☆ 4.7 Article

Pharmaceuticals in a Mediterranean Basin: The influence of temporal and hydrological patterns in environmental risk assessment

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2020)

Journal

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

Volume 709, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136205

Keywords

Guadiana Basin; Water quality; Pharmaceuticals; Environmental risk assessment

Funding

European Union through the European Regional Development Fund
COMPETE 2020 (Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization) through the ICT project [UID/GEO/04683/2013, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690]
COMPETE 2020 (Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization) through the ALOP project [ALT20-03-0145-FEDER-000004]
COMPETE 2020 (Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization) through the Engage SKA [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022217]
European Union through the EU FP7 project SOLUTIONS [603437]

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Abstract

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is nowadays a well-established issue that has become a matter of both scientific and public concern. Tons of different classes of pharmaceuticals find their way to the environment at variable degrees, after their use and excretion through wastewater and sewage treatment systems. The main goal of this study was to correlate the dynamics and the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals with different temporal and hydrological patterns, at the Guadiana Basin (South of Portugal). Water samples were collected bimonthly during 2017 (classified as a drought year) and 2018 (post-drought year) in: Zebro, Alamos and Amieira (intermittent hydrological streams), and Lucefecit (perennial hydrological stream). The pharmaceuticals quantified in higher concentrations, out of 27 investigated, were diclofenac (up to 4806 ng L-1), ibuprofen (3161 ng L-1), hydrochlorothiazide (2726 ng L-1) and carbamazepine (3223 ng L-1). Zebro and Alamos presented the highest contamination by this group of environmental hazardous substances, which may be correlated with the presence of wastewater treatment plants upstream the sampling point of each stream. Furthermore, the highest concentrations occurred mainly during the dry period (2017), when the flow was nearly inexistent in Zebro, and in Alamos after the first heavy rainfalls. In specific periods, the high concentrations of pharmaceuticals detectedmay induce risk for the organisms of lowest trophic levels, damaging the balance of the ecosystems at these streams. The risk quotient optimised approach (RQf) integrating exposure, toxicity and persistence factors, ranks the pharmaceuticals investigated in terms of risk for the aquatic ecosystems as follows: diclofenac, ibuprofen and carbamazepine (high risk), clarithromycin (moderate risk), acetaminophen, ofloxacin and bezafibrate (endurable risk), and hydrochlorothiazide (negligible risk). (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Occurrence and risk assessment of pesticides in a Mediterranean Basin with strong agricultural pressure (Guadiana Basin: Southern of Portugal)

P. Palma, S. Fialho, A. Lima, A. Catarino, M. J. Costa, M. V. Barbieri, L. S. Monllor-Alcaraz, C. Postigo, M. Lopez de Alda

Summary: The study assessed the occurrence and environmental risk of 51 selected pesticides in the Guadiana Basin in the Mediterranean region, highlighting the need to improve monitoring and implement measures to reduce contamination of aquatic ecosystems caused by pesticides.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2021)