| 1. |
- Corcoll, Natàlia, 1981, et al.
(författare)
-
Risk assessment of chemical pollution in Mediterranean rivers based on classical periphyton bioindicators and new biomarkers
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Poster presentation at the SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting, Barcelona, Spain.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Environmental risk of chemical pollution in Mediterranean basins is of special concern due to high emissions faced with low dilution capacities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk of chemical pollution in Mediterranean rivers using periphyton responses as a model to assess chemical impact. The study also aims to compare classical periphyton indicators of water quality (e.g. diatoms diversity) with new biomarkers of toxic stress (e.g chl-a fluorescence parameters and antioxidant enzymatic activities). Nineteen sites in four Iberian rivers (Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar and Guadalquivir) were sampled in autumns 2010 and 2011. A total of 116 organic compounds were detected in surface waters (60 pharmaceuticals and hormones compounds, 11 personal care products and industrial compounds, 36 pesticides and 9 perfluorinated compounds), and 6 metals in periphyton matrix. The potential risk of this cocktail of pollutants was estimated based on the “Toxic Units (TUs)” approach for algae. Results of TUs indicate that the Llobregat and Júcar rivers were those with the highest environmental risk for algae. TUs based on metals bioaccumulation in biofilm were two orders of magnitude higher than those based on organic compounds, being Zn and Cu the metals with the highest risk. Results from diatoms community composition allowed to identify sites with high environmental risk. Communities in these sites presented an altered diatoms composition, where sensitive species to pollution were replaced by tolerant ones. Biomarkers, based on antioxidant enzymatic activities (catalase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase) and chl-a fluorescence parameters (photosynthetic activity and non-photochemical quenching), tended to show a less consistent pattern. Overall, results indicate that in all the Mediterranean basins studied there are many sites with an environmental risk from chemical pollution, and that the current use of periphyton biondicators and biomarkers allow to identify sites presenting high levels of pollution, however, new tools are required to evaluate “in situ” situations of moderate and low chemical pollution
|
|
| 2. |
- Jose Farre, Maria, et al.
(författare)
-
Orbitrap molecular fingerprint of dissolved organic matter in natural waters and its relationship with NDMA formation potential
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 670, s. 1019-1027
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) is a disinfection byproduct that has been classified as probable human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency. According to the published literature, natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be a source of NDMA precursors in drinking water. New advances in chemical characterization of DOM with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) are allowing researchers to understand these ultra-complex mixtures. The objective of this study is to investigate analytical methodologies based on HRMS to explore NDMA formation from natural waters. To this aim, different waters from drinking water reservoirs in Spain containing NDMA precursors (quantified by means of NDMA formation potential) in concentrations between 17 and 60 ng/L have been studied. The workflow includes DOM solid-phase extraction and Orbitrap analysis with and without chromatographic separation. Here, we show that the molecular composition of DOM across the studied drinking water reservoirs is correlated with the NDMA formation potential. In particular, we found that NDMA formation potential is associated with compounds with high hydrogen saturation (H/C >= 1.5), corresponding also to reservoirs with higher background nutrient concentrations and wastewater indicators. Further chromatographic fractionation did not allow better definition of these possible precursors as they were present in different fractions of the chromatogram, suggesting that they were isomerically complex.
|
|
| 3. |
- Pistocchi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
-
European scale assessment of the potential of ozonation and activated carbon treatment to reduce micropollutant emissions with wastewater
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 848
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Micropollutants (MPs) in wastewater pose a growing concern for their potential adverse effects on the receiving aquatic environment, and some countries have started requiring that wastewater treatment plants remove them to a certain extent. Broad spectrum advanced treatment processes, such as ozonation, activated carbon or their combination, are expected to yield a significant reduction in the toxicity of effluents. Here we quantify the reduction of effluent toxicity potentially achieved by implementing these advanced treatment solutions in a selection of European wastewater treatment plants. To this end, we refer to a list of “total pollution proxy substances” (TPPS) composed of 1337 chemicals commonly found in wastewater effluents according to a compilation of datasets of measured concentrations. We consider these substances as an approximation of the “chemical universe” impinging on the European wastewater system. We evaluate the fate of the TPPS in conventional and advanced treatment plants using a compilation of experimental physicochemical properties that describe their sorption, volatilization and biodegradation during activated sludge treatment, as well as known removal efficiency in ozonation and activated carbon treatment, while filling the gaps through in silico prediction models.We estimate that the discharge of micropollutants with wastewater effluents in the European Union has a cumulative MP toxicity to the environment equal to the discharge of untreated wastewater of ca. 160 million population equivalents (PE), i.e. about 30 % of the generated wastewater in the EU. If all plants above a capacity of 100,000 PE were equipped with advanced treatment, we show that this load would be reduced to about 95 million PE. In addition, implementing advanced treatment in wastewater plants above 10,000 PE discharging to water bodies with an average dilution ratio smaller than 10 would yield a widespread improvement in terms of exposure of freshwater ecosystems to micropollutants, almost halving the part of the stream network exposed to the highest toxic risks.Our analysis provides background for a cost-effectiveness appraisal of advanced treatment “at the end of the pipe”, which could lead to optimized interventions. This should not be regarded as a stand-alone solution, but as a complement to policies for the control of emissions at the source for the most problematic MPs.
|
|
