ABSTRACT
The occurrence and potential adverse effects of micropollutants in the environment have been the subject of many studies in recent years and are starting to receive attention from the general public. The individual ecotoxicological risk of pollutants is commonly estimated using the risk quotient (RQ), which is the ratio of the measured or predicted environmental concentration (MEC or PEC) to the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC). This chapter aims to supply an overview of the spatio-temporal distribution of micropollutants within Vidy Bay, receiving wastewater from the Lausanne wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and establish the processes and factors affecting their fate both in water and in sediments. To date, most research on environmental occurrence and fate of wastewater-derived micropollutants has focused on the presence of these compounds in rivers and streams, often at sites close to discharges of WWTP effluent.
