In rivers, sediments are frequently accumulating persistent chemicals, especially for those that are more contaminated as a consequence of pressure related to environmental pollution and human activity. The Seine river basin (France) is heavily polluted from nearby industrial activities, and the urban expansion of Paris and its suburbs within the Ile de France region and the sediments present in the Seine river basin are contaminated. To ensure safe, navigable waters, rivers and waterways must be dredged. In this paper, the quality of the sediment dredged in 1996, 1999 and 2000 is discussed. Physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment itself and of the pore-water are presented. Seine basin sediments show very diverse compositions depending on the sampling site. Nevertheless, a geographic distribution study illustrated that the Paris impact is far from being the only explanation to this diversity, the quality of this sediment is also of great concern. The sediment once dredged is transported via barges to a wet disposal site, where the dredged material is mixed with Seine water in order to be pumped into the receiving site. This sort of dumping might be responsible for the potential release of contaminants to the overlying water from the significantly contaminated sediments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.