Mobility, turnover and storage of pollutants in soils, sediments and waters: achievements and results of the EU project AquaTerra. A review

• Published in: Agronomy for sustainable development Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 161 - 173
• Main Authors: Barth, J. A. C., Grathwohl, P., Fowler, H. J., Bellin, A., Gerzabek, M. H., Lair, G. J., Barceló, D., Petrovic, M., Navarro, A., Négrel, Ph, Petelet-Giraud, E., Darmendrail, D., Rijnaarts, H., Langenhoff, A., de Weert, J., Slob, A., van der Zaan, B. M., Gerritse, J., Frank, E., Gutierrez, A., Kretzschmar, R., Gocht, T., Steidle, D., Garrido, F., Jones, K. C., Meijer, S., Moeckel, C., Marsman, A., Klaver, G., Vogel, T., Bürger, C., Kolditz, O., Broers, H. P., Baran, N., Joziasse, J., Von Tümpling, W., Van Gaans, P., Merly, C., Chapman, A., Brouyère, S., Batlle Aguilar, J., Orban, Ph, Tas, N., Smidt, H.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-01-2009; EDP Sciences; Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences/INRA
• Subjects: 87Sr; acetochlor; Agriculture; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; alkyphenol; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; atrazine; biodegradation; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Br diphenyl ethers; brominated flame retardants; chlortoluron; climate change; contaminants; drugs; Earth Sciences; Earth sciences & physical geography; Earth, ocean, space; ebro river-basin; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Engineering, computing & technology; European river basins; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geological, petroleum & mining engineering; Global environmental pollution; ground- and surface water; groundwater quality; Géologie, ingénierie du pétrole & des mines; heavy metals; Ingénierie, informatique & technologie; inorganic; isoproturon; Life Sciences; metal availability; organic; organic pollutants; organochlorine; pesticides; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; polybrominated diphenyl ethers; polycyclic aromatic-hydrocarbons; quantitative-analysis; regional climate models; review; Review Article; Sciences de la terre & géographie physique; Sciences of the Universe; sediment; soil; Soil and water pollution; Soil science; Soil Science & Conservation; sorption; Sustainable Development; temporal variability; TOF mass spectrometry; Europe; contaminants; 87Sr; heavy metals; drugs; European river basins; biodegradation; soil; isoproturon; chlortoluron; organochlorine; sorption; inorganic; sediment; acetochlor; ground- and surface water; TOF mass spectrometry; pesticides; atrazine; review; Br diphenyl ethers; alkyphenol; organic; climate change; Review; Soil pollution; Project; European Union; Water pollution
• ISSN: 1774-0746; 1773-0155; 1773-0155
• DOI: 10.1051/agro:2007060

AquaTerra is one of the first environmental projects within the 6th Framework program by the European Commission. It began in June 2004 with a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 13 EU countries, Switzerland, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro. Results from sampling and modeling in 4 large river basins (Ebro, Danube, Elbe and Meuse) and one catchment of the Brévilles Spring in France led to new evaluations of diffuse and hotspot input of persistent organic and metal pollutants including dynamics of pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as metal turnover and accumulation. While degradation of selected organic compounds could be demonstrated under controlled conditions in the laboratory, turnover of most persistent pollutants in the field seems to range from decades to centuries. First investigations of long-term cumulative and degradation effects, particularly in the context of climate change, have shown that it is also necessary to consider the predictions of more than one climate model when trying to assess future impacts. This is largely controlled by uncertainties in climate model responses. It is becoming evident, however, that changes to the climate will have important impacts on the diffusion and degradation of pollutants in space and time that are just at the start of their exploration.