Bioconcentration potential of ionic liquids: New data on membrane partitioning and its comparison with predictions obtained by COSMOmic.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently gained significant attention in both the scientific community and industry, but there is a limited understanding of the potential risks they might pose to the environment and human health, including their potential to accumulate in organisms. While membrane and storage lipids have been considered as primary sorption phases driving bioaccumulation, in this study we used an in vitro tool known as solid-supported lipid membranes (SSLMs) to investigate the affinity of ILs to membrane lipid - phosphatidylcholine and compare the results with an existing in silico model. Our findings indicate that ILs may have a strong affinity for the lipids that form cell membranes, with the key factor being the length of the cation's side chain.

Insights into the interaction of human serum albumin with ionic liquids - Thermodynamic, spectroscopic and molecular modelling studies.

Human serum albumin (HSA) effectively binds different types of low-molecular-weight compounds and thus enables their distribution in living organisms. Recently, it has been reported that the protein-ligand interactions play a crucial role in bioaccumulation processes and provide an important sorption phase, especially for ionogenic compounds. Therefore, the binding interactions of such compounds with proteins are the subject of an ongoing interest in environmental and life sciences.

Review of warming and acidification effects to the ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals on aquatic organisms in the era of climate change.

An increase in the temperature and the acidification of the aquatic environment are among the many consequences of global warming. Climate change can also negatively affect aquatic organisms indirectly, by altering the toxicity of pollutants. Models of climate change impacts on the distribution, fate and ecotoxicity of persistent pollutants are now available.

The first fully optimized and validated SPE-LC-MS/MS method for determination of the new-generation neonicotinoids in surface water samples.

Widespread use of the new generation neonicotinoids (NQs) results in their constant inflow to water bodies. Both their persistence in waters and mechanism of action similar to older compounds already banned in the EU raise concerns about potential ecotoxicological effects. Information about presence of the new NQs in the aquatic environment is still sparse, and the consequences for aquatic organisms remain mostly unknown, due to the lack of sensitive and selective analytical tools.

Bioconcentration of imidazolium ionic liquids: In vivo evaluation in marine mussels Mytilus trossulus.

Although imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) are beginning to be used more widely in many industrial fields e.g., as reaction media, electrolytes, stationary phases in gas chromatography), there is still little information about their potential environmental fate.

Ionic liquid-based functionalized materials for analytical chemistry.

Inherent in the use of almost any analytical technique is the need to improve the separation efficiency and extract purity. One possibility for enhancing analytical methods is the application of substances / materials that functionalize components of the separation system. They interact with the material to be modified, either permanently or temporarily.

Analysis of imidazolium ionic liquids in biological matrices: A novel procedure for the determination of trace amounts in marine mussels.

Imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) are chemical compounds beginning to be used on a mass scale. Although their presence in the environment is usually treated as only potential threat, there are already first evidences that this has become a real case. Taking into account their increasing use it might be expected that this problem will also increase in the nearest future.

Ionic liquids as potentially hazardous pollutants: Evidences of their presence in the environment and recent analytical developments.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are considered to be very promising group of chemicals and the number of their potential applications is growing rapidly. However, while these compounds were originally proposed as a green alternative to classical solvents, there are certain doubts as to whether this classification is correct. Although in recent years there have been first reports published proving the presence of some ILs in the environment and even in human blood, at this point the scale of this possible problem is not yet fully understood.

Carbon nanotube-passive samplers as novel tools for sampling and determining micropollutants in the aquatic environment.

Passive sampling is an interesting and cost-effective strategy for the quantification of micropollutants in the aquatic environment. When combined especially with a sensitive analytical method such as liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), the use of passive sampling devices (PSDs) enables long-term and reliable determination of a wide range of chemicals. In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as an innovative sorbent in POCIS-like samplers (Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler).

The impact of insecticides containing deltamethrin and cyfluthrin on the composition of surface compounds in the larvae, females and males of Tenebrio molitor.

This paper presents the effect of insecticides on the composition of the surface compounds of one of the most harmful insects, Tenebrio molitor, by analysis using GC-MS. As a result of the use of insecticides, the composition of the chemical compounds on the surface of insects changes, depending on the insecticides used. The most numerous groups of the marked compounds were fatty acids, alkanes, esters and sterols.

Mixture toxicity of six pharmaceuticals towards Aliivibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna, and Lemna minor.

As the knowledge on the joint effects of pharmaceuticals towards different non-target organisms is still limited, the aim of our study was to evaluate the toxicity of mixtures of pharmaceuticals, as well as their baseline toxicity towards three selected organisms, namely the bioluminescent bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri, the crustacean Daphnia magna, and the duckweed Lemna minor. Different mixtures composed of three up to five pharmaceuticals having the same or different mechanisms of action in terms of their therapeutic activity (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioid analgesic, antibacterial and anti-epileptic drugs) were investigated. The observed ECs were compared with those predicted using the concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models.

Evaluation of the Removal of Selected Phthalic Acid Esters (PAEs) in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants Supported by Constructed Wetlands.

