Invisible threats from typical endocrine disrupting compounds in estuarine environments caused by continuing seawater incursion: in-situ evidence of bio-geochemical processes captured by diffusive gradients in thin films

Continued seawater incursion significantly affects the fate of pollutants in coastal estuaries, yet understanding of the in-situ behavior of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in these areas remains limited. The distribution, transport and microbial response of two model EDCs, bisphenol A (BPA) and nonylphenol (NP), in three estuarine zones of slight (SZ), moderate (MZ) and complete (CZ) seawater incursion were investigated in-situ. Results showed seawater incursion reshaped the environmental gradients of the coastal estuaries on a spatial scale. Varying salinity gradient and tidal hydrodynamic conditions altered the dependence of EDCs on organic carbon, and promoted the release of accumulated EDCs from estuarine sediments resulting in the lowest residues of BPA (2.74 ± 0.76 μg/kg) and NP (10.25 ± 5.86 μg/kg) in the MZ. The resupply potential of BPA (R = 0.171 ± 0.058) and NP (R = 0.107 ± 0.015) from sediment to porewater was significantly higher in the SZ than in other zones (p < 0.001), due to both higher contaminant accumulation in this zone and inhibited resupply in MZ and CZ caused by seawater incursion. Furthermore, seawater incursion significantly reduced the microbial community diversity in the CZ (p < 0.001), being dominated by Vibrio (67.00 ± 1.13 %), and accordingly weakened the ability to transform organic matter in this region. Based on predicted sea level rise and the transport characteristics of EDCs under increased seawater incursion, it is estimated that the cumulative additional release of BPA and NP in the estuary will reach 1.8 and 1.5 tons by 2100, respectively. In order to mitigate the risk of additional estuarine EDCs release due to seawater incursion, increasing vegetation cover, strict monitoring, and climate policy interventions may be effective strategies.