Metal concentrations in transitional and coastal waters measured by passive (Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films) and spot sampling: MONITOOL Project Dataset

Rodríguez, José Germán and Guesdon, Stephane and Amouroux, Isabelle and Belzunce-Segarra, María Jesús and Bersuder, Philippe and Bolam, Thi and Brito, Pedro and Caetano, Miguel and Carvalho, Inês and Correia Dos Santos, Margarida M and Desogus, Alessandro and Fones, Gary R and Gonzalez, Jean-Louis and Larreta, Joana and Lebrun, Luc and Marras, Barbara and McHugh, Brendan and Menet-Nédélec, Florence and Menchaca, Iratxe and Millán Gabet, Vanessa and Monteiro, Carlos E and Montero, Natalia and Nolan, Martin and Regan, Fiona and Rodrigo, Marta and Rosa, Nuno and Schintu, Marco and Schmitt, Anne and Todde, Debora and Warford, Lee and White, Blánaid and Zhang, Hao (2024) Metal concentrations in transitional and coastal waters measured by passive (Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films) and spot sampling: MONITOOL Project Dataset. Data in Brief, 53: 110145. ISSN 2352-3409

Abstract

The MONITOOL project (2017-2023) was carried out to describe the relationships between total dissolved and labile metal concentrations measured in spot water samples and in concurrently deployed Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films (DGTs) passive samplers, respectively. The ultimate aim was to adapt existing marine metal Environmental Quality Standards (EQS ) for DGTs, enabling their use in the context of the European Directives (the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)). Time-integrated metal concentrations provided by DGTs, representing several days, are an advantage compared to conventional spot sampling, especially in highly dynamic systems, such as transitional waters. Hence, the MONITOOL project aimed to provide a robust database of dissolved and labile metal concentrations in transitional and coastal waters, based upon co-deployments of DGTs and collection of spot water samples at several sampling sites (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain), followed subsequently by DGT and water metal analysis. Samplings were carried out in 2018 and 2022, following agreed protocols developed in the framework of the project. The MONITOOL dataset includes metal concentrations from DGTs, measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS: Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and in concurrently collected spot water samples by ICP-MS (Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) and Anodic/Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV/CSV: Cd, Pb, Ni). Moreover, data on seawater physical-chemical parameters (salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, total suspended solids, dissolved organic carbon, and total organic carbon) is provided. This database presents the results obtained using, concurrently, different forms of sampling and analytical techniques, enabling the comparison of the results obtained by these strategies and allowing the adaptation of EQS in marine water (EQS to DGTs (EQS ), in the context of the WFD. Moreover, due to the large number of sampling sites, it could also be used for other types of research, such as those dealing with metal speciation or the determination of baseline levels. [Abstract copyright: © 2024 The Authors.]