Occurrences and potential risks of 16 fragrances in five German sewage treatment plants and their receiving waters

Fragrances are used in a wide array of everyday products and enter the aquatic environment via wastewater. While several musk compounds have been studied in detail, little is known about the occurrence and fate of other fragrances. We selected 16 fragrance compounds and scrutinized their presence in Bavarian sewage treatment plants (STP) influents and effluents and discussed their ecological risks for the receiving surface waters. Moreover, we followed their concentrations along the path in one STP by corresponding time-related water sampling and derived the respective elimination rates in the purification process. Six fragrance substances (OTNE, HHCB, lilial, acetyl cedrene, menthol, and, in some grab samples, also methyl-dihydrojasmonate) could be detected in the effluents of the investigated sewage treatment plants. The other fragrances under scrutiny were only found in the inflow and were eliminated in the purification process. Only OTNE and HHCB were found in the receiving surface waters of the STP in congruent concentrations, which exceeded the preliminary derived environmental thresholds by a factor of 1.15 and 1.12, respectively, indicating potential risks. OTNE was also detected in similar concentration ranges as HHCB in muscles and livers of fish from surface waters and from ponds that are supplied with purified wastewater. The findings show that some fragrance compounds undergo high elimination rates, whereas others—not only musks—are present in receiving surface water and biota and may present a risk to local aquatic biota. Hence, our results suggest that the fate and potential effects of fragrance compounds in the aquatic environment deserve more attention.     

Spatial gradients of OCPs in European butter—integrating environmental and exposure information

The Stockholm Convention and the Global Monitoring Plan encourage the production of monitoring data to effectively evaluate the presence of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all regions, in order to identify changes in levels over time, as well as to provide information on their regional and global environmental transport. Here, we report the first step of two to investigate whether butter is a feasible matrix to screen with the purpose to reflect regional ambient atmospheric air levels of POPs. The first step described here is to generate monitoring data; the second is to investigate the relationship between the two matrixes, i.e., POP concentrations in air and butter, which will be reported in another article published in this journal. Here, the 27 organochlorine pesticides listed under the Stockholm Convention have been analyzed in 75 butter samples from Europe. The general conclusions were as follows: Total organochlorine pesticide concentration is lower in butter from northern and central Europe. The spatial gradient of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-di(4-chlorophenyl)ethane and hexachlorocyclohexane is increasing in the eastern region of Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine), dieldrin towards France, and endosulfan levels were elevated on the Azores Island in the Atlantic Ocean. One butter sample from Romania exceeded the European Maximum Residue Limit value for lindane, but the other butter pesticide levels were all below the limit values. The dataset reported here can be used for the calibration of the air–grass–dairy products model, which would support the feasibility to use butter as biomonitor for measuring POP levels in ambient air.     

A Review of the Main Driving Factors of Forest Fire Ignition Over Europe

Knowledge of the causes of forest fires, and of the main driving factors of ignition, is an indispensable step towards effective fire prevention policies. This study analyses the factors driving forest fire ignition in the Mediterranean region including the most common human and environmental factors used for modelling in the European context. Fire ignition factors are compared to spatial and temporal variations of fire occurrence in the region, then are compared to results obtained in other areas of the world, with a special focus on North America (US and Canada) where a significant number of studies has been carried out on this topic. The causes of forest fires are varied and their distribution differs among countries, but may also differ spatially and temporally within the same country. In Europe, and especially in the Mediterranean basin, fires are mostly human-caused mainly due arson. The distance to transport networks and the distance to urban or recreation areas are among the most frequently used human factors in modelling exercises and the Wildland-Urban Interface is increasingly taken into account in the modelling of fire occurrence. Depending on the socio-economic context of the region concerned, factors such as the unemployment rate or variables linked to agricultural activity can explain the ignition of intentional and unintentional fires. Regarding environmental factors, those related to weather, fuel and topography are the most significant drivers of ignition of forest fires, especially in Mediterranean-type regions. For both human and lightning-caused fires, there is a geographical gradient of fire ignition, mainly due to variations in climate and fuel composition but also to population density for instance. The timing of fires depends on their causes. In populated areas, the timing of human-caused fires is closely linked to human activities and peaks in the afternoon whereas, in remote areas, the timing of lightning-caused fires is more linked to weather conditions and the season, with most such fires occurring in summer.     

Effects of oxygen exposure on anaerobic digester sludge.

Recuperative thickening of anaerobic digester sludge (thickening with solids return) yields increased digester capacity. Common thickening methods cause oxygen exposure to the digester sludge. This study evaluated the effects of various levels of oxygen exposure on the acetoclastic methanogens. Gravity belt thickening had no detrimental effect on the acetoclastic activity. From a 7-day batch test with continuous oxygen exposure of digester sludge, a 12% loss in acetoclastic activity was predicted for a digester with a 20-day solids retention time (SRT) and 100% recycle with recuperative thickening via dissolved air flotation thickening. However, a greater loss (27%) was found from a long-term, bench-scale digester operated under similar conditions. This loss did not affect the digester performance, as measured by volatile solids destruction. This research suggests that recuperative thickening may not affect digester performance at a long SRT with constant operation, but may change the reserve capacity of the anaerobic community.     

Technical and environmental effects of concrete production: dry batch versus central mixed plant

Current environmental and economical circumstances accelerate the developments of new concrete constituents. Whereas the process technology impacts the mix-design strategy, it seems obvious that manufacturing process is prone to evolutions. This article presents a method to compare environmental and economical consequences of different technological solutions on the basis of the influence on the cement consumption needed for a given concrete performance. Case study is the choice of dry batch or central mixed concrete production systems for a ready mixed concrete production. The theoretical difference in cement consumption is estimated by considering that the water content fluctuation is by far the dominant factor governing the truck to truck variation. The addition of a mixer is effectively found to contribute to cement reduction. Environmental comparison is performed using an EADT indicator (Environmental Amortization Duration Time) defined in the article, and testing various environmental data. The EADT for energy consumption, released CO₂ and particles are found below 6 years, in the whole range of tested environmental data for an annual production of 40,000 m³ yr^?1, with 2 m³ mixer for the central mixed concrete plant. The NO_x and SO₂ EADT results are found sensitive to the releases of the steel plant. The financial amortization duration time corresponding to the purchase of a mixer, is found less than 2 years. Although the chosen application case is simplified, these results encourage further research.