Farm to Fork Flow Diagrams for French Agricultural Sectors: A common template

Material flow diagrams are a visual representation of sector data that allows visualizing the size of the relative flows between the different actors. The RéfFlux project (2022-2023) is a project which purpose was, for different French sectors represented by their technical institutes, to equip themselves with a common methodology for representing public and expert data. This article presents the common approach adopted for the creation of a common reference framework for the different plant and animal sectors in a context of great diversity of data, actors, technologies and issues. We propose a reading grid for the diagrams that can be produced, in particular those posted online on the RMT FILARMONI website via 3 types of possible thematic analyses: questions of food sovereignty and sector dependency, questions of co-product flows linked to the bioeconomy and finally adaptation to household consumption, at home and outside the home. We show how this type of tool can contribute to informing the public debate by facilitating dialogue between stakeholders. The main objective of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the origin and future of plant and animal production in France in order to inform the choices of public policies and private decision-makers

Ongoing Laboratory Performance Study on Chemical Analysis of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Compounds in Three Aquatic Passive Samplers

The quality of chemical analysis is an important aspect of passive sampling-based environmental assessments. The present study reports on a proficiency testing program for the chemical analysis of hydrophobic organic compounds in silicone and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers and hydrophilic compounds in polar organic chemical integrative samplers. The median between-laboratory coefficients of variation (CVs) of hydrophobic compound concentrations in the polymer phase were 33% (silicone) and 38% (LDPE), similar to the CVs obtained in four earlier rounds of this program. The median CV over all rounds was 32%. Much higher variabilities were observed for hydrophilic compound concentrations in the sorbent: 50% for the untransformed data and a factor of 1.6 after log transformation. Limiting the data to the best performing laboratories did not result in less variability. Data quality for hydrophilic compounds was only weakly related to the use of structurally identical internal standards and was unrelated to the choice of extraction solvent and extraction time. Standard deviations of the aqueous concentration estimates for hydrophobic compound sampling by the best performing laboratories were 0.21 log units for silicone and 0.27 log units for LDPE (factors of 1.6 to 1.9). The implications are that proficiency testing programs may give more realistic estimates of uncertainties in chemical analysis than within-laboratory quality control programs and that these high uncertainties should be taken into account in environmental assessments

Plane tree leaves: An integrative bio-indicator for monitoring air concentrations of Semi Volatile Organic Compounds

International audienceThe use of plant species to assess air contamination is now well reported. Indices of overall air quality have been established, for example, with lichens that can accumulate certain contaminants, in particular, metallic trace elements.Higher plant species also show an accumulation of some organic compounds (PCBs, PAHs) in the leaves via absorption in the waxes of these contaminants present in the gaseous phase of the air.Here, the studied model is the plane tree leaf for its ubiquitous presence in contrasting environments and its long leaf period allowing a greater accumulation.A global procedure, from sampling to analysis, was validated with leaves of plane trees to quantify 6 families of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs): Phthalates, PAHs, PCBs, Organochlorine Pesticides, PBDEs, and Parabens.The leaves are harvested at the end of the autumn and then washed, dried, crushed and extracted by an Accelerated Solvent Extraction system (ASE). The extract is split into 3 on a cartridge of Florisil. The fractions are then purified prior to analysis in GC/MS, GC-MS/MS or LC-MS/MS. The quantification limits are in the order of ng/g except for the phthalates (tens of ng/g).Plane tree leaves were sampled in the region of Paris (France) and during 2 periods (2002 and 2012-14). 1)The contents in the leaves and the concentrations in the gaseous phase of the air (active sampling) show a good correlation.2)At the spatial level: differences are observed between several contrasting sites: forest, rural, urban, dense urban, traffic.3)At a finer spatial scale, two contrasting urban sites (distance < 1.3 km) also show an influence of traffic on PAH levels in the leaves.4)At the temporal level: at the same urban site, Paris center, the harvested leaves with a 10-year difference show a variation of air contamination. A significant decrease in leaf levels is observed: from 5 to 10 times, depending on the families studied, except for parabens where a slight increase is obtained. These concentrations are related to the practices and uses of the contaminants studied.These results show:- there is an accumulation of SVOCs in plane tree leaves in relation to the sources and uses of these contaminants.- this tool is relevant to be used for the biomonitoring of the gaseous phase of the air

Rapid SPE – LC MS/MS analysis for atrazine, its by-products, simazine and S metolachlor in groundwater samples

