Prioritization of substances for national ambient monitoring of sediment in Switzerland

Abstract

In Switzerland, surface waters are protected by the Swiss Water Protection Ordinance (OEaux; OFEV 1998), which stipulates that the water quality shall be such that the water, suspended matter, and sediments contain no persistent synthetic substances to ensure the protection of aquatic life. Local agencies are in charge of water quality monitoring, using a set of validated methods. Several lists of priority substances have been developed for aquatic microcontaminants for surface water monitoring but not for sediments. Some local agencies have established sediment monitoring programs, but to date, there exists no harmonized methodology for sediment quality assessment in Switzerland. Within the main goal of developing and providing methodologies for monitoring sediment quality in Switzerland, a screening was performed to help prioritize sediment-relevant microcontaminants. The screening approach was largely based on the NORMAN (network of reference laboratories, research centers, and related organizations for monitoring emerging environmental substances) system and was carried out in four steps: (1) identification of candidate substances, (2) selection of sediment relevant substances, (3) classification of substances into different categories based on identified data gaps and envisaged actions, and (4) ranking within each action category. This paper describes the methodology used in the prioritization process for sediment-relevant substances and provides recommendations for monitoring strategies in Switzerland.

Application of prioritization approaches to optimize environmental monitoring and testing of pharmaceuticals

“…The reason for limiting the scope to surface water might be a current lack of validated exposure models suitable for predicting concentrations in other relevant environmental compartments such as sediments, biosolids, soils and porewater. Only three prioritizations included or focused on the sediment compartment (Al-Khazrajy and Olsen et al 2013;Casado-Martinez et al 2017). Another exposure pathway overlooked in the vast majority of reviewed approaches is the application of biosolids (Guo et al 2016) and reclaimed irrigation waters (Lees et al 2016) to agricultural fields.…”

Pesticide prioritization approaches and limitations in environmental monitoring studies: From Europe to Latin America and the Caribbean

“…During 2016-2017, prioritization studies on both pharmaceuticals and pesticides have been published (Donnachie et al 2016;Al-Khazrajy and Boxall, 2016;Guo et al 2016;Skinner et al 2016;Casado-Martinez et al, 2018;Gros et al 2017;Tousova et al 2017;Munthe et al 2017). Donnachie et al (2016) group the pharmaceutical prioritization approaches used by environmental scientists into those based on: a) sales and usage, b) occurrence in the environment, c) risk ratio, and d) multiple variables schemes (persistency; bioaccumulation; ecotoxicity; chemical properties; weather conditions).…”

“…In their exercise 16 substances were highly ranked. Sediment-relevant microcontaminants were classified into 5 categories according to exposure and effect data and ranked according to exposure, hazard and risk scores within each category (Casado-Martinez et al, 2018). Gros et al (2017) applied a prioritization strategy in wastewater and 20 topranked chemicals (including priority substances of the EU WFD) were identified based on the compound concentrations, removal efficiency, frequency of detection and on in silico-based data for toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation.…”

The Swiss Ecotox Centre: bridging the gap between research and application

“…Therefore, the Ecotox Centre together with the FOEN has been developing a “Sediment Module” within the “Swiss Modular Stepwise Procedure (Modul-Stufen-Konzept 5 )”, which aims at establishing guidelines for ecological assessment of surface waters. The goal is to establish a comprehensive methodology for the ecotoxicological evaluation of sediment quality, which will include sampling, the development of sediment quality standards for priority chemicals, as well as—at a later stage—the application of bioassays and community indices [ 7 , 8 , 15 ].…”