title: A chemical status predictor. A methodology based on World-Wide sediment samples.
abstract: As a consequence of the limited resources of underdeveloped countries and the limited interest of the developed ones, the assessment of the chemical quality of entire water bodies around the world is a utopia in the near future. The methodology described here may serve as a first approach for the fast identification of water bodies that do not meet the good chemical status demanded by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). It also allows estimating the natural background (or reference values of concentration) of the areas under study using a simple criterion. The starting point is the calculation the World-Wide Natural Background Levels (WWNBLs) and World-Wide Threshold Values (WWTVs), two indexes that depend on the concentration of seven elements present in sediments. These elements, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, have been selected taking into account the recommendations of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), that describe them as elements of concern with respect to environmental toxicity. The methodology has been exemplified in a case study that includes 134 sediment samples collected in 11 transitional water bodies from 7 different countries and 4 different continents. Six of the water bodies considered met the good chemical status demanded by the WFD. The rest of them exceeded the reference WWTVs, at least for one of the elements. The estuaries of the Nerbioi-Ibaizabal (Basque Country) and Cavado (Portugal), the sea inlet of Río San Pedro (Spain), the Sepetiba Bay (Brazil) and the Yucateco lagoon (Mexico) belong to that group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: ainara.gredi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gredilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Diego
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arana
authors.affiliation: CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stoichev
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Spectroscopy and Chemometrics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Amigo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rede UFF de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento, Av. Litorânea s/n, Boa Viagem, Niterói 24020 149, Brazil.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wasserman
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Contaminación Marina, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 70-305, México, 04510 D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Botello
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Calcutta 700 019, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schäfer
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Valencia, 50 Dr. Moliner Street, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: M de la
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guardia
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Madariaga
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D062070:Hydrology / Q000379:methods; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D008800:Mexico; D011174:Portugal; D013030:Spain; D014481:United States; D014484:United States Environmental Protection Agency; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Chemical pollution assessment; Natural background value; Sediments; Trace elements; Water bodies