This study investigates the presence of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the drinking water supplies in the Czech Republic using a risk-based monitoring approach. Tap water samples (n = 27) from sources close to areas potentially contaminated with PFAS were analysed. A total of 28 PFAS were measured using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry after solid phase extraction. Total PFAS concentrations (∑PFAS) varied from undetectable to 90.8 ng/L, with perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA) and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) being the most abundant, detected in over 70% of samples. Risk-based monitoring in drinking water showed that commercial wells had higher PFAS levels compared to tap water, particularly C4-C9 perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), possibly due to proximity to industrial areas. However, the hypothesis that risk-based monitoring is more effective than random monitoring was not confirmed, possibly because specific sources did not produce the target PFAS or because of the wide range and less obvious sources of potential contamination. The study also assessed exposure risks and compliance with regulatory thresholds. Weekly intake estimates for adults and children indicated that regular consumption of most contaminated water sample would exceed the tolerable weekly intake. Compared to EU regulations, none of the tap water samples exceeded the 'Sum of PFAS' parametric value of 100 ng/L, though one sample approached this limit. In addition, surface water samples from the Jizera River (n = 21) showed a wider range of PFAS, with C7-C10 PFCAs, PFBS, and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in every sample, with higher PFOS concentrations at a median of 2.56 ng/L. ∑PFAS concentrations increased downstream, rising from 1.08 ng/L near the spring to 26 ng/L downstream. This comprehensive analysis highlights the need for detailed/areal monitoring to also address hidden or non-obvious sources of PFAS contamination.
- MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical * analysis MeSH
- Solid Phase Extraction MeSH
- Fluorocarbons * analysis MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring * methods MeSH
- Drinking Water * chemistry MeSH
- Tandem Mass Spectrometry MeSH
- Environmental Exposure analysis statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
Electronic waste (e-waste) poses significant environmental and health risks in Thailand due to both domestic production and international imports. A notable portion of this waste is processed in small-scale, community-based workshops, often located in poorer regions, where safety regulations are improperly enforced or entirely ignored. This study focuses on the Kalasin province in Northern Thailand, a region with numerous such workshops, where no comprehensive analysis of exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus (DP) has been conducted. The study's objective was to quantify these toxic substances in environmental and biological samples to assess its contamination and human health risks. Environmental samples, including soil, dust, sediment, ash, eggs, crabs, snails, fish, and rice, were collected from e-waste processing sites and compared with control areas. Blood samples from e-waste workers and a control group were also analysed. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry operated in negative ion chemical ionization (GC-NCI-MS) was used to quantify PBDEs and DP isomers. Results showed significantly higher concentrations of these toxic compounds in e-waste sites compared to control areas. E-waste workers also had elevated levels of these substances in their blood, suggesting exposure through contaminated dust and food. These findings underscore the severe environmental contamination and health risks associated with improper e-waste management, highlighting the urgent need for regulatory measures and improved recycling practices to safeguard both environmental and public health.
