Authors: Victoria Osorio Sandra Pérez Antoni Ginebreda Damià Barceló
Publish Date: 2012/04/29
Volume: 19, Issue: 4, Pages: 1013-1025
Abstract
Mediterranean rivers are characterized by a high flow variability which is strongly influenced by the seasonal rainfall When water scarcity periods occur water flow and dilution capacity of the river is reduced increasing the potential environmental risk of pollutants On the other hand floods contribute to remobilization of pollutants from sediments Contamination levels in Mediterranean rivers are frequently higher than in other European river basins including pollution by pharmaceutical residues Little attention has been paid to the transport behavior of emerging contaminants in surface waters once they are discharged from WWTP into a river In this context this work aimed to relate presence and fate of emerging contaminants with hydrological conditions of a typical Mediterranean River Llobregat NE SpainPositive and negative correlations between the concentrations of the target analytes and hydrological variables like river flow and dissolved organic matter were observed pointing out the relevance of different hydrological phenomena like dilution effects or sediment resuspension Sensitivity calculations showed that the majority of compounds were sensitive to flow variationsThis work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation projects Cemagua CGL200764551/HID and ConsoliderIngenio 2010 Scarce CSD200900065 It reflects the authors’ views only The European Union EU is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in it Merck is acknowledged for the gift of LC columns SP acknowledges the contract from the Ramón y Cajal Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
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