Screening level ecological risk assessment for synthetic musks in surface water of Lake Taihu, China

A total of thirty-three surface water samples were collected from Meiliang Bay, Gonghu Bay and Xukou Bay of Lake Taihu, and analyzed for synthetic musks, including 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta-[gamma]-2-benzopyrane (HHCB), 7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (AHTN), 1-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethyl-2,5-dinitro-4-acetylbenzene (MK) and 1-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethyl-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (MX). Ecological risks of these compounds were characterized by hazard quotient (HQ) method due to a lack of sufficient available toxicity data of synthetic musks. HHCB was the main synthetic musk detected in Lake Taihu, followed by AHTN, MK, and MX. The risk assessment results indicate that low ecological risks were posed by HHCB and total synthetic musks, and even lower risks posed by other synthetic musks in the worst case; much lower ecological risks were caused by both individual and total synthetic musks in the general case. The combined ecological risk from total synthetic musks calculation suggests that the combined ecological risk from all four synthetic musks was expected to be slightly higher than for the individual musks due to their joint action. The HQ spatial distribution maps show that several hot-spot areas were mainly around the river inlets to Lake Taihu, indicating that synthetic musks may be transported to Lake Taihu with municipal sewage and industrial wastewater from surrounding areas. However, the ecological risks in hot-spot areas posed by individual and total synthetic musks were still acceptable.