Riverine Litter Monitoring - Options and Recommendations

Marine litter is an issue of global concern as recognized by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The establishment of programmes of measures, aiming to reduce plastics and its possible impacts, requires identifying and quantifying sources of litter and their pathways to the marine environment. In this regard, riverine litter input is estimated to be a major contributor, but there is no comprehensive information about the amount of litter being transported through rivers into the sea. Further, there are no harmonized methodologies that can be used to provide quantitative data for comparable assessments on riverine litter. This technical report compiles the options for monitoring of riverine litter and quantification of litter fluxes, focusing on the monitoring of anthropogenic litter. Current scientific and technical background regarding litter in river systems, their flow regime and basic properties is also included. The document is intended to provide first recommendations for monitoring approaches and methodologies. It also provide indications on the issues which need to be further developed in a collaborative approach. An extensive literature review has been performed in order to identify the existing options for the monitoring of litter items in rivers. Different monitoring methods are used in three environmental compartments: River water surface can be monitored by visual observation and image acquisition; monitoring in the river water body can include the use of retaining structures and sampling using grids, nets and filtration systems (with different mesh sizes and openings) at different water depths; and river bank monitoring, comprises the observation and eventual collection of litter items. Methodologies are described and technical details are reported whenever available. As methodologies are further developed and basic research is ongoing, it is not possible to provide now clear guidance on how to monitor riverine litter, though some initial recommendations can be made. General recommendations highlight the need for additional scientific knowledge, which should be made accessible to facilitate communication and coordination among key players in order to harmonize efforts and provide guidance at international level in a collaborative way. Knowledge gaps should be filled by analysing the outcome of these ongoing activities (the recommendations include a list of identified gaps). There is a need for agreed monitoring methodologies at international level, therefore guidance document on the monitoring of riverine litter is needed, including metadata requirements and reporting units. For quantification of riverine litter input to the marine environment, monitoring methods have to provide data that can be related to river flow to allow calculation of litter fluxes (e.g. visual observation on river water surface and collection method for river water body).JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Water Security Plan Implementation Manual for Drinking Water Systems

Water is a core infrastructure sector that serves communities and businesses on a daily basis. Clean drinking water sustains core functions of our society which makes safety and security of water infrastructure a top priority. The implementation of security measures to counter hostile actions against the physical and cyber integrity of water supply systems and deliberate waterborne contamination requires an appropriate planning process incorporating risk assessment surveys, establishment of communication strategies, protocols and screening methods. This manual provides a detailed basis for the creation and implementation of a Water Security Plan for drinking water systems, supporting water utility operators with the information and tools they need to develop a plan specifically for the security of their water supply systems. An effective Water Security Plan, together with a continuously managed implementation, supports the optimization of equipment placement and resource allocation – either of human or economic nature – along the water supply system, as well as increasing the confidence level of the water utilities to be able to cope in case a chemical/biological contamination occurs.JRC.E.2 - Technology Innovation in Securit

A Methodology for Measuring Microplastic Transport in Large or Medium Rivers

Plastic waste as a persistent contaminant of our environment is a matter of increasing concern due to the largely unknown long-term effects on biota. Although freshwater systems are known to be the transport paths of plastic debris to the ocean, most research has been focused on marine environments. In recent years, freshwater studies have advanced rapidly, but they rarely address the spatial distribution of plastic debris in the water column. A methodology for measuring microplastic transport at various depths that is applicable to medium and large rivers is needed. We present a new methodology offering the possibility of measuring microplastic transport at different depths of verticals that are distributed within a profile. The net-based device is robust and can be applied at high flow velocities and discharges. Nets with different sizes (41 µm, 250 µm, and 500 µm) are exposed in three different depths of the water column. The methodology was tested in the Austrian Danube River, showing a high heterogeneity of microplastic concentrations within one cross section. Due to turbulent mixing, the different densities of the polymers, aggregation, and the growth of biofilms, plastic transport cannot be limited to the surface layer of a river, and must be examined within the whole water column as for suspended sediments. These results imply that multipoint measurements are required for obtaining the spatial distribution of plastic concentration and are therefore a prerequisite for calculating the passing transport. The analysis of filtration efficiency and side-by-side measurements with different mesh sizes showed that 500 µm nets led to optimal results

Direkte Mikro- und Makroplastiktransportmessungen an großen und mittleren Flüssen sowie im Ablauf von Kläranlagen

