Chemometric modeling of organic contaminant sources in surface waters of a mediterranean river basin (Catalonia) district

ALEJANDRO G. GARCÍA REIRIZ; ALEJANDRO C. OLIVIERI; GRACIELA M. ESCANDAR; ELISABETH TEIXIDÓ; ANTONI GINEBREDA; ROMÀ TAULER

Bevagna

Congreso; VIII Colloquium Chemometricum Mediterraneum; 2013

Società Italiana di Chemiometria

Chemometric methods are applied to the analysis and interpretation of large multivariate data sets obtained in environmental monitoring studies [1-3]. The concentrations of multiple organic compounds were measured in river samples taken from several sampling sites, at various geographical locations, during a number of campaigns and/or sampling time periods. Samples were collected and analyzed as part of an extensive multi-annual monitoring program. The water samples were taken from a mediterreanea river basin (in Catalonia, at the northeast of Spain), while historical data were available from the Water Catalan Agency. The identification of the main contamination sources and the description of their temporal and spatial distributions were achieved using both chemometric and geostatistical methods. Due to the great amount of data in these databases and to their complexity, chemometric modeling [principal components analysis (PCA) [4] and multivariate curve resolution with alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS) [5]] coupled to appropriate mapping representations is proposed to evaluate the environmental quality of the studied rivers. The results achieved in this study are intended to be a contribution to quality assessment and evaluation of the global situation of the contamination of surface waters in Catalonia, and to support public policies of environmental control and protection in the region under study.