Environmental release of oseltamivir from a Norwegian sewage treatment plant during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.

During the 2009 influenza type A(H1N1) pandemic, the antiviral drug oseltamivir (OP, Tamiflu®) was extensively used for treatment and prophylaxis after recommendation from World Health Organisation (WHO). Previous studies have indicated that the pharmaceutically active metabolite of OP, oseltamivir carboxylate (OC), is not readily degraded in sewage treatment plants (STPs) and therefore will be released into receiving waters in elevated concentrations during a pandemic outbreak of influenza. A method for analyzing OP and OC in wastewater by UPLC-TOF has been developed and validated.

Assessing inter-laboratory comparability and limits of determination for the analysis of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes in whole Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) are high volume production chemicals used in a wide range of industrial and consumer products. Three cVMS compounds (D4, D5, and D6) have and are undergoing environmental risk evaluations in several countries and have been proposed for legal regulation in Canada. As interest in monitoring concentrations of these chemicals in the environment increase, there is a need to evaluate the analytical procedures for cVMS in biological matrices in order to assess the quality of data produced.

Plasma concentrations of parabens in postmenopausal women and self-reported use of personal care products: the NOWAC postgenome study.

Parabens are used extensively in personal care products; however, their estrogenic properties have raised concern over risks to human health. High levels of total parabens, mainly as conjugates, have been reported in human plasma/serum, with limited data on native parabens. Our objective was to assess and link plasma concentrations of native common parabens to self-reported use of personal care products in women from the general population.

Volatile siloxanes in the European arctic: assessment of sources and spatial distribution.

The purpose of this study was to investigate presence and potential accumulation of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) in the Arctic environment. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) were analyzed in sediment, zooplankton, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), shorthorn sculpin (Myxocephalus scorpius), and bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) collected from the Svalbard archipelago within the European Arctic in July 2009. Highest levels were found for D5 in fish collected from Adventfjorden, with average concentrations of 176 and 531 ng/g lipid in Atlantic cod and shorthorn sculpin, respectively.

Diurnal variations in the occurrence and the fate of hormones and antibiotics in activated sludge wastewater treatment in Oslo, Norway.

We present an assessment of the dynamics in the influent concentration of hormones (estrone, estriol) and antibiotics (trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin) in the liquid phase including the efficiency of biological municipal wastewater treatment. The concentration of estradiol, 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol, doxycycline, oxytetracycline, demeclocycline, chlortetracycline, cefuroxime, cyclophosphamide, and ifosfamide were below the limit of detection in all of the sewage samples collected within this study. Two different types of diurnal variation pattern were identified in the influent mass loads of selected antibiotics and hormones that effectively correlate with daily drug administration patterns and with the expected maximum human hormone release, respectively.

Impacts of competitive inhibition, parent compound formation and partitioning behavior on the removal of antibiotics in municipal wastewater treatment.

We present a process model that predicts the removal of the antibiotic micropollutants, sulfamethoxazole (SMX), tetracycline (TCY), and ciprofloxacin (CIP), in an activated sludge treatment system. A novel method was developed to solve the inverse problem of inferring process rate, sorption, and correction factor parameter values from batch experimental results obtained under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Instead of spiking the batch reactors with reference substances, measurements were made using the xenobiotic organic micropollutant content of preclarified municipal sewage.

Comparing electron ionization high-resolution and electron capture low-resolution mass spectrometric determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in plasma, serum and milk.

Gas chromatography coupled to low-resolution mass spectrometry with electron capture negative ionization as detection mode (GC-LRMS (ECNI)) has been compared to gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry using electron ionization as detection mode (GC-HRMS (EI)) for determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in biological samples. Extracts of 5.0 g plasma, serum and milk samples were analyzed using both methods.

A new method for determination of halogenated flame retardants in human milk using solid-phase extraction.

A method has been developed for quantitation of a selection of halogenated flame retardants in human milk. The method has been validated for seven polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154, and BDE-183, and the halogenated phenols 2,4,6-tribromophenol (TriBP), pentabromophenol (PeBP), tetrachlorobisphenol-A (TCBP-A), and tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBP-A). The sample preparation includes solid-phase extraction using an N-vinylpyrrolidone-divinylbenzene copolymer with on-column lipid decomposition followed by additional cleanup on sulfuric acid-silica columns and methylation of the phenolic compounds.