Risk analysis has recently become an important area of development, and the Academy of Finland granted the Department the "Centre of Excellence in Environmental Health Risk Analysis" status for the years 2002 to 2007.

Key persons for the present proposal will be Prof. Matti Jantunen, Ph.D., Head of Air Hygiene Laboratory, Docent Jouni Tuomisto, M.D., Dr. Med. Sci., who is the main expert in the Risk Analysis Group. They will act as principal investigators and Work package leaders. They will be assisted by Prof. Juha Pekkanen, M.D., Dr. Med. Sci., Head of Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Prof. Terttu Vartiainen, Ph.D., Director of the Department and Head of Chemistry laboratory, Docent Aino Nevalainen, Ph.D., Head of Environmental Microbiology Unit, and Docent Pia Verkasalo, M.D., Dr. Med: Sci. Prof. (emeritus) Jouni Tuomisto Former director of the Department, will be active as consultant for the project.

KTL is leader of WPs 1.2 (Source-exposure) and 1.4 (Risk characterisation) and will make substantial contributions to WPs 1.1 (Integrated assessment framework), 1.3 (Exposure-health effect), 1.5 (Cross-cutting issues), 2.3 (Health surveillance), 3.1 (Transport), 3.2 (Housing), 3.4 (Water), 3.5 (Chemicals), 4.1 (Toolbox design), 4.2 (Toolbox construction) and 5.2 (Internal training).