Distribution and ecological risks of pharmaceuticals and personal care products with different anthropogenic pressures in typical watersheds in China

Liwei Zhang; Xujia Zhang; Chang Liu; Dalong Ma; Hanxi Wang; Peng Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177573

Distribution and ecological risks of pharmaceuticals and personal care products with different anthropogenic pressures in typical watersheds in China

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 18:177573. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177573. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Liwei Zhang¹, Xujia Zhang², Chang Liu¹, Dalong Ma¹, Hanxi Wang¹, Peng Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China; Heilongjiang Province Collaborative Innovation Center of Cold Region Ecological Safety, Harbin 150025, China.
² Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China; Heilongjiang Province Collaborative Innovation Center of Cold Region Ecological Safety, Harbin 150025, China. Electronic address: hsdzhangxj@163.com.
³ Heilongjiang Province Key Laboratory of Geographical Environment Monitoring and Spatial Information Service in Cold Regions, School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China; Heilongjiang Province Collaborative Innovation Center of Cold Region Ecological Safety, Harbin 150025, China. Electronic address: zhangp575@nenu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39566624
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177573

Abstract

Due to global population growth and increased healthcare accessibility, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are closely linked with human activities and have become new pollutants alongside some legacy priority pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Although PPCPs have been detected in numerous river basins in recent years, a few researches have been carried out on their association with human activities. In this paper, the concentrations of PPCPs and toxicological data were compiled for over 25 representative watersheds in China in the past two decades from various sources, including PubMed, Elsevier and Springer. Comprehensive analysis of the occurrence, spatial distribution, sources and ecological risk assessment was carried out for the 30 most frequently detected PPCPs in water environments. Multivariate statistical methods, including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA), were employed to classify PPCPs and assess their relationship with human activities. The results indicated that the concentrations of PPCPs in rivers varied significantly across studied regions, ranging from non-detect to 21,885 ng/L. Many detected compounds in PPCPs were antibiotics and their occurrence was closely linked with the economic development, effectiveness of medicines and geographical location. Household emissions were identified as the primary contributor to the occurrence of PPCPs in river basins. A strong correlation has been observed between PPCPs level and socio-economic indicators from multivariate statistical analysis. Ecological risk assessment revealed that caffeine (CAF), ibuprofen (IBU) and anhydroerythromycin (ERY) pose the greatest threat to aquatic life, particularly in the Northern China. The data compiled in this study provide insights into the impacts of PPCPs and the relationship of their ecological risks with various human activities, particularly in the typical Chinese river basins. Our results are valuable for the effective management PPCPs.

Keywords: Ecological risk; Pharmaceuticals and personal care products; Socio-economic indicator; Spatial distribution.