title: Evaluating pharmaceuticals and caffeine as indicators of fecal contamination in drinking water sources of the Greater Montreal region.
abstract: We surveyed four different river systems in the Greater Montreal region, upstream and downstream of entry points of contamination, from April 2007 to January 2009. The studied compounds belong to three different groups: PPCPs (caffeine, carbamazepine, naproxen, gemfibrozil, and trimethoprim), hormones (progesterone, estrone, and estradiol), and triazine herbicides and their metabolites (atrazine, deethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, simazine, and cyanazine). In the system A, B, and C having low flow rate and high TOC, we observed the highest detection frequencies and mass flows of PPCPs compared to the other compounds, reflecting discharge of urban contaminations through WWTPs and CSOs. However, in River D, having high flow rate and low TOC, comparable frequency of detection of triazine and their by-products and PPCPs, reflecting cumulative loads of these compounds from the Great Lakes as well as persistency against natural attenuation processes. Considering large differences in the removal efficiencies of caffeine and carbamazepine, a high ratio of caffeine/carbamazepine might be an indicative of a greater proportion of raw sewage versus treated wastewater in surface waters. In addition, caffeine appeared to be a promising indicator of recent urban fecal contaminations, as shown by the significant correlation with FC (R(2)=0.45), while carbamazepine is a good indicator of cumulative persistence compounds.
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. atlasi.daneshvar@slu.se
authors.forename: Atlasi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daneshvar
authors.forename: Khadija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aboulfadl
authors.forename: Liza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Viglino
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Broséus
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sauvé
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Madoux-Humery
authors.forename: Gesa A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Weyhenmeyer
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prévost
mesh_terms: D002110:Caffeine / Q000032:analysis*; D002170:Canada; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D006540:Herbicides / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D060106:Lakes; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D006540:Herbicides; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002110:Caffeine