Multiple Isotope Fingerprints to Identify Sources and Transport of Agro-Contaminants
Closed for proposals
Project Type
Project Code
D15018CRP
2187Approved Date
Status
Start Date
Expected End Date
Participating Countries
Description
Pollution from agriculture and other sources has direct negative impacts on human health. A major knowledge gap regarding pollution in agro-ecosystems is source identification and apportionment, which requires more data, research and integration of approaches. When contamination from multiple sources to an agro-ecosystem occurs, traditional techniques cannot help in evaluating the relative contribution of the different sources. Complementarily to conventional monitoring and mass balance approaches, stable isotopes of major elements (H, C, N, O and S) have the potential to characterize and quantify sources and transport of solutes in agro-ecosystems. Studies have shown that depending on the origin of the polluting source, the isotopic signature of each element could be unique therefore it can be applied to fingerprint the source. This CRP aims to use stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur as an integrated approach to identify and apportion sources and transport of agro-contaminants from soil to water bodies in agro-ecosystems.
Objectives
Identify and apportion macronutrient and micro-contaminant inputs in agro-ecosystems using an integrated isotope approach
Specific objectives
Provide guidelines and decision trees for adapting and applying the toolbox
Apply the combined approach to different agro-ecosystems to control contaminants
Develop, evaluate and standardize an integrative isotope approach for identifying and apportioning sources of contaminants in agro-ecosystems