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Pharmaceuticals on a sewage impacted section of a Mediterranean River (Llobregat River, NE Spain) and their relationship with hydrological conditions

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Abstract

Introduction

Mediterranean rivers are characterized by a high flow variability, which is strongly influenced by the seasonal rainfall. When water scarcity periods occur, water flow, and dilution capacity of the river is reduced, increasing the potential environmental risk of pollutants. On the other hand, floods contribute to remobilization of pollutants from sediments. Contamination levels in Mediterranean rivers are frequently higher than in other European river basins, including pollution by pharmaceutical residues. Little attention has been paid to the transport behavior of emerging contaminants in surface waters once they are discharged from WWTP into a river. In this context, this work aimed to relate presence and fate of emerging contaminants with hydrological conditions of a typical Mediterranean River (Llobregat, NE Spain).

Methods

River fresh water samples were collected twice a week over a period of 5 weeks at three sampling points. Sixty-six pharmaceutical compounds belonging to different therapeutical classes were analyzed by LC-MS/MS.

Results and discussion

Positive and negative correlations between the concentrations of the target analytes and hydrological variables like river flow and dissolved organic matter were observed pointing out the relevance of different hydrological phenomena like dilution effects or sediment re-suspension. Sensitivity calculations showed that the majority of compounds were sensitive to flow variations

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [projects Cemagua CGL2007-64551/HID and Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Scarce CSD2009-00065]. It reflects the authors’ views only. The European Union (EU) is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in it. Merck is acknowledged for the gift of LC columns. SP acknowledges the contract from the Ramón y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Victoria Osorio, Sandra Pérez, Antoni Ginebreda & Damià Barceló

  2. Catalan Institute of Water Research, ICRA Catalan Institute for Water Research- ICRA, C/Emili Grahit, 101, Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, 17003, Girona, Spain

    Damià Barceló

  3. King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Damià Barceló

  4. Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Sandra Pérez

Authors
  1. Victoria Osorio
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  2. Sandra Pérez
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  3. Antoni Ginebreda
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  4. Damià Barceló
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Pérez.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Appendix A. Supplementary material

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ESM 1

Supplementary data associated with this article are shown in Tables S1–S2 and Figs. S1–S4 (DOC 358 kb)

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Osorio, V., Pérez, S., Ginebreda, A. et al. Pharmaceuticals on a sewage impacted section of a Mediterranean River (Llobregat River, NE Spain) and their relationship with hydrological conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19, 1013–1025 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0603-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0603-4

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