- MeSH
- Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated * analysis blood MeSH
- Electronic Waste * analysis MeSH
- Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers * analysis toxicity blood MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants analysis blood MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Polycyclic Compounds * analysis MeSH
- Dust analysis MeSH
- Occupational Exposure analysis MeSH
- Recycling * MeSH
- Environmental Exposure adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Thailand MeSH
Státní zdravotní ústav je od roku 1994 pověřen garantováním Systému monitorování zdravotního stavu obyvatelstva ve vztahu k životnímu prostředí. V letošním roce (2024) slavíme 30. výročí založení tohoto systému. Cílem systému je dosáhnout systematického a transparentního hodnocení negativních vlivů, které působí na českou populaci. Důležitou roli hraje dietární expozice. Pro monitorování dietární expozice je třeba znalost národní spotřeby potravin na individuální úrovni, určení nejvýznamnějších druhů potravin v obvyklé dietě, jejich běžná kulinární úprava, kombinace do kompozitních vzorků k laboratorní analýze zájmových chemických látek, výpočet expozičních dávek a charakterizace zdravotního rizika pro spotřebitele. V současné době probíhá dvouletý cyklus 2024–2025 dle nastaveného systému. Během předchozího cyklu (2022–2023) byly vzorky potravin odebírány v 8 obdobích, 4 regionech v 96 různých prodejnách, na 40 místech republiky. Také bylo provedeno 8 online nákupů. Nakoupeno bylo celkem 3 432 individuálních vzorků potravin. Potraviny byly kulinárně zpracovány a smíchány do 143 jednotlivých typů kompozitních vzorků. Celkem bylo za dvouleté období zpracováno 880 regionálních a 220 reprezentativních kompozitních vzorků pro chemickou analýzu na cca 70 chemických látek. Výsledky jsou rámcově srovnávány dlouhodobě jako trend vývoje chronické expoziční dávky u kontaminantů a vývoje adekvátnosti přívodu u nutrientů. Vědecky podložené hodnocení zdravotních rizik na základě dat monitoringu dietární expozice již přispělo k obhájení některých rozhodnutí příslušných orgánů ČR i na mezinárodní úrovni s významnými finančními dopady.
Since 1994, the National Institute of Public Health has been entrusted with guaranteeing the Environmental Health Monitoring System. This year (2024), we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of this system. The goal of the system is to achieve a systematic and transparent assessment of environmental and health effects that affect the Czech population. Dietary exposure plays an important role. The monitoring of dietary exposure requires the knowledge of the national food consumption at an individual level, determination of important foods in the usual diet, usual culinary preparations, combination into composite samples for laboratory analysis of chemical substances of interest, and calculation of exposure doses and characterization of the health risk for consumers. Currently, the two-year cycle 2024/2025 is taking place according to the set system. During the previous cycle (2022/2023), food samples were taken in 8 periods and 4 regions of the country. Totally 96 purchases in 40 different places across the whole country plus 8 online purchases were made. A total of 3,432 individual food samples were collected. The foods were culinary processed and mixed into 143 individual types of composite samples. In total, 880 regional and 220 representative composite samples were analyzed for approximately 70 chemical substances over a two-year period. The results are broadly compared in the long term to monitor a trend in the development of the chronic exposure dose for contaminants and the intake adequacy for nutrients. The health risks assessment based on dietary exposure monitoring data has among others contributed to better governmental decisions with significant positive economic impacts.
Phthalates and the substitute plasticizer DINCH belong to the first group of priority substances investigated by the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) to answer policy-relevant questions and safeguard an efficient science-to-policy transfer of results. Human internal exposure levels were assessed using two data sets from all European regions and Israel. The first collated existing human biomonitoring (HBM) data (2005-2019). The second consisted of new data generated in the harmonized "HBM4EU Aligned Studies" (2014-2021) on children and teenagers for the ten most relevant phthalates and DINCH, accompanied by a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program for 17 urinary exposure biomarkers. Exposures differed between countries, European regions, age groups and educational levels. Toxicologically derived Human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs) were exceeded in up to 5% of the participants of the HBM4EU Aligned Studies. A mixture risk assessment (MRA) including five reprotoxic phthalates (DEHP, DnBP, DiBP, BBzP, DiNP) revealed that for about 17% of the children and teenagers, health risks cannot be excluded. Concern about male reproductive health emphasized the need to include other anti-androgenic substances for MRA. Contaminated food and the use of personal care products were identified as relevant exposure determinants paving the way for new regulatory measures. Time trend analyses verified the efficacy of regulations: especially for the highly regulated phthalates exposure dropped significantly, while levels of the substitutes DINCH and DEHTP increased. The HBM4EU e-waste study, however, suggests that workers involved in e-waste management may be exposed to higher levels of restricted phthalates. Exposure-effect association studies indicated the relevance of a range of endpoints. A set of HBM indicators was derived to facilitate and accelerate science-to-policy transfer. Result indicators allow different groups and regions to be easily compared. Impact indicators allow health risks to be directly interpreted. The presented results enable successful science-to-policy transfer and support timely and targeted policy measures.
