Occurrence of phthalate diesters in rivers of the Paris district (France)

The occurrence and fate of six phthalate esters were investigated in the River Seine and two tributaries in the Paris area, at six sites from upstream to downstream, throughout different seasons, with special attention given to a flood episode. At all sites, except the River Marne, whatever the period, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) displayed the highest concentration (0·323–0·779 µg l^?1 as mean values), followed by di‐n‐butyl phthalate (DnBP; 0·211–0·526 µg l^?1 as mean values), which is consistent with the production pattern. High phthalate concentrations appeared to be related to population density and industrial distribution. The strongest values were located downstream from wastewater treatment plant effluent inputs. Seasonal variations were closely related to river flow and air and water temperature. The annual evolution of phthalates was linked to the hydrological conditions. During the flood episode at Paris, the DEHP concentration displayed a sharp increase (260 to 1123 ng l^?1) occurring 9 days before the flood peak. The simultaneous fluctuations of NH₄, typical of domestic origin, and of DEHP suggests a similar origin from combined sewer overflows for both compounds. Other elevated values corresponded to the highest precipitation amounts, and demonstrated the contribution of non‐point‐source runoff and wastewater overflow to DEHP inputs. The DEHP concentration relationship with river flow displayed a clockwise hysteresis loop, corresponding to a ‘first‐flush’ effect in which the finite supplies are swept along in the early stage of the flood. Annual fluxes for 2004 at Paris were 2257 kg of DEHP and 1613 kg of DnBP. The flood period seemed to have a minor impact on annual phthalate transport (29·5% and 41% of the total for DEHP and for DnBP, respectively), which is contrary to annual suspended solids transport (69%). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occurrence of phthalate esters in the Seine River estuary (France)

The rigin and fate of six phthalate esters (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di‐n‐butyl phthalate (DnBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), di (2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di‐n‐octyl phthalate (DnOP)), were investigated during 2005 and 2006 in the densely populated Seine river estuary. Four compounds, DMP, DEP, DnBP and DEHP were detected at all the stations with DEHP (160–314 ng L^?1), followed by DEP (71–181 ng L^?1) and next DnBP (67–319 ng L^?1), except at la Bouille, where DnBP was the second most important compound. BBP and DnOP concentrations remained low and were not found at all the stations. Considering all six phthalates, Caudebec‐en‐Caux (beginning of the salinity gradient) was the least polluted station (464 ng L^?1), whereas Honfleur (771 ng L^?1) and La Bouille (716 ng L^?1) displayed the highest contamination levels, probably related to important industrial plants. From Caudebec‐en‐Caux to Honfleur (maximum turbidity), variation of DEHP concentration was related to that of suspended matter. In addition, the salinity rise in that area might have facilitated DEHP sorption upon particles. A significant correlation between flow magnitude and DEHP concentration was found (P < 0·01, n = 12), supporting the influence of the hydrological cycle upon contamination. Runoff contribution (56·9 kg d^?1) to river contamination was confirmed by the annual evolution of phthalate concentrations in the Seine river at Poses. Concentrations of DEHP in the tributaries were in the same range as those of the Seine River (100–350 ng L^?1), except for two in densely populated and industrialized areas: Robec (800 ng L^?1) and Cailly (970 ng L^?1). The treatment plant discharge fluxes were in the same range as those of tributaries (30·4–250 g d^?1). During high flow periods, the influence of tributaries and of treatment plants seemed to play a minor part in the contamination level of the Seine river estuary. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.