WASTEWATER REUSE APPLICATIONS AND CONTAMINANTS OF EMERGING CONCERN (WRA & CEC 2012) Uptake of microcontaminants by crops irrigated with reclaimed water and groundwater under real field greenhouse conditions Diana Calderón-Preciado & Víctor Matamoros & Robert Savé & Pere Muñoz & Carme Biel & J. M. Bayona Received: 30 November 2012 / Accepted: 18 January 2013 / Published online: 9 February 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract The use of reclaimed water for agricultural irri- gation has emerged as a new strategy for coping with water scarcity in semiarid countries. However, the incorporation of the organic microcontaminants in such water into the diet through crop uptake poses a potential risk to human health. This paper aims to assess the presence of organic micro- contaminants in different crops irrigated with groundwater and reclaimed water (secondary or tertiary effluents) in a greenhouse experiment. The determination of microconta- minants in water and vegetation samples was performed by solid-phase extraction and matrix solid-phase dispersion procedure with GC–MS/MS, respectively. The presence of nitrates in the groundwater used for irrigation increased biomass production by a higher proportion than the harvest index. The concentration of microcontaminants in lettuce, carrots, and green beans ranged from less than the limit of quantitation to 571 ng g -1 (fresh weight). Tributyl phosphate and butylated hydroxyanisole exhibited the highest concen- tration levels in crops. The concentration and frequency of detection of microcontaminants were lower in green bean pods than in green bean roots and leaves. Although the concentrations were generally low, the simultaneous pres- ence of a variety of microcontaminants should be taken into consideration when assessing the risk to human health. Keywords Secondary treatment . Plant uptake . Organic microcontaminants . Reclaimed water . Irrigation with reclaimed water Background, aim, and scope Almost one fifth of the world’ s population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, and some 500 million more people are headed toward this situation (UN-Water and FAO 2007). In fact, multiple climate change scenarios are already playing out, and some regions in the world will be affected by long periods of drought (average duration 4– 6 months), which are projected to become three to eight times more frequent than at present (Sheffield and Wood 2008). Among the different water uses, agricultural activi- ties account for the bulk of the global water demand, using some 70 % of freshwater resources (Jiménez and Asano 2008). This demand will only increase in the future in accordance with different climate change scenarios and the increasing population. Indeed, it is precisely in the agricul- tural sector where reclaimed water is emerging as a sustain- able water resource that could help to mitigate the sector’ s vulnerability (Sheffield and Wood 2008). Reclaimed water is municipal wastewater that has gone through various treat- ment processes to meet specific water quality criteria with the intent of being used in a beneficial manner (e.g., irriga- tion) (Asano et al. 2007). In order to sustain food production, agriculture has been adapted to ever-changing environmental conditions (e.g., irregular rainfall distribution, high and low temperatures) through the implementation of modern irrigation technolo- gies and, in many cases, the use of reclaimed water. This latter alternative has already been used in many countries, such as the USA, Israel, Spain, and Mexico (Jiménez and Asano 2008). However, while the use of reclaimed water for Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11356-013-1509-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. D. Calderón-Preciado : V. Matamoros (*) : J. M. Bayona IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona, 18, 08034 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: vmmqam@gmail.com R. Savé : P. Muñoz : C. Biel Environmental Horticulture Program, IRTA, Torre Marimón 08140, Caldes de Montbui, Spain Environ Sci Pollut Res (2013) 20:3629–3638 DOI 10.1007/s11356-013-1509-0