Emissions to water of hazardous substances from industry

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Assessment made on 01 May 2004

Note: new version is available!

Jan 31, 2013 - Urban waste water treatment (CSI 024) - Assessment published Jan 2013

Generic metadata

Classification

Water (Primary theme)

Chemicals

Industry

Tags:

WHS009 | WHS

DPSIR: Pressure

Identification

Indicator codes

WHS 009

Geographical coverage:

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Contents

Policy issue: Are discharges of hazardous substances from industrial sources to water decreasing?

Key messages

Emissions of heavy metals from industrial sources have decreased in countries in the OSPAR area.
Emissions of heavy metals from industrial sources have decreased in the Flemish region.
However due to variations in the industrial sources taken into account and/or river flows, there is a significant variability from year to year in the reported industrial emissions of heavy metals and hazardous substances in these regions.

Figures

Whole Flanders region: changes in the emissions of heavy metals (t/year) from industrial sources in the Flemish region of Belgium.

Changes in emissions of heavy metals (t/year) from industrial sources in selected European countries between 1985 and 1999. Only countries with data from all periods included: Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden.

Cadmium emission per sub-basin: changes in the emissions of heavy metals (t/year) from industrial sources in the Flemish region of Belgium.

Key assessment

The manufacturing industries are responsible for large emission loads regarding various determinands of which for example 4 heavy metals in 6 EEA countries for which data are available (see figure 1). The manufacture of products results in many and varied emissions, depending on the products being manufactured and the processes and chemicals used. Emissions to water include heavy metals (e.g. cadmium, mercury), organic micropollutants, suspended solids and organic matter. Manufacture processing also has the risk of fire, explosions and spills and there is a need to dispose of contaminated sludge from waste treatment plants that all may also be a source of pollution of water. Variations in the emissions reported may be due to improved treatment but also to a certain extent to variations in the number of industrial sites included in the reporting (effect of threshold on sites that are close to this and included one year and not the following) or, when the data are based on measurements in rivers (i.e. load oriented), to variations in the river flow.