Distributions of concentrations of bisphenol A in North American and European surface waters and sediments determined from 19 years of monitoring data

Abstract

Concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) in North American and European fresh and marine surface waters and sediments were analyzed to quantify environmental levels and evaluate trends over the years 1996–2014. In North American surface water and sediment, 68% of 1030 weighted observations were below a detection limit (varied widely between studies). In Europe, 33% of 5057 weighted observations were below a detection limit. In North America and Europe, 50th percentile concentrations were 0.005 μg L-1 and 0.029 μg L-1 in freshwater and 0.0011 μg L-1 and 0.007 μg L-1 in marine water. The 95th percentile concentrations in freshwater were the same in North America and Europe at 0.30 μg L-1 and were 0.024 μg L-1 and 0.15 μg L-1 in marine water, respectively. Fiftieth percentile concentrations in North American and European freshwater sediment were 0.7 ng g-1 dry weight (dw) and 7.0 ng g-1 dw and in marine sediment were 1.0 ng g-1 dw and <0.03 ng g-1 dw, respectively. The 95th percentile concentrations were 39 ng g-1 dw and 177 ng g-1 dw in freshwater sediment and 100 ng g-1 dw and 63 ng g-1 dw in marine sediment, respectively. Most concentrations were below published chronic toxicity values or regulatory limits. BPA freshwater concentrations in both regions appear to have remain relatively unchanged over the 19 year period during which BPA production and use in polycarbonate plastic production increased significantly. There is no clear correlation between BPA or polycarbonate production and BPA levels in surface waters.