Abstract
Storm events lead to agricultural and urban runoff, to mobilization of contaminated particulate matter, and to input from combined sewer overflows into rivers. We conducted time-resolved sampling during a storm event at the Ammer River, southwest Germany, which is representative of small river systems in densely populated areas with a temperate climate. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and water from 2 sampling sites were separately analyzed by a multi-analyte liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for 97 environmentally relevant organic micropollutants and with 2 in vitro bioassays. Oxidative stress response (AREc32) may become activated by various stressors covering a broad range of physicochemical properties and induction of aryl hydrocarbon receptor-chemical-activated luciferase gene expression (AhR-CALUX) by hydrophobic compounds such as dioxins and dioxin-like molecules. Compound numbers, concentrations, their mass fluxes, and associated effect fluxes increased substantially during the storm event. Micropollutants detected in water and on SPM pointed toward inputs from combined sewer overflow (e.g., caffeine, paracetamol), urban runoff (e.g., mecoprop, terbutryn), and agricultural areas (e.g., azoxystrobin, bentazone). Particle-facilitated transport of triphenylphosphate and tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate accounted for up to 34 and 33% of the total mass flux even though SPM concentrations were <1 g L-1 . Effect fluxes attributed to SPM were similar or higher than in the water phase. The important role of SPM-bound transport emphasizes the need to consider not only concentrations but also mass and effect fluxes for surface water quality assessment and wastewater/stormwater treatment options. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:88-99. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
Highlights
More and more anthropogenic organic compounds are being used in a broad range of applications and have become indispensable to our modern society
In the present study we addressed the following questions: 1) What are the dynamics of the total organic micropollutant and effect fluxes in a river during a storm event? 2) How much does suspended particulate matter (SPM)‐facilitated transport contribute to the total flux of micropollutants and bioactive mixtures? and 3) What is the concentration ratio between water and SPM for micropollutants and effects and does it change during the event?
At AS2, 33 of 97 target compounds were detected (10 pesticides, 17 pharmaceuticals, and 6 industrial and household chemicals), with 25 compounds detected at both sites
Summary
More and more anthropogenic organic compounds are being used in a broad range of applications and have become indispensable to our modern society. Because of high usage and consumption, they are regularly found in the aquatic environment (Casado et al 2019; Bradley et al 2020). Due to their use‐specific properties, such as high persistence of flame retardants or effects of pesticides and pharmaceuticals on. The chemical status of surface waters is generally only assessed by snapshots of individual compound concentrations in regulatory monitoring (Brack et al 2018). Remobilization of contaminants from sediments has to be considered (Eggleton and Thomas 2004; de Weert et al 2010; Müller et al 2019)
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