Emerging contaminants in sediments: a review

Emerging Contaminants (ECs) are chemicals for which new concerns have recently raised in terms of occurrence, fate, adverse effects on human health and the environment. ECs include pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials, compounds used in personal care products, plastics, pesticides and flame retardants, and compounds with a large variety of uses (e.g., phenolic and perfluorinated compounds, chlorinated paraffins, etc.). The EU Water Framework Directive 2013/39/EU deals with the status of water bodies and reports an updated list of priority substances. Some of these (e.g., nonylphenols, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate DEHP, perfluorooctane sulfonate PFOS, hexabromocyclododecanes, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, etc.) are emerging contaminants with high affinity towards suspended solids and sediments, due to their physicochemical properties (e.g., Koc value, etc.). The review focuses on this group of pollutants, reporting about the occurrence and distribution in sediments and biota, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicity, and the target or limit values that have been set in order to protect the aquatic environment and the human health.