Chapter 1.2 Chemical Monitoring of Surface Waters

A strategy for dealing with pollution of water from chemicals is set out in Article 16 of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD). As a first step of this strategy, a list of priority substances was adopted (Decision 2455/2001/EC) identifying 33 substances or groups of substances of priority concern at Community level. Recently, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive to protect surface water from pollution (COM(2006)397 final). The proposed Directive will set limits on concentrations in surface waters of 41 dangerous chemical substances including 33 priority substances and 8 other pollutants that pose a particular risk to animal and plant life in the aquatic environment and to human health. The proposal is accompanied by a Communication (COM(2006)398 final) which elaborates on this approach and an Impact Assessment (SEC(2006)947), which illustrates the choices that the Commission made. In addition, the WFD requires Member States to identify specific pollutants in their river basins, and to include them in the monitoring programmes. Monitoring of both WFD priority substances and other pollutants for the purpose of determination of the chemical and ecological status shall be performed according to Article 8 and Annex V of the WFD. The book chapter deals with the guidelines for chemical monitoring available at the current state of preparation for the upcoming directive on Environmental quality standards.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Needs for Reliable Analytical Methods for Monitoring Chemical Pollutants in Surface Water Under the European Water Framework Directive

The state of the art in monitoring chemical pollutants to assess water quality status according Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the challenges associated with have been reviewed. The article includes information on Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs) proposed to protect aquatic environment and humans against hazardous substances and the resulting monitoring requirements. Furthermore, minimum performance criteria for analytical methods and quality assurance issues have been discussed. The result of a survey of existing standard methods with focus on European (EN) and international standards (ISO) for the analysis of chemical pollutants in water is reported and the applicability of those methods for the purpose of compliance checking with EQSs is examined. Approximately 75 % of the 41 hazardous substances for which Europe wide EQSs have been proposed can be reliably monitored in water with acceptable uncertainty when applying existing standardised methods. Monitoring in water encounters difficulties, e.g. for short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tributyltin compounds, certain organochlorine pesticides and six-ring PAHs, mainly for lack of validated, sufficient sensitive, and in routine laboratory conditions applicable methods. As WFD requires monitoring of unfiltered samples for organic contaminants more attention needs to be paid to distribution of chemical pollutants between suspend particulate matter and the liquid phase. Methods allowing complete extraction of organic contaminants from whole water samples are required. From a quality assurance point of view, there is a need to organise interlaboratory comparisons specifically designed to the requirements of WFD (concentrations around EQSs, representative water samples) as well as field trials to compare sampling methodologies. Additional analytical challenges may arise when Member States will have identified their river basin specifi pollutants and after revision of the list of priority substances.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Sample preparation and chromatographic methods applied to congener-specific analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers

This chapter reviews the recent literature and highlights the technical and methodological improvements in the analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Sample preparation, extraction of the analytes and clean-up are discussed with emphasis on recent developments. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is discussed for the instrumental analysis of PBDEs. The most important parameters that may affect accurate measurements of PBDEs are also included. Information related to quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures used in the analysis of PBDEs, including method validation parameters and possible sources for biased results, is given in detail. An overview of recent inter-laboratory studies on PBDEs and a discussion of the scores and outcomes conclude the chapter.JRC.D.2-Standards for Innovation and sustainable Developmen

Laboratory Intercomparison Study on the Analysis of Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in an Extract of Industrial Soil

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are a class of organic pollutants used in many industrial applications, and released into the environment , whose analytical determination is very challenging. Although at present there is no fully validated measurement procedure which might be applied in routine monitoring, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires regular monitoring of this class of compounds at river basin scale starting from 2007. to assess the status quo in the analysis of SCCPs in relation to the requirements posed by the WFD, an interlaboratory comparison on the quantification of SCCPs in an extract of an industrial soil has been organised. Six laboratories participated in the present exercise using three different techniques, gas chromatography (GC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) in the electron capture negative ionization (ECNI) mode, GC with atomic emission detection (AED), and carbon skeleton GC-MS. the reported result ranged from 8.5 mg L-1 to 3200 mg L-1. This confirms that reliable quantification of SCCPs is still very difficult to achieve and that comparability of SCCP data reported to the European Commission is at least questionable.JRC.D.2-Reference material

