Objectives
The overall goal of the project is a comprehensive assessment of the hazardous chemical contamination in the Sava River basin as a key tool for scientifically-based and cost-effective management of water resources in the Republic of Croatia and other riparian countries. This will be primarily achieved by developing and applying the state-of-the-art Effects Directed Analysis (EDA) approach customized for the Sava River and related basins. The Project will be implemented addressing the following objectives:
a) To identify and select the most critical locations along the river section between the Slovenian and Bosnian borders, as well as environmental samples (wastewater, river water, river sediments) suitable for EDA;
b) To upgrade the present analytical infrastructure in participating IRB laboratories and develop new, or optimize already established chemical and bioassay methods, needed for the implementation of EDAs;
c) To identify the most prominent categories of hazardous organic contaminants in the Sava River basin;
d) To establish reliable EDA procedures for the identification of hazardous contaminants in various compartments (surface water, sediment, wastewater) of the Sava River basin and their ranking with respect to (eco)toxicological risk;
e) Transfer of state-of-the-art expertise in the application of EDA by training and education of young Croatian scientists from IRB at NIVA;
f) Dissemination of knowledge and expertise achieved during the study to all potential end-users in Croatia and neighbouring riparian countries through annual steering group meetings and an international workshop at the end of the Project.