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The city of Toulouse with its separate sewer system is ideal for studying stormwater. However, during dry weather, the storm sewer also discharges water into the environment, and it is the impact of these discharges on annual pollution from storm sewer that is the object of this study. Samples have been taken from the outlets of two storm drains located in heavily and moderately urbanized areas. Sampling has been undertaken during wet weather and during dry weather between January 2010 and February 2011. Three dry weather and two wet weather samples have been taken every three months and from each outlet. The overall pollution parameters have been analyzed (chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate, total phosphorus, suspended solid matter, volatile suspended matter, pH, conductivity, turbidity). Characterization has been completed by analysis of trace organic compounds: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, total hydrocarbons, methyl tert-butyl ether, diethylhexylphthalate, nonylphenols, hormones (estradiol, ethinylestradiol). For certain parameters, the results obtained did not conform to legislative requirements concerning discharge into the natural environment. Correlations between these parameters have been studied, and identified between several of them using principal component analysis. The most important correlation observed was between conductivity and concentration in total phosphorus for one of the outlet. Results showed that dry weather had an impact on annual pollution load from separate storm sewer and that level of urbanization was also a factor. The effect of season has been studied but no significant impact was found., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present paper describes an analytical method for the determination of 2 widely administered anticancer drugs, ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide, contained in sewage sludge. The method relies on the extraction from the solid matrix by pressurized liquid extraction, sample purification by solid-phase extraction and analysis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The different parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized using an experimental design. Solvent nature was the most decisive factor for the extraction but interactions between some parameters also appeared very influent. The method was applied to seven different types of sludge for validation. The performances of the analytical method displayed high variability between sludges with limits of detection spanning more than one order of magnitude and confirming the relevance of multi-sample validation. Matrix effect has been determined as the most limiting analytical step for quantification with different extent depending on analyte and sludge nature. For each analyte, the use of deuterated standard spiked at the very beginning ensured the complete compensation of losses regardless of the sample nature. The suitability of the method between freshly spiked and aged samples has also been verified. The optimized method was applied to different sludge samples to determine the environmental levels of anticancer drugs. The compounds were detected in some samples reaching 42.5μg/kgDM in ifosfamide for the most contaminated sample., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A routine method which is simple, quick and precise has been set up and validated for phthalate analysis in environmental samples (tomato plants and sewage sludges). Six phthalates have been studied simultaneously: dimethylphthalate, diethylphthalate, di-n-butylphthalate, n-butylbenzylphthalate, di-2-ethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octylphthalate. Optimization of sample, solvent extraction uses a Soxtec apparatus and extract purification with an a solid-phase extraction cartridge allows between 90 and 110% recovery of phthalates. Precise, sensitive and selective identification and quantifying of analytes is by GC-MS in the single ion monitoring mode. This protocol allows analytes with concentrations as low as 10 microg/kg dry matter (DM) to be determined from small (1-2 g DM) samples. This analytical method has been applied to the phthalate transfer study for agricultural recycling of sludges, where phthalate bioavailability has been studied in aquiculture using two types of experiments. Tomatoes have been grown in containers where the trace organics have been directly introduced as pure substances, and in a second experiment under the same growth conditions, sewage sludge has replaced the pure substances. Transfer of these trace organics has been followed into the various parts of the tomato plant and in general only the DEHP is worthy of note although its percentage transfer remains very low even in an experiment designed to maximize this.