Abstract
Concerns about the environmental contamination have increased in recent decades. There are numerous potentially contaminated sites worldwide; however, only a few of these are effectively identified. Although there are several methods that can be applied for identification of potentially contaminated sites, these differ in their approaches and considerations, potentially hindering their application in practice. Thus, this study is aimed at presenting a methodology for defining a method of identification for potentially contaminated sites through four main stages. The first involved a systematic bibliographic research, based on governmental and scientific data, to locate the existing methods for identifying potentially contaminated sites. The second comprised the development of a spreadsheet for analyzing these methods. The spreadsheet classifies all the information and steps of the methods using a color scale. Filling out the spreadsheet involves an in-depth analysis of all methods, identifying the steps for each. Subsequently, the most thorough method of identifying potentially contaminated sites was selected. In the third stage, the selected method was used in a case study in a municipality in southern Brazil. And finally, a critical evaluation of the practical use of the selected method was made. Twenty methods for identifying potentially contaminated sites from different sources and locations were recognized. The method having the highest number of steps—in this case, the Brazilian method of the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo—was deemed to be the most complete. The use of the selected method in the case study resulted in the identification of six potentially contaminated sites. The organization of public agencies as to the information about the history of the sites and organized databases ends up being the main difficulties verified. This study makes several new contributions and provides academics and professionals with a detailed overview of all the methods for identifying potentially contaminated sites. It also develops a process of elaboration through a spreadsheet for easily understandable content analysis, allowing a broad and integrated view of all stages of identification.
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Greice Barufaldi Rampanelli and Adeli Beatriz Braun contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Greice Barufaldi Rampanelli, Adeli Beatriz Braun, Adan William da Silva Trentin, and Rodrigo da Cruz. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Greice Barufaldi Rampanelli and Caroline Visentin. Antônio Thomé was responsible for the revision of the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and the revision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Highlights
• Elaboration of a document analysis process, by a spreadsheet;
• Description of the methods for identifying potentially contaminated sites;
• Analysis of method steps for identifying potentially contaminated sites;
• The Brazilian method has the highest amount of evaluation steps;
• Use of the Brazilian method in a case study for identifying potentially contaminated sites of a municipality in southern Brazil;
• Highlighted the facilities and difficulties of practical use of the Brazilian method.
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Rampanelli, G.B., Braun, A.B., Visentin, C. et al. The Process of Selecting a Method for Identifying Potentially Contaminated Sites—a Case Study in a Municipality in Southern Brazil. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04970-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04970-8