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Background Prioritisation of chemical pollutants is a major challenge for environmental managers and decision-makers alike, which is essential to help focus the limited resources available for monitoring and mitigation actions on the most relevant chemicals. This study extends the original NORMAN prioritisation scheme beyond target chemicals, presenting the integration of semi-quantitative data from retrospective suspect screening and expansion of existing exposure and risk indicators. The scheme utilises data retrieved automatically from the NORMAN Database System (NDS), including candidate substances for prioritisation, target and suspect screening data, ecotoxicological effect data, physico-chemical data and other properties. Two complementary workflows using target and suspect screening monitoring data are applied to first group the substances into six action categories and then rank the substances using exposure, hazard and risk indicators. The results from the ‘target’ and ‘suspect screening’ workflows can then be combined as multiple lines of evidence to support decision-making on regulatory and research actions. Results As a proof-of-concept, the new scheme was applied to a combined dataset of target and suspect screening data. To this end, > 65,000 substances on the NDS, of which 2579 substances supported by target wastewater monitoring data, were retrospectively screened in 84 effluent wastewater samples, totalling > 11 million data points. The final prioritisation results identified 677 substances as high priority for further actions, 7455 as medium priority and 326 with potentially lower priority for actions. Among the remaining substances, ca. 37,000 substances should be considered of medium priority with uncertainty, while it was not possible to conclude for 19,000 substances due to insufficient information from target monitoring and uncertainty in the identification from suspect screening. A high degree of agreement was observed between

Non-targeted and suspect screening analysis using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) holds great promise to comprehensively characterize complex chemical mixtures. Data preprocessing is a crucial part of the process, however, some limitations are observed: (i) peak-picking and feature extraction might be incomplete, especially for low abundant compounds, and (ii) limited reproducibility has been observed between laboratories and software for detected features and their relative quantification. We first conducted a critical review of existing solutions that could improve the reproducibility of preprocessing for LC-HRMS. Solutions include providing repositories and reporting guidelines, open and modular processing workflows, public benchmark datasets, tools to optimize the data preprocessing and to filter out false positive detections. We then propose harmonized quality assurance/quality control guidelines that would allow to assess the sensitivity of feature detection, reproducibility, integration accuracy, precision, accuracy, and consistency of data preprocessing for human biomonitoring, food and environmental communities.

A collaborative trial involving 16 participants from nine European countries was conducted within the NORMAN network in efforts to harmonise suspect and non-target screening of environmental contaminants in whole fish samples of bream (Abramis brama). Participants were provided with freeze-dried, homogenised fish samples from a contaminated and a reference site, extracts (spiked and non-spiked) and reference sample preparation protocols for liquid chromatography (LC) and gas chromatography (GC) coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Participants extracted fish samples using their in-house sample preparation method and/or the protocol provided. Participants correctly identified 9-69% of spiked compounds using LC-HRMS and 20-60% of spiked compounds using GC-HRMS. From the contaminated site, suspect screening with participants’ own suspect lists led to putative identification of on average ∼145 and ∼20 unique features per participant using LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS, respectively, while non-target screening identified on average ∼42 and ∼56 unique features per participant using LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS, respectively. Within the same sub-group of sample preparation method, only a few features were identified by at least two participants in suspect screening (16 features using LC-HRMS, 0 features using GC-HRMS) and non-target screening (0 features using LC-HRMS, 2 features using GC-HRMS). The compounds identified had log octanol/water partition coefficient (KOW) values ranging from -9.9 to 16 and mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 68 to 761 (LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS). A significant linear trend was found between log KOW and m/z for the GC-HRMS data. Overall, these findings indicate that differences in screening results are mainly due to the data analysis workflows used by different participants. Further work is needed to harmonise the results obtained when applying suspect and non-target screening approaches to environmental biota samples.

