Pharmaceuticals and personal care products and heavy metals in the Ganga River, India: Distribution, ecological and human health risk assessment

In the present study, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), and heavy metals (HMs), were measured in water and sediment of the Ganga River during summer and winter seasons for two consecutive years. Additionally, this study estimated the ecological and human health risks associated with PPCPs, EDCs, and HMs. HMs detected in the range of not detected (n.d.) to 23.59 mu g/L and 0.01-391.44 mu g/g in water and sediment samples, respectively. All studied HMs were within the permissible limits, except for As in water, and Cr and Ni in sediment. The geo-accumulation index (I-geo) indicated that Cr (0.71-5.98) and Pb (0.90-3.90) had high I-geo compared to other metals in sediment samples. Pb showed the highest ecological risk, followed by Cd, Co, Ni, Cu, Cr, As, and Zn. The maximum potential ecological risk index was observed at site G8. The hazard index (HI) value for water (0.08-0.89) and sediment (0.02-0.29) intake by adults remained within the acceptable limits, except at sites G8 (1.27) and G9 (1.34) for water intake. However, for children, the HI value was above the acceptable limit for water intake at sites G4 to G13 and for sediment at site G8. Among the studied compounds, metformin, triclosan, triclocarban, diclofenac, and methylparaben were the most abundant compounds present in the Ganga River. PPCPs and EDCs detected in the range of n.d. to 5850.04 ng/L and n.d. to 1080.41 ng/g in water and sediment samples, respectively. The environmental risk assessment identifies the maximum ecological risk in water exhibited by triclocarban followed by 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2), diclofenac, and triclosan, while in sediment, the maximum ecological risk exhibited by triclocarban, followed by EE2, 17 beta-estradiol (E2), triclosan, and diclofenac. However, none of the compounds showed human health risk, except for EE2, E2, and atenolol.