Toxicity of wastewater from health care facilities assessed by different bioassays.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine toxicity of wastewater from hospitals in the Czech Republic using traditional and alternative toxicological methods. The pilot study comprised weekly dynamics of sewage ecotoxicity of treated wastewater from one hospital in two different seasons. A detailed investigation of wastewater ecotoxicity, genotoxicity and reprotoxicity followed in five different hospitals.

Genotoxicity of wastewater from health care facilities.

Health care facilities use for therapeutic purposes, diagnostics, research, and disinfection a high number of chemical compounds, such as pharmaceuticals (e.g. antibiotics, cytostatics, antidepressants), disinfectants, surfactants, metals, radioactive elements, bleach preparations, etc.

Bioindicators of wastewater ecotoxicity.

Wastewater, especially containing hospital effluents, exhibits high chemical complexity and specificity since it includes various chemicals, biocides, pharmaceuticals, surfactants, radionuclides, disinfectants and pathogens. Biological tests provide true evidence of the wastewater quality and unlike chemical analytical tests show comprehensive pollution effects on the environment and human health. Normalized conventional bioassays are not sensitive enough for ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewater and there is a great need for the development of suitable sensitive bioassays in order to characterize properly the residual toxicity of treated effluents.

Exposure to airborne fungi during sorting of recyclable plastics in waste treatment facilities.

Background: In working environment of waste treatment facilities, employees are exposed to high concentrations of airborne microorganisms. Fungi constitute an essential part of them. This study aims at evaluating the diurnal variation in concentrations and species composition of the fungal contamination in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities in different seasons.

Methods of sampling airborne fungi in working environments of waste treatment facilities.

Objectives: The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the efficiency of a filter based sampling method and a high volume sampling method for sampling airborne culturable fungi present in waste sorting facilities.

Material And Methods: Membrane filters method was compared with surface air system method. The selected sampling methods were modified and tested in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities.

Occurrence of perchloroethylene in surface water and fish in a river ecosystem affected by groundwater contamination.

Long-term monitoring of the content of perchloroethylene (PCE) in a river ecosystem affected by groundwater contamination was performed at a site in the Czech Republic. The quality of surface water was monitored quarterly between 1994 and 2013, and fish were collected from the affected ecosystem to analyse the content of PCE in their tissue in 1998, 2011 and 2012. Concentrations of PCE (9-140 μg/kg) in the tissue of fish collected from the contaminated part of the river were elevated compared to the part of the river unaffected by the contamination (ND to 5 μg/kg PCE).

The mercury burden of the Czech population: An integrated approach.

In this paper an integrated approach in assessment of the population exposure from various sources of total mercury (THg) oral intake in the Czech Republic is presented. The information on total mercury levels in diet, drinking water, surface urban soil and body fluids and tissues stem from the Czech national Environmental Health Monitoring System (EHMS) operated since 1994. The THg concentration was determined by the special atomic absorption spectrophotometer AMA 254.

Crop-specific human exposure assessment for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Czech soils.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are pollutants frequently found in soils, particularly in urban areas. From polluted soils, the PAH can be taken up into crops and the consumption of these crops can result in a human health risk. We estimated the bioconcentration factors (BCF) in the edible plant tissues for PAH using crop-specific models for leafy vegetables, root vegetables, potatoes and tree fruits.