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Plasticizers and bisphenol A in Adyar and Cooum riverine sediments, India: occurrences, sources and risk assessment

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Abstract

Adyar and Cooum, the two rivers intersecting Chennai city, are exposed to serious pollution due to the release of large quantities of dumped waste, untreated wastewater and sewage. Sediments can act as repository for emerging organic contaminants. Hence, we have monitored the occurrence and risk associated with plasticizers [six phthalic acid esters (PAEs), bis(2-ethyl hexyl adipate) (DEHA)] and bisphenol A (BPA) in surface riverine sediments of Adyar and Cooum rivers from residential/commercial, industrial and electronic waste recycling sites. Σ7plasticizers (PAEs + DEHA) in the Adyar riverine sediment (ARS) and Cooum riverine sediment (CRS) varied between 51.82–1796 and 28.13–856 ng/g, respectively. More than three-fourth of Σ7plasticizers came from bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), in accordance with the high production and usage of this compound. BPA varied between 10.70–2026 and 7.58–1398 ng/g in ARS and CRS, respectively. Average concentrations of plasticizers and BPA were four times higher in electronic waste (e-waste) recycling sites when compared with industrial and residential/commercial sites. BPA and DEHP showed a strong and significant correlation (R2 = 0.7; p < 0.01) in the e-waste sites thereby indicating common source types. Sites present at close proximity to raw sewage pumping stations contributed to 70% of the total BPA observed in this study. For the derived pore water concentration of plasticizers and BPA, the ecotoxicological risk has been found to be higher in ARS over CRS. However, sediment concentrations in all the sites of ARS and CRS were much below the recommended serious risk concentration for human (SRChuman) and serious risk concentration for ecotoxicological (SRCeco).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) for Project No. Q-14011/43/2013-CPW (EHC) and Selective Excellence initiative of SRM Institute of Science and Technology under signature programs competition, criteria for academic excellence, SRM Institute of Science and Technology Kattankulathur campus.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India

    Moitraiyee Mukhopadhyay & Paromita Chakraborty

  2. SRM Research Institute, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India

    Srimurali Sampath & Paromita Chakraborty

  3. Department of Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Organic Chemistry, CSIC, Juan de la Cierva, 3, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Muñoz-Arnanz & Begoña Jiménez

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  1. Moitraiyee Mukhopadhyay
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  5. Paromita Chakraborty
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Mukhopadhyay, M., Sampath, S., Muñoz-Arnanz, J. et al. Plasticizers and bisphenol A in Adyar and Cooum riverine sediments, India: occurrences, sources and risk assessment. Environ Geochem Health 42, 2789–2802 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00516-3

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