A Tiered Ecological Risk Assessment of Caffeine by Using Species Sensitivity Distribution Method in the Nansi Lake...

Caffeine has been reported toxic to aquatic organisms, and it frequently occurs at relatively high concentrations in most of surface waters. However, it is difficult to control caffeine pollution because of the lack of Water Quality Criteria (WQC). In this study, species sensitivity distribution method and Log-normal model were applied to derive caffeine WQC as 83.7 ng/L. Meanwhile, concentrations of caffeine in the Nansi Lake basin were detected in 29 sampling sites, with the mean of 99.3 ng/L. The levels of caffeine in tributaries were higher than those in the lakes. In addition, a tied ecological risk assessment method was applied to assess the adverse effect of caffeine on aquatic system. The joint probability curve indicated that ecological risk might exist 3.1% of surface water in the study area, while 5% threshold (HC₅) was set up to protect aquatic species. Generally, caffeine posted a low risk to aquatic organisms in the Nansi Lake basin.