Background: Metal transfer along the food chain has raised concerns about impacts on human health due to dietary exposure to low but chronic concentrations. Soil–forage–milk–consumer is a short food chain through which metals are able to reach an organism. Methods: Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn were determined in water, soil, forage, and milk samples collected from free-range cattle farms situated near Baia Mare, Romania. The soil-to-forage (TFsf) and forage-to-milk (TFfm) transfer factors for metals and the health risk for three population groups (females, males, and children) through the consumption of milk containing low levels of metals were assessed. Results: TFsf indicated that the uptake capabilities of the metals from soil to forage were in the following order: Zn > Cd > Cu > Pb. TFfm indicated a lack of metal accumulation through forage ingestion. Estimated daily (EDI) and provisional tolerable weekly (PTWI) intake values revealed a minimal exposure of the population to those metals through milk consumption. A noncarcinogenic hazard index indicated that milk consumption from local markets does not pose any risk for human health; however, the average cancer risk showed a high potential carcinogenic risk. Conclusions: The consumption of milk produced by small local farmers does not pose noncarcinogenic risks. More extended studies should be carried out in order to identify the potential carcinogenic risk caused by the low levels of metals in the milk consumed.

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Summary Ursu Lake is located in the Middle Miocene salt deposit of Central Romania. It is stratified, and the water column has three distinct water masses: an upper freshwater‐to‐moderately saline stratum (0–3 m), an intermediate stratum exhibiting a steep halocline (3–3.5 m), and a lower hypersaline stratum (4 m and below) that is euxinic (i.e. anoxic and sulphidic). Recent studies have characterized the lake's microbial taxonomy and given rise to intriguing ecological questions. Here, we explore whether the communities are dynamic or stable in relation to taxonomic composition, geochemistry, biophysics, and ecophysiological functions during the annual cycle. We found: (i) seasonally fluctuating, light‐dependent communities in the upper layer (≥0.987–0.990 water‐activity), a stable but phylogenetically diverse population of heterotrophs in the hypersaline stratum (water activities down to 0.762) and a persistent plate of green sulphur bacteria that connects these two (0.958–0.956 water activity) at 3–3.5 to 4 m; (ii) communities that might be involved in carbon‐ and sulphur‐cycling between and within the lake's three main water masses; (iii) uncultured lineages including Acetothermia (OP1), Cloacimonetes (WWE1), Marinimicrobia (SAR406), Omnitrophicaeota (OP3), Parcubacteria (OD1) and other Candidate Phyla Radiation bacteria, and SR1 in the hypersaline stratum (likely involved in the anaerobic steps of carbon‐ and sulphur‐cycling); and (iv) that species richness and habitat stability are associated with high redox‐potentials. Ursu Lake has a unique and complex ecology, at the same time exhibiting dynamic fluctuations and stability, and can be used as a modern analogue for ancient euxinic water bodies and comparator system for other stratified hypersaline systems.

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On the morning of 23 March 2018, an unusual phenomenon was observed over Romania where the southeastern part of the country was covered in a fresh-layer of orange snow. The event was extensively reported in mass-media and social-media and raised questions about the origin and the possible impact of the orange snow. Even if this type of events, intrusions of Saharan dust, have been reported before in Romania, and in Europe in general, their occurrence during negative temperature conditions is very rare. Saharan dust intrusion occurs over Europe mainly during spring and, in general, is not accompanied by snow at low altitudes. In this article, for the first time, the synoptic-scale conditions leading to the Saharan dust intrusion over Romania and the chemical and physical properties of the deposited dust particles in a snow layer were analyzed. The Saharan dust event affected a permanent atmospheric measurement research infrastructure located southwest of Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. In-situ and remote sensing measurements conducted at this research infrastructure allowed the identification of the dust source as the north Sahara. The source was confirmed by the elemental ratios of the main components (e.g., Al, Ca, Mg, Fe, K). For example, the (Ca+Mg)/Fe ratio of 1.39 was characteristic for the north Sahara. The dust morphology and the minerals were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with energy disperse X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDX). The size distribution of the particle geometric diameter showed that they are centred on 1 μ m, but larger particles up to 40 μ m are also present. To visualize the minerals, an approach was developed which emphasized the presence of the calcite, quartz or clay minerals. The optical parameters of dust were measured by re-suspending the particles. Values of the optical parameters (i.e., asymmetry parameter at 550 nm was 0.604, single scattering albedo was 0.84–0.89) were similar to those measured for Saharan dust intrusions over the Iberian Peninsula. Also, the non-refractory particles found in the dust-contaminated snow layer were analyzed, indicating the presence of HULIS-like compounds, most probably advected from the Mediterranean sea.

Background: The paper presents the development, validation, and evaluation of measurement uncertainty of a method for quantitative determination of essential and nonessential elements in medicinal plants and their aqueous extracts by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Methods: The detailed validation of the analytical procedure and calculation of the measurement uncertainty budget allowed the recognition of the methods' critical points.

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