Report No DWI0227

Oct 1984

Under the EC Dangerous Substances Directive, Member States are required to reduce pollution of both fresh and salt waters, resulting from the discharge of List II substances, by the Environmental Quality Objectives (EQO) approach. DOE have contracted WRC to recommend Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs) for selected List II substances. This report is one of eleven prepared in fulfilment of this contract.

Common uses of boron are discussed and the chemistry of boron in water reviewed. Information is presented on the concentration of boron in the environment, with emphasis on UK and European waters and biota.

EQS values are recommended for all the agreed uses of water (as discussed in TR 206). EQSs for the protection of fish and other aquatic organisms in both fresh and salt waters have been proposed on the basis of literature reviews.

The recommended EQS values for all uses are summarised in an annotated table. It is concluded that the recommended EQS values for boron are consistent with measured concentrations in fresh and salt waters in the UK.

Copies of this report may be available as an Acrobat pdf download under the 'Find Completed Research' heading on the DWI website.