Current-Use Pesticides in the River Waters of Eastern China: Occurrence and Human Health Risk Assessment

The present study was undertaken for the evaluation of the current-use pesticide (CUP) residues and the human health risks in the river waters of eastern China. Water samples were collected from the urbanized river network of Shanghai, and the sampling locations were divided into five different intensive land-use types. The river water samples were separated into surface water and the suspended particulate matter (SPM) through filtration, and the concentrations of 18 CUPs were determined after extraction of the samples and subsequent GC-MS analysis of the extracts. Overall, the concentrations of CUPs in the center regions of Shanghai were relatively low, which were mainly concentrated in the inner city and the suburban towns, and the CUP concentrations in the river waters of agricultural areas were significantly different with other land-use types except island areas (p < 0.05). The CUP concentrations in SPM were slightly higher than that in surface waters. The rankings of estimated exposure doses among different population groups were adults > children > seniors > adolescents, and females > males for dermal contact, while for mistaken oral intake, it was adults > children > adolescents > seniors, and females > males. From the median values, the carcinogenic risk was low risk through dermal contact, and it was very low risk through mistaken oral intake, and the non-carcinogenic risk was negligible to the local populations. This study is helpful to managers so that micro-pollutants such as CUPs should be considered in future monitoring schemes.