| Title | Exploring the use of synthetic musk fragrances as tracers of wastewater discharges in surface waters |
| Abstract | Traces of almost all the
substances consumed by humans or released by anthropic and industrial
activities end up in the environment and if measured in the different
environmental compartments can give some information on their
sources. The need for determining the contribution of the different
sources of contamination in a polluted and urbanized area in Northern
Italy drove us to search for tracers of specific sources in order to find a
quantitative correlation with specific human activities. Anthropogenic
compounds previously suggested as potential wastewater indicators
include artificial sweeteners, persistent drugs, and personal care
products. Since each of these tracers has different uses, human
metabolism and transformation pathways in natural systems or in
treatment plants, the simultaneous analysis of different tracers with their
metabolites and transformation products under different hydrological
and precipitation regimes can be a powerful mean to assess the relative
contribution of different sources and processes. In the framework of a
wider project aimed to compare different urban tracers, we developed
and tested an Isotope Dilution GC-MS method for the analysis of
synthetic musk fragrances in waste and surface waters. Synthetic musks
are widely used as fragrances additives in many consumer products, they
are widely present in the environment and they tend to accumulate in
sediment, sludge and biota. The method, validated taking carefully into
account the problem of blank contamination, allows to determine 9
compounds, including nitro-, polycyclic-, macrocyclic musks and a
transformation product (galaxolide lactone), which can be a specific
tracer of WWTP discharge. The occurrence of this class of substances
has been evaluated in the river Po basin, which is an area with a very
high pressure from population, industry and intensive agriculture,
through specific campaigns that will be designed to evaluate their
suitability as markers of anthropic pollution. Treated wastewater from
wastewater treatment plants of Milano and Monza, surface waters (River
Lambro and Lambro Meridionale) and irrigation waters has been
included in the analytical campaign to assess the overall mass balance of
the selected tracers. |
| Source | SETAC Europe 26th Annual Meeting, Nantes, France, 22-26/05/2016 |
| Keywords | galaxolidefragrancessynthetic musks |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Poster |
| Authors | M. Rusconi, S. Valsecchi, M. Mazzoni, M. Di Paolo, S. Polesello, |
| Text | 359768 2016 galaxolide fragrances synthetic musks Exploring the use of synthetic musk fragrances as tracers of wastewater discharges in surface waters M. Rusconi, S. Valsecchi, M. Mazzoni, M. Di Paolo, S. Polesello, IRSA CNR, Brugherio Traces of almost all the substances consumed by humans or released by anthropic and industrial activities end up in the environment and if measured in the different environmental compartments can give some information on their sources. The need for determining the contribution of the different sources of contamination in a polluted and urbanized area in Northern Italy drove us to search for tracers of specific sources in order to find a quantitative correlation with specific human activities. Anthropogenic compounds previously suggested as potential wastewater indicators include artificial sweeteners, persistent drugs, and personal care products. Since each of these tracers has different uses, human metabolism and transformation pathways in natural systems or in treatment plants, the simultaneous analysis of different tracers with their metabolites and transformation products under different hydrological and precipitation regimes can be a powerful mean to assess the relative contribution of different sources and processes. In the framework of a wider project aimed to compare different urban tracers, we developed and tested an Isotope Dilution GC MS method for the analysis of synthetic musk fragrances in waste and surface waters. Synthetic musks are widely used as fragrances additives in many consumer products, they are widely present in the environment and they tend to accumulate in sediment, sludge and biota. The method, validated taking carefully into account the problem of blank contamination, allows to determine 9 compounds, including nitro , polycyclic , macrocyclic musks and a transformation product galaxolide lactone , which can be a specific tracer of WWTP discharge. The occurrence of this class of substances has been evaluated in the river Po basin, which is an area with a very high pressure from population, industry and intensive agriculture, through specific campaigns that will be designed to evaluate their suitability as markers of anthropic pollution. Treated wastewater from wastewater treatment plants of Milano and Monza, surface waters River Lambro and Lambro Meridionale and irrigation waters has been included in the analytical campaign to assess the overall mass balance of the selected tracers. Published version SETAC Europe 26th Annual Meeting Nantes, France 22 26/05/2016 Internazionale Contributo abstract32160 abstracts_presentation_32160.pdf Poster RUSCONI MARIANNA MAZZONI MICHELA stefano.polesello POLESELLO STEFANO saramaria.valsecchi VALSECCHI SARA MARIA |
