Occurrence And Distribution Of Neonicotinoids In The Drinking Water Treatment Plants From South Korea

In this study,we investigated the fate of neonicotinoids(NNIs)in the drinking water treatment plants(DWTPs)in the field scale and evaluated the water contamination condition.The total concentrations of NNIs in raw water and treated water from DWTPs ranged from 20.4 to 166 ng/L(median = 118 ng/L),and 1.11 to 94.7 ng/L(median = 20.4 ng/L),respectively.The predominant compound in DWTPs samples(raw and treated)was dinotefuran.A significant correlation was found between the removal efficiency in the DWTPs and physicochemical properties(water solubility and log Kow)in individual NNI compounds(Spearman correlation,p < 0.05).Furthermore,all NNI compounds were found to have the highest removal efficiency in the granular activated carbon(GAC)filtration as compared to in other processes(coagulation/sedimentation and ozonation).Finally,the human exposure via drinking water for median ∑NNIs was 0.877 ng/person/day for infants in August.