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Freshwater - Why care? (Luxembourg)
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SOER Common environmental theme from Luxembourg - freshwater
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010
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Country assessments
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Luxembourg
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Getting Europe's precious waters clean again
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Protecting water from pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges that we face. In recent decades, major disasters like the Sandoz incident in 1986 demonstrated that pollution knows no frontiers and that strong EU actions and cooperation were needed.
This detailed news report looks at the ways in which Europe’s determination to protect water in all its forms is achieving results. From the European quality of the drinking water, through the treatment of waste water, to protection of its rivers, coasts and lakes – over the last few decades it has developed an effective legislative arsenal.
The aim of the European Union is for all the water on its territory to by in good status by 2015. Although challenges remain, results are obvious. For example, in 2000, the EU adopted a directive promoting trans-boundary co-operation and introducing the river basin management concept where the territory of the river as a whole is taken into account. And in terms of bathing water, since 1990, the number of bathing sites fulfilling the EU standards has increased by almost 30% to an impressive 90%.
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Environmental topics
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Water
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Multimedia
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Hazardous substances in Europe's fresh and marine waters — An overview
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Chemicals are an essential part of our daily lives and are used to produce consumer goods, to protect or restore our health and to boost food production, to name but a few examples. Some chemicals, however, are hazardous, raising concerns for the environment and human health. Hazardous substances are emitted to fresh and marine waters via a number of pathways and can have detrimental effects on aquatic biota. Humans can be exposed to hazardous substances in water through the ingestion of contaminated drinking water and the consumption of contaminated freshwater fish and seafood. A wide range of legislation now exists in Europe to address the release of hazardous substances to the environment, including water. New challenges exist, however, including the issues of chemical mixtures and emerging pollutants.
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Publications
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Impacts of Europe's changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment
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Publications
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The threat of metal and pesticide contamination in drinking water
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The threat of metal and pesticide contamination in drinking water
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Data and maps
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Maps and graphs