European waters are more contaminated with chemicals

European waters polluted more than thought

06/17/2014

According to a new study, Europe's rivers are not well off. As a result, waters are more heavily polluted with pesticides and other chemicals than previously thought. This is due to agriculture and municipal sewage treatment plants.

Waters are under greater pressure than previously assumed
Researchers from the Leipzig Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Koblenz-Landau, together with scientists from France and Switzerland, found that Europe's waters are more heavily polluted with chemicals than previously thought. Experts say that the burden is so high that it is unlikely that the water quality improvements targeted by EU Member States by 2015 will be achieved. „At the Water Framework Directive, we are scraping past ", said the co-author of the study, Werner Brack from the UFZ.

Health hazards due to pesticides
Agriculture and municipal sewage treatment plants are therefore the main causes of pollution in the rivers studied. According to the study, the largest exposure comes from pesticides. These chemical substances pose numerous health dangers. Skin contact problems such as itchy skin rash as well as symptoms of poisoning threaten with direct contact. Pesticides can also cause allergies, gastrointestinal complaints, fertility and genetic defects, neonatal birth defects and even cancer. Acute poisoning by pesticides may cause respiratory distress, dizziness, blurred vision, eye and skin damage, muscle spasms or loss of consciousness.

Ecological risk for half of the waters
Organotin compounds, brominated flame retardants, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons derived from combustion processes have also caused critical concentrations in the study. The results of the study were in the journal „Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences“ released. The scientists analyzed data on 223 chemicals from the catchments of 91 rivers, including the Rhine and the Danube, for their inventory. The data came from a total of more than 4,000 measuring points. According to the results, the chemical pollution represents an ecological risk for around half of the waters. And at around 15 percent, even acutely toxic effects could occur on aquatic organisms.

Use less chemicals in agriculture
Study Director Ralf B. Schäfer said: „In practice, this means that there is an urgent need to move at all levels.“ It must generally be avoided to introduce chemicals into water. For example, less chemicals should be used in agriculture and wastewater should be better clarified. Even if the situation is bad everywhere, direct comparisons between the countries are still difficult, said the Helmholtz Center in Munich. For example, France's water quality is the worst in the study. But that is not because of the really bad water quality, but probably because the authorities there have a very tight mesh network. For example, it analyzes many substances that would otherwise fall under the table. In other countries, however, risks would not be recognized by insufficient surveillance. (Ad)