Evaluation of an interdisciplinary method to assess the hydrotoxicological relevance of contaminated sediments after resuspension events
There is a consensus within the scientific community that sediments act as a long term sink for a variety of organic and inorganic pollutants which, however, can re-enter the water column upon resuspension of deposited material under certain hydraulic conditions such as flood events. In the last years, interdisciplinary research has become increasingly important in response to new challenges related to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This directive commits European Union member states to achieve a good ecological and chemical status in European river catchments. Furthermore, the importance of sediments as a secondary long-term source for pollutants and, hence, as an important factor for water quality has been integrated into the WFD. Within the implementation of the WFD, it is important to understand the potential short and long term impact of suspended particulate matter (SPM)-associated contaminants on aquatic organisms as well as the related uptake mechanisms for a sound risk assessment. Increasingly frequent flood events usually cause remobilization of contaminated sediment layers in rivers and, thus, are of high relevance for a sound understanding of associated ecotoxicological impacts. The Floodsearch project framework, performed in close collaboration between the Institute for Environmental Research and the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management (both RWTH Aachen University), aimed to establish a novel approach combining methods of hydrodynamic engineering and ecotoxicological assessment to enable the investigation of the potential risks associated with such remobilization events. This new approach, developed by an interdisciplinary team was entitled the hydrotoxicological approach by Cofalla (2015). It can be used as a tool with practical relevance to investigate and assess contaminated sediments and their influence on aquatic organisms upon resuspension. The present PhD thesis consisting of three individual studies aims at the evaluation of ...