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There is a worldwide growing use of chemicals by our developed, industrialized, and technological society. More than 100,000 chemical substances are thus commonly used both by industry and households. Depending on the amount produced, physical-chemical properties, and mode of use, many of them may reach the environment and, notably, the aquatic receiving systems. This may result in undesirable and harmful side-effects on both the human and the ecosystem's health. Mediterranean rivers are largely different from Northern and Central European rivers in terms of hydrological regime, climate conditions (e.g. air temperature, solar irradiation, precipitation), and socio-economics (e.g. land use, tourism, crop types, etc.), with all these factors leading to differences in the relative importance of the environmental stressors, in the classes and levels of the pollutants found and their environmental fate. Furthermore, water scarcity might be critical in affecting water pollution because of the lowered dilution capacity of chemicals. This work provides raw chemical data from different families of microcontaminants identified in three selected Mediterranean rivers (the Sava, Evrotas, and Adige) collected during two sampling campaigns conducted in 2014 and 2015 in three different matrices, namely, water, sediments, and biota (fish). More than 200 organic micropollutants were analyzed, including relevant groups like pharmaceuticals, personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, pesticides, pyrethroid insecticides, flame retardants, and persistent organic pollutants. Data obtained were summarized with some basic statistics for all compound families and matrices analyzed. Observed occurrence and spatial patterns were interpreted both in terms of compound physical-chemical properties and local environmental pressures. Finally, their spatial distribution was examined and their ecotoxicological risk in the water phase was assessed. This allowed locating, at each basin, the most

Fish samples of different species (i.e. rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), barbel (Barbus barbus) and European chub (Squalius cephalus)) were collected from the Sava River Basin for a preliminary investigation of the levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PBDEs and PFAS as a whole. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs, in terms of pg WHO-TEQ/g ww, were below the maximum limit established at the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1259/2011. On the contrary, when DL-PCBs were also included, levels increase up to 11.7 pg WHO-TEQPCDD/Fs+DL-PCBs/g ww in a particular case, with two samples out of a total of ten exceeding the maximum set at this EU Regulation and the EQS established at the European Directive regarding priority substances in the field of water policy (0.0065 ng WHO-TEQPCDD/Fs+DL-PCBs/g ww). A similar trend was also observed for NDL-PCBs, whit the same two samples, from the lower stretch of the river basin, exceeding the maximum limit allowed at the EU Regulation (125 ng/g ww). For PBDEs, levels found in all the samples exceeded the EQS (0.0085 ng/g ww) up to more than a thousand times and 40% of the samples presented PFOS values above the EQS. Data from this study were compared to values reported at the literature for fish from other geographical areas. © 2018

In this study, the combined effects of hydrological and chemical stressors on benthic macroinvertebrates were evaluated in order to explore the response of the biological community to multiple stressors. The Adige River, located in the south-eastern Alps, was selected as a case study because representative of the situation of a large river in which the variety of stressors present in the Alpine region act simultaneously. As expected, streamflow showed a seasonal pattern, with high flows in the spring–summer period; however, locally, the natural hydrological regime was altered by the presence of hydropower systems, which chiefly affected low flows. Multivariate analysis showed seasonal and spatial patterns in both chemical and hydrological parameters with a clear gradient in the concentration of nitrate, personal care, and pharmaceutical products moving from headwaters to the main stem of the river. The macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different in summer and winter and between up and downstream sites. Streamflow alteration chiefly due to water use by hydropower affected community composition but not richness or diversity. Gammarus sp., Hirudinea, and Psychomyia sp., were positively correlated with flow variability, increasing their densities in the sites with higher streamflow variability because of hydropeaking. The results obtained in this study show that the composition of the macroinvertebrate community responded to seasonality and to changes in the main stressors along the river and highlights the importance of the spatial and temporal variability of stressors in this Alpine river. Taking into account, this variability will help the decision-making process for improving basin management. © 2019 The Authors River Research and Applications Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

