Contaminated Sites in Europe: Review of the Current Situation Based on Data Collected through a European Network

Under the European Union (EU) Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, the European Commission has identified soil contamination as a priority for the collection of policy-relevant soil data at European scale. In order to support EU soil management policies, soil-related indicators need to be developed which requires appropriate data collection and establishment of harmonized datasets for the EU Member States. In 2011-12, the European Soil Data Centre of the European Commission conducted a project to collect data on contaminated sites from national institutions in Europe using the European Environment Information and Observation Network for soil (EIONET-SOIL). This paper presents the results obtained from analysing the soil contaminated sites data submitted by participating countries. According to the received data, the number of estimated potential contaminated sites is more than 2.5 million and the identified contaminated sites around 342 thousand. Municipal and industrial wastes contribute most to soil contamination (38%), followed by the industrial/commercial sector (34%). Mineral oil and heavy metals are the main contaminants contributing around 60% to soil contamination. In terms of budget, the management of contaminated sites is estimated to cost around 6 billion Euros (€) annually. 1. Introduction Soil contamination creates a significant risk to human health. For instance, heavy metals from industrial waste contaminate drinking water, soil, fodder, and food [1]. Also, the large volume of waste and the intense use of chemicals during past decades have resulted in numerous contaminated sites across Europe. Contaminated sites could pose significant environmental hazards for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as they are important sources of pollution which may result in ecotoxicological effects [2]. Emissions of hazardous substances from local sources could deteriorate soil and groundwater quality. Management of contaminated sites aims at assessing the adverse effects caused and taking measures to satisfy environmental standards according to current legal requirements. Additionally, the impact of soil contamination to health and more specifically the main epidemiological findings relevant to CS are briefly presented below. The implication of soils to human health is direct such as ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, and dermal absorption. Some epidemiological examples include geohelminth infection and potentially harmful elements via soil ingestion, cancers caused by the inhalation of fibrous minerals, hookworm disease, and podoconiosis caused by