Co-leaching of brominated compounds and antimony from bottled water

A fast-growing bottled water market is occasionally challenged by reports calling for contaminant leaching from water-contact materials (plastics). Our focus was on leaching of antimony (Sb) and brominated compounds expressed by total soluble bromine (Br) measurements, including those of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). Studies are lacking on concomitant leaching of two or more inorganic plastic constituents from the same bottle. A market-representative basket survey of bottled water was initiated in Boston, USA supermarkets. Bottled water classes sampled were: i) non-carbonated (NCR), ii) carbonated (CR), and iii) non-carbonated and enriched (NCRE). Plastic bottle materials sampled were: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), and polycarbonate (PC). Storage conditions for the 31 bottled water samples were: 23 °C temperature, no-shaking and 12 h/12 h light/dark for 60 days of equilibration. Average Br and Sb concentrations after 60-days of storage followed the order of NCR < CR = NCRE, and NCR < CR < NCRE, respectively, suggesting that the presence of dissolved carbon dioxide in CR samples coupled to additions of flavors and color to NCRE could explain the elevated leaching of Br and Sb. Combining all bottled water classes and plastic material types, a highly significant (p < 0.001) correlation was observed between log-transformed soluble Br and Sb concentrations, suggesting similar leaching behavior. Among samples with the highest soluble Br concentrations, BDE-209 congener was qualitatively confirmed in three out of four bottled water samples. The PC, HDPE, and PS samples exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) lower Sb and Br leaching than PET. Upon quantitative validation of PBDE leaching from certain plastic bottles into water, a revisit to existing PBDE exposure assessment reports will be deemed necessary.     

Development of an Evaluation Methodology for Triple Bottom Line Reports Using International Standards on Reporting

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, evaluation scoring systems for triple bottom line (TBL) reports to date are examined and potential methodological weaknesses and problems are highlighted. In this context, a new assessment methodology is presented based explicitly on the most widely acknowledged standard on non-financial reporting worldwide, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. The set of GRI topics and performance indicators was converted into scoring criteria while the generic scoring devise was set from 0 to 4 points. Secondly, the proposed benchmark tool was applied to the TBL reports published by Greek companies. Results reveal major gaps in reporting practices, stressing the need for the further development of internal systems and processes in order to collect essential non-financial performance data. A critical overview of the structure and rationale of the evaluation tool in conjunction with the Greek case study is discussed while recommendations for future research on the field of this relatively new form of reporting are suggested.     

Complaints regarding occupational health and safety in the area of Thessaloniki (Greece)

This paper deals with the complaints regarding occupational health and safety in the area of Thessaloniki (Greece). It seeks to examine who are the complainers and which companies or activities do they complain about, to what extent are complaints relevant to occupational health and safety and whether the complaints result to penalties. Such complaints do not pertain to all economic sectors equally, nor do they derive from all kinds of sources. Furthermore, it appears that complaints “irrelevant” to occupational health and safety are twice as many as the “relevant” ones. In three quarters of the cases, the complaints do not result to any kind of sanction; more specifically, in one fifth of the cases, the complaints are not followed by any action taken by the office in charge. All things considered, it seems that filing complaints does not imply finding the most dangerous workplaces. Therefore, investigation of complaints should not be considered more significant than other inspection activities.     

Conditions affecting the release of phosphorus from surface lake sediments

Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the effect of pH and redox conditions, as well as the effect of Fe, Mn, Ca, Al, and organic matter, on the release of ortho-phosphates in lake sediments taken from Lakes Koronia and Volvi (Northern Greece). Results were evaluated in combination with experiments to determine P fractionation in the sediment. The study revealed the major effect of redox potential and pH on the release of P from lake sediments. Both lakes showed increased release rates under reductive conditions and high pH values. The fractionation experiments revealed increased mobility of the reductive P fraction as well as of the NaOH-P fraction, indicating participation of both fractions in the overall release of sediment-bound P, depending on the prevailing environmental conditions. The results were assessed in combination with the release patterns of Fe, Mn, Ca, Al, and organic matter, enabling the identification of more specific processes of P release for each lake. The basic release patterns included the redox induced reductive dissolution of P-bearing metal oxides and the competitive exchange of phosphate anions with OH- at high pH values. The formation of an oxidized surface microlayer under oxic conditions acted as a protective film, preventing further P release from the sediments of Lake Volvi, while sediments from Lake Koronia exhibited a continuous and increased tendency to release P under various physicochemical conditions, acting as a constant source of internal P loading.     

Groundwater risk assessment at a heavily industrialised catchment and the associated impacts on a peri-urban wetland

Industrial and agricultural activities often impose significant pressures to the groundwater quality and consequently degrade wetland ecosystems that depend mostly on subsurface water flow. Groundwater vulnerability and risk mapping is a widely used approach to assess the natural protection of aquifers and the associated pollution potential from human activities. In the particular study, the relatively new Pan-European methodology (COP method) has been applied in a highly industrialized peri-urban wetland catchment, located close to Athens city, to map the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer and evaluate the risk potential originating from local land uses. Groundwater analysis results for various parameters, including Phenols, PCBs and nutrients, have been used to validate the vulnerability and risk estimations while a biological assessment occurred to associate the mapping results with the wetland's ecological status. The results indicated that even though the natural protection of the aquifer is relatively high due to the dominant hydrogeologic and geomorphologic conditions, the groundwater pollution risk is considerable, mainly because of the existing hazardous land uses. The water quality of the groundwater accredited these findings and the ecological status of this peri-urban wetland also indicated significant impacts from industrial effluents.     

