Surface Water Contaminants (Metals, Nutrients, Pharmaceutics, Endocrine Disruptors, Bacteria) in the Danube River and Black Sea Basins, SE Romania

The assessment of surface water quality of Danube river and Black Sea was performed taking into account the amounts of 9 heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn), nutrients (6 N and P compounds, chlorophyll a), emerging contaminants (pharmaceutics and endocrine disruptors) and heterotrophic bacteria and total coliforms (fecal indicator bacteria) in thirty-two locations from the lower Danube sector (starting with km 375 up to the river mouths), the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (three Danube branches – Chilia, Sulina and Sf. Gheorghe) and the Romanian coastal area of the Black Sea. The results for heavy metals, nutrients and bacteria were compared with norms set up in the national legislation for good ecological status for surface water. The concentrations of pharmaceutics and endocrine disruptors from various classes (19 quantified compounds, out of 30 investigated chemicals) were compared with values reported for Danube River water in other studies performed in various river sectors. Correlations between contaminant levels and physicochemical parameters of water samples were studied. This is the first study carried out in the connected system Danube River–Danube Delta–Black Sea for a large palette of toxicants classes and microbial pollutants.