Multi-year interlaboratory exercises for the analysis of illicit drugs and metabolites in wastewater:development of a quality control system

Thirty-seven laboratories from 25 countries present the development of an inter-laboratory testing scheme for the analysis of seven illicit drug residues in standard solutions, tap- and wastewater. Almost 10 000 concentration values were evaluated: triplicates of up to five samples and 26 laboratories per year. The setup was substantially improved with experiences gained across the six repetitions (e.g. matrix type, sample conditions, spiking levels). From this, (pre-)analytical issues (e.g. pH adjustment, filtration) were revealed for specific analytes which resulted in formulation of best-practice protocols for inter-laboratory setup and analytical procedures. The results illustrate the effectiveness of the inter-laboratory setup to assess laboratory performance in the framework of wastewater-based epidemiology. The exercise proved that measurements of laboratories were of high quality (>80% satisfactory results for six out of seven analytes) and that analytical follow-up is important to assist laboratories in improving robustness of wastewater-based epidemiology results

Pyrosequencing of Antibiotic-Contaminated River Sediments Reveals High Levels of Resistance and Gene Transfer Elements

The high and sometimes inappropriate use of antibiotics has accelerated the development of antibiotic resistance, creating a major challenge for the sustainable treatment of infections world-wide. Bacterial communities often respond to antibiotic selection pressure by acquiring resistance genes, i.e. mobile genetic elements that can be shared horizontally between species. Environmental microbial communities maintain diverse collections of resistance genes, which can be mobilized into pathogenic bacteria. Recently, exceptional environmental releases of antibiotics have been documented, but the effects on the promotion of resistance genes and the potential for horizontal gene transfer have yet received limited attention. In this study, we have used culture-independent shotgun metagenomics to investigate microbial communities in river sediments exposed to waste water from the production of antibiotics in India. Our analysis identified very high levels of several classes of resistance genes as well as elements for horizontal gene transfer, including integrons, transposons and plasmids. In addition, two abundant previously uncharacterized resistance plasmids were identified. The results suggest that antibiotic contamination plays a role in the promotion of resistance genes and their mobilization from environmental microbes to other species and eventually to human pathogens. The entire life-cycle of antibiotic substances, both before, under and after usage, should therefore be considered to fully evaluate their role in the promotion of resistance

Trendy zmian jakości wody rzeki Tisa wzdłuż jej biegu przez Serbię

The problem of the paper is water quality of the water body Tisa which geographically belongs to Serbia. The scope of the analyses are water quality monitoring data of the Tisa River at tree measuring points along its flow through Serbia: Martonos, Novi Becej and Titel in period 2004-2014. The analyses encompassed conductivity, dissolved oxygen, BOD5, COD, nitrates and total phosphorus. Assessment of water quality has been conducted by the application of contemporary classifications and criteria of the Republic of Serbia. Reference conditions for achieving excellent ecological status, I class of water quality are achieved for conductivity, dissolved oxygen, along investigated section (measuring points: Martonos, Novi Becej and Titel) and BOD5 at the measuring point Martonos. Downstream at measuring points Novi Becej and Titel for BOD5 water quality belongs to class II. According to concentrations of COD, nitrates and total phosphorus water quality belongs exclusively to class II. Linear regression analyses was applied for determining trend lines of parameters, while Mann-Kendell test in most cases (14/18), i.e. 78%, has confirmed nonexistence of significant trend. Water quality during the past decade is stable. A statistically significant trend was confirmed in 4 cases: nitrates (measuring point Martonos, descending trend), BOD5 and total phosphorus (measuring point Novi Becej, descending trend), and dissolved oxygen (measuring point Titel, increasing trend). Signs of these trends speak in favor of future improvement of water quality of the Tisa River in Serbia.W artykule opisano jakość wody w rzece Tisa, która geograficznie należy do Serbii. Zakres analiz obejmuje są dane dotyczące jakości wody w rzece Tisa w punktach pomiarowych wzdłuż biegu przez Serbię: Martonos, Novi Becej i Titel w latach 2004-2014. Analizą objęto: przewodnictwo, tlen rozpuszczony, BZT5, ChZT, azotany i fosfor ogólny. Ocena jakości wody została przeprowadzona przez zastosowanie aktualnej klasyfikacji i kryteriów w Republice Serbii. Warunki parametrów odpowiadające doskonałemu stanowi ekologicznemu, I klasy jakości wody, osiągnięto dla przewodności, tlenu rozpuszczonego, wzdłuż całego badanego odcinka (punkty pomiarowe: Martonos, Novi Becej i Titel) oraz BZT5, w punkcie pomiarowym Martonos. W dolnym biegu rzeki, w punktach pomiarowych Novi Becej i Titel dla BZT5 wody należą do klasy II. Jeśli chodzi o ChZT, azotany i fosfor całkowity jakość wody należy do klasy II. W celu określenia linii trendu parametrów zastosowano analizę regresji liniowej, a test Manna-Kendalla, w większości przypadków (14/18), tj. 78%, potwierdził brak znaczącego trendu. Jakość wody w ciągu ostatnich dziesięciu lat jest stabilna. W 4 przypadkach stwierdzono statystycznie istotną tendencję: azotany (punkt pomiarowy Martonos, tendencja spadkowa), BZT5 i fosfor ogólny (punkt pomiarowy Novi Becej, tendencja spadkowa) oraz tlen rozpuszczony (punkt pomiarowy Titel, tendencja wzrostowa). Trendy mogą oznaczać poprawą jakości wody rzeki Tisa w Serbii w przyszłości

