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Non-target screening for detecting the occurrence of plant metabolites in river waters
Werner Brack
Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Umweltforschung UFZ
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9269-6524
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published version at Environmental Sciences Europe.
Background: In surface waters, using liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), typically large numbers of chemical signals often with high peak intensity remain unidentified. These chemical signals may represent natural compounds released from plants, animals and microorganisms, which may contribute to the cumulative toxic risk. Thus, attempts were made to identify natural compounds in significant concentrations in surface waters by identifying overlapping LC-HRMS peaks between extracts of plants abundant in the catchment and river waters using a non-target screening (NTS) work flow.
Results: The result revealed the presence of several thousands of overlapping peaks between water – and plants from local vegetation. Taking this overlap as a basis, 12 SPMs from different compound classes were identified to occur in river waters with flavonoids as a dominant group. The concentrations of the identified compounds ranged from 0.02 to 5 µg/L with apiin, hyperoside and guanosine with highest concentrations. Most of the identified compounds exceeded the threshold for toxicological concern (TTC) (0.1 µg/L) for non-genotoxic and non-endocrine disrupting chemicals in drinking water often by more than one order of magnitude.
Conclusion: Our results revealed the contribution of chemicals eluted from the vegetation in the catchment to the chemical load in surface waters and help to reduce the number of unknowns among NTS high-intensity peaks detected in rivers. Since secondary plant metabolites (SPMs) are often produced for defence against other organisms and since concentrations ranges are clearly above TTC a contribution to toxic risks on aquatic organisms and impacts on drinking water safety cannot be excluded. This demands for including these compounds into monitoring and assessment of water quality.
Keywords
Natural toxins, surface water, emerging contaminant, phytochemical, phytotoxin
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CURRENT STATUS: Published
Version 2
Posted 18 Sep, 2020
Published
On 04 Oct, 2020
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 18 Sep, 2020
Editorial decision: Accept
On 18 Sep, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 17 Sep, 2020
Editor invited
On 17 Sep, 2020
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Major Revision
On 01 Sep, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 29 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #5 agreed
On 21 Aug, 2020
Review #3 received
Received 19 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 10 Aug, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 05 Aug, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 05 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 02 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 02 Aug, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 01 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 01 Aug, 2020
Editor assigned
On 29 Jul, 2020
Editor invited
On 28 Jul, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 24 Jul, 2020
First submitted
On 17 Jul, 2020
Metrics
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Subject Areas
Environmental Law
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This preprint is under consideration at Environmental Sciences Europe. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research
Non-target screening for detecting the occurrence of plant metabolites in river waters
Werner Brack
Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Umweltforschung UFZ
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9269-6524
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Published
Version 2
Posted 18 Sep, 2020
Published
On 04 Oct, 2020
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 18 Sep, 2020
Editorial decision: Accept
On 18 Sep, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 17 Sep, 2020
Editor invited
On 17 Sep, 2020
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Major Revision
On 01 Sep, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 29 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #5 agreed
On 21 Aug, 2020
Review #3 received
Received 19 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 10 Aug, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 05 Aug, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 05 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 02 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 02 Aug, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 01 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 01 Aug, 2020
Editor assigned
On 29 Jul, 2020
Editor invited
On 28 Jul, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 24 Jul, 2020
First submitted
On 17 Jul, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Environmental Law
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published version at Environmental Sciences Europe.
Background: In surface waters, using liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), typically large numbers of chemical signals often with high peak intensity remain unidentified. These chemical signals may represent natural compounds released from plants, animals and microorganisms, which may contribute to the cumulative toxic risk. Thus, attempts were made to identify natural compounds in significant concentrations in surface waters by identifying overlapping LC-HRMS peaks between extracts of plants abundant in the catchment and river waters using a non-target screening (NTS) work flow.
Results: The result revealed the presence of several thousands of overlapping peaks between water – and plants from local vegetation. Taking this overlap as a basis, 12 SPMs from different compound classes were identified to occur in river waters with flavonoids as a dominant group. The concentrations of the identified compounds ranged from 0.02 to 5 µg/L with apiin, hyperoside and guanosine with highest concentrations. Most of the identified compounds exceeded the threshold for toxicological concern (TTC) (0.1 µg/L) for non-genotoxic and non-endocrine disrupting chemicals in drinking water often by more than one order of magnitude.
Conclusion: Our results revealed the contribution of chemicals eluted from the vegetation in the catchment to the chemical load in surface waters and help to reduce the number of unknowns among NTS high-intensity peaks detected in rivers. Since secondary plant metabolites (SPMs) are often produced for defence against other organisms and since concentrations ranges are clearly above TTC a contribution to toxic risks on aquatic organisms and impacts on drinking water safety cannot be excluded. This demands for including these compounds into monitoring and assessment of water quality.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7