Pesticide monitoring in the basin of Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain) and comparison with historical data.
Through an extensive sampling in the Llobregat River basin, the presence of 50 currently used pesticides in water, sediment, and biota was assessed. Pesticides were detected primarily in water (up to 56% of the analytes), whereas their presence in sediments was more intermittent, and in biota was scarce. Those at high concentrations in water were the benzimidazoles (carbendazim in 22% of the samples up to 697ngL-1), the organophosphorus (malathion in 54% of the samples up to 320ngL-1), and the ureas (diuron in 54% of the samples up to 159ngL-1). However, this pattern differed in sediments and biota, which were contaminated primarily with organophosphorus (higher Kow) (chlorpyrifos 93% of se…
Contaminants of emerging concern in freshwater fish from four Spanish Rivers.
This study investigated the occurrence of 135 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) – pharmaceuticals, pesticides, a set of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (parabens, bisphenols, hormones, triazoles, organophosphorus flame retardants and triclosan), UV-filters, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) – in 59 fish samples, collected in 2010 in 4 Spanish Rivers (Guadalquivir, Júcar, Ebro and Llobregat). Of the 135 CECs, 76 including 8 pharmaceuticals, 25 pesticides, 10 EDCs, 5 UV-filters, 15 PFASs and 13 HFRs were detected. Pharmaceuticals were the less frequently found and at lower concentrations. Pesticides, EDCs, UV-filters, PFASs and HFRs were det…
Pesticides in the Ebro River basin: Occurrence and risk assessment
In this study, 50 pesticides were analyzed in the Ebro River basin in 2010 and 2011 to assess their impact in water, sediment and biota. A special emphasis was placed on the potential effects of both, individual pesticides and their mixtures, in three trophic levels (algae, daphnia and fish) using Risk Quotients (RQs) and Toxic Units (TUs) for water and sediments. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon and carbendazim were the most frequent in water (95, 95 and 70% of the samples, respectively). Imazalil (409.73 ng/L) and diuron (150 ng/L) were at the highest concentrations. Sediment and biota were less contaminated. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon and diclofenthion were the most frequent in sediments (82, 45 and 2…