Monitoring of emerging pollutants in Guadiamar River basin (South of Spain): analytical method, spatial distribution and environmental risk assessment

Abstract

Guadiamar River is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula and connects two protected areas in the South of Spain: Sierra Morena and Doñana National Park. It is sited in an area affected by urban, industrial and agriculture sewage pollution and with tradition on intensive mining activities. Most of the studies performed in this area have been mainly focused on the presence of heavy metals and, until now, little is known about the occurrence of other contaminants such as emerging organic pollutants (EOPs). In this work, an analytical method has been optimized and validated for monitoring of forty-seven EOPs in surface water. The analytical method has been applied to study the distribution and environmental risk of these pollutants in Guadiamar River basin. The analytical method was based on solid-phase extraction and determination by liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole-tandem mass spectrometry. The 60 % of the target compounds were found in the analyzed samples. The highest concentrations were found for two plasticizers (bisphenol A and di(2-ethyhexyl)phthalate, mean concentration up to 930 ng/L) and two pharmaceutical compounds (caffeine (up to 623 ng/L) and salicylic acid (up to 318 ng/L)). This study allowed to evaluate the potential sources (industrial or urban) of the studied compounds and the spatial distribution of their concentrations along the river. Environmental risk assessment showed a major risk on the south of the river, mainly due to discharges of wastewater effluents.

Monitoring and assessment of sediment contamination with toxic heavy metals: case study of industrial effluent dispersion in Alaro River, Nigeria

“…Kumarkhali textile in Kushtia industrial area of Bangladesh contaminated Goral River sediment with toxic heavy metals (Islam et al 2015). The presence of heavy metals in Guadiamar River in Spain was adduced to wastewater from pharmaceutical and textile industries (Garrido et al 2016).…”

Impact of ciprofloxacin, carbamazepine and ibuprofen on a membrane bioreactor system: Kinetic study and biodegradation capacity

“…The analytical method for the pharmaceutical measurements was based on an optimized and validated method reported by Martín et al and Garrido et al After filtration of the samples (1.2 µm), the dissolved fraction was determined by solid phase extraction, and the solid fraction was treated by sonication assisted extraction. The extraction of the pharmaceuticals from the dissolved fraction was carried out using Oasis HLB SPE cartridges and methanol:water (5:95 v/v) acidified to pH 2.…”

Sublethal metabolic responses to contaminant mixture toxicity in Daphnia magna

“…Some common mixtures of contaminants entering freshwater ecosystems include combinations of pharmaceuticals and consumer products (Terzi c et al 2008;Lin et al 2015;Garrido et al 2016;Lai et al 2016). For example, pharmaceuticals such as propranolol and carbamazepine, and consumer products including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), have been identified to co-occur in regions such as Spain (Garrido et al 2016), China (Lai et al 2016), and Taiwan (Lin et al 2015). Propranolol is found in freshwater ecosystems because of its high use and incomplete removal from wastewater (Cleuvers 2005).…”