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Future close monitoring will be necessary for insuring compliance with the Water Framework Directive, and for refining standards and understanding of the local situation, but with relevance for the wider international community. On the basis of the situation described in the present study, we recommend that future studies dedicate specific efforts to point pollution and effluent toxicity, particularly around the city of Iasi. For a better understanding of pollution and its effects, we recommend pursuing the type of multidisciplinary investigations proposed by the present study: chemical, ecotoxicological, and ecological. We also recommend that new methods should be developed and/or refined, like the empirical determination of partitioning coefficients in water and soils, process-based toxicity methods in ecotoxicological assessments, searching for interactions between pollution, producers, and consumers in aquatic ecosystems. We also recommend preference for cheaper survey methods, as these will be more applicable locally.

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Five new rat monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and other nitroaromatic compounds, including, especially, the metabolite 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT), are described. Five heterogeneous, competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed. Assay 1 uses mAb DNT4 3F6 as recognition element and gives a standard curve for TNT in 40 mmol L(-1) phosphate buffered saline (PBS) with a test midpoint (IC50) of 0.26+/-0.08 microg L(-1) (n=20). Assay 2 (mAb DNT4 4G4) has an IC50 of 0.35+/-0.07 microg L(-1) (n=18), assay 3 (mAb DNT4 1A3) has an IC50 of 0.73+/-0.14 microg L(-1) (n=15), and assay 4 (mAb DNT4 1A7) has an IC50 of 2.32+/-0.70 microg L(-1) (n=15). Assay 5 (mAb DNT2 4B4) is very selective for 2-ADNT and has an IC50 of 8.5+/-1.7 microg L(-1) (n=15) in PBS. These antibodies for nitroaromatic compounds differ not only in their sensitivity but also in their selectivity. Major cross-reactants are 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, 2-ADNT, 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT), 2,4-dinitroaniline, 3,5-dinitroaniline, and 2,6-dinitroaniline. Although assay 5 is not highly sensitive, the mAb DNT2 4B4 in this assay is highly selective for 2-ADNT. Of all the compounds tested, only 2,4-dinitroaniline and 3,5-dinitroaniline had relevant cross reactivities, 18% and about 26%, respectively. Two ELISAs, using mAbs DNT4 3F6 and DNT2 4B4, were used to analyze different concentrations of TNT and 2-ADNT, respectively, in three different surface water matrices (river and lake water). Both assays were affected by the matrix, but usually performed well (recovery within the range 70-120%). In addition, these ELISAs were used to analyze mixtures of TNT, 2-ADNT, and 4-ADNT, at three different concentrations, in the same water matrices. A different recognition pattern was clearly visible with both assays and depended on the cross reactivities of the corresponding mAb.

Landfills continue to represent the most frequent managerial practice for municipal solid wastes and an increasing and complex problem globally. In certain countries, a transition to an open society and free market is superimposed on the transition to sustainability, resulting in even higher complexity of management. This paper proposes an approach for problem-structuring of landfills in complex transitions: sustainability or unsustainability of a management approach is determined by a set of sustainability filters that are defined by sets of indicators and prioritized according the systemic concept of sustainability, which says that economy is embedded in society, which is embedded in nature. The writers exercise this approach with an old landfill in Iasi, Romania, and conclude for unsustainability, because the ecological sustainability filter is not successfully passed. Social and economic sustainability filters are also discussed in relation with the ecological sustainability indicators. The described approach allows a coherent, transdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge scattered across various disciplines, a pervasive problem in landfill management. The case study helps distinguish between generally true and contextdependent aspects.

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