The role of sediments in the assessment of ecological quality of European river bodies.

Member States of the EU are presently involved in the enforcement of the Directive of the Council and European Parliament 2000/60/CE, the so-called Water Framework Directive (WFD), establishing a frame for the common water policy of the Union. A major objective of the WFD is to reach within 2015 a good ecological status for all relevant surface water bodies of the Union territory. The assessment of the ecological status must be supported by the assessment of both the hydromorphological conditions of the water and its chemical status as represented by basic chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, oxygen balance and nutrients, and the presence or absence (vs environmental quality standards or natural background concentration) of specific synthetic and non-synthetic micropollutants. According to this approach, the assessment of the presence in any phase (water, sediments and biota) constituting the water body of micropollutants at concentrations below the environmental standards will guarantee the protection from toxic and ecotoxic effects on humans, animal and vegetal communities associated with the water body. In this context, the state of the art in Italy as compared to that in some non-EU states, particularly in Armenia, is discussed.