Rivers integrate pollutants’ emissions and processes of the whole catchment. They also receive a broad spectrum of pollutants via direct and indirect inputs. In-stream processes such as sorption to particles, sedimentation, and transformation, both biotic and abiotic, modify pollutant signals. However, toxic effects of mixtures are largely unknown.
Thus the objectives of project P1 “Rivers” are:
- To distinguish dominant input sources (diffuse vs. point, surface vs. subsurface) for a large set of chemical pollutants and their degradation products in rivers.
- To quantify transformation processes within studied river channels compared to turnover in other compartments of the catchment
- To identify important driving factors of natural attenuation processes in different river reaches.
- To define suitable indicator chemicals or pollutant patterns that can be used as proxies for relevant environmental processes.
