Alkylphenols in atmospheric depositions and urban runoff

Abstract

A sampling campaign was conducted in order to determine alkylphenol (AP) concentrations in stormwater as well as potential AP sources in suburban environments. An analytical procedure was developed to quantify APs in bulk atmospheric deposition, building runoff, road runoff and stormwater. Both nonylphenols and octylphenols could be quantified in each sample. Median stormwater concentrations amounted to: 470 ng/l for nonylphenols, and 36 ng/l for octylphenols. These concentrations are 3 times higher than those found in atmospheric deposition, thus proving that local human activity constitutes a significant source of contamination. The contributions of the various sources to stormwater have been assessed from mass balances at the catchment scale. 70% of AP mass in stormwater originates from building and road emissions. Annual AP fluxes have been extrapolated from the total AP mass measured over our sampling periods for atmospheric depositions (44 to 84 µgNP/m2/yr) and stormwater (100 to 190 µgNP/m2/yr). Moreover, since APs were mainly found in the dissolved fraction, runoff treatment devices based on settling are unlikely to be very efficient.