Organic micropollutants in the surface riverine sediment along the lower stretch of the transboundary river Ganga: Occurrences, sources and ecological risk assessment

Abstract

The Hooghly River (HR) estuary is the first deltaic off-shoot of the perennial and transboundary river, Ganga, India. HR receives industrial and domestic waste along with storm-water run-off from Kolkata city and the adjoining districts. Organic micropollutants (OMPs) have been collectively termed for plasticizers, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, which are extensively consumed and disposed in the waste streams. Hence emerging OMPs were investigated to obtain the first baseline data from the Hooghly riverine sediment (HRS) along urban and suburban transects using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The concentration range of OMPs in the HRS varied between 3 and 519 ng/g for carbamazepine, 5–407 ng/g for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 2–26 ng/g for musk ketone, 2–84 ng/g for triclosan, 2–199 ng/g for bisphenol A (BPA), 2–422 ng/g for plasticizers (phthalic acid esters (PAEs) and bis (2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA)) and 87–593 ng/g for parabens. Carbamazepine concentration in sediment was an useful marker for untreated wastewater in urban waterways. High concentrations of BPA and PAEs in the suburban industrial corridor together with significant correlation between these two type of OMPs (r2 = 0.5; p < 0.01) likely reflect a common source, possibly associated with the plastic and electronic scrap recycling industries. Among all the categories of OMPs, plasticizers seems to exhibit maximum screening level ecological risk through out the study area.