Occurrence of Emerging Micropollutants in Water Systems in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West Provinces, South Africa

Abstract

The ubiquitous occurrence of emerging micropollutants (EMPs) in water is an issue of growing environmental-health concern worldwide. However, there remains a paucity of data regarding their levels and occurrence in water. This study determined the occurrence of EMPs namely: carbamazepine (CBZ), galaxolide (HHCB), caffeine (CAF), tonalide (AHTN), 4-nonylphenol (NP), and bisphenol A (BPA) in water from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West provinces, South Africa using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-HRTOFMS). Kruskal-Wallis test and ANOVA were performed to determine temporal variations in occurrence of the EMPs. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Surfer Golden Graphics software for surface mapping were used to determine spatial variations in levels and occurrence of the EMPs. The mean levels ranged from 11.22 ± 18.8 ng/L for CAF to 158.49 ± 662 ng/L for HHCB. There was no evidence of statistically significant temporal variations in occurrence of EMPs in water. Nevertheless, their levels and occurrence vary spatially and are a function of two principal components (PCs, PC1 and PC2) which controlled 89.99% of the variance. BPA was the most widely distributed EMP, which was present in 62% of the water samples. The detected EMPs pose ecotoxicological risks in water samples, especially those from Mpumalanga province.

Complex interactions between climate change, sanitation, and groundwater quality: a case study from Ramotswa, Botswana

“…When the Gaborone reservoir was completed in 1984, the Ramotswa groundwater was no longer piped to Gaborone and was only used to supply Ramotswa. In 1996, the Ramotswa wellfield was abandoned because NO 3 − concentrations exceeded the national drinking w a t e r s t a n d a r d , 5 0 m g N O 3 − L − 1 o r 1 1 m g NO 3 − −N L −1 (Walmsley and Patel 2011), and because Ramotswa lacked the capacity to treat the water (Moehadu 2014). Water was therefore piped in from Gaborone (Fig.…”

“…The maximum detection limit of 200 colony forming units (CFU) per 100 ml was observed at least once in BH4371, BH4995, and BH10129, indicating that actual concentrations could be higher. The Botswana drinking water standard is zero CFU per 100 ml (Walmsley and Patel 2011). The presence of fecal coliforms suggests that other fecal pathogens are likely to be present in the aquifer.…”

“…Caffeine's metabolite paraxanthine (1,7-dimethylxanthine) has also been used, but not as widely. Caffeine and/or paraxanthine have been measured in groundwater and surface water in Europe and the US (Buerge et al 2003;Glassmeyer et al 2005;Godfrey et al 2007;Hillebrand et al 2012;Reh et al 2013;Stuart et al 2014;Hillebrand et al 2015) and more recently in surface waters, urban groundwater, and roof-harvested rain water in South Africa (Matongo et al 2015;Sorensen et al 2015;Waso et al 2016;Wanda et al 2017;Rodríguez-Gil et al 2018). Denitrification is a naturally occurring microbial process that removes NO 3 − from groundwater.…”

Occurrence of selected endocrine disrupting compounds in the eastern cape province of South Africa

“…Grahamstown treated effluents (GE) contained 23.50% of BPA unremoved, while Alice effluents (AE) had 18.34%. Wanda et al (2017) reported various concentrations of BPA in some South African rivers. BPA has been detected in rivers and wastewaters in many countries of the world such as India, China, Russia and several others and similarly its concentrations in wastewater effluents were reduced compared to influents (Corrales et al 2015).…”

The role and influence of hydrogeochemistry in the behaviour and fate of silver nanoparticles in freshwater systems

“…During data acquisition, ultrapure water was analysed between replicates to check memory effects. Detection limit (LOD) of the dissolved Ag NPs was determined using Linear regression analysis [46]. The Ag nanoparticle diameter limit of detections (DLs) were determined by three times the standard deviation above the background when measuring ultrapure water [26,45].…”