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Occurrence and fate of PPCPs and correlations with water quality parameters in urban riverine waters of the Pearl River Delta, South China

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Abstract

The occurrence and fate of eight PPCPs was studied in river waters from upstream to downstream of the three rivers in the Pearl River Delta, China. The correlations of PPCP levels and water quality parameters were also investigated. The analytes of the highest concentrations were caffeine, acetaminophen, and ciprofloxacin. Carbamazepine and erythromycin-H2O were detected at the lowest concentrations. The highest concentrations of PPCPs were found in the Shijing River, with 865 ng/L caffeine, 339 ng/L acetaminophen, and 304 ng/L ciprofloxacin. In general, the levels of PPCPs in the Zhujiang River were higher at sites where the metropolitan city Guangzhou is located and decreased from the epicenter along the river. Low levels of PPCPs were generally found in the Beijiang River. Positive correlations were found between PPCP levels, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and cumulative fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) volume. Among the four PPCPs evaluated (caffeine, acetaminophen, ciprofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole), caffeine had the best correlations with the correlation coefficients ranging from 0.62 to 0.98. The prediction of PPCP concentrations at specified locations can be substantially simplified.

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Acknowledgments

We thank China's Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Project No. 11lgpy95) to financially support this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Xin Yang, Fangang Meng, Yuanyu Xie, Hui Chen & Wenjie Fu

  2. SYSU-HKUST Research Center for Innovative Environmental Technology (SHRCIET), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Xin Yang, Fangang Meng, Yuanyu Xie, Hui Chen & Wenjie Fu

  3. Foshan Water Group, Foshan, 52800, China

    Feng Chen, Wangxing Luo & Tingjin Ye

  4. Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Kyana Young

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  1. Xin Yang
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Correspondence to Xin Yang or Fangang Meng.

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Yang, X., Chen, F., Meng, F. et al. Occurrence and fate of PPCPs and correlations with water quality parameters in urban riverine waters of the Pearl River Delta, South China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 5864–5875 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1641-x

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