Herbicide found in German estuaries, transported to the Baltic Sea

Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide, able to kill a broad range of plants (‘weeds’) that compete with crops. This study used a validated method to assess its presence in 10 German estuaries that lead to the Baltic Sea. All but one was contaminated with glyphosate, and all were contaminated with its metabolite AMPA. The researchers recommend risk assessments for these chemicals in the Baltic Sea and other marine environments.

Highlights

• An LC–HESI-MS/MS method for glyphosate and AMPA analysis in estuarine water
• Contamination of the Baltic estuaries with glyphosate and AMPA
  Glyphosate and AMPA concentrations exceed the European guideline of 100 ng/L.
• The first study on transport glyphosate and AMPA from land to sea
• Glyphosate concentrations may cause a toxic effect in some Baltic rivers and estuaries.

Abstract

Herbicide found in German estuaries, transported to the Baltic Sea, Science for Environment Policy, 25 November 2016.

Glyphosate and AMPA in the estuaries of the Baltic Sea method optimization and field study, science direct, November 2015.

Muta @ the Baltic Sea by Satorare.

Water samples from ten German Baltic estuaries were collected in 2012 in order to study the presence of the herbicide glyphosate, its primary metabolite AMPA and their potential transport to the marine environment. For the analyses an LC–MS/MS based analytical method after derivatization with FMOC-Cl was optimized and validated for marine water samples. All investigated estuarine stations were contaminated with AMPA and nine of them also with glyphosate. Concentration ranges observed were 28 to 1690 ng/L and 45 to 4156 ng/L for glyphosate and AMPA, respectively with strong spatial and temporal fluctuations. Both contaminants were found at inbound sampling sites in the stream Muehlenfliess and concentrations decreased along the salinity gradient to the estuaries of the Baltic Sea. The data obtained in this study clearly depict the transport of glyphosate and AMPA to the Baltic Sea. Hence, detailed fate and risk assessment for both contaminants in marine environments are required.