ZusammenfassungKunststoffabfälle als allgegenwärtige Verunreinigung unserer Umwelt geben aufgrund der weitgehend unbekannten langfristigen Auswirkungen auf Flora und Fauna zunehmend Anlass zur Sorge. Obwohl Flüsse als Transportwege von Kunststoffabfällen in Meere bekannt sind, konzentrierte sich die Forschung bisher vor allem auf das Vorkommen in den Weltmeeren. In den letzten Jahren wurden zwar einige Süßwasserstudien durchgeführt, aber kaum eine verwendete Methodik widmete sich der räumlichen Verteilung des Plastikmülls in der Wassersäule – insbesondere in Flüssen. Da Plastikpartikel aber nicht nur an der Oberfläche schwimmen, bedarf es zur Bestimmung des Transports unbedingt einer Methodik, die den Transport in verschiedenen Tiefen erheben kann und auch an mittleren und großen Flüssen anwendbar ist. Eine solche wurde in Österreich im Rahmen der Studie „Plastik in der Donau“ entwickelt und getestet. Die neue Methodik ermöglicht es, den Plastiktransport in verschiedenen Tiefen entlang von Vertikalen zu messen, die innerhalb eines Profils verteilt sind. Das netzbasierte Gerät ist robust und kann auch bei hohen Fließgeschwindigkeiten und Abflüssen eingesetzt werden. Netze mit unterschiedlichen Größen (41 µm, 250 µm, 500 µm und auch gröber für die Thematik Makroplastik) werden in drei verschiedenen Tiefen der Wassersäule positioniert. Im Auslaufbereich von Kläranlagen kann mit maßgeschneiderten Rahmen und Netzen relativ einfach der gesamte Abflussquerschnitt gefiltert und beprobt werden. Zur Untersuchung der Transportpfade und des Verhaltens einzelner Makroplastikpartikel, wurden selbige mit GPS-Sendern versehen, um ihre Positionen in hoher zeitlicher Auflösung zu verfolgen.Der Einsatz des Netzmesssystems an der österreichischen Donau zeigte eine hohe Heterogenität der Mikroplastik-Konzentrationen innerhalb eines Messprofils. Aufgrund von turbulenter Durchmischung sowie unterschiedlicher Dichten der Polymere, der Aggregation und des Wachstums von Biofilmen kann der Kunststofftransport nicht auf die Oberflächenschicht eines Flusses beschränkt werden, sondern muss wie Schwebstoffe innerhalb der gesamten Wassersäule untersucht werden. Diese Ergebnisse implizieren, dass Vielpunktmessungen zur Ermittlung der räumlichen Verteilung der Kunststoffkonzentration unabdingbar sind und daher auch eine Voraussetzung für die Berechnung der Frachten darstellen. Darüber hinaus konnten an zwei Kläranlagen Messungen des Plastiktransports im Ablaufkanal durchgeführt werden. Es zeigte sich, dass die gewählte Methodik gut anwendbar ist und Restmengen an Mikrokunststoff gut entfernt werden könnten. An der Donau wurden erste Tests mit besenderten Makroplastikpartikeln durchgeführt, die ein hohes Potenzial für zukünftige Anwendungen im Forschungsbereich aufzeigen. So können die Transporteigenschaften der Partikel genau analysiert und auch Rückschlüsse über Ablagerung und Akkumulation von Plastikpartikeln gezogen werden.</jats:p

Phthalate Metabolites, Consumer Habits and Health Effects

Phthalates are multifunctional chemicals used in a wide variety of consumer products. The aim of this study was to investigate whether levels of urinary phthalate metabolites in urine samples of Austrian mothers and their children were associated with consumer habits and health indicators. Within an Austrian biomonitoring survey, urine samples from 50 mother-child pairs of five communities (two-stage random stratified sampling) were analysed. The concentrations of 14 phthalate metabolites were determined, and a questionnaire was administered. Monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (5oxo-MEHP), mono-(5-carboxy-2-ethylpentyl) phthalate (5cx-MEPP), and 3-carboxy-mono-propyl phthalate (3cx-MPP) could be quantified in the majority of samples. Significant correlations were found between the use of hair mousse, hair dye, makeup, chewing gum, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and the diethyl phthalate (DEP) metabolite MEP. With regard to health effects, significant associations of MEP in urine with headache, repeated coughing, diarrhoea, and hormonal problems were observed. MBzP was associated with repeated coughing and MEHP was associated with itching