Suspect screening based on market data of polar halogenated micropollutants in river water affected by wastewater

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are known point sources of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) to the aquatic environment, but current knowledge is mostly limited to well-known chemical structures. In this study, we sought to identify unknown CECs polluting the aquatic environment through a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Menger, Frank, Ahrens, Lutz, Wiberg, Karin, Gago Ferrero, Pablo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10256/23892
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10256/23892
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Aigües residuals -- Plantes de tractament
Sewage disposal plants
Contaminants emergents en l'aigua
Emerging contaminants in water
Descripción
Sumario:Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are known point sources of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) to the aquatic environment, but current knowledge is mostly limited to well-known chemical structures. In this study, we sought to identify unknown CECs polluting the aquatic environment through a novel suspect screening approach for organohalogens, i.e. organic halogenated molecules often toxic and resistant to transformation and characterised as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Surface water samples were collected with passive samplers in the Fyris River catchment (Uppsala, Sweden), analysed using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and screened for organohalogens using a suspect screening approach based on market data obtained from a regulatory authority. Thirteen suspects from very different application areas were confirmed or tentatively identified with high confidence, including seven previously unknown structures (diflufenican, chlorzoxazone, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, 2,4-disulfamyl-5-trifluoromethylaniline, 5-amino-2-chlorotoluene-4-sulfonic acid, perfluoropentane-1-sufonic acid, (2-chlorophenyl)(hydroxy)methanesulfonic acid). Spatiotemporal occurrence patterns were detected, which helped to understand the usage pattern of the chemicals and pinpoint potential pollution sources, e.g. specific WWTPs in the catchment. Several of the newly identified structures had virtually no information publicly available and were detected years after their last registered use, which highlights the knowledge gaps and concerns about POPs