Increasing production and use of chemicals and awareness of their impact on ecosystems and humans has led to large interest for broadening the knowledge on the chemical status of the environment and human health by suspect and non-target screening (NTS). To facilitate effective implementation of NTS in scientific, commercial and governmental laboratories, as well as acceptance by managers, regulators and risk assessors, more harmonisation in NTS is required. To address this, NORMAN Association members involved in NTS activities have prepared this guidance document, based on the current state of knowledge. The document is intended to provide guidance on performing high quality NTS studies and data interpretation while increasing awareness of the promise but also pitfalls and challenges associated with these techniques. Guidance is provided for all steps; from sampling and sample preparation to analysis by chromatography (liquid and gas—LC and GC) coupled via various ionisation techniques to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS), through to data evaluation and reporting in the context of NTS. Although most experience within the NORMAN network still involves water analysis of polar compounds using LC–HRMS/MS, other matrices (sediment, soil, biota, dust, air) and instrumentation (GC, ion mobility) are covered, reflecting the rapid development and extension of the field. Due to the ongoing developments, the different questions addressed with NTS and manifold techniques in use, NORMAN members feel that no standard operation process can be provided at this stage. However, appropriate analytical methods, data processing techniques and databases commonly compiled in NTS workflows are introduced, their limitations are discussed and recommendations for different cases are provided. Proper quality assurance, quantification without reference standards and reporting results with clear confidence of identification assignment complete the guidance together with a gloss

Defensive system activation promotes heightened perception of threat signals, and excessive attention to threat signals has been discussed as a contributory factor in the etiology of anxiety disorders. However, a mechanistic account of attentional modulation during fear-rel

The Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC) is currently under development as a joint research and innovation programme to strengthen the scientific basis for chemical risk assessment in the EU. The plan is to bring chemical risk assessors and managers together with scientists to accelerate method development and the production of necessary data and knowledge, and to facilitate the transition to next-generation evidence-based risk assessment, a non-toxic environment and the European Green Deal. The NORMAN Network is an independent, well-established and competent network of more than 80 organisations in the field of emerging substances and has enormous potential to contribute to the implementation of the PARC partnership. NORMAN stands ready to provide expert advice to PARC, drawing on its long experience in the development, harmonisation and testing of advanced tools in relation to chemicals of emerging concern and in support of a European Early Warning System to unravel the risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and close the gap between research and innovation and regulatory processes. In this commentary we highlight the tools developed by NORMAN that we consider most relevant to supporting the PARC initiative: (i) joint data space and cutting-edge research tools for risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern; (ii) collaborative European framework to improve data quality and comparability; (iii) advanced data analysis tools for a European early warning system and (iv) support to national and European chemical risk assessment thanks to harnessing, combining and sharing evidence and expertise on CECs. By combining the extensive knowledge and experience of the NORMAN network with the financial and policy-related strengths of the PARC initiative, a large step towards the goal of a non-toxic environment can be taken.

To date, there is no analytical approach available that allows the full identification and characterization of highly complex disinfection by-product (DBP) mixtures. This study aimed at investigating the chemodiversity of drinking water halogenated DBPs using diverse analytical tools: measurement of adsorbable organic halogen (AOX) and mass spectrometry (MS)-based target and non-target analytical workflows. Water was sampled before and after chemical disinfection (chlorine or chloramine) at four drinking water treatment plants in Sweden. The target analysis had the highest sensitivity, although it could only partially explain the AOX formed in the disinfected waters. Non-target Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MS analysis indicated that only up to 19 Cl and/or Br-CHO formulae were common to all disinfected waters. Unexpectedly, a high diversity of halogenated DBPs (presumed halogenated polyphenolic and highly unsaturated compounds) was found in chloraminated surface water, comparable to that found in chlorinated surface water. Overall, up to 86 DBPs (including isobaric species) were tentatively identified using liquid chromatography (LC)-Orbitrap MS. Although further work is needed to confirm their identity and assess their relevance in terms of toxicity, they can be used to design suspect lists to improve the characterization of disinfected water halogenated mixtures.

We investigated associations between serum perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations in children aged 4, 8, and 12 years (sampled in 2008–2015; n = 57, 55, and 119, respectively) and exposure via placental transfer, breastfeeding, and ingestion of PFAA-contaminated drinking water. Sampling took place in Uppsala County, Sweden, where the drinking water has been historically contaminated with perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA), and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA). PFOS showed the highest median concentrations in serum (3.8–5.3 ng g–1 serum), followed by PFHxS (1.6–5.0 ng g–1 serum), PFOA (2.0–2.5 ng g–1 serum), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) (0.59–0.69 ng g–1 serum) in children. Including all children, serum PFOA, PFHxS, and PFOS concentrations in children increased 10, 10, and 1.3% (adjusted mean), respectively, per unit (ng g–1 serum) of increase in the maternal serum level (at delivery), the associations being strongest for 4 year-old children. PFHxS and PFOS significantly increased 3.9 and 3.8%, respectively, per month of nursing, with the highest increase for 4 year-olds. PFOA, PFBS, PFHxS, and PFOS increased 1.2, 207, 7.4, and 0.93%, respectively, per month of cumulative drinking water exposure. Early life exposure to PFOA, PFHxS, and PFOS is an important determinant of serum concentrations in children, with the strongest influence on younger ages. Drinking water with low to moderate PFBS, PFHxS, PFOS, and PFOA contamination is an important source of exposure for children with background exposure from other sources.

Accurate prediction of the sorption of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in soils is essential for environmental risk assessment. We investigated the effect of solution pH and calculated soil organic matter (SOM) net charge on the sorption of 14 PFASs onto an organic soil as a function of pH and added concentrations of Al3+, Ca2+ and Na+. Often, the organic C-normalized partitioning coefficients (KOC) showed a negative relationship to both pH (Δlog KOC/ΔpH = −0.32 ± 0.11 log units) and the SOM bulk net negative charge (Δlog KOC = −1.41 ± 0.40 per log unit molc g−1). Moreover, perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) sorbed more strongly than perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and the PFAS sorption increased with increasing perfluorocarbon chain length with 0.60 and 0.83 log KOC units per CF2 moiety for C3–C10 PFCAs and C4, C6, and C8 PFSAs, respectively. The effects of cation treatment and SOM bulk net charge were evident for many PFASs with low to moderate sorption (C5–C8 PFCAs and C6 PFSA). However for the most strongly sorbing and most long-chained PFASs (C9–C11 and C13 PFCAs, C8 PFSA and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA)), smaller effects of cations were seen, and instead sorption was more strongly related to the pH value. This suggests that the most long-chained PFASs, similar to other hydrophobic organic compounds, are preferentially sorbed to the highly condensed domains of the humin fraction, while shorter-chained PFASs are bound to a larger extent to humic and fulvic acid, where cation effects are significant., QC 20180529

This study is the first attempt to quantify environmental fluxes per capita of organic contaminants discharged from on-site sewage treatment facilities (OSSFs) in affected recipients. Five sites were monitored around the River Fyris in Sweden: three mainly affected by OSSFs and two mainly affected by municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine environmental concentrations of 30 anthropogenic contaminants, including organophosphorus compounds, rubber and plastic additives, UV stabilizers, fragrances, surfactant ingredients and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Uni- and multivariate statistical analysis of the most frequently detected contaminants showed that median fluxes per capita of tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate, and n-butylbenzene sulfonamide were similar at OSSF and STP sites, but the mass fluxes per capita of tris-(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate, 2-(methylthio)benzothiazole, and galaxolide, were significantly lower (~2 to 3-fold) at OSSF sites than at STP sites (Mann-Whitney, α = 0.05). Differences between these sites were larger in samples collected in summer and autumn than in samples collected in winter. Deviations likely originated from differences in treatment technology and distances between source and sampling sites. Further studies are needed to characterize mass fluxes per capita of contaminants in waters that directly receive discharges from OSSFs.

The efficiency of five organic and five inorganic sorbents in removing 19 organic micropollutants (MPs), phosphorus, nitrogen, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was tested in a two-week column experiment using household wastewater spiked with pharmaceuticals (n = 6), biocides/pesticides (n = 4), organophosphates (n = 3), a fragrance, a UV-stablizer, a food additive, a rubber additive, a plasticizer and a surfactant. Two types of granular activated carbon (GAC), two types of lignite, a pine bark product, and five mineral-based sorbents were tested. All the organic sorbents except pine bark achieved better removal efficiencies of DOC (on average, 70 +/- 27%) and MPs (93 +/- 11%) than the inorganic materials (DOC: 44 +/- 7% and MPs: 66 +/- 38%). However, the organic sorbents (i.e. GAC and xyloid lignite) removed less phosphorus (46 +/- 18%), while sorbents with a high calcium or iron content (i.e. Polonite (R) and lignite) generally removed phosphorus more efficiently (93 +/- 3%). Ammonium- nitrogen was well removed by sorbents with a pH between 7 and 9, with an average removal of 87%, whereas lignite (pH 4) showed the lowest removal efficiency (50%). Some MPs were well removed by all sorbents (>= 97%) including biocides (hexachlorobenzene, triclosan and terbutryn), organophosphates (tributylphosphate, tris-(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate and triphenylphosphate) and one fragrance (galaxolide). The pesticide 2,6-dichlorobenzamide and the pharmaceutical diclofenac were poorly removed by the pine bark and inorganic sorbents (on average, 4%), while organic sorbents achieved high removal of these chemicals (87%).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals that contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety, –CnF2n–. To date, over 4,000 unique PFASs have been used in technical applications and consumer products, and some of them have been detected globally in human and wildlife biomonitoring studies. Because of their extraordinary persistence, human and environmental exposure to PFASs will be a long-term source of concern. Some PFASs such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) have been investigated extensively and thus regulated, but for many other PFASs, knowledge about their current uses and hazards is still very limited or missing entirely. To address this problem and prepare an action plan for the assessment and management of PFASs in the coming years, a group of more than 50 international scientists and regulators held a two-day workshop in November, 2017. The group identified both the respective needs of and common goals shared by the scientific and the policy communities, made recommendations for cooperative actions, and outlined how the science–policy interface regarding PFASs can be strengthened using new approaches for assessing and managing highly persistent chemicals such as PFASs.

Little is known about factors influencing infant perfluorinated alkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations. Associations between serum PFAA concentrations in 2–4-month-old infants (n = 101) and determinants were investigated by multiple linear regression and general linear model analysis. In exclusively breast-fed infants, maternal serum PFAA concentrations 3 weeks after delivery explained 13% (perfluoroundecanoic acid, PFUnDA) to 73% (perfluorohexanesulfonate, PFHxS) of infant PFAA concentration variation. Median infant/maternal ratios decreased with increasing PFAA carbon chain length from 2.8 for perfluoroheptanoic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to 0.53 for PFUnDA and from 1.2 to 0.69 for PFHxS and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). Infant PFOA, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and PFOS levels increased 0.7–1.2% per day of gestational age. Bottle-fed infants had mean concentrations of PFAAs 2 times lower than and a mean percentage of branched (%br) PFOS isomers 1.3 times higher than those of exclusively breast-fed infants. PFOA, PFNA, and PFHxS levels increased 8–11% per week of exclusive breast-feeding. Infants living in an area receiving PFAA-contaminated drinking water had 3-fold higher mean perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) and PFHxS concentrations and higher mean %br PFHxS. Prenatal PFAA exposure and postnatal PFAA exposure significantly contribute to infant PFAA serum concentrations, depending on PFAA carbon chain length. Moderately PFBS- and PFHxS-contaminated drinking water is an important indirect exposure source.