The work reported here deals with the study of interception/deposition and translocation of ⁸⁵Sr, ¹³¹I, and¹³⁷ Cs in three different types of vegetables i.e. beans (Phasoolus vulgaris), spinach (Spinicia olericia) and radish (Raphanous sative) following redionuclides release to the environment. Activity was injected in the experimental chamber in the form of aerosols having a size distribution of 0.3–1.0 µm (AMAD). Plant samples were collected soon after the injection for the evaluation of interception/deposition factors (IF/DF) for the different parts of the plants, as well as for the whole plant and the washable fraction of the deposited activity and its variation with time. The evaluated IF/DF shows a minimum value of 0.12 m³ kg⁻¹ for ⁸⁵Sr in case of spinach whole plant and maximum value of 1.93 m³ kg⁻¹ for ¹³¹I in case of beans whole plant. Translocation factors (TF) have also been evaluated for the activity that migrates from the above soil plant parts to the root and its variation with time. The evaluated TF shows a range of 7.27 × 10⁻³ to 136 × 10⁻³.

A study was carried out in order to estimate the presence of enteric and non-enteric indicators in the water distribution systems of Western Greece and to evaluate different methods for culture and isolation of coliforms in that region, under several incubation conditions and using different media. According to the different media and techniques used, the numbers of water samples found unsafe for consumption represented 21, 17 and 10% of the total, when mT7 agar, M-Endo agar LES (Membrane Filtration technique) and Most Probable Number (MPN) techniques were used, respectively. In one third of the samples oxidase positive microorganisms were present, which were almost eliminated by using anaerobic incubation of the media. Faecal streptococci were found only in 5% of the samples tested. The MPN technique proved to be significantly less efficient in recovering the coliform colonies than the Membrane Filtration (MF) technique (x² = 125.758 < 182.405). The use of m-Endo agar LES and mT7 agar showed no statistically significant difference in detecting total coliforms (x² = 162.55 > 162.422). However, a larger mean number of colonies per sample developed on mT7 agar, indicating that the latter medium should be used in our region for the detection of total coliforms.

A number of natural and man-made chemicals possess antiestrogenic activity, i.e. they antagonize a broad spectrum of estrogen-induced responses in vertebrates. Examples of antiestrogens include dioxin, furan and PCB congeners, certain PAHs, pesticides and indol-3-carbinol derivatives. Major mechanisms of antiestrogenicity are antagonistic action of chemicals at the estrogen receptor, or binding of chemicals to the arylhydrocarbon (Ah) receptor and subsequent interaction with estrogen-responsive genes. Toxicological consequences resulting from antiestrogenic activity have not been conclusively demonstrated to date, although antiestrogenic compounds could critically affect sensitive reproductive and developmental processes.

A general introduction of the bait-lamina test has been made in this article. This article has an introductional character for other articles dealing with the bait-lamina test method and gives the experimental data.The test was first introduced by Törne in 1990 to measure the biological activity of soil. It enables the monitoring of biotic (microbial and zootic) processes in the soil within a short period of time, and detailed investigations. The test system is based on visual assessment of feeding on small portions of thin laminated bait substrate exposed to edaphic processes. The test system has found its application mainly in Germany but in the meanwhile also in Portugal, Switzerland and in the Netherlands in laboratories of soil ecology and soil ecotoxicology. At present there are only few publications in the international literature, but the interest in this method is growing. During the past years two workshops on the subject have been organized in Germany to summarize experiences with and to evaluate the test system and optimize the standard procedure.

The metabolism of phenanthrene was studied both in cell suspension cultures of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and soybean (Glycine max), and in intact plants of the water mossFontinalis antipyretica. Metabolism in cell suspension cultures strongly differed between the monocotyle and the dicotyle plant. Only small amounts oftrans-phenanthrene-9,10-dihydrodiole and phenanthrene-9,10-dione were detectable in the wheat culture. Soybean cultures, in contrast demonstrated a strong turnover resulting in a 75% reduction of the initial phenanthrene concentration. Metabolites were phenanthrene-9,10-dione, not further characterized polar metabolites and bound residues. Intact plants ofFontinalis antipyretica metabolized only small amounts of phenanthrene. Data obtained from cell cultures did not provide information for the metabolic potential in intact plants. Therefore standardized tests with model systems like suspension cultures lead to inadequate assessment of the ecological risk of certain xenobiotics.

The risk assessment of genetically-modified plants pursuant to Annex II B of EU Directive 94/15/EC assumes that it is possible to infer the environmental impacts of a crop plant from its characteristics, so most of Annex II should also be applicable to conventional plants. To test this, we surveyed reports on the ecological impacts of the cultivation of non-transgenic crop plants with novel or improved traits and, in three cases, investigated whether Annex II B would have been adequate to indicate the effects. Such an assessment appears to be feasible only if the time frame on which it is based is short, so that long-term effects cannot be assessed. Secondly, the plant must be genetically homogenous which is not always granted, e.g. with forest-trees. Thirdly, the cultivation area must be defined. Differences in the behaviour of foreign plants between their original and cultivation habitats may be ecologically relevant and should be assessed. In the (few) cases where direct inference of the observed effects was possible from inherent traits, these effects often correlated with poor adaptation to local environmental conditions. The ecological impacts of traits that had been introduced in order to overcome poor adaptation may differ widely according to the way in which the traits are exploited. In practice, the effects of agricultural measures are more important than the effects of gene transfer and invasiveness, although the latter currently play a major role in risk assessment. In the light of these deliberations, a modification of Annex II B of EU Directive 94/15/EC is suggested.