The SOLUTIONS project: Challenges and responses for present and future emerging pollutants in land and water resources management

Abstract

SOLUTIONS (2013SOLUTIONS ( to 2018) is a European Union Seventh Framework Programme Project (EU-FP7) that aims to deliver a solution-oriented conceptual framework for the evidence-based development of environmental policies with regard to water quality and its protection against contamination. This project will integrate innovative chemical and effect-based monitoring tools with a full set of exposure, effect and risk assessment models and strategies to assess abatement options. Uniquely, SOLUTIONS takes advantage of (i) expertise of leading European scientists of major FP6/FP7 projects on chemicals in the water cycle, (ii) access to the infrastructure necessary to investigate the large basins of the Danube and Rhine as well as relevant Mediterranean basins as case studies, and (iii) innovative approaches for stakeholder dialogue and support. In particular, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) working groups, International River Commissions, and water works associations will be directly supported with consistent guidance for the early detection, identification, prioritization, and abatement options for chemicals in the water cycle. A set of predictive models and tools will support stakeholders' management decisions by benefiting from the wealth of data generated from monitoring and chemical registration. SOLUTIONS will provide a specific emphasis on concepts and tools for the impact and risk assessment of complex mixtures of emerging pollutants, their metabolites and transformation products. Analytical and effect-based screening tools will be applied together with ecological assessment tools for the identification of toxicants and their impacts. Beyond state-of-the-art monitoring and management, tools will be elaborated allowing risk identification for aquatic ecosystems and human health. The SOLUTIONS approach will provide transparent and evidence-based suggestions of River Basin Specific Pollutants for the case study basins and support future review of priority pollutants under the WFD as well as potential abatement options.

Developments in water quality monitoring and management in large river catchments using the Danube River as an example

“…This potential has now been embodied in the Environmental Quality Standards Directive 2008/105/EC (EC, 2008) as a monitoring approach for use in relation to the WFD (Carere et al, 2012a,b). Nevertheless, the number and types of new and emerging compounds present considerable challenges for catchment managers; for example in identifying and monitoring specific compounds and in identifying appropriate ways to control or mitigate specific problems (Brack et al, 2015;Cooper et al, 2008;Petrovic 2014).…”

“…There is therefore an urgent need for chemical and effect-based monitoring tools to inform new models of exposure and risk assessment (Brack et al, 2015). These require the application of sound science and, specifically, good understanding of pollutant sources, transport pathways and ultimately the fate of pollutants.…”

“…One possibility would be to prioritise non-target screening data, which is being considered by the NORMAN Working Group on Prioritisation (www.norman-network.net). Other approaches based on risk assessment and modelling emissions from dispensing data, could also prove useful in assisting in selection of the compounds likely to present the greatest environmental or human health risk in water bodies (Bottoni et al, 2010;Brack et al, 2015;Cooper et al, 2008;Daughton, 2014;Kugathas et al, 2012;Oosterhuis et al, 2013;Wajsman and Rudén, 2005). JDS 3 also demonstrated the feasibility of effect-based screening at a river basin-wide scale using on-site, large volume extraction even under conditions of high dilution.…”

Eco-epidemiology of aquatic ecosystems: Separating chemicals from multiple stressors

“…Regarding 'software', the case studies substantiate how the regulatory link between chemical and water assessments could look like (as present in REACH via Article 2.4 and the Water Framework Directive in its concept of Good Chemical Quality), and they cover the goals of a non-toxic environment and good ecological status simultaneously. Regarding 'mindware', a solutionfocused orientation used next to causal analysis supports finding sensible but as yet unexpected abatement options (Brack et al, 2015;Zijp et al, 2016), which has (amongst others) already resulted in an analysis towards safe spatial planning of chemical emission sources vis a vis sensitive functions (Coppens et al, 2015). While we acknowledge the major improvements that have been gained, are gained, and will be gained by continued application of existing chemical-and water policies, we wholeheartedly support the concluding remark of the risk study of Malaj et al (2014) based on our independently collected impact-based results: "[…] more effort is necessary to integrate and advance these regulations toward the reduction of toxic pollution.…”

“…We focus on prioritization. This can concern ranking impact magnitudes across water bodies (Norris et al, 2007), ranking stressor types within water bodies (Fedorenkova et al, 2012), and/or ranking ecotoxicity of chemicals within a mixture (Brack et al, 2015). All such prioritizations are relevant for deriving (cost) effective water quality management plans.…”