Selected micropollutants, including endocrine modulators, therapeutic drugs, pesticides, detergents, plastics, and active ingredients in household products, were measured in water, riverbed sediments and fish collected from a tributary embayment of the tidal freshwater Potomac River (Hunting Creek, Alexandria, VA, USA) in the vicinity of wastewater treatment plant (WTP) discharge. The aquatic samples were analyzed by using solid phase extraction (water), microwave assisted extraction (sediments) and QuEChERS (fish) in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 16 micropollutants were found in water at concentrations ranging from 450 to 16 ng/L. Steroid hormones, trimethoprim, and dextromethrophan were the most frequently detected constituents in water. In sediments, 14 micropollutants were measured ranging in concentration from 250 to 20 ng/g, including steroid hormones, atrazine, triclosan, dextromethorphan and trimethoprim, which were the most frequently detected. In fish, 19 micropollutants were measured ranging from 1100 to 18 ng/g, with progesterone, dextromethorphan, bisphenol A and escitalopram being the most commonly found. The geospatial distribution of the micropollutants in Hunting Creek indicated the steroids correlated with WTP in water and sediments, but such an association was tentative in Hunting Creek given the complex nature of urban emissions and hydrodynamics of a large urban tidal river. The sediment micropollutant concentrations correlated with sediment total organic carbon content and fish lipid. For the most part, the micropollutants showed an enrichment in fish tissue relative to sediments when concentrations were normalized to lipids and sediment organic carbon contents, but the influence of endogenous steroids is also an important consideration in the body burdens of steroid chemicals. A variety of micropollutants were detected in an urban environment, but the exact sources remain unresolved.

Pharmaceutical chemicals, steroids and xenoestrogens in fish and sediments from the tidal freshwater Potomac River

254th National Meeting (2017)

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