In this study, the combined effects of hydrological and chemical stressors on benthic macroinvertebrates were evaluated in order to explore the response of the biological community to multiple stressors. The Adige River, located in the south-eastern Alps, was selected as a case study because representative of the situation of a large river in which the variety of stressors present in the Alpine region act simultaneously. As expected, streamflow showed a seasonal pattern, with high flows in the spring–summer period; however, locally, the natural hydrological regime was altered by the presence of hydropower systems, which chiefly affected low flows. Multivariate analysis showed seasonal and spatial patterns in both chemical and hydrological parameters with a clear gradient in the concentration of nitrate, personal care, and pharmaceutical products moving from headwaters to the main stem of the river. The macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different in summer and winter and between up and downstream sites. Streamflow alteration chiefly due to water use by hydropower affected community composition but not richness or diversity. Gammarus sp., Hirudinea, and Psychomyia sp., were positively correlated with flow variability, increasing their densities in the sites with higher streamflow variability because of hydropeaking. The results obtained in this study show that the composition of the macroinvertebrate community responded to seasonality and to changes in the main stressors along the river and highlights the importance of the spatial and temporal variability of stressors in this Alpine river. Taking into account, this variability will help the decision-making process for improving basin management.

Classic (polybromodiphenyl ethers, PBDEs) and emerging halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) such as decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) and halogenated norbornenes, as well as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) were analysed in 52 sediments and 27 fish samples from three European river basins, namely the Evrotas (Greece), the Adige (Italy) and the Sava (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia). This is the first time that FR levels have been reported in these three European river basins. The highest contamination was found in the Adige and Sava rivers, whereas lower values were obtained for the Evrotas. The levels in sediment samples ranged between 0.25 and 34.0 ng/g dw, and between 0.31 and 549 ng/g dw, for HFRs and OPFRs respectively. As regards levels in fish, concentrations ranged between 9.32 and 461 ng/g lw and between 14.4 and 650 ng/g lw, for HFRs and OPFRs, respectively. Thus, whereas OPFR values were higher in sediments, similar concentrations (in the Evrotas) and even lower concentrations than HFRs (Sava) were found for OPFRs in the fish samples, indicating the lower bioaccumulation potential of OPFRs. Biota to sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) were calculated and higher values were obtained for HFRs compared to those assessed for OPFRs. © 2017 The Author(s)

Il rilascio nell'ambiente di inquinanti organici, classici ed emergenti, è aumentato con la crescita della popolazione, urbanizzazione e modernizzazione. Considerando che un gran numero di contaminanti, derivati dal trattamento delle acque reflue e scarichi industriali, sono persistenti, bioaccumulabili e tossici; l'ambiente acquatico rappresenta un ecosistema estremamente vulnerabile. In questo contesto, il verificarsi dei ritardanti di fiamma (FRs) è stato oggetto di preoccupazione negli ultimi dieci anni. Fin dalla loro introduzione sul mercato, che risale agli anni Settanta, il loro uso è diventato massiccio e incontrollato grazie alle loro proprietà. I FRs sono infatti incorporati in una varietà di prodotti di consumo al fine di renderli più resistenti all’ accensione, ridurre o interrompere il ciclo di combustione e aumentare la sicurezza delle persone. Attualmente queste sostanze sono considerate contaminanti ambientali a causa della loro riscontrata presenza in diverse comparti quali suolo, sedimenti, acqua, aria, biota etc. Alla luce di quanto sopra, il presente progetto mira a focalizzare l'attenzione sull'impatto ambientale dei FRs (HFRs e OPFRs) in tre diversi bacini fluviali europei (Adige, Evrotas e Sava) e di valutare l'esposizione dell'organismo umano e acquatico a queste sostanze nel Fiume Adige attraverso l'uso di un modello matematico., The release of classic and emerging organic pollutants into the environment has increased with the growing population, urbanization and modernization. Considering that a great number of contaminants derive from wastewater treatment plant and industrial discharges, and are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic; the aquatic environment is the most vulnerable ecosystem. In this context, the environmental occurrence of flame retardants (FRs) has been a subject of concern for the past decade. Since their introduction on the market, which dates back to the seventies, their use has become massive and uncontrolled thanks their properties. HFRs are extremely used and incorporated in different consumer products in order to render them more resistant to ignition, reduce or stop the combustion cycle and increase the safety of lives. Nowadays, these substances are considered as environmental contaminants due to their presence in different compartments such as soil, sediment, water, air, biota etc. In the light of the above, the present project aim to focus the attention on the environmental impact of FRs (HFRs and OPFRs) in three different European river basins (Adige, Evrotas and Sava) and to assess the exposure of human and aquatic organism to these substances in Adige River through the use of mathematical modelling.