Polar water-soluble organic compounds were analysed in the dissolved (liquid) water phase by solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by triple-quadrupole LC-MS2. The extraction volume for the River Danube and tributary samples was 400 mL. In total, 34 different compounds were analysed. The analysis included 6 priority compounds of the WFD (atrazine, simazine, isoproturon, diuron, nonylphenol, and octylphenol).
All tributary water samples (23 close to the Danube and 28 more upstream in the individual Member States) and 53 River Danube water samples along the river were analysed by the JRC-IES.
Focus was given on pharmaceutical compounds (such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine), pesticides and their degradation products (e.g. bentazone, 2,4-D, mecoprop, atrazine, terbutylazine, desethylterbutylazine), perfluorinated acids (PFOS; PFOA), and endocrine disrupting compounds (such as nonylphenol, NPE1C, bisphenol A, and estrone).
The analytical results for the polar compounds analysed (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, per fluorinated acids (PFOS/PFOA) and phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds) are in good agreement with other big European rivers such as the rivers Rhine, Elbe or Po.
The levels for the priority compounds of the WFD (atrazine, simazine, isoproturon and diuron) were below the EQS values in the Danube and the tributaries, in all cases except for nonylphenol. The nonylphenol EQS of 0.3 ¿g/l was exceeded in the Timok (JDS66) and Arges rivers (JDS84).
For the other ¿emerging¿ compounds analysed, no limit values exist for surface waters.
The most relevant polar compounds identified in the Danube River Basin in terms of frequency of detection, persistency and concentrations were benzotriazoles, 2,4-D and carbamazepine.
LOOS Robert;
LOCORO Giovanni;
CONTINI Serafino;
2009-02-03
ICPDR-International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
JRC50146
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC50146,