Chemical characterisation of particulate matter in urban transport modes

Traffic is a main source of air pollutants in urban areas and consequently daily peak exposures tend to occur during commuting. Personal exposure to particulate matter (PM) was monitored while cycling and travelling by bus, car and metro along an assigned route in Lisbon (Portugal), focusing on PM2.5 and PM10 (PM with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 and 10 µm, respectively) mass concentrations and their chemical composition. In vehicles, the indoor-outdoor interplay was also evaluated. The PM2.5 mean concentrations were 28?±?5, 31?±?9, 34?±?9 and 38?±?21?µg/m³ for bus, bicycle, car and metro modes, respectively. Black carbon concentrations when travelling by car were 1.4 to 2.0 times higher than in the other transport modes due to the closer proximity to exhaust emissions. There are marked differences in PM chemical composition depending on transport mode. In particular, Fe was the most abundant component of metro PM, derived from abrasion of rail-wheel-brake interfaces. Enhanced concentrations of Zn and Cu in cars and buses were related with brake and tyre wear particles, which can penetrate into the vehicles. In the motorised transport modes, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni and K were correlated, evidencing their common traffic-related source. On average, the highest inhaled dose of PM2.5 was observed while cycling (55 µg), and the lowest in car travels (17 µg). Cyclists inhaled higher doses of PM2.5 due to both higher inhalation rates and longer journey times, with a clear enrichment in mineral elements. The presented results evidence the importance of considering the transport mode in exposure assessment studies.     

Determining the ventilation and aerosol deposition rates from routine indoor-air measurements

Measurement of air exchange rate provides critical information in energy and indoor-air quality studies. Continuous measurement of ventilation rates is a rather costly exercise and requires specific instrumentation. In this work, an alternative methodology is proposed and tested, where the air exchange rate is calculated by utilizing indoor and outdoor routine measurements of a common pollutant such as SO₂, whereas the uncertainties induced in the calculations are analytically determined. The application of this methodology is demonstrated, for three residential microenvironments in Athens, Greece, and the results are also compared against ventilation rates calculated from differential pressure measurements. The calculated time resolved ventilation rates were applied to the mass balance equation to estimate the particle loss rate which was found to agree with literature values at an average of 0.50 h^?1. The proposed method was further evaluated by applying a mass balance numerical model for the calculation of the indoor aerosol number concentrations, using the previously calculated ventilation rate, the outdoor measured number concentrations and the particle loss rates as input values. The model results for the indoors’ concentrations were found to be compared well with the experimentally measured values.     

Linking Hydrogeological and Ecological Tools for an Integrated River Catchment Assessment

Ecological (biological and hydrochemical assessment) and hydrogeological (vulnerability and pollution risk mapping) tools have been combined to assess the ecological quality and hydrogeological vulnerability of an agricultural river basin. In addition, the applicability of the recently developed vulnerability assessment approach (COP method) in the particular environmental conditions was tested by comparing its results with hydroecological assessment tools (i.e., pollution metrics). Five sampling sites were selected and sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical variables during summer and spring. Overall, sites ranged from moderate to poor ecological quality. The results illustrated that 26% of the study area was of moderate pollution risk, while 65% was classified as of low and very low risk zones. However, the higher elevation zones where calcareous rock formations are encountered presented moderate to high pollution risk that was accredited by the ecological quality assessment. Pollution metrics facilitated from hydrochemical analysis indicated a significant association with groundwater vulnerability, thus validating vulnerability and risk estimations. This study indicated that the particular groundwater pollution risk mapping methodology and the water quality assessment indices can be well combined to provide an integrated evaluation tool at a catchment scale.     

Co-occurrence profiles of trace elements in potable water systems: a case study

Potable water samples (N?=?74) from 19 zip code locations in a region of Greece were profiled for 13 trace elements composition using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The primary objective was to monitor the drinking water quality, while the primary focus was to find novel associations in trace elements occurrence that may further shed light on common links in their occurrence and fate in the pipe scales and corrosion products observed in urban drinking water distribution systems. Except for arsenic at two locations and in six samples, rest of the analyzed elements was below maximum contaminant levels, for which regulatory values are available. Further, we attempted to hierarchically cluster trace elements based on their covariances resulting in two groups; one with arsenic, antimony, zinc, cadmium, and copper and the second with the rest of the elements. The grouping trends were partially explained by elements’ similar chemical activities in water, underscoring their potential for co-accumulation and co-mobilization phenomena from pipe scales into finished water. Profiling patterns of trace elements in finished water could be indicative of their load on pipe scales and corrosion products, with a corresponding risk of episodic contaminant release. Speculation was made on the role of disinfectants and disinfection byproducts in mobilizing chemically similar trace elements of human health interest from pipe scales to tap water. It is warranted that further studies may eventually prove useful to water regulators from incorporating the acquired knowledge in the drinking water safety plans.