Contaminants of emerging concern in tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes: I. Patterns of occurrence

Abstract

Human activities introduce a variety of chemicals to the Laurentian Great Lakes including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, plasticizers, and solvents (collectively referred to as contaminants of emerging concern or CECs) potentially threatening the vitality of these valuable ecosystems. We conducted a basin-wide study to identify the presence of CECs and other chemicals of interest in 12 U.S. tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes during 2013 and 2014. A total of 292 surface-water and 80 sediment samples were collected and analyzed for approximately 200 chemicals. A total of 32 and 28 chemicals were detected in at least 30% of water and sediment samples, respectively. Concentrations ranged from 0.0284 (indole) to 72.2 (cholesterol) μg/L in water and 1.75 (diphenhydramine) to 20,800 μg/kg (fluoranthene) in sediment. Cluster analyses revealed chemicals that frequently co-occurred such as pharmaceuticals and flame retardants at sites receiving similar inputs such as wastewater treatment plant effluent. Comparison of environmental concentrations to water and sediment-quality benchmarks revealed that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations often exceeded benchmarks in both water and sediment. Additionally, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and dichlorvos concentrations exceeded water-quality benchmarks in several rivers. Results from this study can be used to understand organism exposure, prioritize river basins for future management efforts, and guide detailed assessments of factors influencing transport and fate of CECs in the Great Lakes Basin.

Divergent responsiveness of two isoforms of the estrogen receptor to mixtures of contaminants of emerging concern in four vertebrates

“…As EEQ of E 1 , NP and BPA were 0.8, 0.0036 and 0.0026 at their maximum as compared with E 2 as 1 (Schultz et al, ), 1× AG and 1× UB mixtures have the potential to activate Esr at 37.9% and 57.8% when compared with E 2 . At the highest level, the 10× UB mixture via fathead minnow Esr1 showed 10 –10.17 m (0.068 n m ) EEQ, which differed to what has been documented in Great Lake tributaries as per Elliott et al (). Kortenkamp () summarized that effects of a low‐dose mixture of endocrine disruptors would fit a concept of concentration addition rather than an independent action.…”

“…The highest estimated EEQ of water in Great Lake tributaries was 25 ng l –1 (0.092 n m = 10 –10.04 m ) based on fathead minnow vitellogenin productions (Elliott et al, ), and AC 50 of E 2 via human Esr1 was 0.10 n m according to the US EPA Tox21 ToxCast Dashboard (https://actor.epa.gov/dashboard) (Dix et al, ). As EEQ of E 1 , NP and BPA were 0.8, 0.0036 and 0.0026 at their maximum as compared with E 2 as 1 (Schultz et al, ), 1× AG and 1× UB mixtures have the potential to activate Esr at 37.9% and 57.8% when compared with E 2 .…”

Land Use Contributions to Adverse Biological Effects in a Complex Agricultural and Urban Watershed: A Case Study of the Maumee River

“…It was expected that agricultural land use would be associated with the presence of pesticides, herbicides (Elliott et al 2017;Nowell et al 2018), and livestock-specific chemicals (i.e., growth promoters, steroids, livestock pharmaceuticals; Jaffrézic et al 2017). Biological effects from agricultural CECs include feminized sex ratios (Hoskins and Boone 2017), reductions in fecundity (Jensen et al 2006), and a reduction in species abundance and total number (Schäfer et al 2007).…”

Environmentally relevant chemical mixtures of concern in waters of United States tributaries to the Great Lakes

“…Some insights into chemical co‐occurrence can be gained by multivariate statistical methods, such as cluster analyses. Previous multivariate analyses have shown that some chemicals tend to co‐occur at sites with similar land use across the Great Lakes Basin (Elliott et al ). For example, atrazine, metolachlor, and flame retardants tend to co‐occur at sites with a dominant agricultural land use.…”