The importance of over-the-counter-sales and product format in the environmental exposure assessment of active pharmaceutical ingredients

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Modelling global river export of microplastics to the marine environment : Sources and future trends

Microplastics, transported by rivers to oceans, are triggering environmental concern. This study aims to better understand river export of microplastics from land to sea. We developed the Global Riverine Export of Microplastics into Seas (GREMiS) model, a global, spatially explicit model for analysing the annual microplastics export to coastal seas. Our results indicate that riverine microplastics export varies among world regions, with several hotspots, e.g., South East Asia, and, depending on the 2050 scenario, may be doubled (‘Business as usual’) or halved due to improved waste management (‘Environment profits’). Globally, our model simulations indicated fragmentation of macroplastics as the main source of microplastics, but this result heavily depends on the assumed fragmentation rate. Sewerage discharges contributed only 20%, ranging from 1% (Africa) to 60% (OECD countries) and decreasing by 2050 as a result of improved sanitation. We conclude that, combating microplastics in the aquatic environment requires more region-specific analyses.</p

Mapping the tire supply chain and its microplastics emissions using a multi-stakeholder approach

The important contribution of tires to microplastics found in the environment raises the question how to effectively mitigate the environmental release of tire microplastics. The aim of this study is to map the tire supply chain and quantify the resulting tire microplastics emissions in close collaboration with stakeholders, thereby providing a solid foundation for the development of a mitigation strategy. To this end, the supply chain was mapped and used to identify stakeholders and to quantify microplastics emissions using a material system analysis for the Netherlands, 2021. Stakeholder involvement was integrated for data gathering and to build trust for future collaboration. The total initial tire microplastics emissions were estimated at 19,580 t/y (85 % by tire wear and 15 % by infill). Approximately 9,450 t/y of tire microplastics were estimated to reach the environment, 80 % to soils and 20 % to surface waters. This is the first step towards an effective mitigation strategy

A Generalized Physiologically Based Kinetic Model for Fish for Environmental Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals

International audienceAn increasing number of pharmaceuticals found in the environment potentially impose adverse effects on organisms such as fish. Physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models are essential risk assessment tools, allowing a mechanistic approach to understanding chemical effects within organisms. However, fish PBK models have been restricted to a few species, limiting the overall applicability given the countless species. Moreover, many pharmaceuticals are ionizable, and fish PBK models accounting for ionization are rare. Here, we developed a generalized PBK model, estimating required parameters as functions of fish and chemical properties. We assessed the model performance for five pharmaceuticals (covering neutral and ionic structures). With biotransformation half-lives (HLs) from EPI Suite, 73 and 41% of the time-course estimations were within a 10-fold and a 3-fold difference from measurements, respectively. The performance improved using experimental biotransformation HLs (87 and 59%, respectively). Estimations for ionizable substances were more accurate than any of the existing species-specific PBK models. The present study is the first to develop a generalized fish PBK model focusing on mechanism-based parameterization and explicitly accounting for ionization. Our generalized model facilitates its application across chemicals and species, improving efficiency for environmental risk assessment and supporting an animal-free toxicity testing paradigm

Pesticide use data for emission modelling: A case study on the Upper Citarum River Basin

Information on pesticide use types and pesticide use are needed to estimate pesticide emissions in the surface water. Unfortunately, these data is either limited or even non-exist in most lowand middleincome country like Indonesia. This problem is considered a missing link in the water monitoring system, especially in the emission estimation model approach. To overcome that problem, a questionnaire survey about pesticide use by the farmer was conducted in the Upper Citarum River Basin (UCRB) agriculture area. The survey result showed that 31 pesticides were used by farmers in UCRB, with pesticide type of insecticide (58%) as the most used by the farmers. Overall, Profenofos and Mancozeb had the widest used in UCRB. For rice crops, as the broadest agriculture area in UCRB, Carbamates and Pyrethroid-based insecticides such as Carbofuran and Deltamethrin were the most frequently mentioned pesticides of the farmers. The variation in application frequency influenced the amount of pesticide use for each crop. In general, the frequency of pesticide application for vegetables was higher (from 7-10 times/ month) than rice and tubers (≤ 1 time/ month)

Tyre granulate on the loose; How much escapes the turf?:A systematic literature review

