AgriAs – Evaluation and Management of Arsenic Contamination in Agricultural Soil and Water

Project research area
Geoenvironment​ Sustainable​ Water Resources​ Geoscience Information Solutions​
Project duration
01.04.2017 - 31.03.2019
Website
http://projects.gtk.fi/AgriAs/

Introduction

Occurrence of arsenic (As) in the environment, its toxic effects in water ecosystems, as well as technologies for the removal of As have been widely studied over the past decades. However, several important gaps remain and AgriAs project aims to focus on these.
The overall goal of AgriAs is to provide the European Union with reliable data on the existing risks of As exposure through agriculture, a complete summary of existing tools available for As remediation as well as an array of tools for ecotoxicity and bioavailability assessment.

AgriAs will build on existing knowledge by using comprehensive national and European databases, developing and testing new technologies aiming to solve problems and carry out efficient risk monitoring. A particular attention will be paid to the demonstration and dissemination phase in close cooperation with stakeholders.

The verifiable main objectives of the project are:

  • To address water and soil pollution by As highlighting the needs for sustainable development and healthy food chain,
  • To summarize national and European databases to assess the scale of As contamination in European agricultural soils and water,
  • To develop recommendations/guidelines for sustainable management of As risk together with stakeholders,
  • To demonstrate As removal technology at target sites and to assess its technological and economic feasibility,
  • To apply biological tools in different contexts to assess environmental quality and to manage ecological, environmental and human risks,
  • To disseminate the results of the project to stakeholders

AgriAs is co-funded by the EU and Academy of Finland, L’Agence nationale de la recherche, Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft and Forskningsrådet FORMAS under the ERA-NET Cofund WaterWorks2015 Call. This ERA-NET is an integral part of the 2016 Joint Activities developed by the Water Challenges for a Changing World Joint Programme Initiative (Water JPI).

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