Environmental assessments of emerging contaminants from tobacco smoke or tobacco substitute products in water bodies are rarely studied. Such studies are rarer in protected areas such as natural Reserves those are adjacent to the urban areas that may receive contaminated inputs via water or atmospheric deposition. This study aimed to identify tobacco product waste chemical constituents entering in waters of the urban reserve, Kendall Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve, part of the University of California Natural reserve system (UC NRS) located in San Diego, CA. Based on results from seventeen monthly sampling for nicotine and cotinine concentrations, two outfall locations (Noyes St. and Olney St.) showed clear evidence of aqueous phase nicotine and cotinine concentration inside the reserve. The maximum concentration of nicotine in the water of Noyes St., 50.75 ng/L, was ~97.1% higher than that of Olney St. During the wet season, nicotine concentrations in water samples showed a clear increasing trend over time at both the locations, and such trend was not observed in the dry season. The seasonal distribution of cotinine was opposite to nicotine. Cotinine concentrations increased during the dry-summer season and declined when the season ended. The highest cotinine concentration was 6.71 ng/L at Noyes St. and 3.07 ng/L at Olney St. Non-targeted analyses were also used to qualitatively assess water samples collected from Noyes and Olney St outfalls from November 2019 to March 2021, showing significant numbers of tobacco-associated compounds in water samples at both locations. Of the 273 total compounds that were identified, approximately 50 (18.31% of the total) had a potential tobacco source, and 51 (18.68% of all compounds) were known tobacco smoke constituents. Within the stormwater entering this urban reserve, we observed an occurrence and a seasonal variation of contaminants originating from tobacco and tobacco-associated products. Broadly, these results may inform environmental policies to reduce environmental tobacco-related exposure and potential biological effects inside natural reserves.

Emerging tobacco-related contaminants in waters of a highly urbanized southern California coastal reserve

ACS Spring 2022

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