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标题：Adding the Mureş River Basin (Transylvania, Romania) to the List of Hotspots with High Contamination with Pharmaceuticals
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作者：Alexandru Burcea ; Ioana Boeraş ; Claudia-Maria Mihuţ 等
期刊名称：Sustainability
印刷版ISSN：2071-1050
出版年度：2020
卷号：12
期号：23
页码：10197
DOI：10.3390/su122310197
语种：English
出版社：MDPI, Open Access Journal
摘要：Abstract: Background: The Mures, River Basin is a long-term heavily polluted watershed, in asituation of climate changes with decreasing water flow and related decreasing dilution capacity.Here, a mixture of emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals were targeted to reveal potentialrisks regarding the natural lotic ecosystems. Due to the continuous discharge into the environment,pharmaceuticals are gaining persistent organic pollutant characteristics and are considered emergingpollutants. Based on the hazard quotient, this research highlights the dangerous concentrations ofcarbamazepine, ibuprofen, furosemide, and enalapril in river water. Results: High levels of fourpharmaceutical compounds (carbamazepine, ibuprofen, furosemide, and enalapril) and some of theirderived metabolites (enalaprilat, carboxyibuprofen, 1-hydroxyibuprofen, and 2-hydroxyibuprofen)were reported in our study in the Mures, River Basin. Overall, pharmaceutical concentrations werefound to be highest in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, median downstream of theWWTP, and lowest upstream of the WWTP, as was expected. For all pharmaceutical compoundstested, we recorded concentrations above the limit of quantification (LOQ) in at least one of thesites tested. Carbamazepine exhibited the highest mean values upstream, downstream, and atthe WWTP. As expected, the highest concentrations for all the studied pharmaceutical compoundswere detected in the WWTP effluent. All Hazard Quotient (HQ) values were below one (on alogarithmic scale in base 10), with the highest values in the WWTP and the lowest in the riverupstream of the WWTP. The HQ intervals were in the same range for furosemide, carbamazepine,and ibuprofen at each of the three different sites: upstream WWTP effluent, and downstream.The interval for enalapril stands out as having the lowest HQ at all three sites. Conclusions: Based onthese results, the large and complex hydrographical system Mures, River Basin was transformed froma grey area, with little information about pharmaceutical contamination, to a hotspot in terms ofcontamination with emerging pollutants. Pharmaceutical compound concentrations were found to bethe highest in WWTP effluents. The WWTP effluent concentrations were among the highest in Europe,indicating that treatment plants are the primary source of water pollution with pharmaceuticalscompounds. The detected levels were higher than the safety limit for carbamazepine and ibuprofen.The determined HQ values imply that the measured levels do pose a threat to the environment forthe studied pharmaceuticals. Based on the obtained results, human communities can assess, monitor,predict, and adapt in time to these already-present regional challenges and risks for sustainable useof natural resources, including water and associated products and services.
关键词：wastewater treatment plants;emerging pollutants water contamination;hazard quotient;carbamazepine;ibuprofen;furosemide;enalapril;liquid chromatography;triple quadrupole mass spectrometry