Gone with the flow - Assessment of personal care products in Portuguese rivers

Vera Homem; Maria Llompart; Marlene Vila; Ana R L Ribeiro; Carmen Garcia-Jares; Nuno Ratola; Maria Celeiro

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133552

Gone with the flow - Assessment of personal care products in Portuguese rivers

Chemosphere. 2022 Apr:293:133552. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133552. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Authors

Vera Homem¹, Maria Llompart², Marlene Vila², Ana R L Ribeiro³, Carmen Garcia-Jares², Nuno Ratola⁴, Maria Celeiro²

Affiliations

¹ LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: vhomem@fe.up.pt.
² CRETUS, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
³ Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.
⁴ LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.

PMID: 35007608
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133552

Abstract

Although there are several works in the literature that study the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in surface waters, the vast majority focus their attention on pharmaceuticals and little information is found about personal care products (PCPs). Therefore, this study focused, for the first time, on the monitoring of five classes of PCPs - fragrance allergens, synthetic musks, phthalates, antioxidants, and ultraviolet-filters - in the surface water of four small-size typically pollution-impacted Portuguese rivers (Ave, Leça, Antuã and Cértima). A solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) protocol was employed to analyse surface water samples collected in two seasonal campaigns - summer and winter (34 samples per season). A total of 22 out of 37 target PCPs were detected concomitantly at least once in one sampling point, being the most frequently detected α-isomethyl ionone, galaxolide, tonalide and cashmeran. The highest concentrations were confirmed for diethylhexyl phthalate (610.6 ng L^-1), galaxolide (379.2 ng L^-1), geraniol (290.9 ng L^-1), linalool (271.2 ng L^-1), benzophenone-3 (254.1 ng L^-1) and citronellol (200.2 ng L^-1). Leça River, traversing the more densely urban and industrialized area, had the highest levels of contaminants, which were also found in the sampling points located downstream of wastewater treatment plants discharge points. In general, higher levels were detected in summer, when the river flows are lower. Hazard quotients were determined and octocrylene, tonalide, and geraniol presented values above 1 in some sampling sites, which may indicate an ecotoxicological risk to the aquatic environment. The results presented suggest that these three PCPs should be included as priority pollutants in environmental monitoring schemes in surface waters, due to their high detection, persistence, and potential adverse effects.

Keywords: GC–MS/MS; Personal care products; Solid-phase microextraction; Surface water.

MeSH terms

Cosmetics* / analysis
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods
Portugal
Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Cosmetics
Water Pollutants, Chemical