Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of PPCPs in Typical Drinking Water Sources in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

During the CIVID-19 pandemic, water samples were collected from 26 sampling points in 18 typical drinking water sources in Wuhan, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) methods were used to measure the concentrations of 31 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the water samples. The pollution characteristics of PPCPs were analyzed and their ecological and health risks were assessed. The results showed that a total of 23 PPCPs were detected in the 26 sampling points. Among them, five types of PPCPs were detected with a detection rate of 100%, with total concentrations ranging from 102.44 ng•L -1 to 745.78 ng•L -1, and the average concentration was 206.87 ng•L -1. The highest concentrations were in salicylic acid (SA) and doxycycline (DIC), ranging from 28.24 to 534.24 ng•L -1 and 28.72 to 416.6 ng•L -1, respectively. According to the spatial distribution of PPCPs, the concentration of antibiotics in the Hanjiang River was higher than that in the Yangtze River, whereas the concentration of other types of PPCPs in the Yangtze River was higher than that in the Hanjiang River. The ecological risk assessment results showed that the toxic risk in algae was higher than those in invertebrates and fish. The risks of salicylic acid (SA), doxycycline (DIC), lincomycin (LIN), and chlortetracycline (CTE) to algae were at a high level, and the ecological risk of PPCPs in the Hanjiang River was generally higher than that in the Yangtze River. The health risk assessment results showed that the risk to adults and children by drinking water ranged from 1.14 × 10 -4 to 0.136 and from 1.04 × 10 -4 to 0.821, respectively. The health risk to children was higher than that to adults, although their levels were low. Compared with the concentrations of PPCPs in drinking water sources of Wuhan in recent years, under the CIVID-19 pandemic, the pollution status of PPCPs in the Yangtze River was at a medium level, whereas it was at a high level in the Hanjiang River. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.