Determination of estrogenic activity in the river Chienti (Marche Region, Italy) by using in vivo and in vitro bioassays

Environmental estrogen-like compounds (i.e. xenoestrogens) are a variety of pollutants, ranging from synthetic to natural occurring molecules, that are found in surface and waste waters over a wide range of concentrations. In aquatic environment, the overall estrogenic activity is often due to the presence of a mixture of chemicals and their degraded products which can induce synergistic effects. Current strategies for monitoring estrogen-like chemicals are based on the use of a battery of in vivo and in vitro ecotoxicological tests. In this regard, the aim of the present work was to carry out a bio-monitoring study for testing estrogenicity of the Chienti river (Marche Region, Italy) by using both an E-screen and a vitellogenin (Vtg) induction assay in juvenile goldfish. Three sites were used for analysis, localized at the mouth (sampling point 1), in the middle (sampling point 2) and at the origin (sampling point 3) of Chienti river. For most of the water samples (i.e. samples collected at sampling points 2 and 3), clear estrogenic activity was detected in the E-screen assay suggesting different proliferation activities in function of the collecting site. In contrast, the Vtg ELISA demonstrated that water samples collected from each sampling point were estrogenic. Overall, we showed for the first time that the estrogenic activities in water samples from the Chienti river were significant in both in vivo and in vitro; we also observed a different sensitivity between bioassays.     

Simulating the fate of indigenous antibiotic resistant bacteria in a mild slope wastewater polluted stream

The fate of indigenous surface-water and wastewater antibiotic resistant bacteria in a mild slope stream simulated through a hydraulic channel was investigated in outdoor experiments.The effect of(i) natural(dark) decay,(ii) sunlight,(iii) cloudy cover,(iv) adsorption to the sediment,(v) hydraulic conditions,(vi) discharge of urban wastewater treatment plant(UWTP)effluent and(vii) bacterial species(presumptive Escherichia coli and enterococci) was evaluated.Half-life time(T1/2) of E. coli under sunlight was in the range 6.48–27.7 min(initial bacterial concentration of 10~5 CFU/mL) depending on hydraulic and sunlight conditions. E. coli inactivation was quite similar in sunny and cloudy day experiments in the early 2 hr, despite of the light intensity gradient was in the range of 15–59 W/m~2; but subsequently the inactivation rate decreased in the cloudy day experiment(T1/2= 23.0 min) compared to sunny day(T_(1/2)= 17.4 min). The adsorption of bacterial cells to the sediment(biofilm) increased in the first hour and then was quite stable for the remaining experimental time. Finally, when the discharge of an UWTP effluent in the stream was simulated, the proportion of indigenous antibiotic resistant E. coli and enterococci was found to increase as the exposure time increased, thus showing a higher resistance to solar inactivation compared to the respective total populations.     

POEMS: A Case Study of an Italian Wine-Producing Firm

Over the last decade, researchers paid much attention to concepts such as Design for Environment, Extended Producer Responsibility, Responsible Chain Management, and Eco-design. Many management tools and standards (such as EMAS, ISO 14001, LCA, EPD, Ecolabel) have been developed to support companies in the evaluation and management of their environmental performance and to pursue continual environmental improvement. The more recent development of the aforesaid fields looks at interorganizational environmental management. Such an approach can complement the more traditional intraorganizational corporate environmental management approaches and tools. A typical example of this new trend is the Product Oriented Environmental Management System (POEMS), which represents the natural evolution of the above-mentioned tools, combining the features of EMS, EPD and Ecolabel. Although the structure of the POEMS is still not standardized, many experimental applications have yet been carried out in Europe. In developing a POEMS, a company needs to determine all of the environmental impacts caused at all life-cycle stages of the product and, ideally, to reduce all of them through a continual commitment. The aim of the present study was to perform a survey of the developed POEMS models and to analyze their peculiarities and drawbacks in the application to Small and Medium Enterprises. A case study regarding an Italian winery company is presented. The study analyzes the structure and the activities of the examined firm, in order to estimate direct and indirect environmental impacts following a life-cycle approach. The chosen functional unit is a 0.75-L bottle of red wine. The article also suggests some solutions to improve the environmental performances of the firm’s products.     

Determining the role of the method used to recycle polypropylene waste materials from automotive industry using sepiolite and zeolite fillers

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this work, the effectiveness of a rapid recycling method of waste polypropylene (WPP) with the addition of inorganic fillers was investigated....     

Semen quality as a potential susceptibility indicator to SARS-CoV-2 insults in polluted areas

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The epidemic of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted worldwide with its infectious spread and mortality...     

Effects of fluvial instability on the bed morphology in vegetated channels

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Flume experiments are conducted to investigate the effect of streambed instability in channels with randomly-distributed vegetation, varying vegetation density and...     

Application of laser ablation ICP-MS and traditional techniques to the study of black crusts on building stones: a new methodological approach

Introduction  

In this work, we propose an innovative application of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) as a methodological approach for the chemical characterisation of black crusts on stone monuments, associated with traditional micro-morphological (optical and scanning electron microscopy) and infrared spectroscopic techniques (FTIR).