Boron content in freshwaters of Northern Italy

The B concentration was determined in bulk deposition and in surface freshwaters (lakes and rivers) of the river Po watershed in Northern Italy. The curcumin photometric method was used to determine B content for all analyses. The B concentrations were under detection limits (0.06 mg B L^?1) in bulk deposition and below 0.09 mg B L^?1 in lake waters. Approximately 65 % of river samples measured had B concentrations close to natural background levels for natural waters (0.1 mg B L^?1). There was a strong correlation (r < 0.85) between B concentration and those of both total dissolved P and anionic detergents. The elevated B concentrations may be related to anthropogenic sources.