The behavior along the potabilization process of 29 pharmaceuticals and 12 drugs of abuse identified from a total of 81 compounds at the intake of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) has been studied. The DWTP has a common treatment consisting of dioxychlorination, coagulation/flocculation and sand filtration and then water is splitted in two parallel treatment lines: conventional (ozonation and carbon filtration) and advanced (ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis) to be further blended, chlorinated and distributed. Full removals were reached for most of the compounds. Iopromide (up to 17.2 ng/L), nicotine (13.7 ng/L), benzoylecgonine (1.9 ng/L), cotinine (3.6 ng/L), acetaminophen (15.6 ng/L), erythromycin (2.0 ng/L) and caffeine (6.0 ng/L) with elimination efficiencies ≥94%, were the sole compounds found in the treated water. The advanced treatment process showed a slightly better efficiency than the conventional treatment to eliminate pharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse.

Integrative passive sampling with devices such as semipermeable membrane devices generally relies on rigs for month-long static exposures in water. We evaluate here whether mobile exposures of passive samplers can provide reliable estimates of dissolved contaminant concentrations. Mobile exposures were obtained by towing samplers fastened to the end of a benthic trawl net. Significant and reproducible absorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during 5 h-long deployments was made possible by high sampling rates resulting from high water turbulences during towing at 1.2–1.5 knots. Sampling rates (72–215 L d⁻¹) estimated from the dissipation of performance reference compounds were supported by in situ calibration with samplers exposed for a 30 days in the vicinity of the test site. Higher fluoranthene and pyrene absorption in samplers exposed to the trawling-induced sediment plume could be attributed to desorption from re-suspended sediments. This mode of exposure has the potential to be used in monitoring programmes.

A mining area affected by the abandoned exploitation of an arsenical tungsten deposit was studied in order to assess its arsenic pollution level and the feasibility of native plants for being used in phytoremediation approaches. Soil and plant samples were collected at different distances from the polluting sources and analysed for their As content and distribution. Critical soil total concentrations of As were found, with values in the range 70–5330mgkg⁻¹ in the uppermost layer. The plant community develops As tolerance by exclusion strategies. Of the plant species growing in the most polluted site, the shrubs Salix atrocinerea Brot. and Genista scorpius (L.) DC. exhibit the lowest bioaccumulation factor (BF) values for their aerial parts, suggesting their suitability to be used with revegetation purposes. The species Scirpus holoschoenus L. highlights for its important potential to stabilise As at root level, accumulating As contents up to 3164mgkg⁻¹.

We measured heavy metal concentrations in yellow-legged gulls (n = 196) and European shags (n = 189) in order to assess the temporal pattern of contaminant exposure following the Prestige oil spill in November 2002. We analysed Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni and V levels in chick feathers sampled at four colonies during seven post-spill years (2003–2009), and compared results with pre-spill levels obtained from feathers of juvenile shag corpses (grown in spring/summer 2002). Following the Prestige wreck, Cu (4.3–10 μg g⁻¹) and Pb concentrations (1.0–1.4 μg g⁻¹) were, respectively, between two and five times higher than pre-spill levels (1.5–3.6 and 0.1–0.4 μg g⁻¹), but returned to previous background concentrations after three years. Our study highlights the suitability of chick feathers of seabirds for assessing the impact of oil spills on heavy metal contamination, and provides the best evidence to date on the persistence of oil pollution after the Prestige incident.

Sorption isotherms of BDE-28 and BDE-47 on natural soils with different contents of soil organic matter (SOM) were investigated. Due to low water solubility of BDEs and resulted narrow ranges of aqueous equilibrium concentration, the linear distribution model showed similar and good fitting efficiency to the linear portion of nonlinear Freundlich curve. For the same sample, the linear and nonlinear model fitting sorption coefficients were close. At the statistically significant level of 0.05 or 0.1, significant relationships of total organic carbon fraction (fOC) with the fitting sorption coefficients can be observed. As for BDE-28, the relationships of fOC and SOM fractions with the single point partition coefficients at different aqueous concentrations of BDEs were significant; while for BDE-47, the relationships became less significant or insignificant, especially at higher aqueous concentrations. The findings in this study may facilitate more understanding on transport and fate of studied BDEs in soil systems.

