Contaminants in the coastal karst aquifer system along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) 2011-04, Vol.159 (4), p.991-997
• Main Authors: Metcalfe, Chris D., Beddows, Patricia A., Bouchot, Gerardo Gold, Metcalfe, Tracy L., Li, Hongxia, Van Lavieren, Hanneke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Caribbean; Central America/Caribbean; Coastal; Coastal aquifers; Contaminants; Contamination; Damage accumulation; Environmental Monitoring - instrumentation; Exact sciences and technology; Fresh Water - analysis; Groundwater; Herbicide; Karst; Meso-American Barrier Reef System; Mexico; Passive sampling; Peninsulas; Pesticides - analysis; Pharmaceuticals; Pollution; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - analysis; Runoff; Sewage - analysis; Water Pollution, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution, Chemical - prevention & control; Yucatan
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.11.031

Intensive land development as a result of the rapidly growing tourism industry in the “Riviera Maya” region of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico may result in contamination of groundwater resources that eventually discharge into Caribbean coastal ecosystems. We deployed two types of passive sampling devices into groundwater flowing through cave systems below two communities to evaluate concentrations of contaminants and to indicate the possible sources. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products accumulated in the samplers could only have originated from domestic sewage. PAHs indicated contamination by runoff from highways and other impermeable surfaces and chlorophenoxy herbicides accumulated in samplers deployed near a golf course indicated that pesticide applications to turf are a source of contamination. Prevention and mitigation measures are needed to ensure that expanding development does not impact the marine environment and human health, thus damaging the tourism-based economy of the region. ► Intensive land development as a result of the rapidly growing tourism industry in the “Riviera Maya” region of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico is contaminating groundwater resources that discharge into Caribbean coastal ecosystems. ► Passive sampling devices deployed in groundwater flowing through cave systems below two communities in the Riviera Maya accumulated: pharmaceuticals and personal care products originating from domestic sewage. ► PAHs originating from runoff from highways and other impermeable surfaces; chlorophenoxy herbicides originating from pesticide applications to lawns and turf. ► Prevention and mitigation measures are needed to ensure that expanding development does not impact the marine environment and human health in the region. Contaminants accumulated in passive samplers deployed in flooded cave systems in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico indicate contamination by domestic sewage, runoff and applications of pesticides to turf.