Abstract
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•Occurrence of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides and microplastics.•Of 107 contaminants, 40 were in water, 27 in sediments, 17 in soils and 21 in plants.•Microplastics ranged from 0.7 to 9 items/L were distributed in all the area.•Average of 10 contaminants simultaneously in each sample.•Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, bifenthrin, caffeine and etoricoxib show risk to biota.
This study assess the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and pesticides in different environmental compartments and microplastics in water of a characteristic lagoon wetland in Saudi Arabia to establish the transport, accumulation and fate of these pollutants in a water-stressed area under high anthropogenic pressure. In water, diazinon (up to 1016 ng L−1), caffeine (up to 20,663 ng L−1), diclofenac (up to 1390 ng L−1) and paracetamol (up to 3069 ng L−1) were at the highest concentrations. The substances with the highest frequency of detection were carbendazim, atorvastatin, caffeine, etoricoxib, lorazepam, metformin, ofloxacin, paracetamol, salicylic acid and tramadol. Considerably less pesticides and PPCPs at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 126 ng g−1 dry weight (d.w.) were detected in the other matrices (sediment ≫ soil > plants). The concentration of microplastics in water ranged from 0.7 to 7.8 items/L in the Al-Asfar lake and from 1.1 to 9.0 items/L in the Al-Hubail lake. Risk assessment [using hazards quotients (HQ)] was used to highlight pesticides and PPCPs of major ecological concern that should be closely monitored to avoid adverse effects.