TY - JOUR
T1 - Occurrence and overlooked sources of the biocide carbendazim in wastewater and surface water
AU - Merel, Sylvain
AU - Benzing, Saskia
AU - Gleiser, Carolin
AU - Di Napoli-Davis, Gina
AU - Zwiener, Christian
PY - 2018/8/1
Y1 - 2018/8/1
N2 - Carbendazim is a fungicide commonly used as active substance in plant protection products and biocidal products, for instance to protect facades of buildings against fungi. However, the subsequent occurrence of this fungicide and potential endocrine disruptor in the aqueous environment is a major concern. In this study, high resolution mass spectrometry shows that carbendazim can be detected with an increasing abundance from the source to the mouth of the River Rhine. Unexpectedly, the abundance of carbendazim correlates poorly with that of other fungicides used as active ingredients in plant protection products (r2 of 0.32 for cyproconazole and r2 of 0.57 for propiconazole) but it correlates linearly with that of pharmaceuticals (r2 of 0.86 for carbamazepine and r2 of 0.89 for lamotrigine). These results suggest that the occurrence of carbendazim in surface water comes mainly from the discharge of treated domestic wastewater. This hypothesis is further confirmed by the detection of carbendazim in wastewater effluents (n = 22). In fact, bench-scale leaching tests of textiles and papers revealed that these materials commonly found in households could be a source of carbendazim in domestic wastewater. Moreover, additional river samples collected nearby two paper industries indicate that the discharge of their treated process effluents is also a source of carbendazim in the environment. While characterizing paper and textile as overlooked sources of carbendazim, this study also shows the biocide as a possible ubiquitous wastewater contaminant that would require further systematic and worldwide monitoring due to its toxicological properties. Papers and textiles from households release the fungicide carbendazim which reaches the environment through the discharge of wastewater effluent.
AB - Carbendazim is a fungicide commonly used as active substance in plant protection products and biocidal products, for instance to protect facades of buildings against fungi. However, the subsequent occurrence of this fungicide and potential endocrine disruptor in the aqueous environment is a major concern. In this study, high resolution mass spectrometry shows that carbendazim can be detected with an increasing abundance from the source to the mouth of the River Rhine. Unexpectedly, the abundance of carbendazim correlates poorly with that of other fungicides used as active ingredients in plant protection products (r2 of 0.32 for cyproconazole and r2 of 0.57 for propiconazole) but it correlates linearly with that of pharmaceuticals (r2 of 0.86 for carbamazepine and r2 of 0.89 for lamotrigine). These results suggest that the occurrence of carbendazim in surface water comes mainly from the discharge of treated domestic wastewater. This hypothesis is further confirmed by the detection of carbendazim in wastewater effluents (n = 22). In fact, bench-scale leaching tests of textiles and papers revealed that these materials commonly found in households could be a source of carbendazim in domestic wastewater. Moreover, additional river samples collected nearby two paper industries indicate that the discharge of their treated process effluents is also a source of carbendazim in the environment. While characterizing paper and textile as overlooked sources of carbendazim, this study also shows the biocide as a possible ubiquitous wastewater contaminant that would require further systematic and worldwide monitoring due to its toxicological properties. Papers and textiles from households release the fungicide carbendazim which reaches the environment through the discharge of wastewater effluent.
KW - Carbendazim
KW - Fungicide
KW - HRMS
KW - QTOF
KW - Retrospective analysis
KW - River Rhine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045835500&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.040
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.040
M3 - Article
C2 - 29684878
AN - SCOPUS:85045835500
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 239
SP - 512
EP - 521
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
ER -