Determination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in biota and sediment

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are environmental contaminants regulated by the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants. Being hydrophobic and lipophilic, these compounds accumulate in the marine environment in sediments and lipid-rich tissue of marine organisms, making these matrices preferred media for environmental monitoring. This document focuses on the analysis of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs (i.e. non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs), which have a similar planar molecular structure to PCDD/Fs, and therefore, exhibit similar toxic effects. As concentrations in the environment are low and common analytical methods lead to co-extractions of a large variety of potentially interfering compounds, analytical procedures are complex. The present document includes comments and advice on sampling and sample pre-treatment steps, suitable extraction and clean-up procedures as well as pre-concentration methods and highlights the importance of extract clean-up and the risk of contamination. Furthermore, suitable methods for instrumental analysis are discussed, in terms of gas chromatographic separation, compound identification and quantification and detection methods. Although high resolution mass spectrometry often is the method of choice, low resolution mass spectrometry can also provide sufficiently sensitive analyses, in particular for screening purposes. In this context, bioassays can also play a role, which reflect a cumulative toxicity rather than concentrations of individual congeners. The paper also discusses general aspects of good laboratory practice, quality assurance/quality control and laboratory safety

Harmonised protocols for method validation for monitoring and biomonitoring of emerging pollutants - Developed by the NORMAN network

International audienceComparability and reliability of monitoring data are essential for any meaningful assessment and for the management of environmental risks. For emerging pollutants, there is concern regarding the comparability of data at the European level. Methods used for the monitoring of emerging pollutants have often not been properly validated either in-house or at the international level. Such methods are often not well established in the scientific community, and far from being harmonised or standardised. In addition, they may only be applicable to specific conditions (matrix, organism) which may further complicate data comparability. Within the EU-funded coordination action "NORMAN - Network of Reference Laboratories for Monitoring and Bio-monitoring of Emerging Pollutants", a common European approach to the validation of both chemical and biological methods for the respective monitoring and bio-monitoring of emerging pollutants (or their effects) in a broad range of matrices has been developed. This guidance document addresses three different validation approaches, in increasing order of complexity. These are : 1. Within-laboratory validation (research level) ; 2. Basic external validation (transferability at expert level) ; 3. Inter-laboratory validation (routine level). The concept of these three approaches is strictly hierarchical, i.e. a method must fulfil all criteria of the lower level before it can enter the validation protocol of a higher level. In the case of a specific monitoring task, this protocol will guide the user through the following steps : I. Evaluation and classification of existing methods with respect to their potential, both in terms of validation, and the selection of an appropriate validation approach ; II. Development of a method, in terms of extending its application ; III. The validation procedures to be undertaken in order to effectively demonstrate the validation status of a selected method according to the three approaches adopted. The scope of the harmonised protocol covers quantitative and qualitative biological and chemical test methods for the analysis of water, air, soil and biota. The protocols have been tested in three case studies, each one matching one of the three validation levels. Based on the feedback from the case studies, the protocols have been improved. Future validation studies (for methods to monitor emerging pollutants) by the NORMAN network will make use of the protocols, and it is intended to implement the protocols at the level of European Standardisation (e.g. as CEN guidance document)

Marine Strategy Framework Directive. task group 8 : report contaminants and pollution effects

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) (MSFD) requires that the European Commission (by 15 July 2010) should lay down criteria and methodological standards to allow consistency in approach in evaluating the extent to which Good Environmental Status (GES) is being achieved. ICES and JRC were contracted to provide scientific support for the Commission in meeting this obligation. A total of 10 reports have been prepared relating to the descriptors of GES listed in Annex I of the Directive. Eight reports have been prepared by groups of independent experts coordinated by JRC and ICES in response to this contract. In addition, reports for two descriptors (Contaminants in fish and other seafood and Marine Litter) were written by expert groups coordinated by DG SANCO and IFREMER respectively. A Task Group was established for each of the qualitative Descriptors. Each Task Group consisted of selected experts providing experience related to the four marine regions (the Baltic Sea, the North-east Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea) and an appropriate scope of relevant scientific expertise. Observers from the Regional Seas Conventions were also invited to each Task Group to help ensure the inclusion of relevant work by those Conventions. This is the report of Task Group 8 Contaminants and pollution effects