Since water is the main contamination arrow in the underground, it is neces
sary to get good indicators to be able to detect pollution sources as old w
astes dump. This is also useful for the monitoring of contaminated sites in
time and space. The new analytical method high resolution-ICP-MS is an opp
ortunity tb improve the characterization of water by analyzing mineral trac
es at very low level (<0.1 mu g/l). Numerous site descriptions (41 sites) a
nd statistical approach of collected samples (223 samples), have shown that
the use of the inorganic trace elements is helpful for the detection and/o
r the survey of contaminated sites. Another interesting result shows specif
ic indicators for hazardous waste. This method can be used beside organic c
ompound analyses, which are heavier and expensive in practice. (C) 1999 Els
evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.