Occurrence and risk evaluation of organophosphorus pesticides in typical water bodies of Beijing, China

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2021, Vol.28 (2), p.1454-1463
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yaru, Qin, Pan, Lu, Shaoyong, Liu, Xianbin, Zhai, Jun, Xu, Jiamin, Wang, Yongqiang, Zhang, Guodong, Liu, Xiaohui, Wan, Zhengfen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ametryn; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Atrazine; Beijing; China; Contaminants; Dichlorvos; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecological effects; ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Fungicides; Groundwater; Groundwater treatment; Health risks; Herbicides; hospitals; human health; Humans; Metal concentrations; Metalaxyl; Omethoate; Organophosphorus pesticides; Pesticides; Pesticides - analysis; pollutants; pollution; Pollution levels; Quotients; relative risk; Research Article; Risk assessment; Rivers; sewage treatment; Sewage treatment plants; Toxicity; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment plants; Water; Water analysis; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water sampling
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-10288-z

Human activities, particularly in large cities, can lead to pollution caused by micropollutants such as pesticides in water bodies, which have been recognized as serious threats to the environment and human health. The pollution level of six organophosphorus pesticides, three herbicides, and one bactericide in groundwater and the Wenyu River, and their fates in three sewage treatment plants (STPs) and a hospital were investigated in this study. The concentrations of the ten detected pesticides ranged from not detected (ND) to 323.44 ng L −1 in different water samples from Beijing; metalaxyl was detected to have the highest concentration (89.58 ng L −1 ), and the detection frequencies of atrazine and metalaxyl were 100%. The maximum concentrations of pesticides in the Wenyu River, STPs, and the hospital were 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than those in the groundwater. Good removal efficiencies by the treatment processes were observed for ametryn (100%), while the removal efficiencies for atrazine and omethoate were the lowest in the three STPs (− 9.6% and 12.67%, respectively). Finally, risk quotient (RQ) values of each contaminant were estimated from the maximum values determined for typical urban to assess the ecology and health effects. In the case of environmental toxicity, the highest RQ values (> 1) were obtained for dichlorvos and omethoate. In the case of health toxicity, the RQ values show that the pesticides found in groundwater pose no potential health risks to humans at current concentrations.