Presence, behaviour, and risk assessment of volatile methylsiloxanes in wastewater: A year-long comprehensive study within a wastewater treatment plant.

The awareness of possible environmental hazards caused by the widespread global use of volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) in personal care products (PCPs) and industrial processes has been increasing. Sewage containing these compounds may reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which are hotspots of their release into the environment. The levels, distribution, and potential risks of VMSs were studied in an unprecedently comprehensive sampling strategy (four seasonal campaigns) along the water line of a WWTP: the main influent entrance (SA1), after the preliminary treatment (SA2), after the primary treatment (SA3) and after the secondary treatment (the treated effluent; SA4).

Are volatile methylsiloxanes in downcycled tire microplastics? Levels and human exposure estimation in synthetic turf football fields.

Downcycled rubber, derived from end-of-life tires (ELTs), is frequently applied as crumb rubber (CR) as infill of synthetic turf in sports facilities. This practice has been questioned in recent years as numerous studies have reported the presence of potentially hazardous chemicals in this material. CR particles fall into the category of microplastics (MPs), making them possible vectors for emerging micropollutants.

Personal care products in soil-plant and hydroponic systems: Uptake, translocation, and accumulation.

Personal care products (PCPs) are organic compounds that are incorporated in several daily life products, such as shampoos, lotions, perfumes, cleaning products, air fresheners, etc. Due to their massive and continuous use and because they are not routinely monitored in the environment, these compounds are considered emerging contaminants. In fact, residues of PCPs are being discharged into the sewage system, reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where most of these compounds are not completely degraded, being partially released into the environment via the final effluents and/or accumulating in the sewage sludges.

Helping WWTP managers to address the volatile methylsiloxanes issue-Behaviour and complete mass balance in a conventional plant.

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are a group of additives employed in different consumer products that can affect the quality of the biogas produced in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The main objective of this study is to understand the fate of different VMSs along the treatment process of a WWTP located in Aveiro (Portugal). Thus, wastewater, sludge, biogas, and air were sampled in different units for two weeks.

Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances in Portuguese Rivers: Spatial-Temporal Monitoring.

Eighteen per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were investigated in surface waters of four river basins in Portugal (Ave, Leça, Antuã, and Cértima) during the dry and wet seasons. All sampling sites showed contamination in at least one of the seasons. In the dry season, perfluorooctanoate acid (PFOA) and perfluoro-octane sulfonate (PFOS), were the most frequent PFASs, while during the wet season these were PFOA and perfluobutane-sulfonic acid (PFBS).

Plant uptake potential and soil persistence of volatile methylsiloxanes in sewage sludge amended soils.

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are organosilicon compounds, ubiquitous in modern life. Due to their high use in consumer products, large amounts of these compounds are released into sewer systems, reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Its frequent detection in sewage sludge can be of concern when considering its land application, not only due to potential negative impacts on the environment, but also on human health.

Uptake and translocation of synthetic musk fragrances by pea plant grown in sewage sludge-amended soils.

Sewage sludges are rich in organic matter and several essential nutrients for plant growth, making them very appealing for application in agricultural soils. However, they may also contain a wide range of emerging pollutants, which has raised concerns about the potential risks of this practice to crops, the environment, and public health - accumulation in soils and/or plant uptake and translocation of contaminants. Therefore, there is a need to study plant-soil interactions and assess the uptake potential of these contaminants by food crops to better understand these risks.

Presence of metals and metalloids in crumb rubber used as infill of worldwide synthetic turf pitches: Exposure and risk assessment.

Crumb rubber derived from end-of-life tires (ELTs) is frequently used as infill of synthetic turf pitches, promoting circular economy. Although important to reduce the accumulation of waste, the use of recycled ELTs can be a problem to human health and the environment, both by direct contact during pitch use and by the release of these elements to the surroundings, mostly via volatilization and leaching. The present study aimed to evaluate the distribution of metals in ELT-derived crumb rubber collected in artificial turf worldwide and assess possible trends by country, pitch age and type (indoor vs.

A review of bioaccumulation of volatile methylsiloxanes in aquatic ecosystems.

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are found in a broad range of industrial and consumer products. They are categorized as "high production volume chemicals" by the U.S.

Using Design of Experiments to Optimize a Screening Analytical Methodology Based on Solid-Phase Microextraction/Gas Chromatography for the Determination of Volatile Methylsiloxanes in Water.

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) constitute a group of compounds used in a great variety of products, particularly personal care products. Due to their massive use, they are continually discharged into wastewater treatment plants and are increasingly being detected in wastewater and in the environment at low concentrations. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a fast and reliable methodology to screen seven VMSs in water samples, by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID).

Uptake and translocation of UV-filters and synthetic musk compounds into edible parts of tomato grown in amended soils.

In the last years, the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has increased and consequently, sewage sludge production. This residue is very rich in crop nutrients, which makes it prone to be used as organic fertilizer or soil conditioner for agriculture. However, the presence of emerging pollutants in these fertilizers has raised concern, namely their potential accumulation in soil and, eventually their uptake by crops.

Modified dispersive solid-phase extraction and cleanup followed by GC-MS/MS analysis to quantify ultraviolet filters and synthetic musk compounds in soil samples.