- MeSH
- Biological Monitoring * MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Phthalic Acids * urine MeSH
- Environmental Pollutants * urine MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Environmental Exposure analysis MeSH
- Plasticizers * analysis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Review MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
BACKGROUND: Model-estimated air pollution exposure products have been widely used in epidemiological studies to assess the health risks of particulate matter with diameters of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5). However, few studies have assessed the disparities in health effects between model-estimated and station-observed PM2.5 exposures. METHODS: We collected daily all-cause, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality data in 347 cities across 15 countries and regions worldwide based on the Multi-City Multi-Country collaborative research network. The station-observed PM2.5 data were obtained from official monitoring stations. The model-estimated global PM2.5 product was developed using a machine-learning approach. The associations between daily exposure to PM2.5 and mortality were evaluated using a two-stage analytical approach. RESULTS: We included 15.8 million all-cause, 1.5 million respiratory and 4.5 million cardiovascular deaths from 2000 to 2018. Short-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with a relative risk increase (RRI) of mortality from both station-observed and model-estimated exposures. Every 10-μg/m3 increase in the 2-day moving average PM2.5 was associated with overall RRIs of 0.67% (95% CI: 0.49 to 0.85), 0.68% (95% CI: -0.03 to 1.39) and 0.45% (95% CI: 0.08 to 0.82) for all-cause, respiratory, and cardiovascular mortality based on station-observed PM2.5 and RRIs of 0.87% (95% CI: 0.68 to 1.06), 0.81% (95% CI: 0.08 to 1.55) and 0.71% (95% CI: 0.32 to 1.09) based on model-estimated exposure, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality risks associated with daily PM2.5 exposure were consistent for both station-observed and model-estimated exposures, suggesting the reliability and potential applicability of the global PM2.5 product in epidemiological studies.
- MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Cardiovascular Diseases * mortality MeSH
- Air Pollutants * adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Mortality trends MeSH
- Respiratory Tract Diseases mortality MeSH
- Particulate Matter * adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Machine Learning MeSH
- Cities * epidemiology MeSH
- Environmental Exposure * adverse effects MeSH
- Air Pollution * adverse effects analysis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
- Comparative Study MeSH
- Geographicals
- Cities * epidemiology MeSH
- MeSH
- Rodent Control * ethics organization & administration legislation & jurisprudence MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Professional Competence legislation & jurisprudence MeSH
- Sewage * adverse effects MeSH
- Rodenticides administration & dosage MeSH
- Information Storage and Retrieval MeSH
- Sanitary Engineering methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
The northern part of James Ross Island is the largest deglaciated area in the Antarctic Peninsula region with a unique ecosystem created during the Late Glacial. This research aims to evaluate the degree of contamination of the locality with toxic metals (As, Hg, Cd, and Pb) through bioindicators in the aquatic environment-colonies of cyanobacteria and algae. For this purpose, bottom lake sediments of Big Lachman Lake were studied for contents of Fe, As, Hg, Cd, Pb, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn, as well as samples of cyanobacterial mat, in which Fe, As, Hg, Cd, and Pb were determined. Metal contents were determined by means of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry. The contents of metals in sediments did not differ from the usual values in the area of the Antarctic Peninsula. The bioaccumulation of metals in cyanobacterial mat was evaluated by calculating enrichment factors (the calculation to Fe as a reference element). According to this method, moderate pollution of Big Lachman Lake was confirmed for Hg and Cd.
- MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical * analysis MeSH
- Ecosystem MeSH
- Geologic Sediments chemistry MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Lakes chemistry MeSH
- Cadmium analysis MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Lead analysis MeSH
- Mercury * analysis MeSH
- Cyanobacteria * MeSH
- Metals, Heavy * analysis MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Antarctic Regions MeSH
(1) The occurrence and accumulation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment are recognized scientific concerns. Many of these compounds are disposed of in an unchanged or metabolized form through sewage systems and wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). WWTP processes do not completely eliminate all active substances or their metabolites. Therefore, they systematically leach into the water system and are increasingly contaminating ground, surface, and drinking water, representing a health risk largely ignored by legislative bodies. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a significantly larger amount of medicines and protective products were consumed. It is therefore likely that contamination of water sources has increased, and in the case of groundwater with a delayed effect. As a result, it is necessary to develop an accurate, rapid, and easily available method applicable to routine screening analyses of potable water to monitor and estimate their potential health risk. (2) A multi-residue UHPLC-MS/MS analytical method designed for the identification of 52 pharmaceutical products was developed and used to monitor their presence in drinking water. (3) The optimized method achieved good validation parameters, with recovery of 70-120% of most analytes and repeatability achieving results within 20%. In real samples of drinking water, at least one analyte above the limit of determination was detected in each of the 15 tap water and groundwater samples analyzed. (4) These findings highlight the need for legislation to address pharmaceutical contamination in the environment.
- MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical * analysis MeSH
- Chromatography, Liquid MeSH
- COVID-19 * epidemiology MeSH
- Cosmetics * analysis MeSH
- Pharmaceutical Preparations MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Pandemics MeSH
- Drinking Water * chemistry MeSH
- Tandem Mass Spectrometry methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
One of the flagship actions of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe is to address environmental challenges associated with pharmaceutical use. This includes strengthening the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) at marketing authorisation (MA) of pharmaceuticals, and revision of the pharmaceutical legislation where needed. The overall aim of an ERA should be to enable comprehensive and effective identification and management of environmental risks of pharmaceuticals without affecting the availability of pharmaceuticals to patients. As experts in the evaluation of ERAs of human medicinal products submitted by pharmaceutical industries (Applicants), we have summarized the current status of the ERA and suggest legislative changes to improve environmental protection without affecting availability. Six regulatory goals were defined and discussed, including possible ways forward: 1) mandatory ERAs in accordance to the EMA guideline at the time of the MA, 2) enforcement of risk mitigation measures including re-evaluation of the ERA, 3) facilitated exchange of environmental data between pharmaceutical and environmental legislations, 4) substance-based assessments, 5) transparency of data, and 6) a catching-up procedure for active pharmaceutical ingredients that lack an ERA. These legislative proposals can be considered as prerequisites for a harmonised assessment and effective management of environmental risks and hazards of human pharmaceuticals.
- MeSH
- Drug Industry * MeSH
- Risk Assessment MeSH
- Pharmaceutical Preparations MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring * methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
As Europe's second longest river, the Danube is an important water source for drinking water and irrigation for many countries, before discharging into the Black Sea in the East. Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been observed over the last two decades in concentrations exceeding the European Union's drinking water guidelines for total sum of 20 select PFAS of 0.1 μg L-1. Their presence is a result of current and historical use and high environmental persistence, necessitating their monitoring for human risk assessments. The aim of this study is to use recently developed passive sampling technology to calculate time-integrated water concentrations and mass loads of 11 select PFAS at 9 sites along the Danube River. Results indicate ∑11 PFAS concentrations in the range of 9.3-29.6 ng L-1 were not in exceedance of EU drinking water guidelines, but perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) was in exceedance of the environmental quality standard (0.65 ng L-1) at all sampling locations. The highest ∑11 PFAS mass loads were observed at Ruse (9.5 kg day-1) and Budapest (6.3 kg day-1), believed to be driven by proximity to industrial facilities and large populations (urban runoff). Finally, we estimate 4.9 kg of total PFAS (∑11 PFAS) were delivered to the Black Sea daily over Summer 2019.
- MeSH
- Water Pollutants, Chemical * analysis MeSH
- Fluorocarbons * analysis MeSH
- Alkanesulfonic Acids * analysis MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Environmental Monitoring methods MeSH
- Drinking Water * analysis MeSH
- Rivers MeSH
- Seasons MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
