Natural Boron Contamination in Mediterranean Groundwater

W ithin the past few decades, the water quality in many of the coastal aquifers along the Mediterranean Sea has rapidly degraded. Overexploitation of the groundwater basins, particularly during the tourist season, has resulted in the lowering of groundwater tables and increasing seawater intrusion into the aquifers. Countries such as Cyprus and Israel have shut down hundreds of wells along the coastline that were used primarily for drinking water. Facing a shortage of suitable drinking water, these countries have had either to look for alternative sources, such as imported water, or to implement costly technological solutions, such as desalination. In Cyprus, for example, where seawater intrusion is widespread, the water authorities have already established two major desalination plants so that they can supply freshwater to the millions of visitors who arrive every summer. Likewise, Israel is currently building several major desalination plants along the Mediterranean coastline. And in March, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country would import 50 million cubic meters of water a year from Turkey over the next 20 years. But as these well-publicized projects move forward to address salinity in the Mediterranean groundwater basin, another problem looms for residents: boron contamination. Until recently, countries have paid little attention to this and other threats to the quality of the groundwater. Results from an E.U.-sponsored project entitled BOREMED (Boron contamination of water resources in the Mediterranean region: distribution, sources, social impact and remediation) show that boron contamination poses a potential threat to the future use of many groundwater basins along the Mediterranean for the supply of drinking and irrigation water. Although we know that certain agricultural crops, such as citrus, cannot tolerate high levels of boron, to date we have only limited toxicological data on the impact of boron on human health. Virtually all studies have focused on high-concentration oral exposure of laboratory animals. Boron toxicity had the greatest effect on developing fetuses and testes and, as a result, led to reduced fertility NATURAL BORON CONTAMINATION IN MEDITERRANEAN GROUNDWATER