Hydrophilic trace organic contaminants in urban stormwater: occurrence, toxicological relevance, and the need to enhance green stormwater infrastructure

Spahr, Stephanie; Teixidó, Marc; Sedlak, David L.; Luthy, Richard G.

doi:10.1039/c9ew00674e

Cited by 96 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 214 publications

(489 reference statements)

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“…Other compounds such as pesticides are directly dispersed in agriculture and urban environments. Biocides, used to preserve outdoor materials, facades, and roofs, may leach and be flushed into surface waters by rainfall (Berenzen et al 2005; Tran et al 2019; Spahr et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storm Event–Driven Occurrence and Transport of Dissolved and Sorbed Organic Micropollutants and Associated Effects in the Ammer River, Southwestern Germany

Müller

Zwiener

Escher

2020

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Storm events lead to agricultural and urban runoff, to mobilization of contaminated particulate matter, and to input from combined sewer overflows into rivers. We conducted time-resolved sampling during a storm event at the Ammer River, southwest Germany, which is representative of small river systems in densely populated areas with a temperate climate. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and water from 2 sampling sites were separately analyzed by a multi-analyte liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for 97 environmentally relevant organic micropollutants and with 2 in vitro bioassays. Oxidative stress response (AREc32) may become activated by various stressors covering a broad range of physicochemical properties and induction of aryl hydrocarbon receptor-chemical-activated luciferase gene expression (AhR-CALUX) by hydrophobic compounds such as dioxins and dioxin-like molecules. Compound numbers, concentrations, their mass fluxes, and associated effect fluxes increased substantially during the storm event. Micropollutants detected in water and on SPM pointed toward inputs from combined sewer overflow (e.g., caffeine, paracetamol), urban runoff (e.g., mecoprop, terbutryn), and agricultural areas (e.g., azoxystrobin, bentazone). Particle-facilitated transport of triphenylphosphate and tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate accounted for up to 34 and 33% of the total mass flux even though SPM concentrations were <1 g L-1. Effect fluxes attributed to SPM were similar or higher than in the water phase. The important role of SPM-bound transport emphasizes the need to consider not only concentrations but also mass and effect fluxes for surface water quality assessment and wastewater/stormwater treatment options.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storm Event–Driven Occurrence and Transport of Dissolved and Sorbed Organic Micropollutants and Associated Effects in the Ammer River, Southwestern Germany

Müller

Zwiener

Escher

2020

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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“…While vacant lots may achieve stormwater benefits, retaining precipitation and runoff in these areas spells unclear impacts for disturbing or introducing contamination in the subsurface. As with green infrastructure 54 , a common perception associated with stormwater infiltration on vacant lots is that there may be increased risk from infiltrating contaminated water or mobilizing contaminant transport in the subsurface. While many vacant lands are formerly residential, others may have been used for commercial or industrial purpoposes 9,16 (as in Buffalo, e.g., Supplementary Table 11; Supplementary Note 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban vacant lands impart hydrological benefits across city landscapes

et al. 2020

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Cities evolve through phases of construction, demolition, vacancy, and redevelopment, each impacting water movement at the land surface by altering soil hydrologic properties, land cover, and topography. Currently unknown is whether the variable physical and vegetative characteristics associated with vacant parcels and introduced by demolition may absorb rainfall and thereby diminish stormwater runoff. To investigate this, we evaluate how vacant lots modulate citywide hydrologic partitioning by synthesizing a novel field dataset across 500+ parcels in Buffalo, New York, USA. Vacant lot infiltration rates vary widely (0.001 to 5.39 cm h −1), though parcels are generally well-vegetated and gently sloped. Extending field estimates to 2400 vacant parcels, we estimate that vacant lands citywide may cumulatively infiltrate 51-54% additional annual rainfall volume as compared to pre-demolition state, in part by reducing and disconnecting impervious areas. Our findings differentiate vacant lots as purposeful landscapes that can alleviate large water fluxes into aging wastewater infrastructure.

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“…Despite the fact that MP concentrations in rainwater runoff are not constant during rain events [31][32][33], knowledge on occurrence and transport of MP in wet weather flow is too scarce to justify a more detailed modeling approach. [14,[34][35][36] Infiltration water was assumed to be unpolluted. The elimination in the WWTP plant is described by different constant effluent concentrations for the rainwater and the wastewater fraction.…”

Section: Pollution Of the Flow Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies are based on grab sampling in overflowing structures or receiving waters (e.g., [4][5][6]), others used automated samplers to create time series over spilling events [7][8][9][10] or to obtain flow weighted event mean concentrations (EMC) [8,[11][12][13]. The specific challenges and impediments of MP sampling during wet weather are discussed by [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Combined Sewer Systems on the Quality of Urban Streams: Frequency and Duration of Elevated Micropollutant Concentrations

Dittmer

Bachmann-Machnik

Launay

2020

Water

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Water quality in urban streams is highly influenced by emissions from WWTP and from sewer systems particularly by overflows from combined systems. During storm events, this causes random fluctuations in discharge and pollutant concentrations over a wide range. The aim of this study is an appraisal of the environmental impact of micropollutant loads emitted from combined sewer systems. For this purpose, high-resolution time series of river concentrations were generated by combining a detailed calibrated model of a sewer system with measured discharge of a small natural river to a virtual urban catchment. This river base flow represents the remains of the natural hydrological system in the urban catchment. River concentrations downstream of the outlets are simulated based on mixing ratios of base flow, WWTP effluent, and CSO discharge. The results show that the standard method of time proportional sampling of rivers does not capture the risk of critical stress on aquatic organisms. The ratio between average and peak concentrations and the duration of elevated concentrations strongly depends on the source and the properties of the particular substance. The design of sampling campaigns and evaluation of data should consider these characteristics and account for their effects.

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Hydrophilic trace organic contaminants in urban stormwater: occurrence, toxicological relevance, and the need to enhance green stormwater infrastructure

Abstract: Urban stormwater transports hydrophilic trace organic contaminants that need study to ensure safe stormwater discharge or stormwater harvesting for water supply.

Cited by 96 publications

References 214 publications

Storm Event–Driven Occurrence and Transport of Dissolved and Sorbed Organic Micropollutants and Associated Effects in the Ammer River, Southwestern Germany

Storm Event–Driven Occurrence and Transport of Dissolved and Sorbed Organic Micropollutants and Associated Effects in the Ammer River, Southwestern Germany

Urban vacant lands impart hydrological benefits across city landscapes

Impact of Combined Sewer Systems on the Quality of Urban Streams: Frequency and Duration of Elevated Micropollutant Concentrations

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