IAEA develops new method to track sources of water pollution

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, has developed an innovative method for tracing the origin of nitrogen pollution in lakes, seas and rivers. The nuclear-derived analytical tool provides a cheaper, safer and faster way to determine if excessive nitrogen compounds in water stem from agriculture, sewage systems or industry, helping prevention and remediation efforts.

Nitrogen, an essential and abundant element on earth, is a key fertilizer widely used in agriculture since the mid-1900s.

“One of the major global problems in terms of water quality is that we have been overfertilizing our landscapes for decades, either with manure or synthetic fertilizers,” said Leonard Wassenaar, head of the IAEA Isotope Hydrology Section at the IAEA. “All of these nutrients, particularly nitrogen forms such as nitrates, are seeping into groundwater and eventually into rivers, lakes, and streams.”

Excessive nitrate levels increase algae growth that can lead to toxic blooms. These also sink to the bottom of lakes, feeding bacteria and creating so-called ‘dead zones’.

Removing nitrates from water is very difficult and expensive so tools are needed to understand nitrogen sources and pathways to better inform water protection and remediation efforts.

The new method, presented at the IAEA’s International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology, and published in the international journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, measures the amount and proportion of nitrate stable isotopes in water.

The new technique allows scientists to run more samples, and much more cheaply for large scale studies. The IAEA promotes the application of nuclear and isotopic techniques to determine water source, age, quality and sustainability, in order to help countries better manage this vital resource.

Original source: IAEA
Published on 28 May 2019