Household consumption has been identified to have an essential role in influencing ultimately the environmental pressures generated by human activities. This study assesses the indirect environmental footprint of the Spanish households applying a combination of consumer expenditure surveys with environmentally extended multi-regional input–output analysis. A total of fourteen environmental impact categories are studied from 2006 to 2015. All the impact categories present a similar trend, particularly affected by the economic crisis. The impacts decreased from 2008 to 2013 and finally slightly started rising again from 2014 to 2015. Results show that the dominant categories influencing the indirect environmental footprint in 2015 are (1) food and beverages, (2) housing, and (3) furnishings. From the intensity perspective, housing, transport, and food and beverages appear to be the most intensive consumption clusters in the Spanish household indirect environmental footprint. In relation to the indirect water impacts embodied in the Spanish households’ imports, the largest amount is from European countries and the highest virtual water (59%) corresponds to food and agriculture, in particular from wheat, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products. The findings obtained in relation to the sources generating indirect impacts from household consumption could aid the implementation of future mitigation policies.

International audience

International audience | The simultaneous fate of organic matter and 4 endocrine disruptors (3 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene) and nonylphenols (NP)) was studied during the anaerobic digestion followed by composting of sludge at lab-scale. Sludge organic matter was characterized, thanks to chemical fractionation and 3D fluorescence deciphering its accessibility and biodegradability. Total chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was 41% and 56% during anaerobic digestion and composting, respectively. 3D fluorescence highlighted the quality changes of organic matter. During continuous anaerobic digestion, organic micropollutants' removal was 22±14%, 6±5%, 18±9%, and 0% for fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, and nonylphenols, respectively. Discontinuous composting allowed to go further on the organic micropollutants' removal as 34±8%, 31±20%, 38±10%, and 52±6% of fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, and nonylphenols were dissipated, respectively. Moreover, the accessibility of PAH and NP expressed by their presence in the various sludge organic matter fractions and its evolution during both treatments was linked to both the quality evolution of the organic matter and the physicochemical properties of the PAH and NP; the presence in most accessible fractions explained the amount of PAH and NP dissipated.

International audience | At the global scale, urban agriculture is increasingly developing in cities due to demographic growth and sustainable food concerns. But, urban soils are frequently polluted with metals. In urban gardens, organic matter is also commonly added both to valorize organic household waste and to promote biophysicochemical fertility. As earthworms promote the decomposition and the recycling of soil organic matter, they can also influence the biogeochemical cycle of metals in urban polluted soils. In order to produce safe vegetables in urban areas, it is crucial to highlight the mechanisms involved in complex soil-earthworm-plant ecosystems. An experiment was set up to examine these relationships using lettuce cultivated in controlled conditions with RHIZOtest® devices. Thanks to the RHIZOtest® devices, metal transfer and bioaccessibility were for the first time compared for urban polluted soil without (1-urban soil polluted with Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn: essential or toxic metals currently found in environment, SNB) and with bioturbation (2-this metal-polluted soil subjected to earthworm bioturbation, SB) and earthworm casts (3-earthworm casts produced in this polluted soil and naturally enriched in organic matter and microorganisms, T). Metal concentration, phytoavailability, and human gastric bioaccessibility were determined in the different samples. Results showed that earthworm bioturbation increased the phytoavailability of all the metals. For the experimental condition SB, the phytoavailability of metals was increased up to 75% compared to SNB. In addition, surprisingly, metal phytoavailability was always superior in SB compared to earthworm casts (T). Moreover, earthworms led to an increase in Zn gastric bioaccessibility up to 10% in the soils in the same way as for phytoavailability, meaning Zn bioaccessibility in SB > T > SNB, whereas it remained unchanged in the lettuces. These data are important to promote sustainable agriculture activities in urban areas; actually, databases concerning different experimental conditions are needed to develop decision support tools.

International audience | Pollution from bromine and some of its related compounds is currently unregulated in soil from Russia and other countries,and tools for sound assessment of environmental impacts of bromine contamination are largely missing. Hence, assessingpotential implications for humans and ecosystems of bromine soil contamination is urgently needed, which requires the combi-nation of measured soil concentrations from environmental studies and quantified potential toxicity impacts. To address this need,we used data from an experimental study assessing bromine in soils (384 samples) of Tomsk oblast, Russia, starting frommeasured concentrations obtained by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis in an earlier study. From these data, we calcu-lated the bromine mass in soils and used these as starting point to characterize related cumulative impacts on human health andecosystems in the Tomsk region, using a global scientific consensus model for screening-level comparative toxicity character-ization of chemical emissions. Results show that the combination of sampling methodology with toxicity characterizationtechniques presents a new approach to be used in environmental studies aimed at environmental assessment and analysis of aterritory. Our results indicate that it is important to account for substance-specific chemical reaction pathways and transferprocesses, as well as to consider region-specific environmental characteristics. Our approach will help complement environmen-tal assessment results with environmental sustainability elements, to consider potential tradeoffs in impacts, related to soilpollution, in support of improved emission and pollution reduction strategies.