Tyre granulate used as infill for artificial turf is hailed by some as a good example of reuse, while others see it as a baleful means to dispose of discarded tyres. Because the particles are applied loosely to the surface, they will inevitably disperse into the environment. The possible environmental and health impacts of the particles are a source of societal concern. In response to this, policies to limit particle losses are being developed at the European level. To make informed decisions, data on the quantity of tyre granulate released into the environment are required. So far, however, there are no systematic reviews on or estimates of these losses. The aim of the present study was to identify the various pathways through which infill leaves a football turf and, subsequently, to estimate the quantity of infill leaving the turf by each of these pathways. Data on the pathways including the associated volumes were collected in a systematic literature review following the PRISMA method. The quality of the evidence reported in the retrieved literature was assessed using the GRADE method. The resulting pathways and corresponding quantities were captured in a mass balance. This study estimates that, without mitigation measures, approximately 950 kg/year (min. 570 kg/year, max. 2280 kg/year) of infill leaves the surface of an average artificial football turf via known pathways. Clearing snow can result in an additional loss of 830 kg/year (min. 200 kg/year, max. 2760 kg/year) of infill material. To mitigate the dispersion of infill, one could focus on snow removal, brushing and granulate picked up by players. Mitigation measures for these pathways are well-established and relatively easy to implement and maintain. Although the amount of granulate picked up from the turf by players is relatively small, the measure will promote environmental awareness among the players.</p

Microplastics in coastal areas and seafood: implications for food safety

Contains fulltext : 204316.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Prioritisation of data-poor pharmaceuticals for empirical testing and environmental risk assessment

There are more than 3,500 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) on the global market for human and veterinary use. Residues of these APIs eventually reach the aquatic environment. Although an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for marketing authorization applications of medicinal products is mandatory in the European Union since 2006, an ERA is lacking for most medicines approved prior to 2006 (legacy APIs). Since it is unfeasible to perform extensive ERA tests for all these legacy APIs, there is a need for prioritization of testing based on the limited data available. Prioritized APIs can then be further investigated to estimate their environmental risk in more detail. In this study, we prioritized more than 1,000 APIs used in Europe based on their predicted risk for aquatic freshwater ecosystems. We determined their risk by combining an exposure estimate (Measured or Predicted Environmental Concentration; MEC or PEC, respectively) with a Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC). We developed several procedures to combine the limited empirical data available with in silico data, resulting in multiple API rankings varying in data needs and level of conservativeness. In comparing empirical with in silico data, our analysis confirmed that the PEC estimated with the default parameters used by the European Medicines Agency often – but not always – represents a worst-case scenario. Comparing the ecotoxicological data for the three main taxonomic groups, we found that fish represents the most sensitive species group for most of the APIs in our list. We furthermore show that the use of in silico tools can result in a substantial underestimation of the ecotoxicity of APIs. After combining the different exposure and effect estimates into four risk rankings, the top-ranking APIs were further screened for availability of ecotoxicity data in data repositories. This ultimately resulted in the prioritization of 15 APIs for further ecotoxicological testing and/or exposure assessment

Variability in nitrogen-derived trophic levels of Arctic marine biota

Stable isotopes are often used to provide an indication of the trophic level (TL) of species. TLs may be derived by using food-web-specific enrichment factors in combination with a representative baseline species. It is challenging to sample stable isotopes for all species, regions and seasons in Arctic ecosystems, e.g. because of practical constraints. Species-specific TLs derived from a single region may be used as a proxy for TLs for the Arctic as a whole. However, its suitability is hampered by incomplete knowledge on the variation in TLs. We quantified variation in TLs of Arctic species by collating data on stable isotopes across the Arctic, including corresponding fractionation factors and baseline species. These were used to generate TL distributions for species in both pelagic and benthic food webs for four Arctic areas, which were then used to determine intra-sample, intra-study, intra-region and inter-region variation in TLs. Considerable variation in TLs of species between areas was observed. This is likely due to differences in parameter choice in estimating TLs (e.g. choice of baseline species) and seasonal, temporal and spatial influences. TLs between regions were higher than the variance observed within regions, studies or samples. This implies that TLs derived within one region may not be suitable as a proxy for the Arctic as a whole. The TL distributions derived in this study may be useful in bioaccumulation and climate change studies, as these provide insight in the variability of trophic levels of Arctic species.</p