How The Occurrence And Concentration of Micro-Pollutants Vary Across Austria

The presence and accumulation of micropollutants (anthropogenic trace contaminants) in aquatic environments is an area of policy concern for the EU.  Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) require EU Member States to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate emissions of compounds that have been identified as most critical for water resources in the EU.

In order to better understand how these chemicals enter and are transported within water systems, the study investigates the occurrence and concentration of a broad spectrum of micropollutants across Austria’s water system. Municipal waste-water effluents were found to be the emission pathway with the highest concentrations of some micropollutants. The study also demonstrated that levels of other micropollutants are higher in rivers, atmospheric deposition and groundwater than in waste-water effluents and, in some cases, exceeded environmental quality standards for surface waters.