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Assessment of anthropogenic pollution by monitoring occurrence and distribution of chemicals in the river Liffey in Dublin

Peñalver, Rosa, Jacobs, Matthew orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-2069-4030, Hegarty, Susan orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-0214-9610 and Fiona, Regan orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-8273-9970 (2021) Assessment of anthropogenic pollution by monitoring occurrence and distribution of chemicals in the river Liffey in Dublin. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28 . pp. 53754-53766. ISSN 0944-1344

Abstract
This paper evaluates for the first time the spatial distribution of a wide group of organic (phthalates, nitro, aliphatic, halogen, aromatic, phenol and amino compounds) and inorganic pollutants along the Liffey river in Dublin city. The work takes into account the effect of short-term weather conditions on the occurrence of these contaminants. The results showed that rainfall conditions affect the levels of pollutants along the river in the days following a rainfall event. In addition, the tributaries entering the river Liffey were not found to impact its water quality. In relation to organic pollutants, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol and phthalate compounds were found in many water samples between concentrations of 0.21 and 2.17 μgL−1. On the other hand, dimethyl phthalate was present in certain samples at levels around 100 μgL−1. The levels of these contaminants in the river were lower than the toxicity values reported in the literature. Regarding inorganic pollutants, nitrates were detected from 0.59 to 6.81 mg L−1 increasing from upstream to downstream. Based on the chemical nature and applications of detected pollutants, the river contamination can be mainly related to agricultural, industrial activities as well as diffuse urban contributions. These vary with location within a short distance and have the potential to impact aquatic biodiversity as the chemical composition changes with rainfall events.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Distribution; Liffey river; Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; Phthalates; Chlorophenols; Nitro-aromatic derivatives
Subjects:UNSPECIFIED
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Chemical Sciences
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of History and Geography
Research Initiatives and Centres > Water Institute
Publisher:Springer
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14508-y
Copyright Information:© 2021 The Authors. Open Access (CC-BY 4.0)
Funders:Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium, University of Murcia for funding Rosa Peñalver (Grant number R-661/2019)
ID Code:27495
Deposited On:05 Aug 2022 16:34 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 18 Jan 2023 12:32
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