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Active and passive sampling for the assessment of hydrophilic organic contaminants in a river basin-ecotoxicological risk assessment

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Abstract

This study presents a complementary approach for the evaluation of water quality in a river basin by employing active and passive sampling. Thirty-eight hydrophilic organic compounds (HpOCs) (organohalogen herbicides, organophosphorous pesticides, carbamate, triazine, urea, pharmaceuticals, phenols, and industrial chemicals) were studied in grab water samples and in passive samplers POCIS collected along Strymonas River, Northern Greece, at three sampling campaigns during the year 2013. Almost all the target compounds were detected at the periods of high rainfall intensity and/or low flow rate. The most frequently detected compounds were aminocarb, carbaryl, chlorfenviphos, chloropropham, 2,4-D, diflubenzuron, diuron, isoproturon, metolachlor, and salicylic acid. Bisphenol A and nonylphenol were also occasionally detected. The use of POCIS allowed the detection of more micropollutants than active sampling. Low discrepancy between the concentrations obtained from both samplings was observed, at least for compounds with >50 % detection frequency; thus, POCIS could be a valuable tool for the selection and monitoring of the most relevant HpOCs in the river basin. Results showed relatively low risk from the presence of HpOCs; however, the potential risk associated with micropollutants such as carbaryl, dinoseb, diuron, fenthion, isoproturon, metolachlor, nonylphenol, and salicylic acid should not be neglected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece

    Evangelia Terzopoulou & Dimitra Voutsa

  2. Interbalkan Environment Center (i-BEC), Loutrwn, 572 00, Lagkadas, Greece

    Evangelia Terzopoulou

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  1. Evangelia Terzopoulou
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  2. Dimitra Voutsa
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Correspondence to Dimitra Voutsa.

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Responsible editor: Ester Heath

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Table S1. Organic micropollutants determined in this study. (DOC 90 kb)

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Table S2. Performance characteristics of the proposed analytical method. (DOC 78 kb)

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Terzopoulou, E., Voutsa, D. Active and passive sampling for the assessment of hydrophilic organic contaminants in a river basin-ecotoxicological risk assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 5577–5591 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5760-4

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