Abstract
Objectives: The Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) Wales has undertaken a review of pollution incidents in the aquatic environment, reviewed the monitoring and detection marketplace and developed Water Rapid Assessment Tool (Water RAT) for the rapid risk assessment of monitoring data. The tool is designed for use in both alerting and response phases of by assessing data on key pollutants against health and environmental standards. The work undertaken for the Hazrunoff Project (http://www.hazrunoff.eu/) and funded by the European Union, aims to aid contingency planning and preparedness. Methods: A literature review for inland and coastal water in England and Wales was used to identify the most frequent types of pollution events and key chemical pollutants. The results informed the specification and design of the Water RAT, adapting established methodologies used for air pollution incident response. Specifically, this defined key parameters for import from environmental monitors, appropriate exposure standards for assessment and algorithms for rapid data processing and visual representation of results. Results: Inland water events were associated with agricultural slurry, algae and pesticides. Oils, tars and waxes were frequently associated with coastal incidents. Key pollutants and proxies were identified as ammonia, hydrocarbons and general quality parameters, which could all be measured in-situ using commercially available sensors. Detection of diffuse organic pollutants at low concentrations was a potential limitation but monitors were identified applicable for this. The subsequent assessment tool enabled rapid data evaluation, aiding alerting and risk assessment. Conclusion: The Hazrunoff tool can contribute to rapid risk assessment of potential impacts from pollutants using real-time data, informing advice, analysis and response strategies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 264-275 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
| Event | 42nd Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program - Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response, AMOP 2019 - Halifax, Canada Duration: 4 Jun 2019 → 6 Jun 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | 42nd Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program - Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response, AMOP 2019 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Canada |
| City | Halifax |
| Period | 4/06/19 → 6/06/19 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work was undertaken for the Hazrunoff Project and funded by the European Union (DGECHO, 2018). The project is intended to fill the knowledge and technology gaps around early warning and detection, follow-up, and early response to different or combined types of flooding and hazmat pollution in inland and transitional waters (http://www.hazrunoff.eu/). The project commenced in January 2018, running for 2 years and
Funding Information:
P. Callow, P. Harold, A. Kibble, E. Huckle, and D. Russell Public Health England, CRCE Wales Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom paul.callow@phe.gov.uk Abstract Objectives: The Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) Wales has undertaken a review of pollution incidents in the aquatic environment, reviewed the monitoring and detection marketplace and developed Water Rapid Assessment Tool (Water RAT) for the rapid risk assessment of monitoring data. The tool is designed for use in both alerting and response phases of by assessing data on key pollutants against health and environmental standards. The work undertaken for the Hazrunoff Project (http://www.hazrunoff.eu/) and funded by the European Union, aims to aid contingency planning and preparedness. Methods: A literature review for inland and coastal water in England and Wales was used to identify the most frequent types of pollution events and key chemical pollutants. The results informed the specification and design of the Water RAT, adapting established methodologies used for air pollution incident response. Specifically, this defined key parameters for import from environmental monitors, appropriate exposure standards for assessment and algorithms for rapid data processing and visual representation of results. Results: Inland water events were associated with agricultural slurry, algae and pesticides. Oils, tars and waxes were frequently associated with coastal incidents. Key pollutants and proxies were identified as ammonia, hydrocarbons and general quality parameters, which could all be measured in-situ using commercially available sensors. Detection of diffuse organic pollutants at low concentrations was a potential limitation but monitors were identified applicable for this. The subsequent assessment tool enabled rapid data evaluation, aiding alerting and risk assessment. Conclusion: The Hazrunoff tool can contribute to rapid risk assessment of potential impacts from pollutants using real-time data, informing advice, analysis and response strategies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Proceedings - 42nd AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response. All rights reserved.