Contribution to Surface Water Contamination Understanding by Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals, at a Watershed Scale

Stéphanie Piel (1, 2, 3) , Estelle Baurès (1, 2, 3) , Olivier Thomas (1, 2, 3)

1 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
2 EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP]
3 LERES - Laboratoire d'étude et de recherche en environnement et santé

This study aims at understanding the presence of regulated and emerging micropollutants, particularly pesticides and pharmaceuticals, in surface water, regarding spatial and temporal influences at a watershed scale. The study of relations between micropollutants and other water quality and hydroclimatic parameters was carried out from a statistical analysis on historical and experimental data of different sampling sites from the main watershed of Brittany, western France. The outcomes point out the influence of urban and rural areas of the watershed as well as the impact of seasons on contamination variations. This work contributes to health risk assessment related to surface water contamination by micropollutants. This approach is particularly interesting in the case of agricultural watersheds such as the one studied, where more than 80% of surface water is used to produce drinking water.

Mots clés: micropollutants; water quality; watershed; spatial variation; temporal variation

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Stéphanie Piel, Estelle Baurès, Olivier Thomas. Contribution to Surface Water Contamination Understanding by Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals, at a Watershed Scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2012, 9 (12), pp.4433-4451. ⟨10.3390/ijerph9124433⟩. ⟨hal-00878078⟩