Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers.

Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Occurrence and air-water diffusive exchange legacy persistent organic pollutants in an oligotrophic north Patagonian lake.

In this study, the occurrence and diffusive air-water exchange of POPs in Panguipulli Lake (39°42'S-72°13'W), an oligotrophic lake located in northern Patagonia (Chile), were determined. Air and water samples were collected between March and August 2017 (autumn-winter) and analyzed for concentrations of OCPs (α-HCH, ß-HCH, γ-HCH and HCB) and PCBs (PCB-28,-52,-101,-118,-153,-158,-180) using gas chromatography coupled with an electron capture detector. The direction of air-water exchange direction was evaluated using a fugacity approach (ƒw ƒa-1), and net diffusive exchange fluxes (FAW, ng m-2 d-1) were also estimated. Total ∑4OCP levels in air ranged from 0.31 to 37 pg m-3, with a maximum for ß-HCH, while Σ7PCB levels ranged from 3.05 to 43 pg m-3. The most abundant congener was PCB-153, accounting for 60% of the total PCBs in air. Surface water ∑4OCPs measured in this study ranged from 1.01 to 3.9 pg L-1, with γ-HCH predominating, while surface water Σ7PCB levels ranged from 0.32 to 24 pg L-1, with PCB-101, PCB-118, and PCB-153 presenting the highest levels. Diffusive air-water exchanges of HCB, α-HCH, γ-HCH and PCBs in the form of volatilization from the lake to air predominated; in contrast, for ß-HCH net deposition dominated during the sampling period. Estimates suggested faster microbial degradation in the dissolved phase compared to atmospheric degradation for all analyzed POPs. Overall, these results could indicate that the oligotrophic lakes of northern Patagonia act as a secondary source of atmospheric POPs, mainly PCBs and some OCPs. This study is a first attempt to understand the occurrence of POPs in air and water, as well as their dynamics in oligotrophic lakes in the southern hemisphere.

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) levels in air and surface sea waters along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are widespread worldwide, even reaching polar regions. Among POPs, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and their metabolites have been reported scarcely in the Antarctic environment. Here we report the levels of p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, and o,p'-DDE in air and water samples collected during austral summer 2009. The levels found ranged from 0.25 to 4.26 pg m-3 in the atmospheric samples while in the water samples ranged from 0.07 to 0.25 pg L-1. These concentrations were within the range of the reported concentrations in the last 20 years in Antarctica. However, the source ratio showed that most of p,p'-DDT comes from fresh applications and Dicofol formulations. The back-trajectories estimated for the air masses revealed that most of the p,p'-DDT came from the continental Antarctic peninsula and surrounding waters. The diffusive exchange direction showed that Antarctic surface waters are the final sink of the studied compounds during the survey period.

Sources and diffusive air-water exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an oligotrophic North-Patagonian lake.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are semivolatile organic compounds of environmental concern. This study aims to investigate the influence of local sources of anthropogenic PAHs and their air-water exchange fluxes in an oligotrophic North-Patagonian lake in Chile. The monitoring was carried out in Panguipulli Lake during a six-month period during the autumn and winter seasons (March to August 2017) using a high-volume air sampler and a pump system for water samples. We detected and quantified fifteen PAHs in the gas phase (mean ∑15PAHs = 11.6 ng m-3) and dissolved water phase (mean ∑15PAHs = 961.8 pg L-1). Methylphenanthrenes and pyrene dominated the concentrations of PAHs in the studied phases. To determine sources of PAHs we used the PAH ratios of Light Molecular Weight/Heavy Molecular Weight (∑LMW/∑HMW) and Phenanthrene/Anthracene (Phe/Ant). The PAH ratio results revealed a pyrogenic source. We estimated the air-water diffusive exchange fluxes and fugacity ratios for the studied compounds. In general, air-water diffusive exchanges of PAHs showed a net volatilization for the less hydrophobic (log KOW < 4) and lighter PAHs (MW ≤ 170 g mol-1), and a net deposition trend for the more hydrophobic (log KOW 4-7) and higher molecular weight PAHs (MW ≥ 178 g mol-1). We found a significant correlation between log water/air fugacity ratios and log KOW of PAHs. Therefore, it is suggested that this oligotrophic lake acts as a sink by accumulating hydrophobic and mid-high molecular weight PAHs derived mainly from pyrogenic sources. This study is the first attempt to understand the sources and behavior of PAHs in oligotrophic lakes in the Southern Chile where information is scarce regarding the occurrence of PAHs.