Risk assessment of pesticides detected in surface water of the Alqueva reservoir (Guadiana basin, southern of Portugal).
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of the pesticides detected in the Alqueva reservoir (Guadiana Basin, South Iberian Peninsula) on the aquatic organisms belonging to this ecosystem. For this purpose, the occurrence and risk assessment of 25 pesticides and of a number of their degradation products were determined in the Alqueva surface waters. The areas (sampling stations) most polluted by pesticides were Sra. Ajuda, Lucefecit and Álamos in the northern and in the middle portions of the reservoir, respectively. The aquatic risk assessment revealed that from the various compounds analysed terbuthylazine, chlorfenvinphos and diazinon presented non-acceptable risk when maximum concentrations were used as the measured environmental concentrations (MEC). The locations that had more samples with risk quotients higher than 1 (high risk) were Sra. Ajuda followed by Lucefécit. The use of risk assessment allowed us to conclude that, despite that the pesticides' concentrations in the water column fulfil the European environmental quality standards, a number of the compounds show a high ecotoxicological risk for the aquatic organisms in the Alqueva ecosystem. The results thereby demonstrate that to have an efficient risk management process, the regulatory authorities of each country must consider an integrative chemical and ecotoxicological approach.
Departamento de Tecnologias e Ciências Aplicadas; Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Beja, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal; CIMA - Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, FCT, Edifício 7, Piso 1, Universidade do Algarve, Campus Universitário de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal. Electronic address: ppalma@ipbeja.pt.
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Palma
Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
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Köck-Schulmeyer
Departamento de Tecnologias e Ciências Aplicadas; Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Beja, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal; Centro de Estudos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua do Norte, 3000-295 Coimbra, Portugal.
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Alvarenga
Departamento de Tecnologias e Ciências Aplicadas; Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Beja, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal.
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Ledo
UIQA - Unidade de Investigação Química Ambiental, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
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Barbosa
Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
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López de Alda
Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H2O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain.
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Barceló
D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D011174:Portugal; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Alqueva reservoir (Guadiana River Basin); Environmental quality standards; Pesticides; Risk assessment; Surface water