In order to assess concentrations of heavy metals due to ingestion, i.e. food consumption and drinking water, in different environmental media, e.g. arable land and freshwater, calcuations were carried out by using the water and soil modelling tool WATSON. Atmospheric deposition values for both dry and wet deposition as well as air concentration were calculated by using OMEGA and serve as input for the water and soil model. Additionally, input to soil from agricultural activities (based on a database set up within the AROMIS Project) as well as direct releases into freshwater (based on a formation of the EPER data set) is also considered.

The results of the environmental fate module of WATSON for two exemplary compartments, arable land and fresh water, are shown above. Mercury, however, is so far not considered by WATSON because firstly its fate at least needs a hemispherical if not global assessment and secondly modelling would become very complex since the chemical form of Hg strongly effects its behaviour in the environment.