Geochemical Characterization of Organic Pollutants in Effluents Discharged from Various Industrial Sources to Riverine Systems

The detailed characterization of the organic composition of industrial effluents discharged from various industrial branches and the distribution of the emitted pollutants in the surface waters in North Rhine-Westphalia have been done with the use of non-target screening analyses. Based on the characterization of molecular structures of wastewater constituents, their quantification as well as the available information on their origin and industrial applications, the identification of typical organic representatives for petrochemical and food effluents has been performed. Among a wide range of hydrocarbons detected in the petrochemical effluents, several novel organic wastewater constituents have been found for the first time. In the effluents from paper production plant, potential industrial indicators were distinguished, such as resin acids (abietic and dehydroabietic acids) and photoinitiators (Irgacure 184). The monitoring of the behaviour of certain environmentally relevant and newly described pollutants in the contaminated river systems allowed the identification of several industrial site-specific markers. Particularly, 2-(chloromethyl)-1,3-dioxolane, an unknown contaminant, exclusively found in the effluents from a chemical production complex, was present in the river under discharge at high concentrations downstream the contamination source. The comprehensive and detailed evaluation of the anthropogenic markers in the industrial effluents is a promising tool for the environmental assessment of industrial emissions, especially if accompanied with toxicological and ecotoxicological investigations of novel environmental contaminants.