Multiclass determination of drug residues in water and fish for bioaccumulation potential assessment.

In this work, a wide-scope liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitative determination of environmental levels of multiclass drugs and their metabolites in water and fish samples was developed. The method allowed the reliable determination of 44 drugs, covering a rather wide range of chemistries and physicochemical characteristics. In order to obtain a reliable and robust analytical protocol, different combinations of extraction and cleanup techniques were systematically examined.

Assessing the impact of a major electronic music festival on the consumption patterns of illicit and licit psychoactive substances in a Mediterranean city using wastewater analysis.

The consumption patterns of five categories of psychoactive substances (PS), including "conventional" illicit drugs, new psychoactive substances (NPS), therapeutic opioids, alcohol and nicotine, were studied in the city of Split, Croatia, using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), with an emphasis on the impact of a large electronic music festival. The study involved the analysis of 57 urinary biomarkers of PS in raw municipal wastewater samples collected in three characteristic periods, including the festival week in the peak-tourist season (July) and reference weeks in the peak-tourist season (August) and the off-tourist season (November). Such a large number of biomarkers allowed the recognition of distinct patterns of PS use associated with the festival, but also revealed some subtle differences between summer and autumn seasons.

Toxic airborne S, PAH, and trace element legacy of the superhigh-organic-sulphur Raša coal combustion: Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment of soil and ash.

This paper presents the levels of sulphur, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and potentially toxic trace elements in soils surrounding the Plomin coal-fired power plant (Croatia). It used domestic superhigh-organic-sulphur Raša coal from 1970 until 2000. Raša coal was characterised by exceptionally high values of S, up to 14%, making the downwind southwest (SW) area surrounding the power plant a significant hotspot.

Prioritisation of organic contaminants in a river basin using chemical analyses and bioassays.

Region-specific contaminant prioritisation is an important prerequisite for sustainable and cost-effective monitoring due to the high number of different contaminants that may be present. Surface water and sediment samples from the Sava River, Croatia, were collected at four locations covering a 150-km-long river section characterised by well-defined pollution gradients. Analysis of contaminant profiles along the pollution gradients was performed by combining toxicity screening using a battery of small-scale or in vitro bioassays, which covered different modes of action, with detailed chemical characterisation based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS).

Assessment of toxicological profiles of the municipal wastewater effluents using chemical analyses and bioassays.

The hazardous chemical contamination of untreated wastewater and secondary effluent from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the city of Zagreb, Croatia was comprehensively characterized using large-volume solid-phase extraction (SPE) and silica gel fractionation, followed by a detailed analysis of the resulting extracts by a combination of chemical and bioassay methods. Over 100 individual contaminants or closely related-contaminant groups were identified by high-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF). Ecotoxicity profiling of the investigated samples, including cytotoxicity, chronic toxicity and EROD activity; inhibition of the multixenobiotic resistance (MXR), genotoxicity and estrogenic potential, revealed the most significant contribution of toxic compounds to be present in polar fractions.