Spatiotemporal variations of pharmacologically active compounds in surface waters of a summer holiday destination

Abstract

The release of pharmacologically active compounds (PhACs) into aquatic ecosystems poses an environmental risk resulting in a chronic exposure of non-target organisms. A great variety of PhACs, of generally low concentrations, and the complicated sample preparation, makes circumstantial the accurate detection and quantification. Additionally, there is little information published about the spatiotemporal variation of the PhAC load in a larger catchment area utilised for touristic purposes. In addition to the natural biotic and abiotic changes, the seasonal variation of tourism also has a dramatic impact on water quality and the natural ecosystem in larger catchment areas. Therefore, our aim was to develop a reliable solid-phase extraction (SPE)-supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SFC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous multi-residue analysis of drugs to reveal the spatiotemporal changes in the PhAC contaminations in the waters of an important touristic region, the catchment area of the largest shallow lake in Central Europe, Lake Balaton (Hungary). The environmental application of the developed method revealed 69 out of the traced 134 chemical compounds, including 15 PhACs, which were detected from natural waters for the first time. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) loads have a major role in the PhAC contamination of the studied area; at the same time, the mass tourism-induced PhAC contamination was also detectable. Furthermore, the impact of tourism was indicated by elevated concentrations of recreational substances (e.g., 3 caffeine and illicit drugs) in the touristic season affecting the water quality of this important summer holiday destination.

Environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals at a seasonal holiday destination in the largest freshwater shallow lake in Central Europe

“…Seasonal changes in PhACs concentration and ERA New PhACs, theophylline (28.9-59.6 ng/L), barbital (94.8 ng/ L), and diclofenac (5.3-419.4 ng/L) (see detailed in Supplementary Table 1) were detected in the lake in addition to the 39 compounds published earlier (Maasz et al 2019). The collection of the necessary raw predicted and/or experimental toxicological data (E(L)C50, NOEC, and HC5) and the determination of AF and PNEC values of 42 PhACs, summarized in Table 1, were essential to perform ERA.…”

Insight into the hidden bacterial diversity of Lake Balaton, Hungary

“…The microbial communities we have revealed can be responsible for many steps in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur but also that of phosphorous or iron: to discover it in details, further investigations are necessary. It is true that the diversity and abundance of bacterioplankton depend on the phytoplanktonic primary production, but heterotrophic bacteria most probably are involved also in degradation of the residuals of different chemical contaminations which have been detected in the lake (Simon-Delso et al 2015;Avar et al 2015;Maasz et al 2019), these can be removed by the help of these complex bacterial communities. Though the self-purification of the water is strong, humans must consider keeping the water quality safe for further use.…”

“…In it, the definitions of biological variables were given a much stronger role than before. Moreover, till that time many studies had revealed the state of the water (Istvánovics et al 2008;Bolla et al 2010;Hatvani et al 2014;Maasz et al 2019).…”

Application of Switchable Hydrophobicity Solvents for Extraction of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater Samples

“…In the microextraction context, SHS-HLLME has been introduced as a green alternative that allows infinite contact between phases without any extra solvent or external apparatus [17,20,21]. Regarding the selected analytical problem, pharmaceutical products have become a persistent contaminant, whose distribution profiles in different water compartments are season and location dependent [40][41][42][43]. Evaluation and understanding of this emerging contaminant's fate and behavior has gained momentum in recent years [44,45].…”