Description of industrial pollution in Spain

BMC Public Health

Table 5 Description of pollution indirectly discharged to water by industrial plants in Spain (2001), by specific pollutant.

POLLUTANTS		TOTAL SPAIN			AUTONOMOUS REGIONS WITH HIGHEST EMISSIONS
SUBSTANCES	THRESHOLD (Mt/year)¹	EMISSION (Mt/year)²	PLANTS³	MEAN EMISSION PER PLANT (Mt/year)⁴	REGION	EMISSION (Mt/year)²	PLANTS³	MEAN EMISSION PER PLANT (Mt/year)⁴
GROUP 1: ENVIRONMENTAL THEMES
Nitrogen	50	6580	11	598	Andalusia	5673	3	1891
Phosphorus	5	1877	26	72	Andalusia	1584	7	226
GROUP 2: METALS AND COMPOUNDS
Arsenic	0.005	0.162	4	0.041	Galicia	0.130	1	0.130
Cadmium	0.005	0.370	15	0.025	Cantabria	0.150	1	0.150
Chromium	0.050	5	19	0.261	Basque Country	3	5	0.579
Copper	0.050	4	18	0.221	Basque Country	2	6	0.251
Mercury	0.001	0.078	5	0.016	Basque Country	0.047	2	0.023
Nickel	0.020	8	39	0.206	Aragon	3	2	2
Lead	0.020	2	15	0.141	Cantabria	0.882	1	0.882
Zinc	0.100	18	25	0.738	Basque Country	14	8	2
GROUP 3: CHLORINATED ORGANIC SUBSTANCES
Dichloroethane-1,2	0.010	0.023	1	0.023	Catalonia	0.023	1	0.023
Dichloromethane	0.010	0.212	1	0.212	Catalonia	0.212	1	0.212
Chloroalkanes	0.001	0.016	2	0.008	Catalonia	0.016	2	0.008
Halogenated organic compounds	1	87	7	12	Basque Country	72	3	24
GROUP 4: OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes	0.200	10	3	3	Catalonia	9	2	5
Organotin-compounds	0.050	0.154	1	0.154	Andalusia	0.154	1	0.154
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons	0.005	2	7	0.265	Catalonia	2	3	0.502
Phenols	0.020	4	21	0.184	Basque Country	2	3	0.505
Total organic carbon	50	53332	65	820	Andalusia	37557	11	3414
GROUP 5: OTHER COMPOUNDS
Chlorides	2000	366750	8	45844	Andalusia	312200	2	156100
Cyanides	0.050	4	4	1	Catalonia	4	2	2
Fluorides	2	30	4	7	Basque Country	26	3	9

ISSN: 1471-2458