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Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) form an important group of synthetic chemicals that have found multiple industrial and domestic applications and are widely distributed on the world market. For these reasons, PFASs have a global distribution in the environment and affect ecosystems and human health. Moreover, PFASs have been detected in waste, surface, and ground waters, as well as in other environmental compartments such as soils, sediments, and biota. Literature data indicate that the dominant sources of PFASs into the environment are manufacturing facilities, followed by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which have been found to be ineffective in removing these compounds from wastewater influents. Previous investigations on PFASs were based on analytical methods for the determination of PFASs such as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in various environmental matrices. Recent research is focused on the identification of other PFASs produced as alternatives for PFOS and PFOA and the development of methods that can cover a wide range of PFAS species. Accordingly, current knowledge suggests that progress in the identification of PFASs in environmental samples has been achieved through the successful application of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) techniques. Although the presence of PFASs has been reported in surface waters throughout Europe, the need for their constant monitoring and fresh data is the motive for numerous ongoing studies. Within this context, the main aim of this study was to assess the occurrence and environmental fate of a wide range of PFASs in water samples taken at selected locations along the Danube River through Serbia. Water samples were successfully prepared with Oasis WAX cartridges, while ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry was employed for instrumental analysis. The results of this study will provide insight into trends and patterns in PFAS occurrence in the surface water of the Danube from the region with frequent discharges of untreated municipal wastewaters, which will be compared with those available in the literature, indicating potential risks that may be caused by these contaminants. &nbsp

Plastic pollution is an emerging threat with serious consequences for animal health and the environment. Among them, microplastics (MPs) with a size below 5mm are the ones that could cause harmful effects to biota since they can be ingested by a wide variety of species. The risks associated with these small fragments come from the material itself and the chemical contaminants that are absorbed into it from the surrounding water. To assess bioaccumulation in tissues, a feeding study of 4 treatments was conducted with zebrafish for 60 days. Exposure experiments were carried out through the diet (10% of total) and two more experiments, one using clean pellets from a factory and a blank control experiment without MPs in the fish diet. The analysis of chemical pollutants was by liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Our results verify the bioaccumulation of chemical pollutants in zebrafish tissues, also over the time. In addition, in some cases, pollutants have more tendency to adsorb to microplastics instead of being desorbed. The family of plasticizers show most of the compounds in level 2 of identification, while plastic synthesizers were quantified as the highest concentration in zebrafish tissues, followed by plasticizers. Our main findings support the hypothesis that, in this real scenario, plastic additives and chemical contaminants adsorbed on environmental microplastics (EMPs) bioaccumulate in the fish tissues due to long-term ingestion of MPs. Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/427756/document, In MICRO 2022, Online Atlas Edition: Plastic Pollution from MACRO to nano

The occurrence and distribution of UV filters, plastic additives, synthetic musks, other personal care products (Other PCPs), triazines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other current-use pesticides (Other CUPs) were characterised during summer 2018 and winter 2019 in surface waters of two sensitive areas of the Spanish coast located on the Mediterranean Sea (Mar Menor lagoon and Ebro Delta). Sixty-three organic contaminants out of a total of 100 compounds were detected, thus confirming the presence of all groups of pollutants studied in surface water at concentrations of ng/L. Both areas are affected by agricultural, urban and recreational activities, PCPs (mainly UV filters) being the predominant compounds found in both seasons which showed significant increases in concentrations in summer. The contaminants found at the highest concentrations were octocrylene, homosalate and ethylhexyl salicylate, which showed risk quotients higher than 1, indicating a potential risk to aquatic organisms, particularly in summer., This work was supported by the Spanish Inter-Ministerial Science and Technology Commission through the ‘PLAS-MED’ (CICYT, CTM2017-89701-C3) project and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). M. García Pimentel acknowledges the Spanish Ministerial Science, Innovation and University for her pre-doctoral fellowship (PRE2018-085502). J.M. Castaño Ortiz acknowledges the predoctoral grant from AGAUR (2019 FI_B 00881REF).