International audience | The simultaneous fate of organic matter and 4 endocrine disruptors (3 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene) and nonylphenols (NP)) was studied during the anaerobic digestion followed by composting of sludge at lab-scale. Sludge organic matter was characterized, thanks to chemical fractionation and 3D fluorescence deciphering its accessibility and biodegradability. Total chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was 41% and 56% during anaerobic digestion and composting, respectively. 3D fluorescence highlighted the quality changes of organic matter. During continuous anaerobic digestion, organic micropollutants' removal was 22±14%, 6±5%, 18±9%, and 0% for fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, and nonylphenols, respectively. Discontinuous composting allowed to go further on the organic micropollutants' removal as 34±8%, 31±20%, 38±10%, and 52±6% of fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, and nonylphenols were dissipated, respectively. Moreover, the accessibility of PAH and NP expressed by their presence in the various sludge organic matter fractions and its evolution during both treatments was linked to both the quality evolution of the organic matter and the physicochemical properties of the PAH and NP; the presence in most accessible fractions explained the amount of PAH and NP dissipated.

Compared to antibiotic parent molecule, human metabolites are generally more polar and sometimes not less toxic in wastewater.However, most researches focus on the fate of parent molecule. Therefore, behaviors of human metabolites are little known.Moreover, though much has been done on the fate of antibiotics during activated sludge process, there are still some limitationsand gaps. In the present study, [Ring-14C] acetyl sulfamethoxazole (14C-Ac-SMX) was used to investigate the fate of humanmetabolite of SMX during activated sludge process at environmentally relevant concentration. At the end of 216 h, 3.1% of thespiked activity in the initial aqueous phase was mineralized, 50% was adsorbed onto the solid phase, and 36.5% still remained inthe aqueous phase, indicating that adsorption, not biodegradation, was the main dissipation pathway. In the existence of microbialactivities, accumulation into the solid phase was much higher, which was less bioavailable by chemical sequential extraction. Themultimedia kinetic model simultaneously depicted the fate of Ac-SMX in the gas, aqueous, and solid phases, and demonstratedthat microbially accelerated accumulation onto the solid phase was attributed to lower desorption rate from the solid phase to theaqueous phase, where adsorption rate was not the key factor. Therefore, Ac-SMX cannot be efficiently mineralized and remain inthe aqueous or the solid phases. The accumulation in the solid phase is less bioavailable and is hard to be desorbed in the existenceof microbial activities, and should not be easily degraded, and may lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria andgenes after discharge into the environment.

We determined the spatial and seasonal distribution of Floating Marine Debris (FMD) by visual ship surveys across the northern Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. FMD density was comparatively low, and we found the highest debris density close to major port cities. The seasonal variation in debris density was not pronounced although we observed more FMD items during the summer surveys. Plastic bags were the most common identifiable litter items, and we also found other consumer items (plastic bottles and cups). Styrofoam items suggest fishing or aquaculture activities as potential sea-based sources of FMD. These are the first data on FMD density in the Baltic Sea, and they are substantially lower than those reported for other coastal waters, which may be due to (i) lower human population densities, and (ii) higher environmental awareness in the Scandinavian countries.

Adverse impacts of marine litter is documented on >1400 species, including marine megafauna (fish, birds, sea turtles and mammals). The primary impacts include ingestion and entanglement, and there is increasing concern about chemical contamination via ingestion. Numerous survey approaches and monitoring programs have been developed and implemented around the world. They may aim to provide data about parameters such as species distribution and interactions with anthropogenic activities. During the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference, a session was dedicated to the tools and constraints in monitoring interactions between litter and megafauna. In the present paper, we summarize 7 case studies which discuss entanglement and ingestion including macro- and micro-debris in several taxa and across multiple geographic regions. We then discusses the importance of tools and standardizing methods for assessment and management purposes, in the context of international environmental policies and marine litter strategies.