Medium distribution, source characteristics and ecological risk of bisphenol compounds in agricultural environment

Abstract

Bisphenol compounds (BPs) are commonly used in industry and agriculture. However, BPs pollution has already raised global concerns due to their ecological risks. This study investigated nine types of BPs in agricultural soil and irrigation rivers, and evaluated the occurrence, source apportionment, and ecological risks for BPs in soils of agricultural environment by using principal component analysis-multivariate linear regression (PCA-MLR) and risk quotients (RQ). The average concentration of BPs in soil, irrigation water and sediments were 29.19 ng/g, 30.21 ng/L and 610.09 ng/g dw, respectively. BPA was the most highly detected contaminant in all media. In soil, the primary BPA substitutes were bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF), contributing about 50 % to the pollution in total. PCA-MLR analysis indicated that the release of solid waste was the primary cause of BPs pollution in the agricultural soils, following by waste water discharge. The evaluation of RQ revealed that BPs presented a low to medium risk to algae, daphnia, and fish in irrigation rivers, while more than 90 % of soil sampling sites faced medium or high risk, with BPA and BPS as the main contributors to the risk. The research findings offer evidence to support the assessment of contaminants concentration, source pathways, and risk management strategies pertaining to BPs in the agricultural system. With ongoing BPA substitute occurrence, addressing risks to agricultural soil ecosystems remains crucial.

Keywords

• Bisphenol compounds
• Soil
• Irrigation rivers
• Ecological risks