Guideline for the investigation of contaminated sediment

The purpose of an aquatic sediment investigation is to determine if the contaminated sediment constitutes a severe soil contamination. It is aimed at describing the nature, amount, concentration, origin and dimensions of the contaminating substances or organisms, the possibility of spreading of these substances or organisms and the hazard of exposure to them for humans, plants, animals, groundwater and surface water.

A first draft guideline was made up, in accordance with the CIW. Before starting the investigation, a thorough identification of the history and all possible background information, such as discharge points, known presence of specific contaminating sources, presence of industries etc...are taken into account. This relevant information makes it possible to define an efficient strategy to sample the sediment in order to identify the global level of contamination. In a next step, a risk assessment methodology is used, taking into account the human health risks, ecological risks and the risk of the spreading of contamination through surface- or ground-water in order to conclude if a severe sediment contamination is present and if remediation is necessary. To test the first draft guideline for contaminated sediments on feasibility, some pilot sediment investigations of contaminated sediments of waterbeds were started this year.