Screening of Pesticide and Biocide Patterns As Risk Drivers in Sediments of Major European River Mouths: Ubiquitous or River Basin-Specific Contamination?

Pesticides and biocides (PaB) are ubiquitously present in aquatic ecosystems due to their widespread application and have been detected in rivers at concentrations that may cause distress to aquatic life. Many of these compounds accumulate in sediments acting as long-term source for aquatic ecosystems. However, data on sediment contamination with current-use PaB in Europe are scarce. Thus, in this study, we elucidated PaB patterns and associated risks in sediments of seven major European rivers focusing on their last stretch as an integrative sink of particles transported by these rivers. Sediments were extracted with pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) using a broad-spectrum method recovering many compound classes with a wide range of physicochemical properties. Altogether 126 compounds were analyzed and 81 of them were detected with LC-HRMS and GC-NCI-MS/MS at least in one of the sediments. The highest number of compounds was detected (59) in River Elbe sediments close to Cuxhaven with outstanding conce...