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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Seasonal Difference and Risk Assessment
of Organophosphate Esters
in Source Water in South China
1
Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta -Ministry of Education-,
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
2
Rural Non-point Source Pollution Comprehensive Management Technology Center of Guangdong Province,
Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
3
Guangzhou Quality Supervision and Testing Institute, Guangzhou 511447, China
4
Guangzhou Huibiao Testing Technology Center, Guangzhou 510700, China
Submission date: 2023-11-18
Final revision date: 2024-02-04
Acceptance date: 2024-03-12
Online publication date: 2024-08-05
Publication date: 2025-07-05
Corresponding author
Qihang Wu
Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(5):5185-5194
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the environment, especially in source water, pose a potential
threat to both human health and aquatic organisms. This study investigated the concentration, seasonal
difference, and risk of 14 widely used OPEs in river and reservoir source water in South China.
The total concentration of OPEs was significantly higher during the dry season than during the wet
season (p<0.05; median: 144 ng/L vs. 89.4 ng/L). The most dominant OPEs among the 14 investigated
in source water were tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP) during the dry season. No significant
difference was found in the concentration and profile of OPEs between the river and reservoir source
water investigated (p>0.05). The health risk of OPEs in the source water to humans was negligible
(non-carcinogenic risk <1; carcinogenic risk <10-6) with the dominant contributor being tris
(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). The environmental ecological risk of OPEs was mostly low (risk
quotient <0.1) in the source water investigated. Overall, the source waters in South China were found to
be relatively safe for use as drinking water sources in the context of OPE pollution.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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