Spatial and temporal influence of onsite wastewater treatment systems, centralized effluent discharge, and tides on aquatic hazards of nutrients, indicator bacteria, and pharmaceuticals in a coastal bayou.

In the rapidly urbanizing watersheds and estuaries flowing to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, USA, instream flows are increasingly influenced by point source and nonpoint source discharges. Spatial and temporal tidal influences on water quality, especially for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), is poorly understood in estuaries and coastal systems. We selected Dickinson Bayou, an urban estuary in Galveston County, Texas, for study because it has historically impaired water quality, receives point source discharge from one major wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), while also being influenced by high densities of onsite sewage facilities upstream in the watershed. We explored the occurrence and potential hazards of aquatic contaminants, including nutrients, indicator bacteria for pathogens, and CECs, in relation to this point source discharge, across seasons and at high and low tides. Aquatic contaminants and associated hazards varied significantly in relation to the WWTP discharge, and were influenced by onsite systems. In fact, spatiotemporal water quality varied by class of contaminants (e.g., nutrients, indicator bacteria, CECs), which indicates that traditional surface water monitoring activities should account for such environmental complexity. This study provides a diagnostic approach for future studies of emerging water quality challenges across gradients of rapidly urbanizing coastal bays and estuaries.

Predicted and observed therapeutic dose exceedances of ionizable pharmaceuticals in fish plasma from urban coastal systems.

Instream flows of the rapidly urbanizing watersheds and estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas (USA) are increasingly dominated by reclaimed waters. Though ionizable pharmaceuticals have received increasing attention in freshwaters, many research questions remain unanswered, particularly in tidally influenced urban coastal systems, which experience significant spatiotemporal variability in pH that influences bioavailability and bioaccumulation. The authors coupled fish plasma modeling of therapeutic hazard values with field monitoring of water chemistry variability and pharmaceutical occurrence to examine whether therapeutic hazards to fish existed within these urban coastal ecosystems and whether therapeutic hazards differed within and among coastal locations and seasons. Spatial and temporal fluctuations in pH within study sites altered the probability of encountering pharmaceutical hazards to fish. Significant water quality differences were consistently observed among traditional parameters and pharmaceuticals collected from surface and bottom waters, which are rarely sampled during routine surface water quality assessments. The authors then compared modeling predictions of fish plasma concentrations of pharmaceuticals to measured plasma levels from various field-collected fish species. Diphenhydramine and diltiazem were observed in plasma of multiple species, and diltiazem exceeded human therapeutic doses in largemouth bass, catfish, and mullet inhabiting these urban estuaries. Though the present study only examined a small number of target analytes, which represent a microcosm of the exposome of these fish, coastal systems are anticipated to be more strongly influenced by continued urbanization, altered instream flows, and population growth in the future. Unfortunately, aquatic toxicology information for diltiazem and many other pharmaceuticals is not available for marine and estuarine organisms, but such field observations suggest that potential adverse outcomes should be examined.

Bioaccumulation of human pharmaceuticals in fish across habitats of a tidally influenced urban bayou.

Though pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern are increasingly observed in inland water bodies, the occurrence and bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals in estuaries and coastal ecosystems are poorly understood. In the present study, bioaccumulation of select pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern was examined in fish from Buffalo Bayou, a tidally influenced urban ecosystem that receives effluent from a major (∼200 million gallons per day) municipal wastewater treatment plant in Houston, Texas, USA. Using isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, various target analytes were observed in effluent, surface water, and multiple fish species. The trophic position of each species was determined using stable isotope analysis. Fish tissue levels of diphenhydramine, which represented the only pharmaceutical detected in all fish species, did not significantly differ between freshwater and marine fish predominantly inhabiting benthic habitats; however, saltwater fish with pelagic habitat preferences significantly accumulated diphenhydramine to the highest levels observed in the present study. Consistent with previous observations from an effluent-dependent freshwater river, diphenhydramine did not display trophic magnification, which suggests site-specific, pH-influenced inhalational uptake to a greater extent than dietary exposure in this tidally influenced urban ecosystem. The findings highlight the importance of understanding differential bioaccumulation and risks of ionizable contaminants of emerging concern in habitats of urbanizing coastal systems.

Global Assessment of Bisphenol A in the Environment: Review and Analysis of Its Occurrence and Bioaccumulation.

Because bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical, we examined over 500 peer-reviewed studies to understand its global distribution in effluent discharges, surface waters, sewage sludge, biosolids, sediments, soils, air, wildlife, and humans. Bisphenol A was largely reported from urban ecosystems in Asia, Europe, and North America; unfortunately, information was lacking from large geographic areas, megacities, and developing countries. When sufficient data were available, probabilistic hazard assessments were performed to understand global environmental quality concerns. Exceedances of Canadian Predicted No Effect Concentrations for aquatic life were >50% for effluents in Asia, Europe, and North America but as high as 80% for surface water reports from Asia. Similarly, maximum concentrations of BPA in sediments from Asia were higher than Europe. Concentrations of BPA in wildlife, mostly for fish, ranged from 0.2 to 13 000 ng/g. We observed 60% and 40% exceedences of median levels by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in Europe and Asia, respectively. These findings highlight the utility of coordinating global sensing of environmental contaminants efforts through integration of environmental monitoring and specimen banking to identify regions for implementation of more robust environmental assessment and management programs.