Presence of diclofenac,estradiol, and ethinylestradiol in Manzanares River (Spain) and their toxicity to zebrafish embryo development

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Diclofenac (DCF), 17-β-estradiol (E2), and 17-α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are emerging pollutants included in the first watch list agreed by...     

Environmental remediation processes by zero valence copper: reaction mechanisms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Recent studies have shown Cu(0) as a promising material for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. However, there is no review addressing...     

Sources and behaviour of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in Spanish sewage sludge

Presence, sources and behaviour of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were evaluated in Spanish sewage sludge. A total of 120 samples were seasonally collected from October 2005 to September 2006 at 31 urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Concentrations of PBDEs (ranging between 57.5 and 2606 ng/g dry weight) were two to three orders of magnitude higher than those obtained for PCDDs (0.17-5.03 ng/g d.w.) and PCDFs (0.05-3.07 ng/g d.w.). All the samples presented International Toxicity Equivalents (I-TEQ) levels (ranging between 2.06 and 44.4 ng/kg d.w.) below the limit values proposed by European Union for land application. Congener patterns evaluation revealed that the use of Deca-BDE commercial mixture seems to be the major source of PBDEs in the sludge. Nevertheless, origin of PCDD/Fs should be related to atmospheric deposition, faeces and presence of PCDD/Fs precursors such as pentachlorophenol in the sludge. No correlations (p > 0.05) were found between pollutant concentrations (PBDEs and PCDD/Fs) and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) characteristics (capacity nor sludge rate). Lower levels of PBDEs and PCDFs were found in WWTPs using biological nitrogen and phosphorous elimination, suggesting that these compounds are susceptible of microbial elimination. According to our knowledge, this is the first work comparing together both PBDEs and PCDD/Fs sludge patterns.     

Measurement of machinery safety level: European framework for product control: Particular case: Spanish framework for market surveillance

Current brief aims to introduce the concept of safety in European industrial sectors, particularly in mechanics and machinery industry. It also highlights the importance to ensure an even level of machinery safety along the European Union, setting up the appropriate frame and procedures to keep it under control. An overview over market surveillance activities for machinery (regulations, main actors and their roles) first at Community level, and secondly an approach to one of the Member States is also introduced.     

Natural forest expansion on reclaimed coal mines in Northern Spain: the role of native shrubs as suitable microsites

The characterization of suitable microsites for tree seedling establishment and growth is one of the most important tasks to achieve the restoration of native forest using natural processes in disturbed sites. For that, we assessed the natural Quercus petraea forest expansion in a 20-year-old reclaimed open-cast mine under sub-Mediterranean climate in northern Spain, monitoring seedling survival, growth, and recruitment during 5 years in three contrasting environments (undisturbed forest, mine edge, and mine center). Seedling density and proportion of dead branches decreased greatly from undisturbed forest towards the center of the mine. There was a positive effect of shrubs on Q. petraea seedling establishment in both mine environments, which increase as the environment undergoes more stress (from the mine edge to the center of the mine), and it was produced by different shrub structural features in each mine environment. Seedling survival reduction through time in three environments did not lead to a density reduction because there was a yearly recruitment of new seedlings. Seedling survival, annual growth, and height through time were greater in mine sites than in the undisturbed forest. The successful colonization patterns and positive neighbor effect of shrubs on natural seedlings establishment found in this study during the first years support the use of shrubs as ecosystem engineers to increase heterogeneity in micro-environmental conditions on reclaimed mine sites, which improves late-successional Quercus species establishment.     

Use of an inverse dispersion technique for estimating ammonia emission from surface-applied slurry

Ammonia (NH₃) emission from land application of manure is typically measured using the integrated horizontal flux (IHF) micrometeorological method. However, there are some situations in which alternative techniques (such as an inverse dispersion modelling technique) might be preferable, for example when measuring from large or irregularly shaped source areas. In this study, an inverse dispersion technique using the backward Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) model, with 2 different experimental configurations, was compared with the Integrated Horizontal Flux method (i.e. IHF), which was used as reference technique. Pig slurry was surface-applied at 125 kg N ha^?1 to bare soil on a large plot (80 × 125 m). Cumulative emissions were 19.3, 21.2 and 18.4 kg N ha^?1 from the IHF and the bLS technique (experimental configurations I and II), respectively. Mean flux within each sampling period as estimated by the two techniques compared extremely well, with a slope not significantly different from 1 and r² of 0.99. Although limited in extent, this dataset agree with a previous study in demonstrating the use of the bLS technique with longer period time-averaged concentration measurements.     

Distribution and biological impact of dioxin-like compounds in risk zones along the Ebro River basin (Spain)

The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the environmental impact associated to PCDDs/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in the Ebro River basin. Sediments and fish from several species were sampled at three sites with different historical pollution records, including the Barbastro area with different industrial activities, and the Flix and Monzón sites, associated to heavy organochlorine compound pollution. Seventeen toxic PCDDs/Fs and 12 dioxin-like PCBs were analyzed by GC-MS. The results obtained indicated significant accumulation of dioxin-like PCBs, but not PCDDs/Fs, in sediments and fish at the Flix site compared to the other sites. Concomitantly, cytochrome p450 1A (CYP1A) expression, a known indicator for pollution by dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, was significantly elevated in barbel (Barbus graellsii) from the Flix site, compared to the population from the Barbastro site. CYP1A expression correlated with the concentration of dioxin-like PCBs in the fish fat, whereas no significant correlation was found with PCDDs/Fs concentrations. Our data suggest a significant biological impact at the Flix site, closely related to the presence of dioxin-like PCBs, whereas the PCDDs/Fs contribution to this impact appears to be non-significant, at least in the studied sites.