Toxicity of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MP) of size ranges similar to their natural food to zooplanktonic organisms representative of the main taxa present in marine plankton, including rotifers, copepods, bivalves, echinoderms and fish, was evaluated. Early life stages (ELS) were prioritized as testing models in order to maximize sensitivity. Treatments included particles spiked with benzophenone-3 (BP-3), a hydrophobic organic chemical used in cosmetics with direct input in coastal areas. Despite documented ingestion of both virgin and BP-3 spiked microplastics no acute toxicity was found at loads orders of magnitude above environmentally relevant concentrations on any of the invertebrate models. In fish tests some effects, including premature or reduced hatching, were observed after 12 d exposure at 10 mg L of BP-3 spiked PE-MP. The results obtained do not support environmentally relevant risk of microplastics on marine zooplankton. Similar approaches testing more hydrophobic chemicals with higher acute toxicity are needed before these conclusions could be extended to other organic pollutants common in marine ecosystems. Therefore, the replacement of these polymers in consumer products must be carefully considered.

BackgroundEffects of organic acids on microbial fermentation are commonly tested in investigations about metabolic behaviour of bacteria. However, they typically provide only descriptive information without modelling the influence of acid concentrations on bacterial kinetics.ResultsWe developed and applied a mathematical model (secondary model) to capture the toxicological effects of those chemicals on kinetic parameters that define the growth of bacteria in batch cultures. Thus, dose-response kinetics were performed with different bacteria (Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Carnobacterium pisicola, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Listonella anguillarum) exposed at increasing concentrations of individual carboxylic acids (formic, acetic, propionic, butyric and lactic). In all bioassays the acids affected the maximum bacterial load (Xm) and the maximum growth rate (vm) but only in specific cases the lag phase (λ) was modified. Significance of the parameters was always high and in all fermentations the toxicodynamic equation was statistically consistent and had good predictability. The differences between D and L-lactic acid effects were significant for the growth of E. coli, L. mesenteroides and C. piscicola. In addition, a global parameter (EC50,τ) was used to compare toxic effects and provided a realistic characterization of antimicrobial agents using a single value.ConclusionsThe effect of several organic acids on the growth of different bacteria was accurately studied and perfectly characterized by a bivariate equation which combines the basis of dose-response theory with microbial growth kinetics (secondary model). The toxicity of carboxylic acids was lower with the increase of the molecular weight of these chemicals.

The effects of three heavy metals (Co, Ni and Cd) on the growth kinetics of five bacterial strains with different characteristics (Pseudomonas sp., Phaeobacter sp. strain 27-4, Listonella anguillarum, Carnobacterium piscicola and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. lysis) were studied in a batch system. A bivariate model, function of time and dose, is proposed to describe simultaneously all the kinetic profiles obtained by incubating a microorganism at increasing concentrations of individual metals. This model combines the logistic equation for describing growth, with a modification of the cumulative Weibull's function for describing the dose-dependent variations of growth parameters. The comprehensive model thus obtained--which minimizes the effects of the experimental error--was statistically significant in all the studied cases, and it raises doubts about toxicological evaluations that are based on a single growth parameter, especially if it is not obtained from a kinetic equation. In lactic acid bacteria cultures (C. piscicola and L. mesenteroides), Cd induced remarkable differences in yield and time course of characteristic metabolites. A global parameter is defined (ED(50,τ): dose of toxic chemical that reduces the biomass of a culture by 50% compared to that produced by the control at the time corresponding to its semi maximum biomass) that allows comparing toxic effects on growth kinetics using a single value.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are anthropogenic substances classified as persistent bioaccumulative compounds and are found in various environmental compartments throughout the world, from industrialized regions to remote zones far from areas of production. In this study, we assessed the effects of PFOA and PFOS on early life stages of marine test species belonging to three different trophic levels: one microalga (Isochrysis galbana), a primary consumer (Paracentrotus lividus) and two secondary consumers (Siriella armata and Psetta maxima). Acute EC(50) values for PFOS were 0.11 mg L(-1) in P. maxima, 6.9 mg L(-1) in S. armata, 20 mg L(-1) in P. lividus and 37.5 mg L(-1) in I. galbana. In the case of PFOA, the toxicity was lower but the ranking was the same; 11.9 mg L(-1) in P. maxima, 15.5 mg L(-1) in S. armata, 110 mg L(-1) in P. lividus and 163.6 mg L(-1) in I. galbana. The Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) for PFOS and PFOA in marine water derived from these acute toxicity values are 1.1 μg L(-1) for PFOS and 119 μg L(-1) for PFOA. This study established a baseline dataset of toxicity of PFOS and PFOA on saltwater organisms. The data obtained suggest that PFOA pose a minor risk to these organisms through direct exposure. In the perspective of risk assessment, early life stage (ELS) endpoints provide rapid, cost-effective and ecologically relevant information, and links should be sought between these short-term tests and effects of long-term exposures in more realistic scenarios.

Olives and olive oils from Appellation of Controlled Origin (ACO) 'Sierra Mágina' have been analysed during the 1997/98 harvest. The territory of this ACO has been subdivided into four zones of different characteristics. The olives were harvested on two occasions (November 1997 and January 1998). Various parameters were analysed, such as the ripening index, the average volume, the average weight of 100 olives and 100 stones, the pulp/stone ratio, the industrial yield, etc. From these olives, olive oils were extracted using an Abencor system, and the free acidity, the peroxide index, the coefficients K 270 and K 232 and the fatty acid composition were determined. The analysis of the results obtained, as well as principal component analysis, demonstrates a marked variability in the fruits, but the corresponding olive oils show fairly homogeneous compositions that are difficult to distinguish by sensory analysis. The olive oils from this ACO are extra-virgin olive oils characterised by low acidity, a high content of oleic acid and a high ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids. The most important sensory attributes are fruity, woody-fig, green, bitter and pungent.