A simple method for the analysis of 13 synthetic musk compounds and six ultraviolet filters in soil samples was developed using a modified dispersive solid-phase methodology known as "Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe," followed by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The methodology was validated by assessing linearity ranges, detection limits, precision, and accuracy. The method detection limit ranged between 0.

Headspace solid-phase microextraction based on the metal-organic framework CIM-80(Al) coating to determine volatile methylsiloxanes and musk fragrances in water samples using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method was developed using the metal-organic framework (MOF) CIM-80(Al) as extraction phase and in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the simultaneous determination of 6 methylsiloxanes and 7 musk fragrances in different environmental waters. The chromatographic separation was optimized in different GC instruments equipped with different detectors, allowing the correct separation and identification of the compounds. The HS-SPME method was optimized using a Box-Behnken experimental design, while the validation was carried out together with the most suitable commercial fiber (divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane) for comparison purposes.

Comparison of Techniques and Solvents on the Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Potential of Extracts from and .

Ethnopharmacological use of plant natural extracts has been known since ancient times. The optimization of plant molecule extraction is fundamental in obtaining relevant extraction yields. The main purpose of this study was to understand the role of different extraction techniques (solid-liquid, ultrasound, Soxhlet, and microwave) and solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, acetone, dichloromethane, and hexane) on the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of extracts from (olive) and (mimosa).

Analytical methodology to screen UV-filters and synthetic musk compounds in market tomatoes.

A Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) methodology followed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis was developed to extract thirteen synthetic musk compounds (SMCs: cashmeran, celestolide, phantolide, traseolide, galaxolide, tonalide, musk ambrette, musk xylene, musk ketone, musk tibetene, musk moskene, ethylene brassylate and exaltolide) and six ultraviolet-filters (UVFs: 2-ethylhexyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate, 3-(4'-methylbenzylidene) camphor, 2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate, 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate, benzophenone and drometrizole trisiloxane) from tomatoes. The proposed methodology was optimized: 2 g of freeze-dried tomato was extracted with 4 mL of water and 10 mL of ethyl acetate, adding 6 g of MgSO and 1.5 g of NaCl, then a dispersive solid-phase extraction was performed using 3 g of MgSO, 300 mg of primary-secondary amino adsorbent (PSA) and 300 mg of octadecyl-silica (C18).

Determination of multiclass personal care products in continental waters by solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A methodology based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous analysis of different families of personal care products (PCPs) including fragrance allergens, synthetic musks, phthalates, antioxidants and UV filters in continental waters. The main parameters affecting SPME procedure were optimized by an ANOVA study. The final selected conditions comprised the use of 10 mL of sample with 20% (w/v) of sodium chloride (NaCl), polydimtehylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber and 20 min of extraction time at 100 °C in the head-space mode.

Footprints in the sand - Assessing the seasonal trends of volatile methylsiloxanes and UV-filters.

This study focused on the determination of seven volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) and eleven UV-filters (UVFs) in beach sand from the Oporto's region (Portugal). A QuEChERS methodology ("Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe") was used to extract VMSs from the sand, which has never been employed before. To extract the UVFs, a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was used.

Spatial and seasonal occurrence of micropollutants in four Portuguese rivers and a case study for fluorescence excitation-emission matrices.

The European Union (EU) has recommended the monitoring of specific priority substances (PSs, Directive 2013/39) and some contaminants of emerging concern (CECs, Decision 2015/495) in surface waterbodies. The present study provides spatial distributions and temporal variations of a wide range of multi-class PSs and CECs in four stressed rivers in Portugal (Ave, Leça, Antuã, and Cértima). Thirteen micropollutants were found in all four rivers, including the priority pesticide isoproturon (up to 92 ng L), various pharmaceuticals (up to 396 ng L), and the UV-filter 2-ethyl-hexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC, up to 562 ng L) identified in Decision 2015/495.

Simultaneous determination of synthetic musks and UV-filters in water matrices by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry.

An analytical method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of 19 emergent compounds in water matrices, six UV-filters (UVFs), five nitro, six polycyclic and two macrocyclic musks. The target compounds were extracted by a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) approach, using 2-propanol as the dispersive solvent and 1,1,2-trichloroethane as the extractant solvent. The extracts were then analysed by gas chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry (GC-MS/MS).

Development and optimization of a QuEChERS-GC-MS/MS methodology to analyse ultraviolet-filters and synthetic musks in sewage sludge.

A Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) methodology followed by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis was developed to extract synthetic musk compounds (SMCs) (6 polycyclic, 2 macrocyclic and 5 nitro musks) and ultraviolet-filters (UVFs) (6 compounds) from sludge. This methodology fills a gap in the literature, since the proposed technique does not require specific equipment, nor large amounts of solvents, sorbents and time to extract SMCs and UVFs from sludge. To optimize this new methodology, a design of experiments (DoE) approach was used, applying first a screening design (SD) and then a central composite design (CCD).

Marine vegetation analysis for the determination of volatile methylsiloxanes in coastal areas.

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are massively produced chemicals that comprise a wide range of industrial and household applications. The presence of cyclic and linear VMSs in several environmental matrices and ecosystems indicates persistence associated with a potential of (bio)accumulation and food web transfer with possible toxicological effects. Due to the high anthropogenic pressure in its vicinities particularly in summer, coastal areas in Southern European countries are potential hotspots for the presence of VMSs.