Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in stormwater canals and Bayou St. John in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Abstract

Samples were collected from two stormwater canals and a recreational urban waterway known as Bayou St. John in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and analyzed for a range of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Concentrations of 7 PPCPs and EDCs were measured by a method that provides for simultaneous extraction and quantification of the following compounds: clofibric acid, naproxen, ibuprofen, fluoxetine, clorophene, triclosan, bisphenol A. The method also was used as an indicator of the occurrence of estrogenic compounds by targeting estrone and 17β-estradiol. The two canals (Orleans and London) are used to drain a portion of the city's stormwater directly into the Mississippi River or Lake Pontchartrain. Bayou St. John is located between the two canals and supplied with water from Lake Pontchartrain. Results from the 6-month sampling period indicated the following concentration ranges for the two stormwater canals: naproxen (ND – 145 ng/l), ibuprofen (ND – 674 ng/l), triclosan (ND – 29 ng/l) and bisphenol A (1.9–158 ng/l). Concentrations of these target analytes increased with cumulative rainfall. For bayou waters, only naproxen (2.1–4.8 ng/l) and bisphenol A (0.9–44 ng/l) were detected. Estrone was detected but determined non-quantifiable for multiple sampling events at the 3 sites. None of the other target analytes (clofibric acid, fluoxetine, clorophene, and 17β-estradiol) were detected above their method detection levels. Results of this study demonstrate the occurrence of PPCPs and EDCs in New Orleans stormwater canals and Bayou St. John. Results also demonstrate the use of this analytical technique as an indicator of non-point source sewage contamination in New Orleans stormwater canals.

Introduction

Recent studies indicate the potential widespread occurrence of low-level concentrations (ng-μg/l) of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic sewage contaminants and their metabolites in the aquatic environment (Desbrow et al., 1998, Halling-Sørensen et al., 1998, Ternes, 1998, Daughton and Ternes, 1999, Sedlak et al., 2000, Heberer, 2002, Kolpin et al., 2002, Lindström et al., 2002, Boyd et al., 2003, Calamari et al., 2003, Koutsouba et al., 2003, Tixier et al., 2003). Many of these compounds are suspected or potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) (McLachlan, 2001). Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) describe a large class of chemical contaminants that can originate from human usage and excretions and veterinary applications of a variety of products such as over-the-counter and prescription medications and fungicides and disinfectants used for industrial, domestic, agricultural, and livestock practices (Daughton and Ternes, 1999). PPCPs and EDCs and their metabolites are continually introduced into aquatic environs and their occurrence generally is attributed to sewage treatment plant effluent and/or agricultural runoff (Kolpin et al., 2002). Recent studies have demonstrated the occurrence of a variety of PPCPs and EDCs in raw sewage. For example, naproxen and ibuprofen (Ternes, 1998), triclosan (Bester, 2003), bisphenol A (Lee and Peart, 2000) and estrone (Baronti et al., 2000, Andersen et al., 2003) have been detected in raw sewage at varying concentrations ranging from 25 ng/l for estrone to as much as 4980 ng/l for bisphenol A at the influent of German, Italian and Canadian wastewater treatment plants. In a recent study, Kolpin et al. (2004) concluded that the number of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants decreased as streamflow increased in samples collected near urban centers in Iowa. However, no studies have been reported regarding the occurrence of PPCPs and EDCs in the urban stormwater drainage canals of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

In New Orleans, storm water is diverted through drainage canals and discharged into the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain (S&WBNO, 2001). The stormwater drainage canals included in this study are not used as receiving waters of effluent from sewage treatment plants. Diverted storm water has been determined to be contaminated with raw sewage as a result of illicit cross connections, broken sewer pipes due to subsidence, and other sources (McCorquodale et al., 2001, Englande et al., 2003, Jin et al., 2003). The occurrence of fecal coliform, which is an indicator of raw sewage contamination, along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain has been attributed to stormwater drainage through New Orleans canals (Barbé and Poirrier, 1991, Englande et al., 2003, Jin et al., 2003). For this study, water samples were collected from New Orleans canals to quantify the concentration of PPCPs and EDCs in contaminated stormwater and compare the occurrence levels to local rainfall. Additional samples were collected for comparison from a recreational waterway known as Bayou St. John and the nearby receiving waters of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.