Detection of Personal Care Products in Surface Water of a Rural Sub Watershed in Middle Tennessee.

Personal care products have been detected nationwide in different environmental matrices including wastewater effluents and surface water. The potential for these chemicals to pollute our rivers even at trace levels, abounds. We conducted a monitoring study to detect the presence of personal care products in Collins River, Warren County. Collins River is a six-order river that drains a large portion of Warren County including McMinnville, Tennessee. Grab water samples were collected from Collins River for three seasons: (summer and fall of 2014 and 2015 and winter of 2015 and 2016) each year. Water quality parameters were also determined in situ using Eureka^TM multi-parameter sondes. Water samples were analyzed for the presence of personal care products using GC-MS. Chemical Abstract Service Registry Numbers (CASRN or CAS) and subsequent use or descriptions of the detected chemical compounds were identified. Personal care products detected included flavor and fragrance agents, skin conditioning agents, surfactant in cosmetics, shampoos, moisturizer, antiperspirant and deodorants. While the actual concentrations of these compounds were not determined in this study, their presence in surface water is noteworthy.