International audienceA rapid analysis of pesticides using on-line Solid phase extraction LC MS/MS (Agilent Technology) was performed using only 2-mL water samples. SPE cartridge PLRP-s was used for the pre-concentration sample with methanol elution in back flush. Sensitive transitions and mass spectrometry conditions were optimized by direct infusion of individual standard solutions in a positive electrospray mode. Water samples were spiked with internal standards to compensate the matrix effect. The limit of quantification was calculated to be 20 ng L −1 using the standard deviation of blank analysis injected ten times and uncertainties were estimated at less than 20% on concentrations. This method was validated to study leaching water samples for which only small quantities of water were available. • Only 2 mL water sample was used. • Samples were filtered at 0.2 μm and spiked with individual standard. • Compounds were separated in an 18.5-min elution time using the dynamic MRM program

Determination of glyphosate and AMPA in fish bile from the Marne River, France

International audienceGlyphosate is a widely used herbicide. In France, it is used during intercultural operations and to control weeds in non-agricultural areas. Glyphosate and AMPA (its main degradation product) can reach high concentrations in rivers, especially in the Seine basin including the Paris suburb (France). Although it is not bioaccumulative, the associated use of surfactants in pesticide formulations allows better assimilation in biological tissues. The aim of our study was first to develop a method to assess glyphosate and AMPA levels in biological tissues and then to determine the contamination of an freshwater fish, the European chub (Squalius cephalus) by glyphosate and AMPA. Fish were fished in the Marne River (a tributary of the Seine River situated in the East part of Paris) at 4 sites characteristic of agricultural and urban areas. Water was also sampled for analysis to compare sites contamination. Bile is an ideal material to identify metabolites of pollutants. This biological fluid was taken directly from the gallbladder with a syringe on freshly euthanized chub and frozen for further analysis. Then, 100μL of bile was taken and 500μL of internal standard (13C-Glyphosate and 13C-AMPA) were added before extraction with milliQ water (5mL) and ultrasonic method for 30 minutes. The extract was then derivatizated (FMOC-Cl) and concentrated on SPE OASIS HLB cartridge (60cc) before LC MS MS analysis. Preliminary tests were performed to establish and validate the protocol and to find the lowest limit of quantification and the best reproducibility. Results showed that glyphosate is detected in a fish sample coming from the most contaminated site by AMPA. This suggests that glyphosate is assimilated in fish and is still detectable after glyphosate has been degraded to AMPA in the water river. Glyphosate content in fish could be an indicator of environmental contamination. Further developments are needed to validate the protocol and complete the study with other organs than bile

The dead can talk: Investigating trace element and organic pollutant exposure in mammalian roadkill under contrasting habitats

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Fish from urban rivers and with high pollutant levels have shorter telomeres

International audienceEnvironmental pressures, such as urbanization and exposure to pollutants may jeopardize survival of free-living animals. Yet, much remains to be known about physiological and ecological responses to currently-released pollutants, especially in wild vertebrate ectotherms. We tested the effect of urbanization and pollution (phthalates, organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticides, polychlorobiphenyls, polybromodiphenylethers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and some of their metabolites) on telomere length, a suggested biomarker of life expectancy, in the European chub, Squalius cephalus, from urban and agricultural rivers of the Marne hydrographic network, France. We showed that telomere length was reduced in chub from urban rivers. Moreover, among the wide range of anthropogenic contaminants investigated, high levels of phthalate metabolites in liver were associated with shorter telomeres. This study suggests that urbanization and chemical pollution may compromise survival of wild fish, by accelerating telomere attrition

Parabens in water and sediment: occurrence in river and lakes in different rural and urban environments

Parabens are a group of alkyl esters of the p-hydroxybenzoic acid that are widely used as preservatives in pharmaceutical and personal care products. In order to gain knowledge about presence (or not) of parabens in different water categories, a screening study was performed in France and in 5 overseas territories in 2012. More than 1700 occurrence data were obtained in water and sediment samples for 3 parabens (methylparaben, ethylparaben and propylparaben). Samples were collected on more than 160 sites during 3 sampling campaigns (spring/summer/fall). Sampling sites representing different types of landcover were chosen. This screening study has been conducted on a larger datasets compared to previous reported literature data. For methylparaben and propylparaben, concentrations are similar in all samples, and no obvious effect could be identified associated to the type of anthropogenic sources. The occurrence of parabens as ubiquitous contaminats in almost 100% of the analysed samples can represent a risk. At the measured levels, acute and chronic toxicity is not expected with any of these compounds tested individually. However, currently available PNEC values do not take into account non-standard endpoints, such as endocrine disrupting effects which need to be considered in assessing the potential risksassociated to occurrence of parabens in the aquatic environment. Parabens are common hygiene product ingredients and special care must be considered for sampling