A methodology for ranking and hazard identification of xenobiotic organic compounds in urban stormwater

• The paper presents a novel methodology (RICH, Ranking and Identification of Chemical Hazards) for ranking and identification ofxenobiotic organic compounds of environmental concern in stormwater discharged to surface water. The RICHmethod is illustrated as afunnel fitted with different filters that sort out problematic and hazardous compounds based on inherent physico-chemical and biologicalproperties. The outcomes of the RICH procedure are separate lists for both water phase and solid phase associated compounds. Theselists comprise: a justified list of compounds which can be disregarded in hazard/risk assessments, a justified list of stormwater prioritypollutants which must be included in hazard/risk assessments, and a list of compounds which may be present in discharged stormwater,but cannot be evaluated due to lack of data. The procedure was applied to 233 xenobiotic organic chemicals (XOCs) of relevance forstormwater. Of these 233 compounds, 121 compounds were found to be priority pollutants with regard to solids phases (i.e. suspendedsolids, soil, or sediments) when stormwater is discharged to surface water and 56 compounds were found to be priority pollutants withregard to the water phase. For 11% of the potential stormwater priority pollutants the screening procedure could not be carried out due tolack of data on basic physico-chemical properties and/or data on bioaccumulation, resistance to biodegradation, and ecotoxicity. Thetiered approach applied in the RICH procedure and the focus on the phases relevant for monitoring or risk assessment in the aquaticenvironment refines the list of “compounds of concern” when compared to the outcome of existing classification schemes. In this paperthe RICH procedure is focused on effects in the aquatic environment exemplified with xenobiotic organic compounds (XOCs) found inurban stormwater, but it may be transferred to other environmental compartments and problems. Thus, the RICH procedure can be usedas a stand-alone tool for selection of potential priority pollutants or it can be integrated in larger priority setting frameworks.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Risk assessment

Organic chemicals

Hazard

Toxicity

Biodegradation

Bioaccumulation

Miljövetenskap

Environmental Science

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)