title: Monitoring of pharmaceutically active compounds on the Guadalquivir River basin (Spain): occurrence and risk assessment.
abstract: Guadalquivir River (South of Spain) is among the major freshwater sources of the European Atlantic basin. Until now scientific efforts have been focused on contamination by heavy metals and some priority pollutants in Guadalquivir River. However, the presence of "emerging contaminants", such as pharmaceutically active compounds, has not yet been studied. In this work the occurrence and risk assessment of sixteen pharmaceutically active compounds, belonging to different therapeutic groups, in Guadalquivir River during its course through Seville city are reported. Wastewater effluents from four wastewater treatment plants discharging into Guadalquivir River and river water samples were analyzed. All studied pharmaceutically active compounds, except sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, estrone and clofibric acid, were detected in effluent wastewaters at concentration levels up to 28.9 μg L(-1). Among the pharmaceutically active compounds found in effluent wastewater, seven were present in Guadalquivir River samples at concentration levels up to 0.75 μg L(-1), which indicated an important dilution from effluent discharge. Environmental risk assessment reveals that potential ecotoxicological risk cannot be expected on Guadalquivir River at measured concentration levels. Only, the lipid regulator gemfibrozil showed a medium risk for the environment. The risk for acute toxic effects in the environment with the current use of active pharmaceutical ingredients is unlikely. However, the results do not rule out the potential for chronic environmental effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, High Polytechnic School, University of Seville, C/Virgen de África 7, E-41011 Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camacho-Muñoz
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aparicio
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alonso
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D057230:Limit of Detection; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013030:Spain; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical