Toxicological profiles assessment of the water and sediments from the Krivaja and Jegrička Rivers, Serbia

Abstract

This study utilizes a combinatorial bio/chemical approach to assess the toxicological profiles of organic pollutants in water and sediment samples from two watercourses that are under significant anthropogenic pressure—the Krivaja and Jegrička rivers in Serbia. Sample preparation by solid-phase extraction and silica-gel fractionation followed by GC/MS analysis, allowed the tentative identification of a variety of non-target contaminants, divided into non-polar, medium-polar and polar fractions. The instrumental analysis revealed slightly different toxicological profiles for the water and sediment from both rivers, and confirmed the presence of various classes of organic contaminants, from non-polar hydrocarbons, to more polar compounds such as aldehydes, ketones and phenols. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides were identified, but below toxicologically relevant concentrations. The results of bioanalyses on H4IIE and PLHC-1 cells indicated that cytotoxic potential was pronounced in Jegrička water and sediment samples, and CYP1A inducing potential was observed in both Krivaja and Jegrička sediment samples, although they did not reflect high levels of contamination. Based on the overall data, the sediments of the Krivaja and Jegrička rivers are a more toxicologically relevant matrix than the water.

Keywords:

• Organic pollutants
• surface water
• sediment
• bioassays
• GC/MS screening
• combinatorial bio/chemical approach

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Project No. OI172028 and OI173037) and the Swiss National Scientific Foundation (Project No. SCOPES IZ73Z0_128025).