Oxidation of pharmaceuticals by chlorine dioxide in biologically treated wastewater

Biologically treated wastewater spiked with a mixture of 56 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) was treated with 0-20 mg/L chlorine dioxide (ClO2) solution in laboratory-scale experiments. Wastewater effluents were collected from two wastewater treatment plants in Sweden, one with extended nitrogen removal (low COD) and one without (high COD). About one third of the tested APIs resisted degradation even at the highest ClO2 dose (20 mg/L), while others were reduced by more than 90% at the lowest ClO2 level (0.5 mg/L). In the low COD effluent, more than half of the APIs were oxidized at 5 mg/L ClO2, while in high COD effluent a significant increase in API oxidation was observed after treatment with 8 mg/L ClO2. This study illustrates the successful degradation of several APIs during treatment of wastewater effluents with chlorine dioxide. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Passive sampling in effect-based monitoring of two European rivers - explicability of in vitro toxic potentials by detected chemicals

EU commission Water Framework Directive considers employment of passive sampling and use of effect-based tools in the monitoring of aquatic pollution. A combination of both approaches was used for monitoring of two rivers differing significantly in pollution levels. The Bosna, moderate-sized river in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is burdened by untreated wastewaters, was sampled by semipermeable passive sampling devices (SPMD) and POCIS samplers. The Danube, the largest river in the EU with relatively low pollution level, was sampled using a mobile dynamic passive sampling device with silicone rubber (SR) and SDB-RPS Empore™ (ED) disc samplers. Both sampler sets consisted of partitioning sampler for non-polar chemicals (SPMD, SR) and adsorption sampler for the polar-ones (POCIS, ED). For the partitioning samplers, concentrations of collected chemicals in river water were derived using dissipation of performance reference compounds. For the adsorption samplers, the sampling rates were either taken from literature (POCIS) or calculated from correlated levels of chemicals that were detected both in adsorption (ED) and partitioning samplers (SR). The samples were analyzed for aryl hydrocarbon-, estrogen- and androgen receptor-mediated effects using in vitro bioassays. The effects were expressed as bioanalytical equivalents (BEQbio) of respective model compounds in water. The BEQbio levels were significantly higher in extracts from POCIS and ED samplers showing that the polar chemicals were responsible for most of the detected effects. Chemical analyses detected 103 and 209 chemicals in the Bosna and the Danube samples, respectively. The passive sampling allowed detection of chemicals at pg/L concentrations. The levels of chemicals with known biological potency for the studied endpoints were used for modeling of bioanalytical equivalents (BEQchem). The comparison of bioassay- and chemical analysis-derived equivalents showed that the detected chemicals explained mostly a low fraction of the BEQbio. Only in the case of estrogenicity in extracts of the samplers collecting polar chemicals, the BEQchem was comparable with the BEQbio levels. Both sampler combinations proved to be suitable for the detection of a large set of chemicals even at trace levels and for the complementary assessment of the biological potentials of the environmental mixtures. The SOLUTIONS Project was supported by the 7th Framework Programme EU (FP7-ENV-2013) with grant agreement no. 603437