Concentration levels and ecological risk assessment of typical organophosphate esters in representative surface waters of a megacity

Yu Qiao; Chenglian Feng; Xiaowei Jin; Zhenfei Yan; Weiying Feng; Ying Wang; Yingchen Bai

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118614

Concentration levels and ecological risk assessment of typical organophosphate esters in representative surface waters of a megacity

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 8;251(Pt 1):118614. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118614. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yu Qiao¹, Chenglian Feng², Xiaowei Jin³, Zhenfei Yan⁴, Weiying Feng⁵, Ying Wang⁵, Yingchen Bai⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China. Electronic address: fengcl@craes.org.cn.
³ China National Environmental Monitoring Centre, Beijing, 100012, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China; College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China.

PMID: 38462084
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118614

Abstract

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) have been widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers in consumer and industrial products. They have been found to have numerous exposure hazards. Recently, several OPEs have been detected in surface waters around the world, which may pose potential ecological risks to freshwater organisms. In this study, the concentration, spatial variation, and ecological risk of 15 OPEs in the Beiyun and Yongding rivers were unprecedentedly investigated by the ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and risk quotient (RQ) method. The result showed that triethyl phosphate (TEP), tri (2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) were the most abundant OPEs with average concentrations of 55.53 ng/L and 42.29 ng/L, respectively. The concentrations of OPEs in the Beiyun River are higher than in the Yongding River, and their levels were higher in densely populated and industrial areas. The risk assessment showed that there was insignificant from OPEs to freshwater organisms in these rivers (RQs <0.1). The risk was higher downstream than upstream, which was related to human-intensive industrial activities downstream in the Yongding River. The ecological risk of OPEs in surface waters worldwide was estimated by joint probability curves (JPCs), and the result showed that there was a moderate risk for tri (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), a low risk for trimethyl phosphate (TMP), and insignificant for other OPEs. In addition, the QSAR-ICE-SSD model was used to calculate the hazardous concentration for 5% (HC₅). This result validated the feasibility and accuracy of this model in predicting acute data of OPEs and reducing biological experiments on the toxicity of OPEs. These results revealed the ecological risk of OPEs and provided the scientific basis for environmental managers.

Keywords: Ecological risk assessment; Environmental concentration; HC(5); OPEs; Surface water.