Search results for "Environmental Monitoring"
showing 10 items of 609 documents
Ecotoxicity assessment of natural attenuation effects at a historical dumping site in the western Baltic Sea.
2005
During the late 1950s and early 1960s of the past century, industrial waste material highly enriched in various contaminants (heavy metals, PAHs) was dumped in the inner Mecklenburg Bay, western Baltic Sea. Large-scale shifts in the spatial distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments were mapped by geochemical monitoring in the mid-1980s and 12 years later in 1997. A further study in 2001 was designed to investigate the small-scale spatial distribution of contaminants inside, on top of, and around the historical dumping ground and to examine possible effects to benthic organisms (Arctica islandica, microbiological toxicity tests). The site is located within an area characterized by a …
Assessment of two extraction methods to determine pesticides in soils, sediments and sludges. Application to the Túria River Basin.
2014
Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction methods were optimized for the simultaneous determination of 50 pesticides in sediment, soils and sewage sludge. For QuEChERS development, several buffers and dispersive solid-phase extraction clean-up (dSPE) sorbents were tested. In the PLE method, several parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, such as organic solvent, amount of sample, cell size, temperature, pressure, static time, number of cycles and % of flush, as well as sorbent used for the on-line clean up, were also evaluated. PLE and QuEChERS were assessed and compared in obtained recoveries (33-89% versus 25-120%)…
Ecotoxicity of sediments in rivers: Invertebrate community, toxicity bioassays and the toxic unit approach as complementary assessment tools
2015
The determination of the real toxicity of sediments in aquatic ecosystems is challenging and necessary for an appropriate risk assessment. Different approaches have been developed and applied over the last several decades. Currently, the joint implementation of chemical, ecological and toxicological tools is recommended for an appropriate and successful toxicity risk assessment. We chose the combination of the toxic unit approach with acute pore water tests (Vibrio fischeri, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Daphnia magna) and whole-sediment exposure tests (V. fischeri, Chironomus riparius), together with invertebrate community composition (multivariate analyses) to detect short and long-…
Contaminants of emerging concern in freshwater fish from four Spanish Rivers.
2019
This study investigated the occurrence of 135 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) – pharmaceuticals, pesticides, a set of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (parabens, bisphenols, hormones, triazoles, organophosphorus flame retardants and triclosan), UV-filters, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) – in 59 fish samples, collected in 2010 in 4 Spanish Rivers (Guadalquivir, Júcar, Ebro and Llobregat). Of the 135 CECs, 76 including 8 pharmaceuticals, 25 pesticides, 10 EDCs, 5 UV-filters, 15 PFASs and 13 HFRs were detected. Pharmaceuticals were the less frequently found and at lower concentrations. Pesticides, EDCs, UV-filters, PFASs and HFRs were det…
Occurrence of antibiotics and risk of antibiotic resistance evolution in selected Kenyan wastewaters, surface waters and sediments
2019
Active pharmaceutical ingredients, especially antibiotics, are micropollutants whose continuous flow into hydrological cycles has the potential to mediate antibiotic resistance in the environment and cause toxicity to sensitive organisms. Here, we investigated the levels of selected antibiotics in four wastewater treatment plants and the receiving water bodies. The measured environmental concentrations were compared with the proposed compound-specific predicted no-effect concentration for resistance selection values. The concentration of doxycycline, amoxicillin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin within the influents, effluents, surface waters and river sediments…
Pesticide monitoring in the basin of Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain) and comparison with historical data.
2014
Through an extensive sampling in the Llobregat River basin, the presence of 50 currently used pesticides in water, sediment, and biota was assessed. Pesticides were detected primarily in water (up to 56% of the analytes), whereas their presence in sediments was more intermittent, and in biota was scarce. Those at high concentrations in water were the benzimidazoles (carbendazim in 22% of the samples up to 697ngL-1), the organophosphorus (malathion in 54% of the samples up to 320ngL-1), and the ureas (diuron in 54% of the samples up to 159ngL-1). However, this pattern differed in sediments and biota, which were contaminated primarily with organophosphorus (higher Kow) (chlorpyrifos 93% of se…
A chemical status predictor. A methodology based on World-Wide sediment samples.
2015
As a consequence of the limited resources of underdeveloped countries and the limited interest of the developed ones, the assessment of the chemical quality of entire water bodies around the world is a utopia in the near future. The methodology described here may serve as a first approach for the fast identification of water bodies that do not meet the good chemical status demanded by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). It also allows estimating the natural background (or reference values of concentration) of the areas under study using a simple criterion. The starting point is the calculation the World-Wide Natural Background Levels (WWNBLs) and World-Wide Threshold Values (WWTVs…
Assessment of bioavailability and effects of chemicals due to remediation actions with caging mussels (Anodonta anatina) at a creosote-contaminated l…
2002
A study was conducted at Lake Jämsänvesi in Central Finland, to identify the potential ecotoxicological risks of the remediation operation of a creosote-/PAH-contaminated lake sediment, made by capping during the years 1998-1999. Mussels (Anodonta anatina) were deployed to the lake at the same time as the remediation operation was started in November 1998. The contaminated area (0.5 ha) was covered by a filter geotextile (polypropylene), gravel and sand (1-1.5m) which were spread out on the ice and let to sink onto the bottom of the lake when the ice melted in May 1999. The possible impacts of capping to the adjacent environment were assessed from mussels exposed and particulate material se…
Effects of aquaculture waste feeds and antibiotics on marine benthic ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea
2022
Intensive aquaculture is an important source of organic waste and antibiotics into the marine environment. Yet, their impacts on benthic marine ecosystems are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the ecological impacts of fish feed waste alone and in combination with three different antibiotics (i.e., oxytetracycline, florfenicol and flumequine) in benthic ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea by performing a field experiment. We assessed the fate of the antibiotics in the sediment and their accumulation in wild fauna after two weeks of exposure. Moreover, we investigated the impact of the feed waste alone and in combination with the antibiotics on sediment physico-chemical properties, on…
Distribution of fullerenes (nC60) between sediment and water in freshwaters
2014
Abstract Depending on environmental conditions, fullerenes (nC 60 ) have the potential to settle to the bottom sediments. In this study the distribution of nC 60 was investigated in the labile zone between sediment and water. Three freshwater–sediment systems representing oligohumic, mesohumic, and polyhumic lakes with varying sediment composition and structure were used to investigate the target of fullerenes. The largest portion of water suspended fullerenes was found in the sediment, but a part re-suspended relatively quickly to water-stabile particles associated with natural particles. Rapid initial re-suspending was followed by a slower one offering a continuous pathway to the water ph…