The donation of Gunnar Jegrelius' research archive from his company, Glykocid Research AB, now comprises around 6 million documents that are equivalent to 800 shelf metres of material. The material stretches from the 1600s until 1981 and contains may unique documents, particularly from 1966 and earlier.

For innovators and businesses who see commercial value in developing products that are free of hazardous substances, we know that the archive can be a gold mine full of inspiration. We also believe that the material is so rich that one or more Ph.D.s in the field of environmental history are possible.

Are you interested or do you have ideas about how this heritage could be made more accessible? Please contact us!

Download the history of Gunnar Jegrelius and his archive as a pdf.

The archive's contents

The archive's system of documents that emphasise applied product development, with a focus on the substances' risks, is unique. The core of the archive is interdisciplinary knowledge in plant chemistry, natural products and modern synthetic chemicals, with a focus on analytical chemistry, toxicology and risk assessment.

Factual documents are systematised, along with individual products and ideas for new and innovative solutions based on the substance's function and known risks. Product groups that are particularly well represented in the archive are detergents, cosmetics, hygiene products and various types of foodstuffs.

The archive includes:

• 8,000 handbooks on various substances
• 1,000s of internal investigations by Glykocid Research AB, supplemented by reports from authorities, organisations and companies around the world
• 4,000 monographs on around 50,000 technical substances manufactured in larger amounts than 500 kg per year
• 300 specific substance monographs

A good example from the Archive

At the end of the 1980s, when environmental engineer Peter Mosten was working at Mitthögskolan, developing a search system for finding information in the Jegrelius Archive, he found a very old recipe for a drink based on birch sap.

After several years of product development, there is now a bubbling Jämtlandic birch sap wine on sale - SAV. The company has based its production in Frösön, Jämtland. You can find more information about the company and the product's history on its website.