The current state-of-the-art of passive sampling and/or extraction methods for long-term monitoring of pollutants in different environmental compartments is discussed in this review. Passive dosimeters that have been successfully used to monitor organic and inorganic contaminants in air, water, sediments, and soil are presented. The application of new approaches to the determination of pollutants at the sampling stage is discussed. The main milestones in the development of passive techniques for sampling and/or extraction of analytes, and in biomonitors used in environmental analysis, are summarized in this review. Passive samplers and biomonitors are compared.

No abstract

Thousands of tons of pharmaceuticals are introduced into the aqueous environment due to their incomplete elimination during treatment process in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and water treatment plants (WTPs). The presence of pharmacologically active compounds in the environment is of a great interest because of their potential to cause negative effects. Furthermore, drugs can undergo different processes leading to the formation of new transformation products, which may be more toxic than the parent compound. In light of these concerns, within the research a new, rapid and sensitive analytical procedure for the determination of a wide range of pharmaceuticals from different classes using solid phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) technique in different water samples was developed. This methodology was applied to investigate the occurrence, removal efficiency of 25 pharmaceuticals during wastewater and drinking water treatment, and seasonal variability in the amount of selected pharmaceuticals in WWTP and WTP over a year. The most often detected analytes in water samples were carbamazepine (100 % of samples) and ibuprofen (98 % of samples), concluding that they may be considered as pollution indicators of the aqueous environment in tested area. Highly polar compound, metformin, was determined at very high concentration level of up to 8100 ng/L in analyzed water samples. Drugs concentrations were much higher in winter season, especially for non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and caffeine, probably due to the inhibited degradation related to lower temperatures and limited sunlight. Carbamazepine was found to be the most resistant drug to environmental degradation and its concentrations were at similar levels during four seasons.

Early nutrition has an enormous influence on a child's physiological function, immune system maturation, and cognitive development. Human breast milk (HBM) is recognized as the gold standard for human infant nutrition. According to a WHO report, breastfeeding is considered as an unequaled way of providing ideal food to the infant, which is required for his healthy growth and development. HBM contains various macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and vitamins) as well as numerous bioactive compounds and interactive elements (growth factors, hormones, cytokines, chemokines, and antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this review is to summarize and discuss the current knowledge about metabolites, which are the least understood components of HBM, and their potential role in infant development. We focus on small metabolites (<1500 Da) and characterize the chemical structure and biological function of polar metabolites such as human milk oligosaccharides, nonprotein molecules containing nitrogen (creatine, amino acids, nucleotides, polyamines), and nonpolar lipids. We believe that this manuscript will provide a comprehensive insight into a HBM metabolite composition, chemical structure, and their role in a child's early life nutrition.

Passive sampling technology has been developing very quickly for the past 20 years, and is widely used for monitoring pollutants in different environments, for example air, water, and soil. It has many significant advantages, including simplicity, low cost, no need for expensive and complicated equipment, no power requirements, unattended operation, and the ability to produce accurate results. The present generation of passive samplers enables detection and analysis of bioavailable pollutants at low and very low concentrations and investigation of the environmental concentration of organic and inorganic pollutants not only on the local scale but also on continental and global scales. This review describes the current application of passive sampling techniques in environmental analysis and monitoring, under both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions.

An analytical procedure involving solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has been developed for the determination of nine high-intensity sweeteners authorised in the EU; acesulfame-K (ACS-K), aspartame (ASP), alitame (ALI), cyclamate (CYC), dulcin (DUL), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), neotame (NEO), saccharin (SAC) and sucralose (SCL) in a variety of food samples (i.e. beverages, dairy and fish products). After extraction with a buffer composed of formic acid and N,N-diisopropylethylamine at pH 4.5 in ultrasonic bath, extracts were cleaned up using Strata-X 33 μm Polymeric SPE column. The analytes were separated in gradient elution mode on C18 column and detected by mass spectrometer working with an electrospray source in negative ion mode. To confirm that analytical method is suitable for its intended use, several validation parameters, such as linearity, limits of detection and quantification, trueness and repeatibilty were evaluated. Calibration curves were linear within a studied range of concentrations (r2 ≥ 0.999) for six investigated sweeteners (CYC, ASP, ALI, DUL, NHDC, NEO). Three compounds (ACS-K, SAC, SCL) gave non-linear response in the investigated concentration range. The method detection limits (corresponding to signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of 3) were below 0.25 μg mL−1 (μg g−1), whereas the method quantitation limits (corresponding to S/N ratio of 10) were below 2.5 μg mL−1 (μg g−1). The recoveries at the tested concentrations (50%, 100% and 125% of maximum usable dose) for all sweeteners were in the range of 84.2 ÷ 106.7%, with relative standard deviations <10% regardless of the type of sample matrix (i.e. beverage, yoghurt, fish product) and the spiking level. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of the nine sweeteners in drinks, yoghurts and fish products. The procedure described here is simple, accurate and precise and is suitable for routine quality control analysis of foodstuffs.

Isoprostanes (IsoPs) are key biomarkers for investigating the role of free radical generation in the pathogenesis of human disorders. To solve IsoPs-related problems with regard to isoprostanes, analytical tools are required. This paper reviews the problems and trends in this field focusing on the methodology for assaying biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples. A large amount of work has been done in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of IsoPs, but a standardized method has yet to emerge. The methodologies described differ, either in the sample preparation steps or in the detection techniques, or both. Requiring a number of chromatographic steps, the relevant extraction and purification procedures are often critical and time-consuming, and they lead to a substantial loss of target compounds. Recent data show that EBC is a promising non-invasive tool for the evaluation of different diseases. Two main analytical approaches have been adopted for IsoPs measurement: immunological methods and mass spectrometry. The methodologies for the extraction, purification and analysis of IsoPs in EBC samples are presented.

No abstract