To provide the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey used five newly developed analytical methods to measure concentrations of 95 OWCs in water samples from a network of 139 streams across 30 states during 1999 and 2000. The selection of sampling sites was biased toward streams susceptible to contamination (i.e. downstream of intense urbanization and livestock production). OWCs were prevalent during this study, being found in 80% of the streams sampled. The compounds detected represent a wide range of residential, industrial, and agricultural origins and uses with 82 of the 95 OWCs being found during this study. The most frequently detected compounds were coprostanol (fecal steroid), cholesterol (plant and animal steroid), N,N-diethyltoluamide (insect repellant), caffeine (stimulant), triclosan (antimicrobial disinfectant), tri(2-chloroethyl)phosphate (fire retardant), and 4-nonylphenol (nonionic detergent metabolite). Measured concentrations for this study were generally low and rarely exceeded drinking-water guidelines, drinking-water health advisories, or aquatic-life criteria. Many compounds, however, do not have such guidelines established. The detection of multiple OWCs was common for this study, with a median of seven and as many as 38 OWCs being found in a given water sample. Little is known about the potential interactive effects (such as synergistic or antagonistic toxicity) that may occur from complex mixtures of OWCs in the environment. In addition, results of this study demonstrate the importance of obtaining data on metabolites to fully understand not only the fate and transport of OWCs in the hydrologic system but also their ultimate overall effect on human health and the environment.

/pdf/pharmaceuticals-hormones-and-other-organic-wastewater-1tge16xbvm.pdf

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999-2000: a national reconnaissance.

2 1 The innovative transport systems and the CityMobil project 10 1.1 The research questions 10 2 The state of art in the field of automatic transport systems 12 2.1 Case studies and demand studies for innovative transport systems 12 3 The design and implementation of surveys 14 3.1 Definition of experimental design 14 3.2 Questionnaire design and delivery 16 3.3 First analyses on the collected sample 18 4 Calibration of Logit Multionomial demand models 21 4.1 Methodology 21 4.2 Calibration of the “full” model. 22 4.3 Calibration of the “final” model 24 4.4 The demand analysis through the final Multinomial Logit model 25 5 The analysis of interaction between the demand and socioeconomic attributes 31 5.1 Methodology 31 5.2 Application of Mixed Logit models to the demand 31 5.3 Analysis of the interactions between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models 32 5.4 Mixed Logit model and interaction between age and the demand for the CTS 38 5.5 Demand analysis with Mixed Logit model 39 6 Final analyses and conclusions 45 6.1 Comparison between the results of the analyses 45 6.2 Conclusions 48 6.3 Answers to the research questions and future developments 52

The European commission

One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics. Within just a few decades since mass production of plastic...

/pdf/accumulation-and-fragmentation-of-plastic-debris-in-global-2ayi1pcd8z.pdf

Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.

http://faculty.wwu.edu/shulld/esci%20101/Cole2011Plastics.pdf

Microplastics as contaminants in the marine environment: a review.

Antibiotics in the aquatic environment - A review - Part II

Based on a literature review and an overview of toxic effects of engineered nanoparticles in aquatic invertebrates, this paper proposes a number of recommendations for the developing field of nanoecotoxicology by highlighting the importance of invertebrates as sensitive and relevant test organisms. Results show that there is a pronounced lack of data in this field (less than 20 peer-reviewed papers are published so far), and the most frequently tested engineered nanoparticles in invertebrate tests are C(60), carbon nanotubes, and titanium dioxide. In addition, the majority of the studies have used Daphnia magna as the test organism. To date, the limited number of studies has indicated acute toxicity in the low mg l(-1) range and higher of engineered nanoparticles to aquatic invertebrates, although some indications of chronic toxicity and behavioral changes have also been described at concentrations in the high microg l(-1) range. Nanoparticles have also been found to act as contaminant carriers of co-existing contaminants and this interaction has altered the toxicity of specific chemicals towards D. magna. We recommend that invertebrate testing is used to advance the level of knowledge in nanoecotoxicology through standardized short-term (lethality) tests with invertebrates as a basis for investigating behaviour and bioavailability of engineered nanoparticles in the aquatic environment. Based on this literature review, we further recommend that research is directed towards invertebrate tests employing long-term low exposure with chronic endpoints along with more research in bioaccumulation of engineered nanoparticles in aquatic invertebrates.

Ecotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles to aquatic invertebrates: a brief review and recommendations for future toxicity testing.

