Parabens are ubiquitous, being found in surface waters around the world. Although little is known about the release of paraben transformation products and fate of transformation products in surface water. This study evaluates both parabens and paraben transformation products in the Brazos River upstream and downstream of a wastewater facility located in Waco, Texas. Concentrations of thirteen compounds were reported in this study, five parent parabens and eight paraben disinfection by-products. Analyte concentrations were spatially evaluated to determine if release of wastewater effluent affects their concentrations in the river. Two Brazos River tributaries were also sampled to determine if they released parabens and related compounds to the Brazos. Sampling occurred weekly for one year with at least 40 samples collected at each site. Analyses were completed for both yearly and seasonal data. Sites downstream of wastewater treatment outfalls had lower concentrations of methyl paraben during the yearly analysis and across multiple seasons in the seasonal analysis with average yearly annual methyl paraben concentrations decreasing from 0.83 ng/L at site 3 to 0.09 ng/L at site 4. Para-hydroxybenzoic acid was the compound present in greatest concentration at most sites across most seasons, with the highest average annual concentration of 10.30 ng/L at site 2. Spatial changes in para-hydroxybenzoic acid varied by season, with seasonal trends only identifiable after normalization by flow. Dichlorinated paraben concentrations increased in the river at sites downstream of wastewater treatment with a yearly average dichlorinated methyl paraben concentration of 0.490 ng/L at site 3 to 1.53 at site 4, just downstream of the major wastewater treatment plant. Concentration increases indicate that wastewater effluent contains sufficiently high dichlorinated paraben concentrations to effect concentrations downstream of effluent discharges. Dichlorinated species also persisted in the environment, with no significant decreases at sites further downstream during any season with an annual average dichlorinated methyl paraben concentration of 1.23 ng/L at site 6. Methyl paraben concentrations decreased at the site furthest downstream to a concentration of 0.081 ng/L, while dichlorinated methyl paraben concentrations remained stable with a concentration of 1.10 ng/L at the site furthest downstream. Due to the dichlorinated species being released in higher concentrations in effluent than parents and being more resistant to degradation, the dichlorinated parabens are more likely to be environmentally relevant than are parent parabens.

对羟基苯甲酸酯无处不在，在世界各地的地表水中都有发现。尽管人们对对羟基苯甲酸酯转化产物的释放以及转化产物在地表水中的命运知之甚少。本研究评估了德克萨斯州韦科废水处理设施布拉索斯河上游和下游的对羟基苯甲酸酯和对羟基苯甲酸酯转化产物。本研究报告了十三种化合物的浓度，其中五种母体对羟基苯甲酸酯和八种对羟基苯甲酸酯消毒副产物。对分析物浓度进行空间评估，以确定废水排放是否影响其在河流中的浓度。还对布拉索斯河的两条支流进行了采样，以确定它们是否向布拉索斯河释放对羟基苯甲酸酯和相关化合物。一年内每周进行一次采样，每个地点至少采集 40 个样本。年度和季节性数据的分析均已完成。在年度分析中，废水处理排污口下游站点的对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度较低，在季节性分析中，跨多个季节，年平均对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度从站点 3 的 0.83 ng/L 降至站点 4 的 0.09 ng/L。 -羟基苯甲酸是大多数季节大多数地点浓度最高的化合物，地点 2 的最高年平均浓度为 10.30 ng/L。对羟基苯甲酸的空间变化因季节而异，只有在标准化后才能识别季节性趋势通过流量。废水处理下游地点的河流中二氯对羟基苯甲酸酯浓度有所增加，地点 3 的年平均二氯对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度为 0.490 纳克/升，而地点 4（位于主要废水处理厂的下游）的年平均二氯对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度为 1.53 纳克/升。浓度增加表明废水中含有足够高的二氯对羟基苯甲酸酯浓度，足以影响废水排放下游的浓度。二氯物质也持续存在于环境中，下游地点在任何季节都没有显着下降，地点 6 的年平均二氯对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度为 1.23 纳克/升。最下游地点的对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度下降至 0.081 纳克/升。 ng/L，而二氯对羟基苯甲酸甲酯浓度保持稳定，最下游站点的浓度为 1.10 ng/L。由于二氯化物质在废水中的释放浓度高于母体，并且更耐降解，因此二氯对羟基苯甲酸酯比母体对羟基苯甲酸酯更可能与环境相关。