TY - UNPB

T1 - Suspect Screening and Chemical Profile Analysis of Stormwater Runoff Following 2017 Wildfires in Northern California

AU - Wang, Miaomiao

AU - Kinyua, Juliet

AU - Jiang, Ting

AU - Sedlak, Meg

AU - Mckee, Lester J.

AU - Fadness, Richard

AU - Sutton, Rebecca

AU - Park, June-Soo

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The combustion of structures, household materials, pesticides, and firefighting materials during wildfires leads to releases of potentially hazardous chemicals directly onto the landscape. Subsequent rainfall and stormwater runoff events can transport wildfire-related contaminants to downstream receiving waters where they may pose water quality concerns. To evaluate the environmental hazards of recent Northern California fires on the types of contaminants in stormwater, and the resulting potential ecological impact in San Francisco Bay and the coastal marine environment, we analyzed stormwater collected after the Northern California wildfires (October 2017) using a non-targeted analytical (NTA) approach. Liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometric (LC-QTOF-MS) analysis was completed on stormwater samples (n=20) collected from Napa County (impacted by Atlas and Nuns fires), the City of Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County (Nuns and Tubbs fire) during storm events that occurred on November 2017 and January 2018. The NTA approach enabled us to establish profiles of contaminants based on raw peak intensities and chemical categories found in the stormwater samples, and to prioritize significant chemicals within these profiles possibly attributed to the wildfire. The results demonstrated the presence of a wide range of contaminants in the stormwater, including surfactants, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), certain common chemicals from personal care products (PCPs), pesticides, and chemicals from other consumer products. Homologues of polyethylene glycol (PEGs) were found to be the major contributor to the contaminants, followed by other widely used surfactants. Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), typically used as surfactants, were also detected and were much higher in samples collected after storm event 1 comparing with storm event 2. The current study provides a comprehensive approach for examining wildfire-impacted stormwater contamination of related contaminants, of which we found many with potential ecological risk.

AB - The combustion of structures, household materials, pesticides, and firefighting materials during wildfires leads to releases of potentially hazardous chemicals directly onto the landscape. Subsequent rainfall and stormwater runoff events can transport wildfire-related contaminants to downstream receiving waters where they may pose water quality concerns. To evaluate the environmental hazards of recent Northern California fires on the types of contaminants in stormwater, and the resulting potential ecological impact in San Francisco Bay and the coastal marine environment, we analyzed stormwater collected after the Northern California wildfires (October 2017) using a non-targeted analytical (NTA) approach. Liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometric (LC-QTOF-MS) analysis was completed on stormwater samples (n=20) collected from Napa County (impacted by Atlas and Nuns fires), the City of Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County (Nuns and Tubbs fire) during storm events that occurred on November 2017 and January 2018. The NTA approach enabled us to establish profiles of contaminants based on raw peak intensities and chemical categories found in the stormwater samples, and to prioritize significant chemicals within these profiles possibly attributed to the wildfire. The results demonstrated the presence of a wide range of contaminants in the stormwater, including surfactants, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), certain common chemicals from personal care products (PCPs), pesticides, and chemicals from other consumer products. Homologues of polyethylene glycol (PEGs) were found to be the major contributor to the contaminants, followed by other widely used surfactants. Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), typically used as surfactants, were also detected and were much higher in samples collected after storm event 1 comparing with storm event 2. The current study provides a comprehensive approach for examining wildfire-impacted stormwater contamination of related contaminants, of which we found many with potential ecological risk.

KW - Non-targeted Analysis (NTA)

KW - stormwater

KW - wildfire impacted

KW - surfactants

U2 - 10.2139/ssrn.3974335

DO - 10.2139/ssrn.3974335

M3 - Preprint

BT - Suspect Screening and Chemical Profile Analysis of Stormwater Runoff Following 2017 Wildfires in Northern California

ER -