The following provides a short overview of the important topics arising from the 6(th) International Passive Sampling Workshop and Symposium (IPSW 2013) held in Bordeaux, France between 26 and 29(th) June, 2013. Most of the discussions focussed on monitoring non-polar and polar organic pollutants in water with less coverage on air (probably already seen as a mature technology for this medium) and sediments. The use of passive sampling devices within regulatory water monitoring programmes was also a major theme of the Workshop.

A 6-month air sampling survey was conducted at 26 sites across the African continent with the aim to establish baseline information on contamination of ambient air with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as a reference for future monitoring programs in the region. Sampling sites included continental, rural and urban backgrounds, agricultural and industrial sites as well as waste and obsolete pesticide dumps. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides were low at most of the rural background sites, but they raise some concern in big cities. The large temporal variability in the pesticide concentrations suggested seasonal application of gamma-HCHs and endosulfans; levels of p,p'-DDT were often much higher than those of p,p'-DDE and indicated recent application of DDT.

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Passive and composite sampling in combination with in vitro bioassays and identification and quantification of individual chemicals were applied to characterize pollution by compounds with several specific modes of action in urban area in the basin of two rivers, with 400,000 inhabitants and a variety of industrial activities. Two types of passive samplers, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD) for hydrophobic contaminants and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) for polar compounds such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, were used to sample wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent as well as rivers upstream and downstream of the urban complex and the WWTP. Compounds with endocrine disruptive potency were detected in river water and WWTP influent and effluent. Year-round, monthly assessment of waste waters by bioassays documented estrogenic, androgenic and dioxin-like potency as well as cytotoxicity in influent waters of the WWTP and allowed characterization of seasonal variability of these biological potentials in waste waters. The WWTP effectively removed cytotoxic compounds, xenoestrogens and xenoandrogens. There was significant variability in treatment efficiency of dioxin-like potency. The study indicates that the WWTP, despite its up-to-date technology, can contribute endocrine disrupting compounds to the river. Riverine samples exhibited dioxin-like, antiestrogenic and antiandrogenic potencies. The study design enabled characterization of effects of the urban complex and the WWTP on the river. Concentrations of PAHs and contaminants and specific biological potencies sampled by POCIS decreased as a function of distance from the city.