Jelena Radonić

Occurrence of antibiotics as emerging contaminant substances in aquatic environment

The occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment has become a subject of growing concern. Due to the constant input of the emerging contaminants in the surface water via wastewater which leads to the long-term adverse effects on the aquatic and terrestrial organisms, special attention is being paid to their presence in the aquatic environment. Most of the emerging substances, especially pharmaceuticals, could not be completely removed using the wastewater treatment. Pharmaceuticals are usually water soluble and poorly degradable. They can pass through all natural filtrations and then reach the groundwater and, finally, the drinking water. The trace levels of antibiotics could have a negative impact on the environment and public health because of their inherent bioactivity. This article is an overview of the presence of the antibiotic residual concentrations, methods and levels of detection and possible risks to both health and environment.

Gas-particle partitioning of persistent organic pollutants in the Western Balkan countries affected by war conflicts.

Background, aim, and scopeBombing and destruction of the industrial and military targets accompanied by complete or incomplete combustion during the war conflict and NATO operation in former Yugoslavia caused the emission of persistent organic pollutants into the atmosphere, water, and soil. A total of 129 ambient air samples from 24 background, urban, and industrial sites, including hot spots, were collected to assess a gas–particle partitioning behavior of various persistent organic pollutants.Materials and methodsHigh volume sampling technique was applied with quartz filters that collect the atmospheric particles and polyurethane foam filters (PUF) that retain the gaseous compounds. Three to ten samples were taken at each site. GFs and PUFs were analyzed separately for their content of polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.ResultsGas phase and particle phase concentrations of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all samples were converted into the particle-bound fractions ϕ. These fractions were found to be highly variable, but generally highest in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the elevated levels of total suspended material in ambient air.DiscussionExperimental values of particle-associated fraction were compared to the Junge–Pankow model. Interestingly, a model for urban/industrial environments provided a better prediction of partitioning behavior than a model for background and rural background sites. That is probably because the total amount of atmospheric particles is higher in the Balkan region than found in the previously published studies.ConclusionsEven though it has been stated in previous studies that less than 5% of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are bound to the particles, up to 67% of PCBs were particle associated at several sampling sites in this study. PCB-contaminated soils are probably still one of the strong sources of particles to the atmosphere.Recommendations and perspectivesInformation on the particle-bound fractions of POPs is important not only for prediction of their fate but also for an estimation of risks they can pose to the environment as well as to humans. When assessing such hazards, it has to be considered that modeled values of the particle-bound fractions can be seriously underestimated at sites with elevated levels of suspended atmospheric matter or at sites with heavily contaminated soils.

Seasonal variations of bisphenol A in the Danube River by the municipality of Novi Sad, Serbia

Seasonal variations of bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated in the Danube along the Novi Sad bank, Serbia using solid-phase extraction followed by gas chromatographic mass spectrometric method. The obtained results confirmed the presence of BPA above the limit of quantification (6 ng/L) in 22 out of 32 water samples at all eight sampling sites. Тhe BPA concentration varied from 1) for autumn, spring and summer. The high potential risk which is attributed to the elevated summer concentrations is probably the result of the increased human activates and weather conditions.

CHARACTERIZATION OF GAS/ PARTICLE PARTITIONING OF PCBS AND PAHS IN A PILOT AREA OF KRAGUJEVAC, SERBIA

Bombing and destruction of the industrial and military targets accompanied by incomplete combustion during the NATO operation in Serbia, caused emission of the persistent organic pollutants into the atmosphere, ground and underground water, sediment and soil. As the result of the air sampling campaign conducted in June/July 2004, the concentration levels of PCBs and PAHs in air samples in gaseous and particulate phase at the selected locations from the city of Kragujevac, Serbia, was determined using active sampling method and gas/particle partitioning of sixteen priority PAHs and seven PCB congeners was analyzed. GC/MS analysis was carried out in laboratories of Research Centre for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology (RECETOX), Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The relatively high concentration of PCBs was measured on locality inside the Zastava Car Factory (industrial locality), in proximity of the power generation building and two large transformers. From the residual levels of the PCB congeners in the air samples as gaseous and particulate phase it is evident that the most of the investigated congeners existed in the gaseous phase. Analysis of the gas and aerosol partitioning of PAHs in Kragujevac emphasized the presence of PAHs in both, gaseous and particulate phase. Gas/particle partitioning of PAHs showed uniform distribution at the investigated locations.

Meat industry wastewater: microbiological quality and antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli and Salmonella sp. isolates, case study in Vojvodina, Serbia

Wastewater from meat processing industries is a fusion of compounds with a high load of organic matter, and pathogen microorganisms like Escherichia coli, and Salmonella sp. The aim of this research was to determine microbiological characteristics of the wastewater discharged from the meat processing industry in order to get a more detailed insight into meat industry wastewater pollution, and to evaluate the resistance of bacterial strains E. coli and Salmonella sp. to antibiotics. The evaluation of the antimicrobial susceptibility was performed on 37 strains of E. coli and eight strains of Salmonella sp. to nine different antibiotics. The number of faecal pollution indicators was very high in all samples. From a total of 37 strains of E. coli, a moderate degree of resistance was shown to tetracycline (37.83%); a low degree of resistance to ampicillin (21.62%), streptomycin (24.32%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol (18.92%) and nalidixic acid (16.22%); and very low to: chloramphenicol (13.51%), ciprofloxacin (2.7%), gentamicin and cefotaxime (0.0%). The results for eight strains of Salmonella sp. show that all eight isolates had some degree of susceptibility to nine tested antimicrobial agents and six strains were fully susceptible to all tested antibiotics.

