issue; (5) social consensus on the issue’s importance, origins and solutions; and
(6) funding and implementation of appropriate solutions.
None of the long-term contaminant trajectories in the Seine River – nor in any
other French river – was available before the use of sediment archives, since the
monitoring of these pollutants is very recent and/or has been inefficient, due to lack
of appropriate analysed media and analytical difficulties. The studies presented here
demonstrate the effectiveness of sedimentary archives, which give a comprehensive
overview of the contamination in the Seine River basin. The results presented here
are in agreement with previous studies dedicated to other European rivers and have
highlighted for the first time the specificities of the Seine River basin compared to
other large French and European basins. Sediment archives are still present for all
European rivers, waiting for multidisciplinary teams, aware of the sedimentary,
hydrological, chemical and historical issues, who will be able to elucidate their
contamination history.
Acknowledgements This work is a contribution to the PIREN-Seine research programme (www.
piren-seine.fr), which belongs to the Zone Atelier Seine part of the international Long-Term SocioEcological Research (LTSER) network.
References
1. Goldberg ED, Hodge V, Koide M et al (1978) A pollution history of Chesapeake Bay. Geochim
Cosmochim Acta 42(9):1413–1425
2. Kemp A, Williams J, Thomas R et al (1978) Impact of man’s activities on the chemical
composition of the sediments of Lakes Superior and Huron. Water Air Soil Pollut 10
(4):381–402
3. Eisenreich SJ, Capel PD, Robbins JA et al (1989) Accumulation and diagenesis of chlorinated
hydrocarbons in lacustrine sediments. Environ Sci Technol 23(9):1116–1126
4. Trefry JH, Metz S, Trocine RP et al (1985) A decline in lead transport by the Mississippi River.
Science 230(4724):439–441
5. Santschi PH, Presley BJ, Wade TL et al (2001) Historical contamination of PAHs, PCBs,
DDTs, and heavy metals in Mississippi river Delta, Galveston bay and Tampa bay sediment
cores. Mar Environ Res 52(1):51–79
6. Horowitz AJ (2013) A review of selected inorganic surface water quality-monitoring practices:
are we really measuring what we think, and if so, are we doing it right? Environ Sci Technol 47
(6):2471–2486
7. Valette-Silver NJ (1993) The use of sediment cores to reconstruct historical trends in contamination of estuarine and coastal sediments. Estuaries 16(3):577–588
8. Förstner UJN (1976) Lake sediments as indicators of heavy-metal pollution.
Naturwissenschaften 63(10):465–470
9. Salomons W, De Groot A (1977) Pollution history of trace metals in sediments, as affected by
the Rhine river. In: Krum-Bein W (ed) Environmental biogeochemistry, vol 1. Ann Arbor
Science, Ann Arbor, pp 149–162
10. Middelkoop H (2000) Heavy-metal pollution of the river Rhine and Meuse floodplains in the
Netherlands. Neth J Geosci 79(4):411–427
296
S. Ayrault et al.
(6) funding and implementation of appropriate solutions.
None of the long-term contaminant trajectories in the Seine River – nor in any
other French river – was available before the use of sediment archives, since the
monitoring of these pollutants is very recent and/or has been inefficient, due to lack
of appropriate analysed media and analytical difficulties. The studies presented here
demonstrate the effectiveness of sedimentary archives, which give a comprehensive
overview of the contamination in the Seine River basin. The results presented here
are in agreement with previous studies dedicated to other European rivers and have
highlighted for the first time the specificities of the Seine River basin compared to
other large French and European basins. Sediment archives are still present for all
European rivers, waiting for multidisciplinary teams, aware of the sedimentary,
hydrological, chemical and historical issues, who will be able to elucidate their
contamination history.
Acknowledgements This work is a contribution to the PIREN-Seine research programme (www.
piren-seine.fr), which belongs to the Zone Atelier Seine part of the international Long-Term SocioEcological Research (LTSER) network.
References
1. Goldberg ED, Hodge V, Koide M et al (1978) A pollution history of Chesapeake Bay. Geochim
Cosmochim Acta 42(9):1413–1425
2. Kemp A, Williams J, Thomas R et al (1978) Impact of man’s activities on the chemical
composition of the sediments of Lakes Superior and Huron. Water Air Soil Pollut 10
(4):381–402
3. Eisenreich SJ, Capel PD, Robbins JA et al (1989) Accumulation and diagenesis of chlorinated
hydrocarbons in lacustrine sediments. Environ Sci Technol 23(9):1116–1126
4. Trefry JH, Metz S, Trocine RP et al (1985) A decline in lead transport by the Mississippi River.
Science 230(4724):439–441
5. Santschi PH, Presley BJ, Wade TL et al (2001) Historical contamination of PAHs, PCBs,
DDTs, and heavy metals in Mississippi river Delta, Galveston bay and Tampa bay sediment
cores. Mar Environ Res 52(1):51–79
6. Horowitz AJ (2013) A review of selected inorganic surface water quality-monitoring practices:
are we really measuring what we think, and if so, are we doing it right? Environ Sci Technol 47
(6):2471–2486
7. Valette-Silver NJ (1993) The use of sediment cores to reconstruct historical trends in contamination of estuarine and coastal sediments. Estuaries 16(3):577–588
8. Förstner UJN (1976) Lake sediments as indicators of heavy-metal pollution.
Naturwissenschaften 63(10):465–470
9. Salomons W, De Groot A (1977) Pollution history of trace metals in sediments, as affected by
the Rhine river. In: Krum-Bein W (ed) Environmental biogeochemistry, vol 1. Ann Arbor
Science, Ann Arbor, pp 149–162
10. Middelkoop H (2000) Heavy-metal pollution of the river Rhine and Meuse floodplains in the
Netherlands. Neth J Geosci 79(4):411–427
296
S. Ayrault et al.