Biomonitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by pine needles:levels and trends in southern Europe

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread carcinogenic and mutagenic contaminants with natural and anthropogenic sources mainly associated to combustion processes. The monitoring of these types of semi-volatile organic pollutants is a crucial step to assess their environmental exposure to organisms. Although in general this task is performed directly in their own habitat, biomonitoring offers the possibility to estimate the multi-route uptake of contaminants. Vegetation has been used for some time due to its worldwide presence, adequate uptake conditions and low availability costs. These valuable matrices allow the passive sampling of a wide range of compounds, mainly airborne. PAHs are no exception since their hydrophobic and lipophylic nature make them prone to partition into the waxy layers of plants and trees (mostly on the leaves) or, in the case of the heavier particle-bound PAHs, to be deposited in the surface. However, handling plant matrices is a complex mission to accomplish, in particular the separation of the target compounds from their lipidic structure. This led to the development of multiresidue extraction methods in the past two decades, in a demand for reliable extraction and clean-up procedures and increasingly lower limits of detection associated with enhanced chromatographic resolution. The main objective of this chapter is to present the concentrations, aromatic ring patterns and possible sources of 16 PAHs extracted from pine needles in three different countries from the South of Europe (Portugal, Spain and Greece) and try to point out potential similarities and differences in their behaviour, separating urban and non-urban areas. A total of 90 sampling sites (29 in Portugal, 34 in Spain and 27 in Greece) were selected in urban, industrial, rural and remote areas. The use of chemometric methods (namely principal component analysis-PCA) was of significant importance in the analysis and interpretation of the large environmental biomonitoring dataset produced. The PAH levels were, in general, higher in Greece, followed by Portugal and Spain, with predominance of 3-and 4-ring PAHs. Some visible differences were found in the aromatic ring patterns (and possibly in the sources) between urban and non-urban sites in the three countries. PCA further confirmed these trends, clearly separating the urban and the non-urban sites and all three countries, which suggests that the sources of contamination vary in each case and demonstrates the suitability of pine needles for trans-boundary biomonitoring of atmospheric PAHs

The HEROIC project : coordinated efforts towards the harmonization and cross-fertilization of human and environmental risk assessment of chemical substances

Today, human risk assessment (HRA) and environmental risk assessment (ERA) are typically separated. There is a lack of mutual understanding between experts and data from toxicological and ecotoxicological studies are not readily accessible by risk assessors of the two disciplines. The need for RA will continue to increase (e.g. REACH or toxicity of mixtures) along with budget restrictions and political and public pressure to reduce the number of animal tests. Therefore more cost effective, predictive and rapid tests for high quality sustainable RA are needed, including a better exploitation of existing data. The HEROIC project - a coordination action of the 7th FP - will provide a platform for networking among all the relevant stakeholders in the RA value chain and will provide them with the most relevant background information to contribute to the development of harmonised approaches which meet the challenges of RA. The project will enable the improvement and harmonisation of tools and methods in RA, by exploring how data generated in ecotoxicology and human toxicology can be applied across disciplines for integrated RA, and develop a framework for integrated methodologies and approaches for RA. This will increase transparency in RA and allow better risk communication to maintain public trust and to give unambiguous guidance for improved risk management. HEROIC starts with a comprehensive landscaping exercise to identify common methodological and data needs in current human and environmental risk assessment practices. We will then evaluate existing in-vivo, in-vitro and in-silico methods for hazard and exposure assessment. The selection process ranks and weights data based on their reliability and relevance and uses a Weight-of-Evidence approach to integrate such information to develop an Integrated Testing Strategy (ITS) for decision making. A dedicated web portal called 'Tox-Hub' that presents information from diverse sources and that functions as a central point of access to the most relevant toxicological and ecotoxicological information will be created. A diverse range of dedicated activities is planned for information, dissemination, capacity building and communication. These coordinating activities will result in enhanced sharing of knowledge, building consensus and development of clear, easily understood, transparent and unambiguous integrated RA procedures

Evaluation of exposure models and their link to regulatory frameworks within the 4FUN project

The assessment of exposure of chemicals to environment and to human via the environment is of major concern for policy and industry and ultimately benefits all citizens. Currently many different types of exposure models are available. However, not all exposure models are designed for the same goal. Exposure assessment of chemicals depends highly on the context. In order to allow a comparison between and selection of exposure models, a transparent and objective framework based on a comprehensive list of scoring factors was developed. A comprehensive list of criteria was set up to structure the characteristics of the exposure tools. These criteria were divided into two categories: general and framework/context specific criteria. The general criteria were transferred into questions and were scored on importance by an expert panel. The framework specific criteria, which are highly context specific, received a score based on their applicability and importance in a certain type of framework. The following regulatory and sustainability driven frameworks were considered: REACH regulation, Plant Protection Products Regulation, Biocidal Product Regulation, environmental/spatial oriented directives (e.g. Water Framework Directive), Food oriented directives (e.g. Food Supplement Directive), product or process certification, site specific impact assessment and sustainability assessment. After scoring the criteria, a list of exposure models (such as EUSES, CalTOX, QUASI, 4FUN, USETOX, GREATER, PEARL, etc.) were evaluated using the Multi-Criteria Decision analysis (MCDA). The MCDA approach is a decision support tool, which allowed us to rank the different exposure models per framework. In conclusion, this methodology is ideally situated to determine the strengths and weaknesses of exposure models and to determine the suitability of a model towards a certain type of framework