Health risk assessment of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs in atmospheric air of municipal solid waste landfill in Novi Sad, Serbia

The municipal solid waste landfill in Novi Sad, Serbia is in its operative status from early 1980s and represents potential significant source of environmental compartments pollution and the threat to human health as a result of undeveloped waste management practice. Residues of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as toxic, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic chemicals were investigated in ambient air of landfill site in Novi Sad. Passive air sampling technique was used for the purpose of ambient air sampling. Total risk to the human health is calculated as a sum of individual risks for each group of substances according to the recommended United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) methodology. The overall results indicate that the landfill site in Novi Sad does not pose a relevant treat to human by inhalation of PAHs and POPs. The effect of low concentrations, non-monotonic dose response, synergistic and amplifying effects of chemical complexes must be highly respected while performing future health risk assessment.

Emission sources and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air during heating and non-heating periods in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia

Abstract The paper presents the assessment of emission sources and health risk of 16 PAHs in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, with developed oil, food, chemical and cement industry. Although the observed region has been previously studied with regard to the occurrence of PAHs in ambient air, the sources of emission and health risk using multivariate statistical methods have never been studied before. The research was conducted during the heating and non-heating periods at three sampling sites located in industrial, residential and high-traffic area. The samples were collected by high-volume air sampler and analysed using the GC/MS system. The data were processed using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) and cluster analysis. To assess the cancer-risk of PAHs, potency equivalency factor approach was used. The results of PMF analysis have indicated that significant sources of PAH emissions are industrial processes and diesel combustion during the non-heating, and coal combustion, heating plants and diesel combustion during the heating season. Cluster analysis of experimental data has confirmed the results obtained using the PMF method. Estimated values of lifetime lung cancer risk were higher than those set by the World Health Organization and US Environmental Protection Agency which indicates that cancer risk due to exposure to PAHs in ambient air exists in both time periods on the territory of Novi Sad.

Residual Toluene Concentrations in Exhaust Gas Waste Stream of Motor Vehicle

Vehicles are the dominant source of many air pollutant emissions in urban areas. The effects caused by vehicle emissions have been receiving increasing attention, and recent epidemiological studies show elevated risks of cardiovascular morbidity, cancer, allergic diseases for drivers, commuters and individuals living near roadways. During the experimental research conducted in this paper, emission characteristics of Otto 1.1 EFI engine were investigated in varying operating modes in order to adequately simulate the movement of the Fiat Punto Classic (FPC) passenger car in city driving conditions in line with the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The NEDC is a stylized cycle, with periods of constant acceleration, deceleration and constant speed, and it is supposed to represent the typical usage of a passenger car in Europe. The analysis of exhaust gas samples was conducted by using the gas chromatography technique in combination with the photoionization detector (GC/PID). The results of emission tests indicate high concentration levels of toluene in the exhaust gas mixtures, ranging from 7.07 to 116.87 ppm. The total mass of the emitted toluene after 100 km of driving in accordance with the NEDC was 7.7647 g.

Environmental Pollution by Organic Contaminants as the Contributors of the Global Warming

Because they contain black carbon as the UV-absorbing component, soot particles are regarded as contributing significantly to global warming. They are released to ambient air during the burning of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels—coal and petroleum in particular. Concurrently with soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed as the by-products of the incomplete combustion of organic matter. A correlation between concentration levels of PAHs in atmospheric particles and soot content is detected, given PAHs’ high affinity for carbonaceous materials and strong sorption to soot particles. Therefore, it can be assumed that sorption to the soot particles governs the gas–particle partition process of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air. The main objective of the chapter is to estimate the gas–particle partition of PAHs using the soot–air partition coefficient (KSA) within the model proposed by Dachs–Eisenreich and to compare the modeled values with results obtained from the field measurements. Air sampling campaign is performed during the early summer period at six selected urban and industrial localities in Vojvodina (Serbia), using the high-volume ambient air samplers. For each sampling period, one quartz fiber filter (GF) and two polyurethane foam filters are used. Contemporary usage of both types of sampling medium has enabled the simultaneous collection of suspended particles and gaseous phase of PAHs. Samples are analyzed using GC-MS instrument (HP 6890–HP 5972) supplied with a J&W Scientific fused silica column DB-5MS. The statistical analysis is performed using Statistica 10. The modeled values obtained using the Dachs–Eisenreich approach are in reasonable agreement with results from the field measurement and, consequently, confirm that soot–air partition coefficient can be used as prediction parameter of the gas–particle partitioning processes for PAHs.