Department Environmental Chemistry

There are several tens of thousands of organic chemicals on the market but existing monitoring programs cover only a selection of chemicals. The goal of the project FROSCH is to develop  in collaboration with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), ETH Zürich and Agroscope a strategy for the early detection of organic contaminants.  

In the first part of the project, an extensive computer-based screening of the Swiss customs statistics and product registers is conducted  and a multimedia fate model is used for the exposure prediction (ETH Zürich).  At Eawag the “list of candidates” is then screened in representative environmental samples using high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). The analytical technique is applied  on archived topsoil samples from the national soil monitoring program of Switzerland (Nationale Bodenbeobachtung - NABO) and lake sediment samples.