Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix characterization of river waters impacted by a tissue mill effluent

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectrophotometry was applied to five neighboring rivers, including one that is impacted by wastewater from a large tissue mill, to determine if fluorescence spectrophotometry could be used to differentiate between the river waters. River water samples from both the tissue mill effluent and the impacted river, the Park Burn, exhibited significantly higher fluorescence intensity than the other sites. This fluorescence was dominated by tryptophan fluorescence and a fluorescence center possibly due to the presence of fluorescent whitening agents. In contrast, the three other rivers exhibited lower fluorescence intensities typical of river systems with tryptophan (sewage), humic-like (peat derived color), and fulvic-like (natural organic matter) sources. It is suggested that fluorescence EEM spectrophotometry has the potential to provide a useful tool for pollution detection, monitoring, and control of paper industry impacts on river systems.