Occurrence and fate of alkylphenol polyethoxylate degradation products and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate surfactants in urban ground water: Barcelona case study

Abstract

This study investigates the fate of alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEOs) degradation products (DPs) and the occurrence of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) surfactants in urban ground water at field scale. The occurrence of APEOs DPs in ground water was studied in connection with: (1) sources of recharge or/and pollution containing these substances, (2) ground water redox conditions, (3) occurrence of LAS, which are currently the domestic surfactants more used in the study area and (4) other common contaminants in urban ground water in the city of Barcelona. The APEOs DPs analyzed included two nonylphenol carboxylates (NP2EC, NP1EC), two octylphenol carboxylates (OP2EC, OP1EC), nonylphenol (NP) and octylphenol (OP). The highest groundwater concentrations of APEOs DPs were detected in aquifers whose major source of recharge is a river receiving large amounts of effluents from secondary waste water treatment plants (WWTPs). In fact, APEOs DPs concentrations were above those in the river. NP2EC was the compound detected at highest concentrations. These increase with ammonium in samples with low dissolved oxygen. These degradation products were virtually absent in oxidizing aquifers whose main source of recharge is not the river. In this case, only the ultimate degradation product (NP) was detected, which suggests that parent compounds have degraded. These results indicate that APEOs are persistent or less degraded in reducing conditions, whereas they are degraded when oxidizing conditions prevail. By contrast, LAS concentrations were more than one order of magnitude lower than expected based on recharge sources in all (oxidizing and reducing) aquifers.