Georeferenced aquatic fate simulation of cleaning agent and detergent ingredients in the river Rur catchment (Germany)

The Geography-referenced regional exposure assessment tool for European riv ers (GREAT-ER) 1.0 was developed in the context of environmental risk asses sment of chemicals to calculate the aquatic fate of 'down-the-drain' chemic als in surface waters due to point release. As a follow-up project, the riv er Rur catchment in Germany was incorporated into the system. This included aspects of data collection, modelling and monitoring. Investigated substan ces are the four detergent and cleaning agent ingredients boron, linear alk ylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), nitrilotriacetate (NTA) and ethylenediaminetetra acetate (EDTA). Results of the catchment's incorporation into the system an d a comparison of GREAT-ER simulations with different monitoring results ar e both given. It is shown that data sets derived from a literature review c an be used to calculate concentration profiles that are in the range of mea sured values. Since the model establishes a causal relationship between emi ssion sites and data on the one hand, and observed concentrations in the re ceiving surface waters on the other, the simulation results can be used to explain monitoring data. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .