Search

A newly developed direct injection HPLC-DAD method for the simultaneous detection of Brilliant Blue (BB), Sunset Yellow (SY) and Tartrazine (TA) synthetic dyes was validated and applied to surface and wastewater samples. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an Acclaim Surfactant Plus column (150 x 3.0 mm, 3 um) in isocratic elution mode with a mobile phase consisting of 100 mM CH3COONH4 and ACN in the ratio 50/50 (v/v). Linear calibration curves were plotted in the range of 2-100 μg/L (BB) and 6-300 μg/L (SY, TA) respectively with correlation coefficients (R2) higher than 0.99. Low quantitation limit values (LOQ) were obtained for the direct injection HPLC-DAD method, namely: 1.0 �g/L (BB), 5.5 �g/L (SY) and 5.8 �g/L (TA), respectively. The entire sample preparation procedure consisted only in simple filtration using PTFE syringe filters (0.45 �m) without sample extraction or concentration, which improved method accuracy and precision. HPLC-DAD developed method proved to be fast (6 minutes run-time), sensitive and accurate and was succesfully applied for the analysis of the synthetic dyes in surface and wastewater samples. Considering all analyzed samples (8 surface water and 11 wastewater samples), Brilliant Blue was found in influent samples with values between 4.49 � 14.17 �g/L and effluent samples with values between 1.07 � 9.54 �g/L, whereas Sunset Yellow and Tartrazine were not detected in any of the analyzed samples.

The paper presents the test results regarding the evaluation of the accuracy of the PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter concentration measurement performed with the uRADMonitor A3 fixed air quality monitoring station produced by SC MAGNASCI SRL. The procedure involves the calculation of the accuracy elements: trueness and precision, based on the experimental data obtained by measuring the concentration of particulate matter using the tested analysers in parallel with the reference method, SR EN 12341: 2014, and analysis of data series by Pearson correlation and linear regression.

This paper brings into attention of the indoor air specialists new information regarding the assessment of the potential cumulated impact of the air chemical compounds and microclimate factors on materials; for exemplification it was selected a wooden church made by oak and the monitoring values for temperature, humidity and the concentration of four chemical compounds with a destructive potential on organic materials generally: NO2, SO2, O3 and PM2.5.

The assessment of the storage capacity of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni) in Lemna minor L., was carried out on wastewater from galvanizing plants. Purification yield decreases with increasing metal concentration in water. The rate of bioaccumulation is high in the first three days, then decreases over the next four days.

The study aims to assess the identification of the specific species of plants for selection of certain plant species and utilization of selected one�s in experimental biomonitoring studies.The purpose of the proposed study was to develop and apply new techniques, methods and methodologies for air quality assessing in the context of climate change and updating of international environmental studys. The novelty of the active biomonitoring method using plants is an innovative research area for the National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology in terms of the use of sentinel species. The first stage research activity was aimed to identify plant species with specific response to certain environmental pollutants, in our case, ozone. By exposing higher plants (from the Solanaceae family) to various environmental conditions, a direct impact measurement of ground-level ozone was considered - as an indicator of environmental pollution (air) - there was a significant difference relationship between soil level ozone variation and foliar necrosis.

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a large-scale usage brominated flame retardant consisting of a mixture of diastereoisomers which has been reported as an ubiquitous environmental contaminant. HBCD has attracted much attention due to its toxicity and increasing levels in waste water sewage sludge. Since November 2014, HBCD was added to the Persistent Organic Pollutants list of the Stockholm Convention which generated a higher concern regarding its presence in the environment. A rapid (8 min) and accurate liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed to separate and detect a-, b- and g-HBCD isomers from sewage sludge. Optimization of LC-MS parameters (column temperature, mobile phase composition and flow, collision energy, fragmentor voltage, capillary voltage and drying gas temperature) allowed complete separation of the three isomers and also very good detection sensitivity with instrumental quantitation limits (IQLs) between 0.3 and 0.6 ng/mL. The three isomers were separated on a C18 reversed-phase column, kept at 18�C, using a H2O/ACN/MeOH mobile phase mixture and detected by negative electrospray ionization using MRM mode with two transitions, one for quantitation and one for confirmation. MS detector response was linear in the range 1.0 � 100.0 ng/mL with correlation coefficients (R2) higher than 0.99 for all three isomers. A simple ultrasonic assisted liquid-solid extraction procedure using a solvent mixture was employed to extract HBCD isomers from WWTP sewage sludge. Overall method intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD%) were situated between 7.6 � 9.2% and 10.3 � 14.5%, respectively. LOQs for a-, b- and g-HBCD were 1.4, 0.7 and 1.0 ng/g, comparable and even lower to those reported by similar studies concerning HBCD presence in WWTP sewage sludge. HBCD presence was tested from several WWTP sludge samples. All three isomers were found with 100% detection frequency ranging from 3 to 76 ng/g.

The Danube River is the major source of drinking water supply for the cities in the southern part of Romania. The study was a descriptive-analytical one and lasted for 9 month. Samples were taken monthly between March 2016 and November 2016. Six sampling sites were selected to evaluate the spatial and temporal changes of water quality along the river. The samples were analyzed based on the standard methods for the following parameters: pH, conductivity (EC), NH4+, NO3-, Cl -, suspended solids, PO43-, SO42-, metals (Fe, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Hg, As, Zn, Cu, Mn). The obtained values were compared with those imposed by the Romanian environmental legislation. An efficient and simplified method to express the quality of water used for consumption is provided by the Water Quality Index (WQI). WQI reflects the quality of water in a single value by comparing data obtained from the investigation of a number of physico-chemical parameters to the existing limits. The evaluation of water quality was performed using the Water Quality Index of the Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment (CCME WQI). Water quality indices were classified as: excellent, good, medium, bad and very bad. The results indicated the water quality classification as �good� in all six sampling selected sites.

Increasing and widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides in all world, together with their highly toxicity to invertebrates and environmental persistence mean that surface waters need to be monitored for these compounds. In the 2015, neonicotinoid insecticides have been incorporated in the watch list of substances for a European Union monitoring program (495/2015/ EU). A new method using automated solid phase extraction (SPE) with polymeric cartridges (OASIS HLB) followed by LC-MS/MS provided good separation of the most common neonicotindoid compounds. The method was developed for the determination of four neonicotinoid insecticides (nitenpyram, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, acetamiprid) in surface water with low limit of quantification (0.3-0.9 ng/L, nanograms per liter). Recoveries in surface water samples fortified at 200 ng/L for each compound ranged from 71.4 to 109.9 %; relative standard deviation ranged from 4 to 9%. The method was applied to water samples from four streams in Romania, Danube River and its tributaries (Arges River, Jiu River, and Olt River). The surface water samples were found to be contaminated clothianidin (1.08-6.4 ng/L) and by thiamethoxam (1.1-3.8ng/L). The highest concentrations were recorded in Danube River in Oltenita point (6.4ng/L) and in Gura-Vaii point (5.5ng/L). The concentration of acetamiprid and nitenpyram were situated below limit of quantification in all samples.

Mining activities are recognized as generating adverse effects on the environmental quality. The waste resulted from ore processing activities settled on the ponds was established as a significant pollution source of the soil and groundwater in the site areas. The paper presents the spatio-temporal variation of the characteristics of groundwater in the area of a waterproofed pond, located near two other tailings ponds, unenriched, of an age of over 30 years. Groundwater quality is highlighted in an area situated in the north of the country in terms of metals content determined in several seasonal campaigns.