Chemical, biological, and ecotoxicological assessment of pesticides and persistent organic pollutants in the Bahlui River, Romania

Abstract

Future close monitoring will be necessary for insuring compliance with the Water Framework Directive, and for refining standards and understanding of the local situation, but with relevance for the wider international community. On the basis of the situation described in the present study, we recommend that future studies dedicate specific efforts to point pollution and effluent toxicity, particularly around the city of Iasi. For a better understanding of pollution and its effects, we recommend pursuing the type of multidisciplinary investigations proposed by the present study: chemical, ecotoxicological, and ecological. We also recommend that new methods should be developed and/or refined, like the empirical determination of partitioning coefficients in water and soils, process-based toxicity methods in ecotoxicological assessments, searching for interactions between pollution, producers, and consumers in aquatic ecosystems. We also recommend preference for cheaper survey methods, as these will be more applicable locally.

Temporal variation and spatial distribution of PAH in water of Three Gorges Reservoir during the complete impoundment period

“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic or carcinogenic compounds (Douben 2003) and have severely impacted local ecosystems and human health (Mumford et al 1987;Latimer and Zheng 2003;Shi et al 2007;Neamtu et al 2009;Hu et al 2011). They are emitted into the atmosphere by various combustion sources (Fernandes and Brooks 2003) or released into the aquatic environment through the discharges from human activities such as industrial or domestic sewage effluents (Burgess et al 2003).…”

Complex Risks from Old Urban Waste Landfills: Sustainability Perspective from Iasi, Romania

“…Corresponding to EcSF-5-7, the measurement of ecological indices (Neamtu et al 2009) with planktonic algae and benthic invertebrates confirmed this degradation of river water downhill.…”

“…Contamination of the river sediments also indicated higher contamination levels in this area. Neamtu et al (2009) carried out similar measurements of POPs in sediments along the Bahlui River flowing nearby and found contamination levels in about the same range of concentration; they also found that contamination with POPs was stronger downhill from the landfill.…”

“…Neamtu et al (2009) also carried out ecotoxicological investigations on surface waters and their results have shown both indirect and direct effect of the MSW deposit on the quality of the Bahlui River. Standardized bioassays with algae and invertebrates adapted for whole effluent toxicity indicated a clear degradation of the river water quality downhill from the old MSW deposit and the major sources of urban point pollution of the Iasi Metropolitan Area [Zona Metropolitana Iasi (ZMI)].…”

ESTROM, Environmental Science and Technology in Romania—programme overview

“…At this event, a proceedings publication with ten articles was presented (Panin and Giger 2008). All nine ESTROM projects are presented as summary reports in this Special Issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Alexandrow and Bloesch 2009;Bravo et al 2009;Moldovan and Alder 2009;Neamtu et al 2009;Pavel et al 2009;Soutter et al 2009;Velea et al 2009;Zobrist et al 2009). The presentation files of the talks of the ESTROM meetings and the International Conference are available on the Internet (http://www.cnmp.ro/estrom_en.php?…”