Chemical monitoring of Swedish coastal waters indicates common exceedances of environmental thresholds, both for individual substances as well as their mixtures
Journal article, 2017

Chemical pollution was monitored and assessed along the Swedish west coast. 62 of 172 analyzed organic chemicals were detected in the water phase of at least one of five monitored sites. A Concentration Addition based screening-level risk assessment indicates that all sites are put at risk from chemical contamination, with total risk quotients between 2 and 9. Only at one site did none of the individual chemicals exceeded its corresponding environmental threshold (PNEC, EQS). The monitoring data thus demonstrate a widespread blanket of diffuse pollution, with no clear trends among sites. Further issues critical for the environmental chemical risk assessment include the challenges to achieve sufficiently low levels of detection, especially for hormones and cypermethrin (a pyrethroid insecticide), the appropriate consideration of non-detects and the limited availability of reliable PNECs and EQS values.

Risk assessment

Pesticide

Joint Algal Toxicity

Marine Periphyton

Risk-Assessment

Chemical mixture

Multi-residue screening

Triclosan

Contamination

Pharmaceuticals

Mass-Spectrometry

Non-target screening

Mixtures

Surface Waters

Tridosan

Pollutants

Author

B. M. Gustaysson

University of Gothenburg

J. Magner

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

B. C. Almroth

University of Gothenburg

Martin Eriksson

Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2)

Joachim Sturve

University of Gothenburg

Thomas Backhaus

University of Gothenburg

Marine Pollution Bulletin

0025-326X (ISSN) 1879-3363 (eISSN)

Vol. 122 1-2 409-419

Subject Categories

Marine Engineering

Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.082

More information

Latest update

3/7/2018 1