Possible interactions of hazardous elements with pharmaceuticals in soils of a Mediterranean wetland (L’Albufera, Valencia, Spain)
- 1Center of Research on Desertification-CIDE (CSIC-UV GV), CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), 46113-Moncada, Spain (vicente.andreu-perez@uv.es).
- 2Center of Research on Desertification-CIDE (CSIC-UV GV), Universidad de Valencia, 46113-Moncada, Spain (eugenia.gimeno@uv.es).
- 3Center of Research on Desertification-CIDE (CSIC-UV GV), Universidad de Valencia, 46113-Moncada, Spain (danielle.sadutto@uv.es)
- 4Center of Research on Desertification-CIDE (CSIC-UV GV), Universidad de Valencia, 46113-Moncada, Spain (yolanda.picó@uv.es)
There is scarce information about toxic effects, environmental dynamics and even toxic levels or regulations, mainly in soils, of several elements widely used in agriculture and industry. These so called elements “of emerging concern” have not been studied, mainly regarding their environmental effects or relationships. By the other hand, tons of pharmaceuticals are liberated by effluents of the wastewater treatment plants to the environment and agricultural fields daily. As study case, we have selected an important area in Spain that is affected by high anthropogenic pressures.
The target area of study the alluvial plain between the rivers Turia and Jucar (Valencia, SPAIN), with an extension of 486 km2, which is characterized by its dense network of channels and ravines for irrigation one of the most productive agricultural areas of Spain. This area includes a wide zone of rice farming and a Natural Park (L’Albufera). In this study area, 33 sampling zones were selected covering the different water sources and agricultural types, to monitor the distribution of the levels of 15 hazardous metals.
Total concentrations of the selected metals (Al, As, B, Be, Bi, Co, Fe, Li, Mo, Se, Rb, Sr, Ti, Tl and V) were determined. Standard analytical methods were used to measure soil physical and chemical properties. Total content of the twelve heavy metals, in soil samples, were extracted by microwave acid digestion and determined by ICP-OES. In the same zones, 32 pharmaceuticals were also studied. soil samples were extracted by pressurized liquid extraction (SPE). and determined by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Maximum average values were determined for Ti, Sr and Rb with 466.36, 263.16 and 63.62 mg/kg, respectively. Highest values for B, Li and Tl were 76.05, 70.91 and 56.37 mg/kg, respectively. The Northern part of the Albufera lake, devoted to rice farming, concentrated the highest values of almost all the selected elements. From the 32 studied pharmaceuticals, 29 were detected being the most frequents Bisphenol A, Caffeine and Tramadol. Maximum values were observed for Alprazolam (67.28 ng/g), Ibuprofen (76.11 ng/g) and Lorazepam (62.02 ng/g).
The interactions between metals and pharmaceuticals, and from both with soil characteristics and the influence of environmental factors were also studied.
More research is needed to stablish their toxic levels and effects, or even their average concentrations in soils of these elements, very scarcely studied in the majority of them.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Autonomous Government) through the project CIPROM/2021/032.
How to cite: Andreu, V., Gimeno-Garcia, E., Sadutto, D., and Picó, Y.: Possible interactions of hazardous elements with pharmaceuticals in soils of a Mediterranean wetland (L’Albufera, Valencia, Spain), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7763, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7763, 2024.
