Combining flux monitoring and data reconstruction to establish annual budgets of suspended particulate matter, mercury and PCB in the Rhône River from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea

Poulier, Gaëlle; Launay, M.; Bescond, C. Le; Thollet, Fabien; Coquery, Marina; Coz, Jérôme Le

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.075

Cited by 49 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Concentrations on the Lower Rhône are very close to the Middle Rhône concentrations and suggest a long-distance diffusion of this pollution. Moreover, on the lower section, ∑PCBi concentrations are expected to be diluted by the 415 high sediment load of some tributaries, such as the Durance River (1 to 2 Mt.year -1 ; Poulier et al, 2019). Our hypothesis, based on the compilation of numerous data analysis, clearly contrasts with the previous assumptionbased on a total of 8 cores of which only one was located on the lower section -of an exponential increase of PCB pollution in the downstream direction (Mourier et al, 2014).…”

Section: Spatio-temporal Distribution Of Pcbs In Each Basincontrasting

confidence: 60%

“…This calculation was based on annual water discharge (m 3 .s -1 ) and SPM concentrations (mg.L -1 ) relationships since 1977 at the main gauging stations located upstream of tidal influence zones ( Fig. 1; for specific equations see: Coynel et al, 2004;GIP Seine Aval, 2008;Moatar and Dupont, 2016;Poulier et al, 2019). Finally, we normalized this load to the drainage area at each gauging station to get specific flow rates of ∑PCBi (µg.m -².year -1 ).…”

Section: Time Series Analysis and Specific Flow Rates 190mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-temporal assessment of the PCB sediment contamination in the four main French River Basins (1945–2018)

Dendievel

Mourier

Coynel

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Environmental pollution by Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) is a key concern about river quality because of their low degradation rates leading to their accumulation in sediments or living organisms. This original interdisciplinary work was conducted at a large scale along the four main French rivers (Seine, Rhône, Loire and Garonne Rivers), which flow into major European seas. We completed a dataset based on sediment analyses provided by monitoring agencies, port authorities and research teams on different solid matrices (cores, bed and flood sediments, suspended particulate matters, dredged sediments). This dataset (n=1416) focused on the seven indicator PCBs and their sum (∑PCBi) from 1945 to 2018. Special effort was put on the quality control to provide robust spatio-temporal information. Taking into account hydrological and human drivers, we outlined two main pollution trends: (1) from 1945 to 1975, a quick increase of ∑PCBi (up to 4 mg.kg−1 dry weight, dw) and a sharp decrease in the 1980s on the Seine and Loire Rivers; (2) increasing but moderate ∑PCBi levels (50 to 150 µg.kg−1 dw) followed by a decline after the 1990s on the Rhône and Garonne Rivers. In addition to these patterns, PCBs emissions from urban and industrial areas or accidental events were significant on each river. Finally, when calculating specific fluxes, the Rhône River exhibited the biggest ∑PCBi load (up to 12 µg.m−2.year−1 in 1977–1987), at least 25 % higher than those of the Seine and Loire Rivers, while the Garonne River showed very low fluxes. French specific ∑PCBi fluxes are two orders of magnitude lower than those found in American or Asian Rivers. In Europe, we confirmed that the Rhone and Seine Rivers provide a major supply of PCBi to the Western Mediterranean and the English Channel, respectively. The dataset is available at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.904277.

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Section: Spatio-temporal Distribution Of Pcbs In Each Basincontrasting

confidence: 60%

Section: Time Series Analysis and Specific Flow Rates 190mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal assessment of the PCB sediment contamination in the four main French River Basins (1945–2018)

Dendievel

Mourier

Coynel

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…The Hg concentrations detected in the Ebro Estuary were similar to those detected in the Rhone Delta during the 1980s, ranging mainly from 0.6 to 0.9 mg kg -1 (Figueres et al, 1985, Cossa and, but they were significantly higher than those detected at the Beaucaire gauging station (located 60 km upstream from the Rhone River mouth) between 2011 and 2016, which showed a mean Hg concentration of 0.095 mg kg -1 (Poulier, 2019). This means that, over the past 30 years, major improvements in wastewater treatment through implementation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) have helped reduce the pollutants in the Rhone River (Olivier et al, 2008), whereas in the Ebro River, the industrial waste deposit of the Flix Reservoir is a historic Hg source that still needs to be removed.…”

