Nontarget Screening and Ecological Risk Assessment of Polar Organic Pollutants in Surface Water on the West Bank of Taihu Lake

Emerging pollutants occur in the environment, which has become a pressing issue for environmental research. In order to comprehensively screen potential polar organic pollutants in surface water of Wujin and Yixing in the Taihu Lake Basin, nontarget screening was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and time of flight mass spectrometry(TOF-MS). Screened by accurate mass, isotope distribution, and MS/MS information, 162 organic compounds were identified, including 46 pesticides, 34 drugs, 8 personal care products, and 27 additives; 17 organic synthetic intermediates and 30 metabolites, 45 of which have been verified by reference standards. Through the quantitative analysis of 42 pollutants and ecological risk assessment of 3 trophic model species, it was found that 25 pollutants posed medium risk while 12 pollutants presented high risk. Nontarget screening can be used to identify potential pollutants with no prior information or standards. It is not only fast, accurate, and has high analytical flux, but also provides an important basis for subsequent ecological risk assessment. © 2021, Science Press. All right reserved.