title: Environmental risk assessment of water quality in harbor areas: a new methodology applied to European ports.
abstract: This work presents a standard and unified procedure for assessment of environmental risks at the contaminant source level in port aquatic systems. Using this method, port managers and local authorities will be able to hierarchically classify environmental hazards and proceed with the most suitable management actions. This procedure combines rigorously selected parameters and indicators to estimate the environmental risk of each contaminant source based on its probability, consequences and vulnerability. The spatio-temporal variability of multiple stressors (agents) and receptors (endpoints) is taken into account to provide accurate estimations for application of precisely defined measures. The developed methodology is tested on a wide range of different scenarios via application in six European ports. The validation process confirms its usefulness, versatility and adaptability as a management tool for port water quality in Europe and worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Hydraulics Institute "IH Cantabria", Universidad de Cantabria, C/Isabel Torres N° 15, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain. Electronic address: aina.gomez@unican.es.
authors.forename: Aina G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Environmental Hydraulics Institute "IH Cantabria", Universidad de Cantabria, C/Isabel Torres N° 15, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain. Electronic address: ondiviela@unican.es.
authors.forename: Bárbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ondiviela
authors.affiliation: Environmental Hydraulics Institute "IH Cantabria", Universidad de Cantabria, C/Isabel Torres N° 15, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain. Electronic address: puentea@unican.es.
authors.forename: Araceli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puente
authors.affiliation: Environmental Hydraulics Institute "IH Cantabria", Universidad de Cantabria, C/Isabel Torres N° 15, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain. Electronic address: juanesj@unican.es.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Juanes
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005060:Europe; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D018570:Risk Assessment; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances
keywords: Consequences; Contaminant source; Hazard; Management; Pollution; Vulnerability