Priority Substances and Emerging Organic Pollutants in Portuguese Aquatic Environment: A Review

Abstract

Aquatic environments are among the most noteworthy ecosystems regarding chemical pollution due to the anthropogenic pressure. In 2000, the European Commission implemented the Water Framework Directive, with the aim of progressively reducing aquatic chemical pollution of the European Union countries. Therefore, the knowledge about the chemical and ecological status is imperative to determine the overall quality of water bodies. Concerning Portugal, some studies have demonstrated the presence of pollutants in the aquatic environment but an overall report is not available yet. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review about the occurrence of priority substances included in the Water Framework Directive and some classes of emerging organic pollutants that have been found in Portuguese aquatic environment. The most frequently studied compounds comprise industrial compounds, natural and synthetic estrogens, phytoestrogens, phytosterols, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Concentration of these pollutants ranged from few ng L(-1) to higher values such as 30 μg L(-1) for industrial compounds in surface waters and up to 106 μg L(-1) for the pharmaceutical ibuprofen in wastewaters. Compounds already banned in Europe such as atrazine, alkylphenols and alkylphenol polyethoxylates are still found in surface waters, nevertheless their origin is still poorly understood. Beyond the contamination of the Portuguese aquatic environment by priority substances and emerging organic pollutants, this review also highlights the need of more research on other classes of pollutants and emphasizes the importance of extending this research to other locations in Portugal, which have not been investigated yet.

Micropollutants in treated wastewater

“…Many pharmaceuticals may undergo various transformations in the environment, animal, or human body. Pharmaceuticals can be completely or partially metabolized in the organisms, what may lead to the unchanged parent drugs and the produced metabolites excretion via urine and/or feces (Ribeiro et al 2016). Particular interest is also aroused by transformation products that can be formed during water disinfection and wastewater treatment, as well as due to various processes occurring in natural waters such as biodegradation, photodegradation, hydrolysis (Nikolaou 2013;Deeb et al 2017).…”

Environmental Concerns and Toxicogenetic Endpoints of Priority Substances (PSs) and Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (CECs): A Comprehensive Review

“…1. To track the diverse sources of organic pollutants is of immense importance to implement control measures and source base regulations (Ribeiro et al, 2016). Different industrial processes, such as raw material processing, manufacturing and distribution, are the possible sources of organic pollutants (Barbosa et al, 2016a).…”

“…1C). Pharmaceuticals are not fully metabolized in the human body, therefore, the parent compound and associated metabolites excrete and make their way to Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) (Ribeiro et al, 2016). Agriculture run-off is also reported as a significant source of organic pollutants (Moore et al, 2002).…”

Chiral Pharmaceuticals in Diverse Environmental Matrices: Occurrence, Removal and Toxicity

“…2 Outros compostos emergentes têm sido reconhecidos como potencialmente prejudiciais para ambientes aquáticos, incluindo subprodutos de desinfeção, aditivos de gasolina, aditivos industriais, retardadores de chama, tensoativos, antissépticos, drogas de abuso, produtos de higiene pessoal e fármacos. 3,4 Embora a maioria deles sejam considerados pseudopersistentes e não se encontrem regulamentados, a ocorrência de efeitos potencialmente nocivos associados a estes compostos torna-os candidatos a futura regulamentação. 4 Os fármacos são classificados como compostos pseudopersistentes, tendo vindo a ser detectados em ambientes aquáticos desde a década de 90, em concentrações que variam de ng L -1 a µg L -1 , causando uma grande preocupação relacionada com os potenciais efeitos que podem originar nos organismos aquáticos e na saúde humana pelo consumo de água potável e alimentos.…”