Meet our Mistra Fellow Johan Strandberg

Johan Strandberg has come back to Stockholm after being Mistra Fellow at WHO in Geneva. Mistra Fellow is a program that allows researchers to work for an international policy organisation, gaining personal experiences and acquiring knowledge that may come to use in the Mistra program or Sweden, in broader terms. 

What did you do at WHO?

I was a part of the Drinking-Water quality team at WHO headquarters in Geneva. It is a five-person team responsible for, among others, publishing the Drinking-Water Quality Guidelines, including the guideline values and guidance on Water Safety Plans. I have supported the team in finalising the 2nd addendum to the 4th edition of the guidelines, which means coordinating reviews of background documents with more than 150 experts worldwide.

During my secondment, I also led the development of a “technical brief” on lead in drinking-water. It is a problem in many parts of the world, originating mainly from plumbing and pipes made of lead or lead alloys such as brass. Globally, lead poisoning accounts for around 2 million deaths per year, mainly from exhausts caused by the informal recycling of lead batteries. I finished an external draft of the brief last week. Now it is being reviewed by Unicef, World Vision, Water Aid and other organisations. If they find our recommendations sound, it might be that we will all agree on a co-branded recommendation.

How is this connected to your work at Mistra TerraClean?

Drinking-water is one of the research areas within Mistra TerraClean. In the program, we have mainly focused on PFAS removal since it is of concern for Swedish drinking water producers. From my WHO perspective, I can see that its well-spent resources since PFAS is up and coming. Two of the substances that will be added in the 2nd addendum are PFOS and PFOA. However, the discussion has revolved around the fact that treatment costs are still too high for most countries. This is where MTC could fill a gap. 

What is the goal of your research?

WHO’s goal within WASH is to increase the number of people who have access to safe water. Today, 2 billion people don’t have that. The primary concern is fecally contaminated drinking-water, which kills 2 million children each year.