Delivering on sustainable development goals in wastewater reuse for agriculture: Initial prioritization of emerging pollutants in the Tula Valley, Mexico

Garduño-Jiménez, Andrea-Lorena; Durán-Álvarez, Juan-Carlos; Ortori, Catharine A.; Abdelrazig, Salah; Barrett, David A.; Gomes, Rachel L.

Abstract

Wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation is a widespread beneficial practice, in line with the sustainable development goals. However, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) present in wastewater, such as pharmaceuticals, pose an environmental risk. The Tula Valley in Mexico is one of the world's largest agricultural areas reusing wastewater for agriculture. However, no untargeted CEC monitoring has been undertaken there, limiting the information available to prioritise local environmental risk assessment. Furthermore, CEC environmental presence in the Global South remains understudied, compared to the Global North. There is a risk that current research efforts focus on CECs predominantly found in the Global North, leading to strategies that may not be appropriate for the Global South where the pollution profile may be different. To address these knowledge gaps, a sampling campaign at five key sites in the Tula Valley was undertaken and samples analysed using multi-residue targeted and untargeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods. Using the targeted data, ten CECs were found to be of environmental risk for at least one sampling site: 4‑tert-octylphenol, acetaminophen, bezafibrate, diclofenac, erythromycin, levonorgestrel, simvastatin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and tramadol as well as total estrogenicity (combination of three steroid hormones). Six of these have not been previously quantified in the Tula Valley. Over one hundred pollutants never previously measured in the area were identified through untargeted analysis supported by library spectrum match. Examples include diclofenac and carbamazepine metabolites and area-specific pollutants such as the herbicide fomesafen. This research contributes to characterising the presence of CECs in the Global South, as well as providing site-specific data for the Tula Valley.

Citation

Garduño-Jiménez, A.-L., Durán-Álvarez, J.-C., Ortori, C. A., Abdelrazig, S., Barrett, D. A., & Gomes, R. L. (2023). Delivering on sustainable development goals in wastewater reuse for agriculture: Initial prioritization of emerging pollutants in the Tula Valley, Mexico. Water Research, 238, Article 119903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.119903

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 20, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 28, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 2, 2023
• Journal: Water Research
• Print ISSN: 0043-1354
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-2448
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 238
• Article Number: 119903
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.119903
• Keywords: Pollution; Waste Management and Disposal; Water Science and Technology; Ecological Modeling; Environmental Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/20000749
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135423003391?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Delivering on sustainable development goals in wastewater reuse for agriculture: initial prioritization of emerging pollutants in the Tula Valley, Mexico; Journal Title: Water Research; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.119903; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.