pollution 2

Question 1

two aspects of the invisible water crisis

Answer 1

water quality
impacts of water quality (greater than previously known)

Question 2

History of water pollution phases

Answer 2

phase 1: organic waste and pathogens released due to limited treatment of faecal waste (industrial revolution)
phase 2: intensification of industry including mining agriculture and secondary industry e.g. manufacturing. Point source and diffuse pollution
phase 3: emerging contaminants associated with industrial (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, nanomaterials), medical and veterinary (pharmaceutical) advances

Question 3

current phase of water pollution

Answer 3

historically countries moved through three phases one after another in the West
currently many countries (especially emerging countries) are experiencing all three phases at once
in developed countries aging sewer systems causes increased phased 1 pollution, sewage
budget cuts e.g. defra causes less regulation, monitoring and increased pollution

Question 4

Planetary boundaries perspective

Answer 4

• does not always mean the chemicals and contaminants are new
• means our understanding of their impacts are new, emerging or incomplete
• ECS have been released into the environments for a considerable length of time e.g. caffeine but only able to measure caffeine in the environment and impact on biota recently
• also referred to as contaminants of emerging concern

Question 5

EC examples

Answer 5

• pesticides and repellents
• detergents and sulphates
• fumigants
• endocrine disrupters
• nanomaterials
• plastics etc

Question 6

key EC groups

Answer 6

• drugs
• consumer products
• chemicals

Question 7

ECs in freshwater environments: the global picture

Answer 7

• the ubiquitous occurrence of ECS in the environment only learn about recently (Kolpin et al 2002)
• unlike persistent organic pollutants e.g. DDT most ECs are not regulated
• the Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1960s about ECs
• application of pesticides globally has continually rapidly increased
• regulating is not the same globally, some products banned in North America and Europe but used in other countries

Question 8

ECs in the natural environment

Answer 8

• unknown or incomplete knowledge of environmental fate or toxicity

Question 9

ECs research and instrumentation

Answer 9

• use of mass spec allows ECs to be measured in nanograms and micrograms
• no studies on impact of ECs on environment until 1990s
• 1990s showed link between sewage effluence (with high load of pharmaceuticals) and endocrine disruption in fish
• lack of in-situ monitoring methods: do not understand flux of contaminants through environment, time between sample taken and effect measured

Question 10

Sources of ECs into freshwater

Answer 10

• pesticides (agricultural)
• animal pharmaceutical (agricultural)
• pharmaceutical and personal care products
• industrial compounds

Question 11

stores of ECs in freshwater

Answer 11

• road system (break and tyre wear compounds)
• animal manure (pharmaceutical)
• crop pest application
• landfill
• soil zone

Question 12

pathway of ECs into freshwater

Answer 12

• leaching from landfill
• run off from farm
• domestic and hospital wastewater
• industrial wastewater

Question 13

ECs in drinking water

Answer 13

No legislation for removal or emerging contaminants during water treatments
Abstracted ground water from aquifer
used for drinking water
even if treated still potentially contaminated

Question 14

fate of ECs

Answer 14

• photodegrade by UV
• degraded by microbial communities
• volatilisation (become gas)
  however typically bioaccumulate in ecosystem organisms and landscape

Question 15

types of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP) in rivers

Answer 15

• steroids: e.g. oestrogen, veterinary growth hormone etc
• personal care products: e.g. disinfectant, UV screens, fragrance
• ono-steroid pharmaceuticals: e.g. antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant

Question 16

endocrine disrupter: overview

Answer 16

• PPCP are ubiquitous in the environment
• pseudo-persistent due to continual release into the environment
• interfere with endocrine system (hormones) in target organism
• bio-accumulation: increasing concentration through food chain

Question 17

PPCPs: pathway to aquatic ecosystems

Answer 17

• Fork et al (2021) paracetamol example
• sewage leakage, through waste water treatment plants to water bodies
• 19000 out of 2000 units metabolised by humans
• most is removed by waste water treatment plant, only small amount passes through
• such a large mass of paracetamol used leaky sewage system has a significant impact

Question 18

Impact of caffeine and ibuprofen on biota (clam)

Answer 18

• Aguiree Martinez et all 2015
• even at low levels of caffeine, clams exhibited stress signs
• metabolism and antioxidant system also impacted by caffeine even at low levels
• ibuprofen had the same results: impacting stress, metabolism and antioxidant system

Question 19

Pharmaceuticals on aquatic food webs

Answer 19

• pharmaceuticals in aquatic food webs downstream of wastewater effluent (Australia)
• pharmaceuticals found in caddisfly larvae
• found a variety of pharmaceuticals present in caddisfly larvae: complex mix of contaminants potentially have much larger impact
• pharmaceuticals then taken up by spiders: aquatic terrestrial exchange of pharmaceuticals
• impact on brown trout and platypus modelled (using knowledge of feeding rate and pharmaceutical abundance)
• showed high dose of antidepressants on brown trout and platypus compared to human dose
• potential impact on behaviour, metabolism and life cycle
• whole ecosystem connected