Identifying major pesticides affecting bivalve species exposed to agricultural pollution using multi-biomarker and multivariate methods

The aim of this investigation was to identify major pesticides that may cause detrimental effects in bivalve species affected by agricultural pollution. Investigations were carried out using freshwater clams (Corbicula fluminea) transplanted in the main drainage channels that collect the effluents coming from agriculture fields in the Ebro Delta (NE Spain) during the main growing season of rice (from May to August). Environmental hazards were assessed by measuring simultaneous up 46 contaminant levels and 9 biomarker responses. Measured biological responses showed marked differences across sites and months. Antioxidant and esterase enzyme responses were in most cases inhibited. Lipid peroxidation levels increased steadily from May in upstream stations to August in drainage channels. Principal Component (PCA) and Partial Least Squares to Latent Structure regression (PLS) analyses allowed the identification of endosulfan, propanil, and phenylureas as being the chemical contaminants causing the most adverse effects in the studied species

Comparative measurement and quantitative risk assessment of alcohol consumption through wastewater-based epidemiology: an international study in 20 cities

Quantitative measurement of drug consumption biomarkers in wastewater can provide objective information on community drug use patterns and trends. This study presents the measurement of alcohol consumption in 20 cities across 11 countries through the use of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), and reports the application of these data for the risk assessment of alcohol on a population scale using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach. Raw 24-h composite wastewater samples were collected over a one-week period from 20 cities following a common protocol. For each sample a specific and stable alcohol consumption biomarker, ethyl sulfate (EtS) was determined by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The EtS concentrations were used for estimation of per capita alcohol consumption in each city, which was further compared with international reports and applied for risk assessment by MOE. The average per capita consumption in 20 cities ranged between 6.4 and 44.3. L/day/1000 inhabitants. An increase in alcohol consumption during the weekend occurred in all cities, however the level of this increase was found to differ. In contrast to conventional data (sales statistics and interviews), WBE revealed geographical differences in the level and pattern of actual alcohol consumption at an inter-city level. All the sampled cities were in the "high risk" category (MOE

Strengthen the European collaborative environmental research to meet European policy goals for achieving a sustainable, non-toxic environment

International audienceTo meet the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals and the European Union (EU) strategy for a non-toxic environment, water resources and ecosystems management require cost-efficient solutions for prevailing complex contamination and multiple stressor exposures. For the protection of water resources under global change conditions, specific research needs for prediction, monitoring, assessment and abatement of multiple stressors emerge with respect to maintaining human needs, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Collaborative European research seems an ideal instrument to mobilize the required transdisciplinary scientific support and tackle the large-scale dimension and develop options required for implementation of European policies. Calls for research on minimizing society’s chemical footprints in the water–food–energy–security nexus are required. European research should be complemented with targeted national scientific funding to address specific transformation pathways and support the evaluation, demonstration and implementation of novel approaches on regional scales. The foreseeable pressure developments due to demographic, economic and climate changes require solution-oriented thinking, focusing on the assessment of sustainable abatement options and transformation pathways rather than on status evaluation. Stakeholder involvement is a key success factor in collaborative projects as it allows capturing added value, to address other levels of complexity, and find smarter solutions by synthesizing scientific evidence, integrating governance issues, and addressing transition pathways. This increases the chances of closing the value chain by implementing novel solutions. For the water quality topic, the interacting European collaborative projects SOLUTIONS, MARS and GLOBAQUA and the NORMAN network provide best practice examples for successful applied collaborative research including multi-stakeholder involvement. They provided innovative conceptual, modelling and instrumental options for future monitoring and management of chemical mixtures and multiple stressors in European water resources. Advancement of EU water framework directive-related policies has therefore become an option

Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity. The GLOBAQUA project

Water scarcity is a serious environmental problem in many European regions, and will likely increase in the near future as a consequence of increased abstraction and climate change. Water scarcity exacerbates the effects of multiple stressors, and thus results in decreased water quality. It impacts river ecosystems, threatens the services they provide, and it will force managers and policy-makers to change their current practices. The EU-FP7 project GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence, interaction and linkages between stressors, and to assess their effects on the chemical and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems in order to improve water management practice and policies. GLOBAQUA assembles a multidisciplinary team of 21 European plus 2 non-European scientific institutions, as well as water authorities and river basin managers. The project includes experts in hydrology, chemistry, biology, geomorphology, modelling, socio-economics, governance science, knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy. GLOBAQUA studies six river basins (Ebro, Adige, Sava, Evrotas, Anglian and Souss Massa) affected by water scarcity, and aims to answer the following questions: how does water scarcity interact with other existing stressors in the study river basins? How will these interactions change according to the different scenarios of future global change? Which will be the foreseeable consequences for river ecosystems? How will these in turn affect the services the ecosystems provide? How should management and policies be adapted to minimise the ecological, economic and societal consequences? These questions will be approached by combining data-mining, field- and laboratory-based research, and modelling. Here, we outline the general structure of the project and the activities to be conducted within the fourteen work-packages of GLOBAQUA. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V