This review provides a critical analysis of the biological effects of the most widely used plasticizers, including dibutyl phthalate, diethylhexyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate and bisphenol A (BPA), on wildlife, with a focus on annelids (both aquatic and terrestrial), molluscs, crustaceans, insects, fish and amphibians. Moreover, the paper provides novel data on the biological effects of some of these plasticizers in invertebrates, fish and amphibians. Phthalates and BPA have been shown to affect reproduction in all studied animal groups, to impair development in crustaceans and amphibians and to induce genetic aberrations. Molluscs, crustaceans and amphibians appear to be especially sensitive to these compounds, and biological effects are observed at environmentally relevant exposures in the low ng l−1 to µg l−1 range. In contrast, most effects in fish (except for disturbance in spermatogenesis) occur at higher concentrations. Most plasticizers appear to act by interfering with the functioning of various hormone systems, but some phthalates have wider pathways of disruption. Effect concentrations of plasticizers in laboratory experiments coincide with measured environmental concentrations, and thus there is a very real potential for effects of these chemicals on some wildlife populations. The most striking gaps in our current knowledge on the impacts of plasticizers on wildlife are the lack of data for long-term exposures to environmentally relevant concentrations and their ecotoxicity when part of complex mixtures. Furthermore, the hazard of plasticizers has been investigated in annelids, molluscs and arthropods only, and given the sensitivity of some invertebrates, effects assessments are warranted in other invertebrate phyla.

/pdf/a-critical-analysis-of-the-biological-impacts-of-3bvo8mo00v.pdf

A critical analysis of the biological impacts of plasticizers on wildlife.

Acute and chronic toxicity of veterinary antibiotics to Daphnia magna.

†Section of Environmental Chemistry, Department of Analytical and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy,Universitetsparken 2, Kobenhavn O DK-2100, Denmark‡Department for Environment and Resources, Building 115, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark(Received 7 December 2000; Accepted 26 April 2001)Abstract—Test compounds including natural hormones, endocrine disrupters, environmentally occurring compounds, and referencecompounds were tested for acute toxicity and inhibitory effect on larval development in the copepodAcartia tonsa.Threecompounds,17a-ethinylestradiol,p-octylphenol, and tamoxifen, known for their differing effects on the vertebrate estrogen system, were potentinhibitors of naupliar development. Other estrogens, 17b-estradiol, estrone, and bisphenol A, had little potency. Testosterone andprogesterone did not inhibit development, but the antiandrogen ﬂutamide had inhibitory effect. Juvenile hormone III was a potentinhibitor, as was expected based on the literature, whereas 20-hydroxyecdysone had no effect. 3,4-Dichloroaniline was inhibitoryon development, whereas other control compounds, potassium dichromate and 3,5-dichlorophenol, did not inhibit development.Six of the 17 test compounds had 50% lethal concentration to 50% effective concentration (EC50) ratios higher than 10. The resultssuggest that naupliar development, as a parameter, is able to detect hormonal disrupters in addition to other chemicals that haveother speciﬁc modes of action.Keywords—Copepod Molting Endocrine disruption Estrogen EcdysoneINTRODUCTION

Development of copepod nauplii to copepodites--a parameter for chronic toxicity including endocrine disruption.

A short-term acute toxicity assay for willow trees growing in contaminated solution or in polluted soil was developed and tested. The test apparatus consists of an Erlenmeyer flask with a prerooted tree cutting growing in it. Growth and reduction of transpiration are used to determine toxicity. Transpiration is closely related to photosynthesis and growth, but is easier and faster to measure and can be measured without disturbance of the test system. Plants are grown for 24 h in uncontaminated nutrient solution before the toxicant is added to determine the initial transpiration. The loss of weight is expressed as % decrease after 48 and 72 h or longer compared to the initial transpiration, divided by the transpiration of control plants. More toxicity parameters are growth and water use efficiency of the plants. The sensitivity of the test was evaluated with 3,5-dichlorophenol. EC(50) values between 5.8 and 9.6 mg/L were found. This is similar to the results from algal growth rate tests. The willow tree toxicity test may be useful for determining the site-specific toxicity of polluted soils and for terrestrial risk assessment of new chemicals and pesticides.

Kresten Ole Kusk

Papers

Ecotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles to aquatic invertebrates: a brief review and recommendations for future toxicity testing.

A critical analysis of the biological impacts of plasticizers on wildlife.

Acute and chronic toxicity of veterinary antibiotics to Daphnia magna.

Development of copepod nauplii to copepodites--a parameter for chronic toxicity including endocrine disruption.

A phytotoxicity test using transpiration of willows.