Estrogenicity of chemical mixtures revealed by a panel of bioassays.

Estrogenic compounds are widely released to surface waters and may cause adverse effects to sensitive aquatic species. Three hormones, estrone, 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol, are of particular concern as they are bioactive at very low concentrations. Current analytical methods are not all sensitive enough for monitoring these substances in water and do not cover mixture effects.

Deriving environmental quality standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and related short chain perfluorinated alkyl acids.

The evidence that in Northern Italy significant sources of perfluoroalkylacids (PFAA) are present induced the Italian government to establish a Working Group on Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for PFAA in order to include some of them in the list of national specific pollutants for surface water monitoring according to the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). The list of substances included perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and related short chain PFAA such as perfluorobutanoate (PFBA), perfluoropentanoate (PFPeA), perfluorohexanoate (PFHxA) and perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), which is a substitute of perfluorooctanesulfonate. For each of them a dossier collects available data on regulation, physico-chemical properties, emission and sources, occurrence, acute and chronic toxicity on aquatic species and mammals, including humans.

Mixtures of chemical pollutants at European legislation safety concentrations: how safe are they?

The risk posed by complex chemical mixtures in the environment to wildlife and humans is increasingly debated, but has been rarely tested under environmentally relevant scenarios. To address this issue, two mixtures of 14 or 19 substances of concern (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, a surfactant, and a plasticizer), each present at its safety limit concentration imposed by the European legislation, were prepared and tested for their toxic effects. The effects of the mixtures were assessed in 35 bioassays, based on 11 organisms representing different trophic levels.

Comparison between different leaching tests for the evaluation of metal release from fly ash.

Comparison of three different leaching tests, each characterized by different conditions, e.g. liquid/solid ratio, pH, leachant, stirring conditions, duration time, has been performed within the activities of Analeach, financed by the European Union in the "Cooperation with third Countries" programme (INCO).

Thermodynamics of simple and mixed complexes of copper(II) with adenosine 5'-monophosphate and spermine.

Thermodynamic parameters pertinent to the equilibria of ternary system copper(II), adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), and 4,9-diazadodecane-1,12-diamine (Spermine, Spe) were determined by means of potentiometric and calorimetric techniques, together with the corresponding parent binary complex parameters. This system could be considered as a model in the study of more complicated biological systems. In particular, it could give useful evidence in the investigation of the interaction between tetramine and DNA.