First emerging pollutants profile in groundwater of the volcanic active island of El Hierro (Canary Islands)

Abstract

Emerging pollutants (EPs) are substances present in wastewater that have not been studied, previously, leading to ambiguity in regulations for their presence in water resources. Territories that are highly dependent on groundwater resources are at a high risk of suffering the consequences of EP contamination due to their dependence on good quality groundwater for agriculture, drinking, and other uses. A relevant example is El Hierro (Canary Islands), which was declared a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO in 2000 and is almost completely powered by renewable energies. Using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, the concentrations of 70 EPs were assessed at 19 sampling points on El Hierro. The results indicated that no pesticides were present in groundwater; however, varied concentration levels of ultraviolet (UV) filters, UV stabilizers/blockers and pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) were found, with La Frontera being the most contaminated municipality. With regard to the different installation types, piezometers and wells were the ones showing the highest concentrations for most EPs. Interestingly, the depth of sampling correlated positively with EP concentration, and four different clusters virtually dividing the island into two areas could be identified based on the presence of each EP. More studies should be performed to ascertain why a few of the EPs showed considerably high concentrations at different depths. The results obtained highlight the need to, not only implement remediation measures once EPs have reached the soil and aquifers, but also to avoid their incorporation into the water cycle via homes, animal husbandry, agriculture, industry, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).