Xenobiotics in groundwater and surface water of the city of Leipzig

Xenobiotics are increasingly being considered as ecotoxicologically relevant for the aquatic environment and human health. Their behaviour and the effects on the environment have not yet been comprehensively investigated and, therefore, are currently the subject of the project WASSER Leipzig initiated by the UFZ. The results of this article are based on groundwater and surface water analyses of a watershed within the town of Leipzig. Here the industrial chemicals bisphenol-A and t-nonylphenol, the polycyclic fragrances galaxolide and tonalide, the antiepileptic drug carbamacepine and caffeine where investigated. Xenobiotics showed ubiquitous occurrence in the rivers, which were contaminated from treated and untreated sewage, as well as in groundwater, contaminated by leaky sewers. Mean concentrations up to several hundred ng/l were found in the rivers, while groundwater concentrations, except for bisphenol-A, tended to be lower. Applying the statistical factor analysis on the hydrochemical measurements, a differentiation of the xenobiotics with regard to their hydrochemical behaviour in groundwater was performed.