title: Pesticide monitoring in the basin of Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain) and comparison with historical data.
abstract: Through an extensive sampling in the Llobregat River basin, the presence of 50 currently used pesticides in water, sediment, and biota was assessed. Pesticides were detected primarily in water (up to 56% of the analytes), whereas their presence in sediments was more intermittent, and in biota was scarce. Those at high concentrations in water were the benzimidazoles (carbendazim in 22% of the samples up to 697 ng L(-1)), the organophosphorus (malathion in 54% of the samples up to 320 ng L(-1)), and the ureas (diuron in 54% of the samples up to 159 ng L(-1)). However, this pattern differed in sediments and biota, which were contaminated primarily with organophosphorus (higher Kow) (chlorpyrifos 93% of sediments up to 131 ng g(-1)). According to the results of this study, pesticide residues in the Llobregat River basin do not seem to represent a high risk to biota, even though some algae and fish can be affected. Nevertheless, the monitoring program can be very useful to control the contamination of the river basin, as the availability of historical data on the basin confirmed background contamination in the last 20 years.
authors.affiliation: Food and Environmental Safety Research Group, Department of Medicine Preventive, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: Ana.Masia@uv.es.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Masiá
authors.affiliation: Food and Environmental Safety Research Group, Department of Medicine Preventive, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, C/ Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Alícia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navarro-Ortega
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, C/ Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), C/ Emili Grahit, 101, Edifici H2O, Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
authors.affiliation: Food and Environmental Safety Research Group, Department of Medicine Preventive, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Picó
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058448:Biota; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013030:Spain; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D010573:Pesticide Residues; D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fish; Sediment; Spatial distribution; Temporal distribution; Water