The main target is to adapt suitable Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs) for priority and specific metals to allow the use of passive sampling devices (PSDs) in a regulatory context, enhancing the implementation of the WFD and demonstrating the cross-Regional (Canaries – Highlands and Islands) applicability of PSDs for water monitoring.

The protection of waters in Europe is regulated by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which is mandatory for all European Union members. Detecting and monitoring the level of contaminants in seawater and inland waterways is a key element of the WFD.

To do that, the use of passive sampling devices (PSDs) for routine monitoring presents many advantages compared to the “classical” spot water sampling: more representative, contaminants preconcentration, simplifying the matrix of the sample and allowing measurement of the labile bioavailable fraction of contaminants, among others. However, some barriers remain that prevent regulatory acceptance of PSDs for checking compliance under the WFD: an adaptation of Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs) suitable for PSDs is needed to allow their use to evaluate the chemical status of waters under the WFD.

Some metals are part of the WFD priority substances list and the applicability of a type of PSD called Diffusive Gradient Thin films (DGTs) to evaluate metal contamination is more than proven by a number of scientific works that have addressed this task. During MONITOOL project, co-deployments of DGTs and water spot sampling and subsequent DGT and water metal analysis across the Atlantic region will be addressed to determine suitable DGT-EQS for metals.