Development and Application of a Purification Method for the Determination of Three EDCs Isotopes in Sediments and Water

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) is an efficient method for source apportionment and the identification of the transformation process in organic compounds. However, most studies of CSIA are still limited to laboratory experiments. Few studies used have CSIA in an in situ environment due to the complexity of environmental samples. Therefore, a purification method for analyzing the carbon isotope ratios of three phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (nonylphenols (NPs), octylphenol (OP), and bisphenol A(BPA)) in sediment and water samples was developed in this study. The silica gel column was used to isolate EDCs from complex matrices with multiple organic solvents. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to quantify the targeted EDCs and analyze the purity of the extracts in full-scan mode. The interfering peaks disappeared, the baseline was sharply reduced, and all the target compounds appeared as single peaks in the chromatogram after purification. Analyzing the standard samples with known isotope ratios showed that the purification treatment did not cause isotope fractionation. The isotopic difference before and after purification was less than 0.04. The method was successfully used to analyze the isotope composition of BPA, OP, and NPs in river water and sediments in the Guangzhou River, Pearl River Delta, South China. Sewage discharge significantly affected the carbon isotope values of BPA, OP and NPs in Guangzhou rivers, suggesting that sewage discharge is the main source of EDCs in the Guangzhou rivers. There is a significant correlation between the isotopic values and concentrations of OP and NPs in sediments, indicating that they may undergo chemical transformation.

[1]  N. Singh,et al.  Occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in river water, ground water and agricultural soils of India , 2022, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.

[2]  R. Lal,et al.  Soil from a Hexachlorocyclohexane Contaminated Field Site Inoculates Wheat in a Pot Experiment to Facilitate the Microbial Transformation of β-Hexachlorocyclohexane Examined by Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis. , 2021, Environmental science & technology.

[3]  H. Richnow,et al.  Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen stable isotope fractionation allow characterizing the reaction mechanisms of 1H-benzotriazole aqueous phototransformation. , 2021, Water research.

[4]  K. Shin,et al.  Application of Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis in Environmental Forensic and Strategic Management Avenue for Pesticide Residues , 2021, Molecules.

[5]  S. Payraudeau,et al.  Phase Transfer and Biodegradation of Pesticides in Water-Sediment Systems Explored by Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis and Conceptual Modeling. , 2021, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  Xu Wang,et al.  Competitive microbial degradation among PBDE congeners in anaerobic wetland sediments: Implication by multiple-line evidences including compound-specific stable isotope analysis. , 2021, Journal of hazardous materials.

[7]  Yanhong Zeng,et al.  Observable carbon isotope fractionation in the photodegradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers by simulated sunlight. , 2020, Chemosphere.

[8]  S. Vuilleumier,et al.  Chlorinated ethene biodegradation and associated bacterial taxa in multi-polluted groundwater: Insights from biomolecular markers and stable isotope analysis. , 2020, The Science of the total environment.

[9]  Y. Takano,et al.  Quantification and carbon and nitrogen isotopic measurements of heme B in environmental samples. , 2020, Analytical chemistry.

[10]  Xiaojun Luo,et al.  Tracing the sources and microbial degradation of PCBs in field sediments by a multiple-line-of-evidence approach including compound-specific stable isotope analysis. , 2020, Water research.

[11]  H. Siebner,et al.  Potential for co-metabolic oxidation of TCE and evidence for its occurrence in a large-scale aquifer survey. , 2019, Water research.

[12]  M. Nikolausz,et al.  2H and 13C isotope fractionation analysis of organophosphorus compounds for characterizing transformation reactions in biogas slurry: Potential for anaerobic treatment of contaminated biomass. , 2019, Water research.

[13]  B. Kasprzyk-Hordern,et al.  Assessment of bisphenol-A in the urban water cycle. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[14]  Zhoufei Luo,et al.  Endocrine-disrupting compounds in the Xiangjiang River of China: Spatio-temporal distribution, source apportionment, and risk assessment. , 2019, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[15]  E. Dinelli,et al.  Distribution and partition of endocrine disrupting compounds in water and sediment: Case study of the Romagna area (North Italy) , 2018, Journal of Geochemical Exploration.

[16]  S. Payraudeau,et al.  Pesticide degradation and export losses at the catchment scale: Insights from compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). , 2018, Water research.

[17]  Yuan-Pin Chang,et al.  Distribution, mass inventories, and ecological risk assessment of legacy and emerging contaminants in sediments from the Pearl River Estuary in China. , 2017, Journal of hazardous materials.

[18]  Yu Yang,et al.  Seasonal variation and partitioning of endocrine disrupting chemicals in waters and sediments of the Pearl River system, South China. , 2016, Environmental pollution.

[19]  G. Imfeld,et al.  Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of micropollutants in the environment - current developments and future challenges. , 2016, Current opinion in biotechnology.

[20]  Yi Yang,et al.  Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of estrogens in surface water, suspended particulate matter, and sediments of the Yangtze Estuary. , 2015, Chemosphere.

[21]  H. Richnow,et al.  Evaluating degradation of hexachlorcyclohexane (HCH) isomers within a contaminated aquifer using compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis (CSIA). , 2015, Water research.

[22]  Guiying Li,et al.  Development of methodology for the determination of carbon isotope ratios using gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry and applications in the biodegradation of phenolic brominated flame retardants and their degradation products. , 2015, Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM.

[23]  Q. Yu,et al.  Spatial-temporal distribution and potential ecological risk assessment of nonylphenol and octylphenol in riverine outlets of Pearl River Delta, China. , 2014, Journal of environmental sciences.

[24]  D. Hunkeler,et al.  Stable carbon isotope analysis to distinguish biotic and abiotic degradation of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in groundwater sediments. , 2014, Chemosphere.

[25]  H. Richnow,et al.  Carbon and hydrogen isotope fractionation of benzene and toluene during hydrophobic sorption in multistep batch experiments. , 2014, Chemosphere.

[26]  Xiaojun Luo,et al.  Method for the purification of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in sediment for compound-specific isotope analysis. , 2013, Talanta: The International Journal of Pure and Applied Analytical Chemistry.

[27]  J. Rudolph,et al.  Compound-specific stable carbon isotope ratios of phenols and nitrophenols derivatized with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. , 2013, Analytica chimica acta.

[28]  T. Hofstetter,et al.  Tracking transformation processes of organic micropollutants in aquatic environments using multi-element isotope fractionation analysis , 2011 .

[29]  Yu Yang,et al.  Occurrence and environmental risk of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in surface waters of the Pearl River, South China , 2009, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[30]  R. Schwarzenbach,et al.  Assessing transformation processes of organic compounds using stable isotope fractionation. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[31]  M. C. Kennicutt,et al.  Source characterization using compound composition and stable carbon isotope ratio of PAHs in sediments from lakes, harbor, and shipping waterway. , 2008, The Science of the total environment.

[32]  W. Giger,et al.  4-Nonylphenol in sewage sludge: accumulation of toxic metabolites from nonionic surfactants. , 1984, Science.