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) have a negative impact on living organisms in the environment, therefore, are among the group of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (ECDs). Unfortunately, conventional methods used in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) are not designed to eliminate PAEs. For this reason, the development of cheap and simple but very effective techniques for the removal of such residues from wastewater is crucial.

Transformation products of pharmaceuticals in the environment: Their fate, (eco)toxicity and bioaccumulation potential.

Nowadays, a huge scientific attention is being paid to the chemicals of emerging concern, which may pose a significant risk to the human and whole ecosystems. Among them, residues of pharmaceuticals are a widely investigated group of chemicals. In recent years it has been repeatedly demonstrated that pharmaceuticals are present in the environment and that some of them can be toxic to organisms as well as accumulate in their tissues.

Toward the Proactive Design of Sustainable Chemicals: Ionic Liquids as a Prime Example.

The tailorable and often unique properties of ionic liquids (ILs) drive their implementation into a broad variety of seminal technologies. The modular design of ILs allows in this context a proactive selection of structures that favor environmental sustainability─ideally without compromising their technological performance. To achieve this objective, the whole life cycle must be taken into account and various aspects considered simultaneously.

Metabolism of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by non-target wild-living organisms.

The presence of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the environment is a fact, and aquatic and soil organisms are chronically exposed to trace levels of these emerging pollutants. This review presents the current state of knowledge on the metabolic pathways of NSAIDs in organisms at various levels of biological organisation. More than 150 publications dealing with target or non-target analysis of selected NSAIDs (mainly diclofenac, ibuprofen, and naproxen) were collected.

Hydrolytic stability of anticancer drugs and one metabolite in the aquatic environment.

Due to the genotoxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic mechanism of action, anticancer drugs are highly hazardous compounds. Their occurrence, fate, and effects in the environment have not been systematically studied as compared to other medicaments. Therefore, reliable data, including their stability and persistency, is required in order to assess it.

Interaction of pharmaceutical metabolites with blood proteins and membrane lipids in the view of bioconcentration: A preliminary study based on in vitro assessment.

Pharmaceuticals pose a real threat to the environment, which has been proven in many studies to date. However, still little is known about the transformation products (TPs) of these compounds, which can also interact with organisms, causing adverse effects like noticeable toxicity or bioconcentration. Many recent works confirm that metabolites of pharmaceuticals are present in the environment, and preliminary studies suggest that they may be equally dangerous to or even more so than their parent compounds.

Insight into the Sorption of 5-Fluorouracil and Methotrexate onto Soil-pH, Ionic Strength, and Co-Contaminant Influence.

Nowadays anticancer drugs (ADs), like other pharmaceuticals, are recognized as new emerging pollutants, meaning that they are not commonly monitored in the environment; however, they have great potential to enter the environment and cause adverse effects there. The current scientific literature highlights the problem of their presence in the aquatic environment by publishing more and more results on their analytics and ecotoxicological evaluation. In order to properly assess the risk associated with the presence of ADs in the environment, it is also necessary to investigate the processes that are important in understanding the environmental fate of these compounds.

Limitations of Integrative Passive Samplers as a Tool for the Quantification of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment - A Critical Review with the Latest Innovations.

This review starts with a presentation of the theory of kinetic uptake by passive sampling (PS), which is traditionally used to distinguish between integrative and equilibrium samplers. Demonstrated limitations of this model for the passive sampling of pharmaceuticals from water were presented. Most notably, the contribution of the protective membrane in the resistance to mass transfer of lipophilic analytes and the well documented effect of external parameters on sampling rates contributed to the greatest uncertainty in PS application.

Impact of environmental factors on the sampling rate of β-blockers and sulfonamides from water by a carbon nanotube-passive sampler.

Passive techniques are a constantly evolving approach to the long-term monitoring of micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, in the aquatic environment. This paper presents, for the first time, the calibration results of a new CNTs-PSDs (carbon nanotubes used as a sorbent in passive sampling devices) with an examination of the effect of donor phase salinity, water pH and the concentration of dissolved humic acids (DHAs), using both ultrapure and environmental waters. Sampling rates (R) were determined for the developed kinetic samplers.

Ionic liquids as environmental hazards - Crucial data in view of future PBT and PMT assessment.

Ionic liquids (ILs) constitute a large group of chemical compounds. They have gained much attention among scientists and industry due to their unique properties. Due to the fact that ILs are purely ionic compounds, there is the possibility to design an enormous number of cation and anion combinations, making them designer solvents.

The Identification of Cotton Fibers Dyed with Reactive Dyes for Forensic Purposes.

Some of the most common microtraces that are currently collected at crime scenes are fragments of single fibers. The perpetrator leaves them at a crime scene or takes them away, for example, on their clothing or body. In turn, the microscopic dimensions of such traces mean that the perpetrator does not notice them and therefore usually does not take action to remove them.

Is sequential batch reactor an efficient technology to protect recipient against non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol in treated wastewater?

The tested facility was a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Swarzewo, where the wastewater treatment takes place in aeration chambers with activated sludge using sequential batch reactors (SBRs). The concentration of the following pharmaceuticals: ibuprofen, paracetamol, flurbiprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and its metabolites 5OH-diclofenac and 4OH-diclofenac was tested in influents and effluents. Simultaneously, the conventional parameters were characterised.