Section: Implications Of the Ffs In The Estuarysupporting

confidence: 57%

Effects of flushing flows on the transport of mercury-polluted particulate matter from the Flix Reservoir to the Ebro Estuary

Palanqués

Guillén

Puig

et al. 2020

Journal of Environmental Management

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Polluted sediments retained in water reservoirs are potential sources of deleterious materials downstream, especially during floods or flushing flows (FFs). Their interaction with these events is important for determining potential risks and evaluating management actions. In the Ebro River, the Flix Reservoir accumulated a deposit of more than 3 x10 5 t of industrial waste with high Hg concentrations. Because suspended particulate matter (SPM) is the main driver of Hg pollution downriver, this study analyses the transport of particulate matter and Hg pollution from the Flix Reservoir to the Ebro Estuary during FFs. Time series of currents, turbidity and downward particulate matter fluxes were obtained by current meters, turbidimeters and sediment traps assembled in benthic tripods. They were deployed in the reservoir and at two locations in the estuary during two recording periods that each captured a flushing flow (FF) event. In addition, SPM samples were collected during the study period at several locations along the river course, from upstream of the Flix Reservoir down to the river mouth, to measure the suspended particulate matter and associated Hg mobilized downstream. A continuous background level of Hg pollution was observed during the deployment periods, but the Hg and particulate matter fluxes increased by between one and two orders of magnitude during FFs. Though the two events reached similar water discharges, the first FF was after the wet season and generated lower particulate matter concentrations and fluxes, but higher Hg contents than the second, which occurred after the dry season. The higher available particulate matter in the second event diluted the polluted Hg particle load more than the first event. Thus, similar FFs may result in 3 different Hg concentration and sediment transport episodes, largely depending on the previous hydrological regime and the river sediment availability. These findings should be considered for FF management.

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“…The Rhone River delivers 2-10 Mt of sediments and~50 × 10 9 m 3 of freshwater annually and large amounts of nutrients and inorganic/organic carbon (Sempéré et al, 2000;Eyrolle et al, 2012). It is also a known source of classical anthropogenic organic compounds like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Mourier et al, 2014;Poulier et al, 2019), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Guigue et al, 2014), and dicarboxylic acids (Sempéré et al, 2018). Furthermore, the presence of the major families of organic plastic additives, like phthalates acid and organophosphate esters (PAE and OPE, respectively) and bisphenols in the Rhone surface waters have been very recently reported (Paluselli et al, 2018;Schmidt et al, n.d.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macro-litter in surface waters from the Rhone River: Plastic pollution and loading to the NW Mediterranean Sea

Castro-Jiménez

González-Fernández

Fornier

et al. 2019

Marine Pollution Bulletin

167

107

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We present here the first estimates of floating macro-litter in surface waters from the Rhone River, based on monthly visual observations during 1-year period (2016-2017). Plastic represented 77% of the identified items, confirming its predominance in riverine floating litter. Fragments (2.5-50 cm) and Single Use Plastics (i.e. bags, bottles and cover/packaging) were among the most abundant items. Frequent non-plastic floating litter were paper items such as packaging material and newspapers, and metal items (mostly cans), representing 14% and 5% of total litter, respectively. A lower-end estimate resulted in ∼223,000 plastic items (∼0.7 t of plastic) transported annually by the Rhone surface waters to the Gulf of Lion (NW Mediterranean Sea). Floating macroplastics are only a fraction of the total plastic export by the Rhone. Our study highlights the current discrepancy between field observations and theoretical estimations. Improvements are needed to harmonize data collection methodologies for field studies and model validation.

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Combining flux monitoring and data reconstruction to establish annual budgets of suspended particulate matter, mercury and PCB in the Rhône River from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea

Cited by 49 publications

References 45 publications

Spatio-temporal assessment of the PCB sediment contamination in the four main French River Basins (1945–2018)

Spatio-temporal assessment of the PCB sediment contamination in the four main French River Basins (1945–2018)

Effects of flushing flows on the transport of mercury-polluted particulate matter from the Flix Reservoir to the Ebro Estuary

Macro-litter in surface waters from the Rhone River: Plastic pollution and loading to the NW Mediterranean Sea

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