Open AccessImpact of Hurricane Maria on Drinking Water Quality in Puerto Rico
Author(s) -
Yiqing Lin,
Maria C. Sevillano-Rivera,
Tao Jiang,
Guangyu Li,
Irmarie Cotto,
Solize Vosloo,
Corey M. G. Carpenter,
Philip Larese-Casanova,
Roger W. Giese,
Damian E. Helbling,
Ingrid Y. Padilla,
Zaira Rosario-Pabón,
Carmen Vélez Vega,
José F. Cordero,
Akram N. Alshawabkeh,
Ameet Pinto,
April Z. Gu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
environmental science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.851
H-Index - 397
eISSN - 1520-5851
pISSN - 0013-936X
DOI - 10.1021/acs.est.0c01655
Subject(s) - environmental chemistry , perfluorooctanoic acid , pollutant , atrazine , arsenic , water quality , environmental science , toxicity , chemistry , pesticide , ecology , biology , organic chemistry
This study performed a comprehensive assessment of the impact of Hurricane Maria (HM) on drinking water quality in Puerto Rico (PR) by integrating targeted chemical analysis of both inorganic (18 trace elements) and organic trace pollutants (200 micropollutants) with high-throughput quantitative toxicogenomics and in vitro biomarkers-based toxicity assays. Average concentrations of 14 detected trace elements and 20 organic micropollutants showed elevation after HM. Arsenic, sucralose, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), atrazine-2-hydroxy, benzotriazole, acesulfame, and prometon were at significantly ( p < 0.05) higher levels in the post-HM than in the pre-HM samples. Thirteen micropollutants, including four pesticides, were only detected in posthurricane samples. Spatial comparison showed higher pollutant and toxicity levels in the samples from northern PR (where eight Superfund sites are located) than in those from southern PR. Distinctive pathway-specific molecular toxicity fingerprints for water extracts before and after HM and at different locations revealed changes in toxicity nature that likely resulted from the impact of HM on drinking water composition. Correlation analysis and Maximum Cumulative Ratio assessment suggested that metals (i.e., arsenic) and PFOA were the top ranked pollutants that have the potential to cause increased risk after HM, providing a possible direction for future water resource management and epidemiological studies.