CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

A major current concern is the widespread occurrence of anthropogenic emerging pollutants, due to their potential effects on environmental and human health. The insufficient infrastructure of sewage treatment plants in South American countries implies that domestic effluents, industrial effluents and runoff discharges from urban areas and agricultural activities, loaded with a diverse range of emerging pollutants, enter water bodies. This alters the quality and safety of aquatic ecosystems, and may bear implications as well to the local populations that depend on them. Aquaculture, an activity that has grown worldwide at a great pace, is also rising in Argentina, with great potential to increase production for both local consumption and export. In order to durably establish this industry, the fish farmed in Argentina should be produced according to international standards, including good manufacturing practices and production in safe water bodies. In this study, we analyzed multi-class emerging contaminants in muscle samples of Argentine commercial Pacú (Piaractus mesopotamicus), a typical species of the Parana basin highly appreciated by local consumers. Briefly, the extraction method consists of the use of MeOH and 0.05 M HCl as extraction solvents, vortexing, ultrasonic bath, centrifugation and solid phase extraction (SPE), and samples were analyzed for >150 suspect-target micropollutants. Instrumental analysis involved ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMSQ-Exactive Orbitrap). Residues of pesticides, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, plasticizers, sweeteners, drug metabolites, stimulants, and illegal drugs were variously detected in the fish samples at confidence levels between 1-4.The study provides new occurrence data on contaminants impacting water resources and aquatic organisms, including fish for human consumption.