Context and objectives Microorganisms are ubiquitous in soil, air, and water ecosystems, where they are key players of ecosystem services. Microbial ecotoxicology is an emerging interdisciplinary area of research which aims at investigating the impact of human activities on the diversity, abundance, and activity of microorganisms. In return, the results of such investigations hold the promise to provide novel ways of assessing in a sensitive way the impacts of diverse environmental disturbances and subsequent ecosystem responses. Thus and although the term itself is yet rarely encountered in the scientific literature, microbial ecotoxicology already addresses an increasing political and societal demand. In the French scientific landscape, which often mimics the famous (but sometimes indigestible) “mille-feuilles” pastry, microbial ecotoxicologists are scattered across many different research centers belonging to different research organizations and universities. This research field has thus lacked any visibility and remained unorganized until now. Formal organization of scientific activities may be considered a typical “froggies” concern (or ailment). Nevertheless, it is rather surprising that scientific journals and significant international conferences specifically devoted to microbial ecotoxicology have been missing so far, especially considering the plethoric range of journals and congresses devoted to microbial ecology and ecotoxicology. With these considerations in mind, the idea of organizing the French research community of microbial ecologists around concepts of ecotoxicology made its way, with the aim of sharing the necessity to overcome artificial boundaries that prevent progress in this promising field.

PCB levels in plankton were investigated in the Bay of Marseille, Western Mediterranean Sea, between September 2010 and October 2011. Concentrations of PCB congeners (CB 18, CB 52, CB 101, CB 118, CB 138, CB 153, CB 180) were determined in three plankton size-classes (60–200, 200–500 and 500–1000 μm) together with different parameters: chlorophyll content, plankton dry-weight biomass, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios and plankton-community structure. The ∑PCB7 concentrations ranged between 14.2 and 88.1 ng g−1 d.w., for all size classes and all sampling periods. The results do not show the biomass dilution effect and indicate moderate but significant biomagnification with plankton trophic position estimated by δ15N signatures. Equilibrium with water phase may notably contribute in controlling the PCB levels in the plankton. More generally, presented results imply that PCB accumulation in the plankton is an effect of abiotic and trophic complex interactions in the Bay of Marseille.

DSGD | IFPRI4 | PR | Book chapter

The annual variation in neustonic plastic particles and zooplankton was studied in the Bay of Calvi (Corsica) between 30 August 2011 and 7 August 2012. Plastic particles were classified into three size classes, small microplastics (0.2–2 mm), large microplastics (2–5 mm) and mesoplastics (5–10 mm). 74% of the 38 samples contained plastic particles of varying composition: e.g. filaments, polystyrene, thin plastic films. An average concentration of 6.2 particles/100 m2 was observed. The highest abundance values (69 particles/100 m2) observed occurred during periods of low offshore wind conditions. These values rose in the same order of magnitude as in previous studies in the North Western Mediterranean. The relationships between the abundance values of the size classes between zooplankton and plastic particles were then examined. The ratio for the intermediate size class (2–5 mm) reached 2.73. This would suggest a potential confusion for predators regarding planktonic prey of this size class.

In the present work, abundance, spatial distribution and qualitative composition, of benthic marine litter, were investigated in five study areas from the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas (Saronikos, Patras and Echinades Gulfs; Limassol Gulf; Constanta Bay). Surveys were performed using the monitoring protocol proposed by the Technical Group for Marine Litter. Densities ranged from 24 items/km(2) to 1211 items/km(2), with the Saronikos Gulf being the most affected area. Plastics were predominant in all study areas ranging from 45.2% to 95%. Metals and Glass/Ceramics reached maximum values of 21.9% and of 22.4%. The size distribution of litter items showed that >= 50% fall into medium size categories (10 x 10 cm, 20 x 20 cm) along with an elevated percentage of small-sized (<5 x 5 cm) plastic litter items. The comparative analysis of the data highlighted the dependence of the marine litter problem on many local factors (human sources and oceanographic conditions) and the urgent need for specific actions.

PR | IFPRI4 | DSGD

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been introduced in the evaluation of chemical processes and or products in order to take into account the Supply Chain and its environmental constraints and burdens. Regarding to the environmental assessment of chemical processes and/or products two main variables need to be taken into account: Natural Resources Sustainability (NRS) and Environmental Burdens Sustainability (EBS). NRS includes the use of energy, water and materials whereas EBS is given by the environmental sustainability metrics developed by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). The main components of EBS have been classified in 5 environmental impacts to the atmosphere (acidification, global warming, human health effects, stratospheric ozone depletion and photochemical ozone formation), 5 aquatic media impacts (aquatic acidification, aquatic oxygen demand, ecotoxicity (metals), ecotoxicity (others) and eutrophication) and 2 land impacts (hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal). To reduce the number of variables and thus, the complexity, the development of a normalisation and weighting procedure is required. This work proposes the normalization of EB based on the threshold values of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) and a similar procedure based on the values given by the BREF document on waste incineration for the NRS normalisation. This procedure will help in the decision making process in the waste management field and in the particular, in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI).

The aim of this work is to develop an integrated process for the sustainable management of reverse osmosis brines generated in desalination plants. The core of the proposed process is the bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED), which has proved to be a technically feasible option for the conversion of RO desalination brines into HCl and NaOH. However, the overall process should also integrate the brine purification treatment. Precipitation with NaOH, using the reactant produced in BMED, would be the most suitable option for hardness removal. On the other hand, the presence of sulphate affects negatively the quality of the hydrochloric acid product and the current efficiency of BMED. Therefore, in this work nanofiltration (NF) has been applied in order to retain sulphate. This work reports the mathematical model that describes the transport of binary aqueous solutions of chloride and sulphate anions through the NF270 nanofiltration membrane. The relevance and the difficulty of the task lie on the high concentrations of both anions, as it occurs in the RO brines generated in the desalination of brackish water, and the variety of valence charge of the species, monovalent chloride and divalent sulphate, that introduces significant differences in the interaction of both anions with the charged membrane surface. | This work has been financially supported by projects CTQ2008-0690, ENE2010-15585 and CTM2011-23912 (co-financed by ERDF Funds).

Adsorption onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) is a promising option to remove organic micro-pollutants (OMP) from drinking water sources or wastewater. Since this treatment option requires continuous PAC dosing, sufficient contact time and subsequent separation of the PAC, the integration into existing process chains is challenging. In the present investigation, the pre-loading of a deep bed filter with PAC used as fixed bed adsorber was investigated. The retention and distribution of an exemplary PAC in a pumice rapid filter were determined. Gravimetry combined with combustion of the PAC at 550 °C was applied to differentiate between PAC and filter material residues and revealed comparably high PAC immobilization in the upper third of the pumice filter. Comparative adsorption experiments in batch with suspended PAC and continuous filtration tests with immobilized PAC showed advantageous results for immobilized PAC with regard to the removal of OMP and the sum parameters dissolved organic carbon and UV light absorption at 254 nm wavelength. The results indicate that a conventional rapid filter together with PAC can be effectively utilized as fixed bed adsorption filter.