Polar water-soluble organic contaminants were analysed in the dissolved (liquid) water phase by solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by triple-quadrupole LC-MS2 analysis. 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, estrone).
The analytical results for the polar compounds analysed (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, perfluorinated acids (PFOS/A), and phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds) are in good agreement to other big European rivers such as the Rivers Rhine, Elbe or Po.
The levels for the priority compounds of the WFD (atrazine, simazine, isoproturon, diuron) were in the Danube and the tributaries in all cases, except for nonylphenol, below the EQS values. The nonylphenol EQS of 0.3 mg/L was exceed in the Timok (JDS66), and in the Arges Rivers (JDS84).
For the other ¿emerging¿ compounds analysed no limit values in surface waters exist.
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, PFOA, and carbamazepine.
LOOS Robert;
LOCORO Giovanni;
CONTINI Serafino;
2009-02-03
ICPDR International Commission for the Protection of the Danube
JRC50147
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC50147,
