OCCURRENCE AND FATE OF EMERGING TRACE ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN TWO SEMI-URBANIZED CATCHMENT BASINS IN SICILY (ITALY): FROM SOURCE TO SINK

摘要

Many studies indicate that several classes of emerging trace organic contaminants (ETrOCs) are widely distributed in the environment. Some ETROCs have shown estrogenic and other effects to wildlife and potentially to humans while the release of antibiotics in the environment has been shown to cause the development of bacterial resistance. In this study, water samples were collected from the source to sink in two semi-urbanized catchment basins in Sicily, and analyzed for several ETROC classes, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disrupting compounds. In both catchment basins, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were identified as the major sources of ETROCs. More recalcitrant ETROCs, notably acesulfame and sucralose were found in all sampling points along the rivers, whereas the highest total ETrOC concentrations were found in samples collected directly downstream from wastewater discharge. No ETrOCs were detected in sea water. Acesulfame and caffeine were detected at low concentration in sea water samples collected close to the rivers' mouth. Discharges of WWTP effluents in the rivers were found to cause an increase of dissolved organic carbon concentration (DOC) in affected water. Fluorescence excitation-emission spectroscopy confirmed the presence of a significant fraction of effluent organic matter in river water. UV absorbance at 254 nm, total fluorescence and DOC were well correlated (R2 > 0.7) with sucralose concentrations found in sample taken along the course of the investigated rivers. This supports the notion that these surrogate parameters can be useful tools to evaluate wastewater impact in river.