The presence of 10 anticancer drugs was studied along the entire urban water cycle -from hospital effluents through urban wastewater treatment plant till surface waters- and their potential environmental risk was assessed. Azathioprine, etoposide, docetaxel, paclitaxel, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, tamoxifen and ciprofloxacin were detected in hospital effluent and in the urban influent of the sewage treatment plant although most of them were totally eliminated after WWTP. Only cyclophosphamide, tamoxifen and ciprofloxacin were found in both WWTP effluent and in the receiving river at a concentration range between nd-20 ng L−1, 25–38 ng L−1 and 7–103 ng L−1 respectively. Tamoxifen and ciprofloxacin, commonly used for veterinary practices, were also detected in the river upstream the sewage discharge. In addition, they both were considered to pose a potential risk to the environment based on the levels found in the WWTP effluent together with their ecotoxicological impact in selected organisms.

Hepatic mRNA levels of the dio2 gene (deiodinase 2), implicated in thyroid hormone homeostasis, were analyzed in trout from six remote lakes in the Pyrenees (Spain) and the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia). Highest levels corresponded to fish from the two coldest lakes in Pyrenees, whereas relatively low levels were found in the Tatra lakes. These values correlated with the presence of highly-brominated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) congeners in the muscle of the same animals, reflecting the distribution of these compounds across European mountain ranges. In contrast, cyp1a expression levels, diagnostic for the presence of dioxin-like pollutants, mirrored the distribution of semi-volatile organochlorine compounds, indicating the specificity of the two types of biological responses. Exposure to PDBEs is known to increase transcription of dio2 and other thyroid-related genes in laboratory experiments; we propose that our data reflects the same phenomenon in natural populations, driven by anthropogenic pollutants at the environmental concentrations.

Concerns about the environmental risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) are growing, however, currently very little is known about their concentrations in the environment. Here, we calculate the concentrations of five ENM (nano-TiO2, nano-ZnO, nano-Ag, CNT and fullerenes) in environmental and technical compartments using probabilistic material-flow modelling. We apply the newest data on ENM production volumes, their allocation to and subsequent release from different product categories, and their flows into and within those compartments. Further, we compare newly predicted ENM concentrations to estimates from 2009 and to corresponding measured concentrations of their conventional materials, e.g. TiO2, Zn and Ag. We show that the production volume and the compounds' inertness are crucial factors determining final concentrations. ENM production estimates are generally higher than a few years ago. In most cases, the environmental concentrations of corresponding conventional materials are between one and seven orders of magnitude higher than those for ENM.

The interactions between aerosols, clouds, and precipitation remain among the largest sources of uncertainty in the Earth's energy budget. Biomass-burning aerosols are a key feature of the global aerosol system, with significant annually-repeating fires in several parts of the world, including Southeast Asia (SEA). SEA in particular provides a “natural laboratory” for these studies, as smoke travels from source regions downwind in which it is coupled to persistent stratocumulus decks. However, SEA has been under-exploited for these studies. This review summarizes previous related field campaigns in SEA, with a focus on the ongoing Seven South East Asian Studies (7-SEAS) and results from the most recent BASELInE deployment. Progress from remote sensing and modeling studies, along with the challenges faced for these studies, are also discussed. We suggest that improvements to our knowledge of these aerosol/cloud effects require the synergistic use of field measurements with remote sensing and modeling tools.

To quantify potential nitrogen (N) deposition impacts on peatland carbon (C) uptake, we explored temporal and spatial trends in N deposition and climate impacts on the production of the key peat forming functional group (Sphagnum mosses) across European peatlands for the period 1900–2050. Using a modelling approach we estimated that between 1900 and 1950 N deposition impacts remained limited irrespective of geographical position. Between 1950 and 2000 N deposition depressed production between 0 and 25% relative to 1900, particularly in temperate regions. Future scenarios indicate this trend will continue and become more pronounced with climate warming. At the European scale, the consequences for Sphagnum net C-uptake remained small relative to 1900 due to the low peatland cover in high-N areas. The predicted impacts of likely changes in N deposition on Sphagnum productivity appeared to be less than those of climate. Nevertheless, current critical loads for peatlands are likely to hold under a future climate.

To detect site-specific, suspected and formerly unknown contaminants in a wastewater treatment plant effluent, we established a screening procedure based on liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS) with stepwise identification schemes. Based on automated substructure searches a list of 2160 suspected site-specific and documented water contaminants was reduced to those amenable to LC–HRMS. After searching chromatograms for exact masses of suspects, presumably false positive detections were stepwise excluded by retention time prediction, the evaluation of isotope patterns, ionization behavior, and HRMS/MS spectra. In nontarget analysis, peaks for identification were selected based on distinctive isotope patterns and intensity. The stepwise identification of nontarget compounds was automated by a plausibility check of molecular formulas using the Seven Golden Rules, an exclusion of compounds with presumably low commercial importance and an automated HRMS/MS evaluation. Six suspected and five nontarget chemicals were identified, of which two have not been previously reported as environmental pollutants.

Effets des pollutions atmosphériques sur les cultures et la forêt. Journée scientifique sur la pollution atmosphérique et les impacts sanitaires

A spatially-explicit version of the recent multimedia fate model SoilPlus was developed and applied to predict the runoff of three pesticides in a small agricultural watershed in north-eastern Italy. In order to evaluate model response to increasing spatial resolution, a tiered simulation approach was adopted, also using a dynamic model for surface water (DynA model), to predict the fate of pesticides in runoff water and sediment, and concentrations in river water. Simulation outputs were compared to water concentrations measured in the basin. Results showed that a high spatial resolution and scenario complexity improved model predictions of metolachlor and terbuthylazine in runoff to an acceptable performance (R2 = 0.64–0.70). The importance was also shown of a field-based database of properties (i.e. soil texture and organic carbon, rainfall and water flow, pesticides half-life in soil) in reducing the distance between predicted and measured surface water concentrations and its relevance for risk assessment.