in the initial list of 33 priority pollutants of the Water Framework Directive (WFD)
(2000/60/EC), establishing the water policy at the river basin scale. In the European
Union, water policy is based on a number of specific directives defining communitywide emission limit values and quality objectives in surface and coastal waters. The
implementation of such directives requires member states to reach “good chemical”
status. Based on the last report (2012, European waters – assessment of status and
pressures, EEA Report), PAHs appear as a widespread cause of poor status in rivers
and are identified as problematic by 11 member states.
In this context, accurate knowledge of PAH sources and fate in aquatic systems
at the catchment scale was proven necessary to (1) better assess the spatial and
temporal dynamics of PAH input and output fluxes over an entire catchment and
(2) identify possible pollutant reduction measures. Although numerous studies
were carried out on PAHs in different environmental compartments, i.e. total atmospheric deposition [6], soils [7], surface water [8] or sediment [9], there have been
few attempts in the literature to draw up a total PAH budget at the catchment scale
[10–14]. The published studies did not integrate all environment compartments, nor
were they carried out considering the spatial urbanisation variability across the
catchment at the scale of a major river basin.
2 Material and Methods
This study was based on the integrative approach previously developed to investigate the
heavy metal contamination within the Seine River basin [1, 2]. To study the fate of
PAHs in this basin, contamination data in various environmental compartments were
gathered from previous studies, and the mass balance was established at two nested
scales. The calculations of individual fluxes are detailed below. To evaluate the robustness of the mass balance calculation, each flux was associated with both an uncertainty
and a grade assessing the quality of the database used to estimate such fluxes.
2.1 Areas Studied
The PAH fluxes were assessed at two complementary scales: the Paris conurbation
and the rural areas (Fig. 1).
All parameters concerning the Paris conurbation sewer system were provided
by the SIAAP (Paris conurbation wastewater treatment authority). Hydrological
data and information about the dredging operations were provided by the SeineNormandie Water Agency (AESN), the French department of waterways (VNF) or
the Île-de-France Regional Department for Equipment and Planning (DRIEAIF).
The meteorological parameters came from either the studies cited herein or MétéoFrance. Land use was determined using ArcMap (ver10.5) with the Corine Land
Cover 2012 database. Information about the road network was obtained from the
Route500
® database published by the French National Geographic Institute (IGN).
The Paris conurbation covered more than 1,830 km
2 including the most populated
parts of the Seine River basin. The sewer system annually collects 900 Mm
3 of water
Mass Balance of PAHs at the Scale of the Seine River Basin
165
(2000/60/EC), establishing the water policy at the river basin scale. In the European
Union, water policy is based on a number of specific directives defining communitywide emission limit values and quality objectives in surface and coastal waters. The
implementation of such directives requires member states to reach “good chemical”
status. Based on the last report (2012, European waters – assessment of status and
pressures, EEA Report), PAHs appear as a widespread cause of poor status in rivers
and are identified as problematic by 11 member states.
In this context, accurate knowledge of PAH sources and fate in aquatic systems
at the catchment scale was proven necessary to (1) better assess the spatial and
temporal dynamics of PAH input and output fluxes over an entire catchment and
(2) identify possible pollutant reduction measures. Although numerous studies
were carried out on PAHs in different environmental compartments, i.e. total atmospheric deposition [6], soils [7], surface water [8] or sediment [9], there have been
few attempts in the literature to draw up a total PAH budget at the catchment scale
[10–14]. The published studies did not integrate all environment compartments, nor
were they carried out considering the spatial urbanisation variability across the
catchment at the scale of a major river basin.
2 Material and Methods
This study was based on the integrative approach previously developed to investigate the
heavy metal contamination within the Seine River basin [1, 2]. To study the fate of
PAHs in this basin, contamination data in various environmental compartments were
gathered from previous studies, and the mass balance was established at two nested
scales. The calculations of individual fluxes are detailed below. To evaluate the robustness of the mass balance calculation, each flux was associated with both an uncertainty
and a grade assessing the quality of the database used to estimate such fluxes.
2.1 Areas Studied
The PAH fluxes were assessed at two complementary scales: the Paris conurbation
and the rural areas (Fig. 1).
All parameters concerning the Paris conurbation sewer system were provided
by the SIAAP (Paris conurbation wastewater treatment authority). Hydrological
data and information about the dredging operations were provided by the SeineNormandie Water Agency (AESN), the French department of waterways (VNF) or
the Île-de-France Regional Department for Equipment and Planning (DRIEAIF).
The meteorological parameters came from either the studies cited herein or MétéoFrance. Land use was determined using ArcMap (ver10.5) with the Corine Land
Cover 2012 database. Information about the road network was obtained from the
Route500
® database published by the French National Geographic Institute (IGN).
The Paris conurbation covered more than 1,830 km
2 including the most populated
parts of the Seine River basin. The sewer system annually collects 900 Mm
3 of water
Mass Balance of PAHs at the Scale of the Seine River Basin
165