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Transport of emerging contaminants: a column experimental study in granitic, gneissic, and quaternary alluvial soils from Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil

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Abstract

Emerging contaminants is a topic that has been in evidence, especially in the last decades. These compounds are pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products that are present in several locations, mainly in large urban centers. The aim of this work was to investigate the fate of seven compounds (atrazine, simazine, ametrine, tebuthiuron, 2,4-D, fipronil, and diclofenac) using leaching column experiments to evaluate accumulation and transfer in 5 different types of urban soils from Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. Chemical analyses were carried out through liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results showed that the soil derived from quaternary sediments, with well-sorted sandy sediments, was the one in which the contaminants had higher mobility. This soil also has a pH above the average of the others in the city, a factor that may also be responsible for less retention of substances. Tebuthiuron is the substance with the greatest leaching potential overall. Column experiments are a relevant tool to understand the behavior of emerging contaminants in soils and implications on the population health.

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Fig. 1

modified from Philipp et al., 2008)

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

The study is financially supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP 2015/18790-3) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul Instituto de Geociências Programa de Pós Graduação Em Geociências, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano, Ari Roisenberg & Elias Bittencourt Gomes

  2. Universidade Estadual de Campinas Instituto de Química Laboratório de Química Ambiental, Campinas, Brazil

    Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano, Bianca Veloso Goulart & Cassiana Carolina Montagner

Authors
  1. Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano
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  2. Ari Roisenberg
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  3. Elias Bittencourt Gomes
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  4. Bianca Veloso Goulart
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  5. Cassiana Carolina Montagner
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, soil column experiment setups, and field data collection were performed by Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano, Ari Roisenberg, and Elias Bittencourt Gomes. The chemical analyses were performed by Cassiana Carolina Montagner and Bianca Veloso Goulart. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Paulo Henrique Prado Stefano.

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Stefano, P.H.P., Roisenberg, A., Gomes, E.B. et al. Transport of emerging contaminants: a column experimental study in granitic, gneissic, and quaternary alluvial soils from Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 193, 262 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09026-w

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