Identification of contaminants of concern in the upper Tagus river basin (central Spain). Part 2: Spatio-temporal analysis and ecological risk assessment

Arenas, A. and Rico, A. and Rivas, D. and Blanco, A. and García-Doncel, P. and Romero-Salas, A and Nozal, L. and Vighi, M. (2019) Identification of contaminants of concern in the upper Tagus river basin (central Spain). Part 2: Spatio-temporal analysis and ecological risk assessment. Science of The Total Environment (667). pp. 222-233. ISSN 0048-9697

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	Text (Appendix A. Supplementary data. Supplementary material) 1-s2.0-S0048969719307843-mmc2.doc - Accepted Version Restricted to Registered users only (due to embargoed access stablished by journals) until 22 February 2021. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives. Download (512Kb) | Request a copy

Abstract

This study provides a description of the water quality status in the tributaries of the upper Tagus River and a preliminary risk assessment for freshwater organisms. A wide range of physico-chemical parameters, nutrients, metals and organic contaminants (20 pesticides, and 32 point source chemicals, mainly pharmaceuticals) were monitored during spring, summer and autumn of 2016. Monitoring of organic contaminants was performed using conventional grab sampling and passive samples (POCIS). The variation of the different groups of parameters as regards to land use and sampling season was investigated. The prioritization of organic and inorganic contaminants was based on the toxic unit (TU) approach, using toxicity data for algae, invertebrates and fish. Finally, the compliance with the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) set as part of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) was evaluated for the listed substances. This study shows that the land use characteristics had a large influence on the spatial distribution of the contaminants and other water quality parameters, while temporal trends were only significant for physico-chemical parameters, and marginally significant for insecticides. Acute toxicity is likely to occur for some metals (copper and zinc) in the most impacted sites (TU values close to or above 1). Low acute toxicity was determined for organic contaminants (individual compounds and mixtures) on the basis of grab samples. However, the assessment performed with POCIS samples identified diuron, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid as potentially hazardous compounds. Several contaminant mixtures that may cause chronic toxicity and that should be considered in future regional chemical monitoring plans were identified. Our study also shows that some metals and pesticides exceeded the WFD regulatory thresholds and that only 30% of the sampled sites had a good chemical status. Further research is needed to identify chemical emission sources and to design proper abatement options in the Tagus river basin.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QS Ecology Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QD Chemistry
Depositing User:	Users 8 not found.
Date Deposited:	12 Mar 2019 16:08
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2019 09:16
URI:	http://eprints.imdea-agua.org:13000/id/eprint/1019

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