Ecological implications and drivers of emerging contaminants in Dongting Lake of Yangtze River Basin, China: A multi-substance risk analysis

Ying Luo; Xiaowei Jin; Jianglu Zhao; Huiyu Xie; Xinying Guo; Daizhong Huang; John P Giesy; Jian Xu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134519

Ecological implications and drivers of emerging contaminants in Dongting Lake of Yangtze River Basin, China: A multi-substance risk analysis

J Hazard Mater. 2024 May 3:472:134519. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134519. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ying Luo¹, Xiaowei Jin², Jianglu Zhao³, Huiyu Xie³, Xinying Guo⁴, Daizhong Huang⁵, John P Giesy⁶, Jian Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
² China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: jinxw@cnemc.cn.
³ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
⁴ China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, Beijing 100012, China.
⁵ Dongting Lake Eco-Environment Monitoring Centre of Hunan Province, 414000 Yueyang, China.
⁶ Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B3, Canada; Department of Environmental Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798-7266, USA.
⁷ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: xujian@craes.org.cn.

PMID: 38733790
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134519

Abstract

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are increasingly recognized as a global threat to biodiversity and ecosystem health. However, the cumulative risks posed by ECs to aquatic organisms and ecosystems, as well as the influence of anthropogenic activities and natural factors on these risks, remain poorly understood. This study assessed the mixed risks of ECs in Dongting Lake, a Ramsar Convention-classified Typically Changing Wetland, to elucidate the major EC classes, key risk drivers, and magnitude of anthropogenic and natural impacts. Results revealed that ECs pose non-negligible acute (30% probability) and chronic (70% probability) mixed risks to aquatic organisms in the freshwater lake ecosystem, with imidacloprid identified as the primary pollutant stressor. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that cropland and precipitation were major drivers of EC contamination levels and ecological risk. Cropland was positively associated with EC concentrations, while precipitation exhibited a dilution effect. These findings provide critical insights into the ecological risk status and key risk drivers in a typical freshwater lake ecosystem, offering data-driven support for the control and management of ECs in China.

Keywords: Anthropogenic drivers; Ecological risk assessment; Emerging contaminants; Freshwater ecosystems; Mixture toxicity.