Influences of Wastewater Treatment on the Occurrence of Parabens, p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid and Their Chlorinated and Hydroxylated Transformation Products in the Brazos River (Texas, USA)

This study evaluates both parabens and paraben transformation products in the Brazos River upstream and downstream of a wastewater facility located in Waco, Texas. Concentrations of thirteen compounds were reported in this study, five parent parabens and eight paraben disinfection by-products. Analyte concentrations were spatially evaluated to determine if release of wastewater effluent affects their concentrations in the river. Two Brazos River tributaries were also sampled to determine if they released parabens and related compounds to the Brazos. Sampling occurred weekly for one year with at least 40 samples collected at each site. Analyses were completed for both yearly and seasonal data. Sites downstream of wastewater treatment outfalls had lower concentrations of methyl paraben during the yearly analysis and across multiple seasons in the seasonal analysis with average yearly annual methyl paraben concentrations decreasing from 0.83 ng/L at site 3 to 0.09 ng/L at site 4. Para-hydroxybenzoic acid was the compound present in greatest concentration at most sites across most seasons, with the highest average annual concentration of 10.30 ng/L at site 2. Spatial changes in para-hydroxybenzoic acid varied by season, with seasonal trends only identifiable after normalization by flow. Dichlorinated paraben concentrations increased in the river at sites downstream of wastewater treatment with a yearly average dichlorinated methyl paraben concentration of 0.490 ng/L at site 3 to ...
Source: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research