Biocides are added to or applied on building materials to prevent microorganisms from growing on their surface or to treat them. They are leached into building runoff and contribute to diffuse contamination of receiving waters. This review aimed at summarizing the current state of knowledge concerning the impact of biocides from buildings on the aquatic environment. The objectives were (i) to assess the key parameters influencing the leaching of biocides and to quantify their emission from buildings; (ii) to determine the different pathways from urban sources into receiving waters; and (iii) to assess the associated environmental risk. Based on consumption data and leaching studies, a list of substances to monitor in receiving water was established. Literature review of their concentrations in the urban water cycle showed evidences of contamination and risk for aquatic life, which should put them into consideration for inclusion to European or international monitoring programs. However, some biocide concentration data in urban and receiving waters is still missing to fully assess their environmental risk, especially for isothiazolinones, iodopropynyl carbamate, zinc pyrithione and quaternary ammonium compounds, and little is known about their transformation products. Although some models supported by actual data were developed to extrapolate emissions on larger scales (watershed or city scales), they are not sufficient to prioritize the pathways of biocides from urban sources into receiving waters during both dry and wet weathers. Our review highlights the need to reduce emissions and limit their transfer into rivers, and reports several solutions to address these issues.
A robust method is provided to analyze 18 hydrophilic and hydrophobic biocides in both dissolved and particulate fractions of five types of urban and surface waters using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The linearity, accuracy and intermediate precision were validated. The target biocides were enriched by solid phase extraction using Chromabond HR-X 200 mg cartridges and eluted with methanol, ethyl acetate and dichloromethane. Suspended matter was extracted by microwave-assisted extraction in methanol and dichloromethane. Recoveries and variability (respectively >75% and < 30% for most of the target biocides and matrices) made it possible to quantify biocides at trace level in all matrices. LOQs were in the range of ng/L in the dissolved fraction and in the range of ng/g.dw in the particulate fraction for most of the biocides and matrices and were generally lower than those reported in previous studies. The method was successfully applied to surface water, treated and untreated wastewater, combined sewer overflows, and stormwater providing, unique data in these matrices for some substances, in particular with respect to particle contamination. In urban waters, concentrations of most of the biocides ranged from 10 to 200 ng/L. Diuron, isothazolinone and benzalkonium concentrations could reach 0.9, 0.9 and 20 µg/L respectively. In rivers, most of the biocides were measured at less than 10 ng/L, but higher concentrations were observed for benzalkoniums (up to 200 ng/L) or after rain events, which indicates biocide transfer from urban surfaces into the aquatic environment during wet weather.
Ces dernières années, la notion de priorisation des substances à surveiller dans le milieu a émergé en raison de la diversité des composés. En effet, 100 000 substances sont référencées en Europe. Mais la priorisation des micropolluants est complexe de par les contextes très variés des différentes études, la diversité des critères de sélection possibles, les difficultés analytiques de leur suivi, etc. Les biocides sont des micropolluants encore peu suivis dans l’environnement malgré leur forte toxicité pour les organismes aquatiques et leurs nombreuses utilisations (plus de 800 couples substance/type de produit sont enregistrés en vertu du Règlement des produits biocides), notamment en milieu urbain: désinfectants, conservateurs dans les produits cosmétiques ou dans les matériaux de construction, pesticides, etc. Parmi les sources urbaines de contamination du milieu récepteur par les biocides, ce travail s’est intéressé aux rejets urbains de temps de pluie (eaux pluviales, déversoirs d’orage) qui se contaminent en ruisselant sur les surfaces urbaines telles que les bâtiments. En effet, des biocides sont ajoutés dans les matériaux de construction pour les protéger contre la croissance de micro-organismes à leur surface. Un exercice de priorisation des biocides a été conduit sur une liste de 25 biocides couramment utilisés dans les matériaux de construction afin de sélectionner des substances d’intérêt. Ces derniers ont été hiérarchisés en fonction de plusieurs critères liés à leurs émissions dans l’environnement, à l’exposition des populations aquatiques ainsi qu’à leur écotoxicité. Pour chacun des critères, un score entre 1 et 10 a été attribué en fonction du risque. Vingt biocides ont donc été sélectionnés comme pertinents à suivre dans le milieu.
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