title: PPCPs in Jiulong River estuary (China): Spatiotemporal distributions, fate, and their use as chemical markers of wastewater.
abstract: The occurrence and fate of 50 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were investigated in the surface water of Jiulong River estuary in the southeast of China in spring, wet season, summer, autumn and winter. Results demonstrated a wide distribution of PPCPs in Jiulong River estuary, where 34 PPCPs were detected at least once and 5 PPCPs were detected in all the samples, including caffeine, diclofenac, metoprolol, methyl paraben, and propyl paraben. Spatial and seasonal variations were observed. Special emphasis was placed on the PPCP fate in the estuary. Most PPCPs showed a non-conservative behavior in the estuary, while the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and bisphenol A showed a pseudo-conservative behavior. The non-conservative and pseudo-conservative behavior was attributed to the combination of the seawater dilution, the introduction of PPCPs via the sewage water, and the physical, chemical, or biological removal processes. Furthermore, PPCP concentrations showed drastic variations in the turbidity maximum zones. To our best knowledge, this is the first work to indicate the pseudo-conservative behavior of PPCPs in the estuary, and to show the drastic variations of PPCPs in the turbidity maximum zone. In addition, the ratio of labile to conservative PPCPs was calculated to track the source of untreated sewage contamination. Results showed a significantly higher ratio compared to the average value in WWTP effluents, indicating the ubiquitous discharge of untreated domestic wastewater in Jiulong River estuary. In addition, the high ratio of bisphenol A to conservative PPCPs implied the potential input of untreated industrial wastewater in Jiulong River estuary.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: qsun@iue.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100043, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100043, China.
authors.forename: Mingyue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Department of Chemistry, University of Gujrat, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashfaq
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100043, China.
authors.forename: Hongjie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
authors.forename: Anyi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Electronic address: cpyu@iue.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Chang-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000032:analysis*; D063366:Estuaries; D010226:Parabens / Q000032:analysis; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012621:Seasons; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
chemical_list: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D003358:Cosmetics; D010226:Parabens; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010636:Phenols; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C015358:methylparaben; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds; C006068:propylparaben
keywords: Estuary; Mixing curves; PPCPs; Sewage markers; Spatiotemporal distributions