Systematic study of the contamination of wastewater treatment plant effluents by organic priority compounds in Almeria province (SE Spain)

► Occurrence of priority organic pollutants in wastewater from a semiarid area in Spain ► Banned compounds were detected because of their persistence. ► Herbicides, PAHs, phenolic compounds and VOCs were more frequently detected. ► 4-Tertoctylphenol was found in all the samples at high concentrations.