The occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment has become a subject of growing concern. Due to the constant input of the emerging contaminants in the surface water via wastewater which leads to the long-term adverse effects on the aquatic and terrestrial organisms, special attention is being paid to their presence in the aquatic environment. Most of the emerging substances, especially pharmaceuticals, could not be completely removed using the wastewater treatment. Pharmaceuticals are usually water soluble and poorly degradable. They can pass through all natural filtrations and then reach the groundwater and, finally, the drinking water. The trace levels of antibiotics could have a negative impact on the environment and public health because of their inherent bioactivity. This article is an overview of the presence of the antibiotic residual concentrations, methods and levels of detection and possible risks to both health and environment.

Although the ubiquitous distribution of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in the environment has been documented very thoroughly, data on their occurrence in soil is so far sparse. In this study, an analytical method was developed to determine six OPEs in soil. The method consists of a combination of Twisselmann extraction and solid-phase microextraction (SPME), followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). To develop the method, spiked soil was extracted using a Twisselmann extractor after freeze-drying. The extract was evaporated to dryness, redissolved, and filtered. A volume of 7 mL was then analyzed by SPME, followed by GC-MS. The effects of different parameters on analyte recoveries during sample preparation, e.g., solvent for Twisselmann extraction, solvent for redissolving the extract, addition of copper, and filtration of the extract, were systematically investigated. Under optimum conditions, 10 g soil samples were extracted using toluene, and the extract was redissolved in methanol/water (1:14) and filtered. It was not necessary to add copper. For TnBP, TBEP, TCPP, and TCEP, recoveries ranged from 77.0% to 89.6%. Those for TPP and TDCP were much lower, at 31.5% and 42.0%, respectively (addition level 22.9-45.8 ng g(-1)). The variability of recoveries under these conditions was between 0.3 and 16.2% (n = 3). Limits of detection (LOD) were 0.002-3 ng g(-1). When ultrasonication was used in place of Twisselmann extraction in the developed method, recoveries were three to four times lower (27.4% to 30.6%), but the variability of recoveries was below 3% (n = 3). The method was applied to quantify OPEs in soil collected from the university campus in Osnabrueck (Germany). Average concentrations (n = 6) in soil samples ranged from 1.23 ng g(-1) to 4.96 ng g(-1) (dry weight) for TCPP, TPP, and TCEP. The results demonstrate for the first time that atmospheric deposition leads to soil contamination by OPEs.

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The Serbian National Waste Management Strategy for the Period 2010-2019, harmonized with the European Union Directives, mandates new and very strict requirements for landfill sites. To enable analysis of a number of required qualitative and quantitative factors for landfill site selection, the traditional method of site selection must be replaced with a new approach. The combination of GIS and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was selected to solve this complex problem. The Srem region in northern Serbia, being one of the most environmentally sensitive areas, was chosen as a case study. Seventeen factors selected as criteria/sub-criteria were recognized as most important, divided into geo-natural, environmental, social and techno-economic factors, and were evaluated by experts from different fields using an AHP extension in Arc GIS. Weighted spatial layers were combined into a landfill suitability map which was then overlapped with four restriction maps, resulting in a final suitability map. According to the results, 82.65% of the territory of Srem is unsuitable for regional landfill siting. The most suitable areas cover 9.14%, suitable areas 5.24%, while areas with low and very low suitability cover 2.21 and 0.76% of the territory, respectively. Based on these findings, five sites close to two large urban agglomerations were suggested as possible locations for a regional landfill site in Srem. However, the final decision will require further field investigation, a public acceptance survey, and consideration of ownership status and price of the land.

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