Pesticide contamination in water and sediment of the aquatic systems of the Natural Park of the Albufera of Valencia (Spain) during the rice cultivation period

The Natural Park of the Albufera (Valencia, Spain) is a Mediterranean wetland where rice cultivation dominates the agricultural activity. The purpose of this study was to offer broader information about the current state of the wetland assessing the contamination by pesticides in four aquatic habitats during the rice cultivation period in 2016. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to determine the pesticides in water and sediment samples from the rice fields, Lake Albufera and irrigation and outlet channels. 21 pesticides were detected in our samples (seven already forbidden by European legislation). Higher values than 10000 ng L of accumulated pesticides had been observed in the water samples of the midterm of the cultivation period (July). The sediment samples presented values ten times lower than the water samples. The habitat showed significant differences in the concentrations of the water and sediment samples (Two-way Permanova, p < 0.05) at the end and in the midterm of the cultivation period, respectively. Bentazone and tricyclazole were the dominant and most ubiquitous pesticides in the habitats. The quantities also calculated in real water volume showed that the rice fields and Lake Albufera supported more than 100 kg of pesticides in July. Finally, negative effects in the phytoplankton and some taxa of the biota of the Natural Park were predicted in the risk assessment (Risk Quotient >1). The data provided in this work should show concern about the impact of pesticides in Mediterranean systems subjugated to agricultural pressure.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Calvo, Sara, Romo, S., Soria, Juan, Picó, Yolanda
Other Authors: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
Format: artículo biblioteca
Published: Elsevier 2021-06-20
Subjects:Herbicides, Hydrological cycle, Fungicides, Rice fields, Risk quotient, Mediterranean wetland,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/248595
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003359
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