This study evaluated the occurrence of PPCPs in Cau River (Vietnam). Surface water and sediment samples were collected to determine PPCP concentrations. The analysis results showed the presence of 36 out of 56 investigated PPCPs in samples. The total concentration of PPCPs in water samples ranged from 8.21 to 529 ng/L and the value observed in sediment was from 17.4 to 172.8 μg/kg. Along the Cau River, there was a trend of accumulation of PPCPs at the downstream. The highest level of PPCP was observed after the river flows through Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces. Among detected PPCPs, the ones detected with high frequency (over 70%) and high concentration were caffeine, sulfamethoxazole, and lincomycin in water and triclocarban, levofloxacin, and griseofulvin in sediment. The water-sediment partition coefficient (Kd) was estimated to explore the fate of PPCP in the river, and the observed Kd mean values for lincomycin, sulfamethoxazole, and griseofulvin were 223.0, 7.6, and 997.0 kg/L, respectively. Risk assessment was initially conducted by applying a semi-quantitative assessment risk quotient (RQ); the potential ecological risk to the aquatic organism of PPCPs posed a moderate risk.
Keywords: Cau River; PPCPs; Risk assessment; Water-sediment partition.