The growing impacts of economic activities and climate change on the conditions of rivers throughout the world, require a new, integrated approach towards river basin management, an approach that can also cope with an uncertain future. In this volume, leading European scientists and representatives of major stakeholder groups present risk-informed management as this new approach, as developed in the European Commission-funded project RISKBASE. It aims to improve the ecological quality of river basins and thus to sustain the goods and services they provide for the benefit of society. Risk-informed management involves the integrated application of three key-principles:

. Being well informed

. Managing adaptively

. Pursuing a participatory approach

The authors explain and underpin these principles in detail, offer inspiring examples from practice and connect them to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD).

This book is intended for scientists, consultants and practitioners concerned about river basins, world-wide, as well as the drafters and implementers of the WFD River Basin Management Plans.

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Today more than 5 million chemicals are known and roughly 100,000 of them are frequently used, with both numbers rising. Many of these chemicals are ultimately released into the environment and may cause adverse effects to ecosystems and human health. Effect-directed analysis (EDA) is a promising tool for identifying predominant toxicants in complex, mostly environmental mixtures combining effect testing, fractionation and chemical analysis. In the present book leading experts in the field provide an overview of relevant approaches and tools used in EDA. This includes diagnostic biological tools, separation techniques and advanced analytical and computer tools for toxicant identification and structure elucidation. Examples of the successful application of EDA are discussed such as the identification of mutagens in airborne particles and sediments, of endocrine disruptors in aquatic ecosystems and of major toxicants in pulp and paper mill effluents. This book is a valuable, comprehensive and interdisciplinary source of information for environmental scientists and environmental agencies dealing with the analysis, monitoring and assessment of environmental contamination.

The growing impacts of economic activities and climate change on the conditions of rivers throughout the world, require a new, integrated approach towards river basin management, an approach that can also cope with an uncertain future. In this volume, leading European scientists and representatives of major stakeholder groups present risk-informed management as this new approach, as developed in the European Commission-funded project RISKBASE. It aims to improve the ecological quality of river basins and thus to sustain the goods and services they provide for the benefit of society. Risk-informed management involves the integrated application of three key-principles: * Being well informed * Managing adaptively * Pursuing a participatory approach The authors explain and underpin these principles in detail, offer inspiring examples from practice and connect them to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This book is intended for scientists, consultants and practitioners concerned about river basins, world-wide, as well as the drafters and implementers of the WFD River Basin Management Plans.

Today more than 5 million chemicals are known and roughly 100,000 of them are frequently used, with both numbers rising. Many of these chemicals are ultimately released into the environment and may cause adverse effects to ecosystems and human health. Effect-directed analysis (EDA) is a promising tool for identifying predominant toxicants in complex, mostly environmental mixtures combining effect testing, fractionation and chemical analysis. In the present book leading experts in the field provide an overview of relevant approaches and tools used in EDA. This includes diagnostic biological tools, separation techniques and advanced analytical and computer tools for toxicant identification and structure elucidation. Examples of the successful application of EDA are discussed such as the identification of mutagens in airborne particles and sediments, of endocrine disruptors in aquatic ecosystems and of major toxicants in pulp and paper mill effluents. This book is a valuable, comprehensive and interdisciplinary source of information for environmental scientists and environmental agencies dealing with the analysis, monitoring and assessment of environmental contamination.