Revealing the past: Sedimentary archives as historical records of ionizable organic contaminant trends

Sedimentary archives offer a valuable means to reconstruct historical trends of ionizable organic contaminants (IOCs) in aquatic environments. While research has traditionally emphasized hydrophobic pollutants, interest in IOCs, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, PFAS, and surfactants, has grown due to their pseudo-persistence and widespread use. This review explores how sediment records can reveal past contamination and regulatory impacts, despite challenges like complex sorption mechanisms, pH variability, and dating uncertainties. Although linking sediment concentrations to historical water quality remains challenging, temporal trends often align with market approvals, regulations, and treatment upgrades. Advances in non-target screening also enable retrospective identification of previously undetected compounds. Despite remaining uncertainties, sediment archives complement water monitoring and enhance understanding of long-term environmental change. Continued interdisciplinary research is essential to improve quantification methods and inform future pollution management and policy decisions. • Sedimentary archives reveal long-term trends of IOCs • IOC sorption is influenced by pH, organic carbon, and mineralogical interactions • Historical trends align with regulations, wastewater improvements, and usage patterns • Archives complement monitoring, aiding in pollution assessment and policy decisions