Publications by authors named "M Zaky Ahel"
Article Synopsis
- - A study assessed the presence and distribution of 43 pharmaceutical compounds (PhACs) in the Sava River (Croatia) focusing on their potential to bioaccumulate in fish and the environmental risks associated with this.
- - Utilizing a specific LC-MS/MS method, researchers found that PhAC residues varied significantly between water and fish samples, with major antibiotics rising in prevalence near wastewater discharge areas, while upstream, psychostimulants and opioids were common.
- - The study highlighted varying bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of PhACs in different fish tissues, with some compounds showing moderate to moderately high BCFs, indicating their significance for environmental risk assessments, particularly with the influence of biotransformation processes.
Article Synopsis
- A study of sediment cores from Visovac Lake in Croatia analyzed changes in contaminants to understand human impacts on this protected area.
- It was found that agricultural runoff decreased after the 1991-1995 war, while pollution from the metal industry initially dropped due to the war but later resumed.
- The rise in tourism post-war brought new contaminants linked to transportation and oil, highlighting that tourist activities could pose a significant risk to the ecosystem.
Uptake and elimination kinetics, bioconcentration factors (BCFs), and metabolic transformation of 20 different pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), covering a wide range of therapeutic categories and physico-chemical properties, were studied using zebrafish (Danio rerio). The fish were exposed to the mixture of the selected PhACs at environmentally relevant concentrations similar to 10 µg L. The experiments were performed in semi-static conditions and comprised a 7-day uptake period followed by a 7-day depuration period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessing 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.
Sci Total Environ
September 2023
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.
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