The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary, but few studies have evaluated the occurrence and distribution of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in this important body of water.  The potential input of CECs from urban and agricultural sources has not been spatially evaluated.  Furthermore, the accumulation of CECs into critical species, such as the Eastern oyster (<i>Crassostrea virginica</i>), has not been assessed.  These knowledge gaps were addressed by monitoring a suite of 40 antibiotics, 15 hormones, and 15 ultraviolet-filters (UV-filters) in water, sediment, and oysters from more than 50 sites in the Chesapeake Bay.  Water samples were extracted using hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges.  Sediment and tissue samples were freeze-dried, extracted by modified-QuEChERS, and cleaned by reverse-SPE.  All analytes were measured using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.  Results showed the ubiquitous presence of CECs in the Chesapeake Bay.  For example, the norfloxacin (94.1 ng/L), enrofloxacin (17.8 ng/L), sulfamethoxazole (14.8 ng/L), and clarithromycin (9.7 ng/L) antibiotics were detected in the water phase.  Estrone and four UV-filters, namely ethylhexylmethoxycinnamate, homosalate, octocrylene, and oxybenzone, were frequently detected in Chesapeake Bay water, sediment, and oyster tissue.  High concentrations of estrone (58.4 ng/g) and 17β-estradiol (11.5 ng/g) were measured in sediment at the mouth of the Manokin River.  Homosalate was present at concentrations as high as 187.9 ng/L in water, 74.2 ng/g in sediment, and 158.3 ng/g in oyster tissue.  Spatial differences were contextualized using available land use data overlaid with the locations of wastewater treatment plants and animal feeding operations.  These results demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of CECs in the largest estuary of the United States, and provide important motivation for studying the potentially deleterious effects of antibiotic resistance and endocrine disruption in the Chesapeake Bay.<br/>

Spatial analysis of contaminants of emerging concern in Chesapeake Bay water, sediment, and oysters

255th National Meeting (2018)

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