Arsenic and other trace element concentrations were determined for tube-well water collected in the Lao PDR provinces of Attapeu, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Savannakhet, Saravane, and Vientiane. Water samples, especially from floodplain areas of central and southern Laos, were significantly contaminated not only with As, but with B, Ba, Mn, U, and Fe as well. Total As concentrations ranged from <0.5μgL⁻¹ to 278μgL⁻¹, with over half exceeding the WHO guideline of 10μgL⁻¹. 46% of samples, notably, were dominated by As(III). Samples from Vientiane, further north, were all acceptable except on pH, which was below drinking water limits. A principal component analysis found associations between general water characteristics, As, and other trace elements. Causes of elevated As concentrations in Lao tube wells were considered similar to those in other Mekong River countries, particularly Cambodia and Vietnam, where young alluvial aquifers give rise to reducing conditions.

Membrane filtration is commonly performed for solid–liquid separation of aqueous solutions prior to trace metal analysis and when assessing “dissolved” metal fractions. Potential artifacts induced by filtration such as contamination and/or adsorption of metals within the membrane have been investigated for different membrane materials, metals, applied pressures and pre-cleaning steps. Measurements have been conducted on aqueous solutions including well-defined metal standards, ultrapure water, and on runoff water from corroded samples. Filtration using both non-cleaned and pre-cleaned filters revealed contamination and adsorption effects, in particular pronounced for zinc, evident for copper but non-significant for nickel. The results clearly show these artifacts to be non-systematic both for non-cleaned and pre-cleaned membranes. The applied pressure was of minor importance. Measurements of the labile fraction by means of stripping voltammetry clearly elucidate that membrane filtration followed by total metal analysis cannot accurately assess the labile or the dissolved metal fraction.

Orthophosphate fixation of metal contaminated soils in environments that undergo freeze–thaw cycles is understudied. Freeze–thaw cycling potentially influences the reaction rate, mineral chemical stability and physical breakdown of particles during fixation. This study determines what products form when phosphate (triple superphosphate [Ca(H₂PO₄)₂] or sodium phosphate [Na₃PO₄]) reacts with lead (PbSO₄ or PbCl₂) in simple chemical systems in vitro, and assesses potential changes in formation during freeze–thaw cycles. Systems were subjected to multiple freeze–thaw cycles from +10 °C to −20 °C and then analysed by X-ray diffractometry. Pyromorphite formed in all systems and was stable over multiple freeze–thaw cycles. Low temperature lead orthophosphate reaction efficiency varied according to both phosphate and lead source; the most time-efficient pyromorphite formation was observed when PbSO₄ and Na₃PO₄ were present together. These findings have implications for the manner in which metal contaminated materials in freezing ground can be treated with phosphate.

We investigated the concentrations and profiles of 15 siloxanes (four cyclic siloxanes, D₄–D₇; 11 linear siloxanes, L₄–L₁₄), four synthetic musks (two polycyclic musks, HHCB and AHTN; two nitro musks, MX and MK), and HHCB-lactone, in 158 personal care products marketed in China. Siloxanes were detected in 88% of the samples analyzed, at concentrations as high as 52.6 mg g⁻¹; Linear siloxanes were the predominant compounds. Among synthetic musks, more than 80% of the samples contained at least one of these compounds, and their total concentrations were as high as 1.02 mg g⁻¹. HHCB was the predominant musk in all of the samples analyzed, on average, accounting for 52% of the total musk concentrations. Based on the median concentrations of siloxanes and musks and the average daily usage amounts of consumer products, dermal exposure rates in adults were calculated to be 3.69 and 3.38 mg d⁻¹ for siloxanes and musks, respectively.

Multi-year inventories of carbonaceous aerosol emissions from biomass open burning at a high spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° have been constructed in China using GIS methodology for the period 1990–2005. Black carbon (BC) emissions have increased by 383.03% at an annual average rate of 25.54% from 14.05 Gg in 1990 to 67.87 Gg in 2005; while organic carbon (OC) emissions have increased by 365.43% from 57.37 Gg in 1990 to 267.00 Gg in 2005. Through the estimation period, OC/BC ratio for biomass burning was averagely 4.09, suggesting that it was not the preferred control source from a climatic perspective. Spatial distribution of BC and OC emissions were similar, mainly concentrated in three northeastern provinces, central provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan, and southern provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan basin, covering 24.89% of China’s territory, but were responsible for 63.38% and 67.55% of national BC and OC emissions, respectively.