Journal of Hazardous Materials 402 (2021) 123706 Available online 22 August 2020 0304-3894/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Identifcation, quantifcation, and prioritization of new emerging pollutants in domestic and industrial effuents, Korea: Application of LC-HRMS based suspect and non-target screening Younghun Choi a , Ji-Ho Lee b , Kyunghyun Kim c , Hyunsaing Mun c , Naree Park a , Junho Jeon a, d, * a Graduate School of FEED of Eco-Friendly Offshore Structure, Changwon National University, Changwon, Gyeongsangnamdo, 51140, Republic of Korea b National Institute of Chemical Safety, Daejeon, 34111, Republic of Korea c National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea d School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon, Gyeongsangnamdo, 51140, Republic of Korea A R T I C L E INFO Editor: D. Aga Keywords: suspect and non-target screening LC-HRMS/MS effuent micropollutants prioritization ABSTRACT The present study was designed to identify recently (or rarely) recognized or unreported substances (RRS or URS) contained in the effuents from water treatment plants in two industrialized urban areas, Gumi and Daegu, in Korea. In addition to 30 initial targets, 72 substances were identifed through suspect and non-target screening (SNTS). Among them were 4 RRSs and 22 URSs, respectively. The quantitative analyses were applied to 35 pharmaceuticals, 15 pesticides, 13 poly-/perfuorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), 2 organophosphate fame re- tardants (OPFRs), 2 corrosion inhibitors, and 3 metabolites. The highest average concentration was observed for benzotriazole, followed by those for nifumic acid, and metformin. Effuents from Gumi mainly contained benzotriazole and metformin whereas nifumic acid and tramadol were the major components in effuents from Daegu. According to a scoring system based on risk relevant parameters, higher priorities were given to telmi- sartan, PFOA, and cimetidine. Yet, priorities for some substances were area specifc (e.g., benzotriazole from Gumi, PFASs from Daegu), refecting differences in industry profles and populations. Many of the RRSs and URSs were recognized as potential hazards. The new identifcations and evaluations should be taken into consideration for constant monitoring and management, as do the previously recognized contaminants. 1. Introduction Numerous anthropogenic substances are released into the natural water system through sewage and wastewater treatment plants. Although water treatment processes for the removal of pollutants have been developed and are applied, the uniform and complete treatment of contaminants with various physicochemical properties suffer from technical limitations (Qu et al., 2013; Ferroudj et al., 2013). The incomplete treatment capacity and effciency mean that potential pol- lutants continue to fow into waters, and the complexity of the pollutant stream increases with the development and use of new substances (Ekpeghere et al., 2018; Wu et al., 2016). The emergence of new pol- lutants is particularly prominent in areas with high industrial density and a high population. Perfuorooctanesulfonic acid, designated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in 2009 and subsequently phased out, has been replaced by new perfuorinated alkyl substances with shorter carbon chains, such as perfuorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) and perfuorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), in various manufacturing pro- cesses (Shen et al., 2018). Organophosphate fame retardants have rapidly replaced brominated compounds, which have been the subject of criticism resulting from their non-degradability and bioaccumulation properties (Slotkin et al., 2017). The use of over-the-counter and pre- scription drugs is increasing (Ottmar et al., 2010), and this increase has been refected in the concentration profles of effuents. The gradual increases in the concentrations of antidiabetics and antihypertensives are good examples (Dami` a and Kostianoy, 1982; Godoy et al., 2015). Changes in the profles are currently occurring, and these profles differ for various regions. The quick identifcation of changes is the frst step toward estab- lishing effective reduction and/or elimination measures. The * Corresponding author at: Graduate School of FEED of Eco-Friendly Offshore Structure, Changwon National University, Changwon, Gyeongsangnamdo, 51140, Republic of Korea. E-mail address: jjh0208@changwon.ac.kr (J. Jeon). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hazardous Materials journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123706 Received 30 April 2020; Received in revised form 29 July 2020; Accepted 7 August 2020