Biodegradation of methyl and butylparaben by bacterial strains isolated from amended and non-amended agricultural soil. Identification, behavior and enzyme activities of microorganisms.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the kinetics of methylparaben (MPB) and butylparaben (BPB) removal, two emerging pollutants with possible endocrine disrupting effects, from agricultural soil with and without amendment with compost from sewage sludge used as biostimulant. Compound removal is explained by a first-order kinetic model with half-life times of 6.5/6.

Determination of trichloroanisole and trichlorophenol in wineries' ambient air by passive sampling and thermal desorption-gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

The present paper describes the calibration of selected passive samplers used in the quantitation of trichlorophenol and trichloroanisole in wineries' ambient air, by calculating the corresponding sampling rates. The method is based on passive sampling with sorbent tubes and involves thermal desorption-gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry analysis. Three commercially available sorbents were tested using sampling cartridges with a radial design instead of axial ones.

On the estimate of capillary electrophoresis blanks: application to detection limits evaluation as recommended by IUPAC.

A new method to obtain the signal associated with an electrophoretic blank is presented to be included in the calibration procedures. The signal assigned to the blank is obtained by direct integration of the background noise using extrapolated values of the base-peak width at different concentrations in order to obtain the zero concentration. Detection limits that are better adjusted to a statistical evaluation are thus implemented, as recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).