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Fuchte HE, Beck N, Bieg E, Bayer VJ, Achten C, Krauss M, Schäffer A, Smith KEC. A look down the drain: Identification of dissolved and particle bound organic pollutants in urban runoff waters and sediments. Environ Pollut 2022; 302:119047. [PMID: 35227846 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Urban runoff contains a range of organic micropollutants which, if not removed during wastewater treatment, pose a risk to aquatic environments. These mixtures are complex and often site-specific. Street drains provide an ideal sampling point given they collect the runoff from local and defined catchments. In this study, runoff was collected and sampled in five street drains located in a medium sized town in Germany. A specially constructed trap was used to collect the particulate and total water fractions of the runoff. In addition, passive samplers were deployed to determine the freely dissolved concentrations of selected compounds in the runoff. In sum, 187 polar organic micropollutants could be quantified using LC-HRMS. Thirty of these could only be detected by the use of passive samplers. Traffic derived pollutants such as corrosion inhibitors, rubber- and plastic additives, but also pollutants of industrial origin were strongly represented with sum median concentrations of 100 μg/kg dry weight (DW) in the sediment and 400 ng/L in the water fraction. Several of these substances are of concern due to their environmental persistence and mobility. Perfluorinated compounds and pesticides occurred at lower levels of several μg/kg DW sediment or ng/L water. A number of substances including pharmaceuticals, sweeteners and stimulants indicated domestic wastewater influences. Furthermore, a total of 62 parent and alkylated PAHs were quantified by GC-MS and contributed 30-70% to the sum concentrations of the micropollutants. Non-EPA PAHs dominated the carcinogenic PAH toxicity. The increased PAH alkylation indices (0.7-0.9) showed these primarily came from combustion sources. The runoff particles were additionally microscopically characterized, and correlations were found between the rubber particle counts and the PAH alkylation-index as well as the levels of 2-(methylthio)benzothiazole, a marker compound for tire leaching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna E Fuchte
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Natascha Beck
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Evelyn Bieg
- Umwelt-Mikroskopie Evelyn Bieg, Greppstraße 64, 52159, Roetgen, Germany
| | - Viviane J Bayer
- Institute of Geology and Palaeontology - Applied Geology, University of Münster, Corrensstraße 24, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Christine Achten
- Institute of Geology and Palaeontology - Applied Geology, University of Münster, Corrensstraße 24, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Martin Krauss
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andreas Schäffer
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing, 210093, PR China
| | - Kilian E C Smith
- Department of Water, Environment, Construction and Safety, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany
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Fuchte HE, Schäffer A, Booij K, Smith KEC. Kinetic Passive Sampling: In Situ Calibration Using the Contaminant Mass Measured in Parallel Samplers with Different Thicknesses. Environ Sci Technol 2020; 54:15759-15767. [PMID: 33213141 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c04437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The use of single-phase passive samplers is a common method for sampling bioavailable concentrations of hydrophobic aquatic pollutants. Often such samplers are used in the kinetic stage, and in situ calibration is necessary. Most commonly, exchange kinetics are derived from the release rates of performance reference compounds (PRCs). In this study, a complementary calibration approach was developed, in which measuring the contaminant mass ratio (CMR) from two samplers with different thicknesses allows the dissolved concentrations to be determined. This new CMR calibration was tested (1) in a laboratory experiment with defined and constant concentrations and (2) in the field, at a storm water retention site. Silicone passive samplers with different thicknesses were used to sample a range of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In the laboratory study, the concentrations derived from the CMR calibration were compared with those from water extraction and passive dosing and differences below a factor 2 were found. In the field study, CMR-derived concentrations were compared to those from PRC calibration. Here, differences ranged by only a factor 1 to 3 between both methods. These findings indicate that the CMR calibration can be applied as a stand-alone or complementary calibration method for kinetic passive sampling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna E Fuchte
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Andreas Schäffer
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, 210093 Nanjing, PR China
| | - Kees Booij
- Passive Sampling of Organic Compounds (PaSOC), 8821LV Kimswerd, The Netherlands
| | - Kilian E C Smith
- Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
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