The potential of Univariate and Multivariate Analysis and specifically Principal Components Analysis (PCA), has been employed to assess the performance of pine needles as bioindicators of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particularly emphasize the crucial importance of making a distinction between different pine species if more than one is sampled. Four sampling sessions were done in 29 sites and needles of two common pine species (Pinus pinaster Ait. in 19 sites and Pinus pinea L. in 12) were collected and analysed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and PCA. The results obtained indicated significant differences between species, attributed to their different morphology. The mean total PAH concentration of the P. pinaster needles are over two times higher than P. pinea’s. This difference is lower when the results are presented in lipid weight, but still statistically significant. Samples from the two sites with adjacent trees reinforce these conclusions, showing significant differences in terms of PAH mean concentration and aromatic ring patterns

Synthetic musks have been used for a long time in personal care and household products. In recent years, this continuous input has increased considerably, to the point that they were recognized as emerging pollutants by the scientific community, due to their persistence in the environment, and hazardous potential to ecosystems even at low concentrations. The number of studies in literature describing their worldwide presence in several environmental matrices is growing, and many of them indicate that the techniques employed for their safe removal tend to be ineffective. This is the case of conventional activated sludge treatment plants (WWTPs), where considerable loads of synthetic musks enter mainly through domestic sewage. This review paper compiles and discusses the occurrence of these compounds in the sewage, effluents and sludge, main concentration levels and phase distributions, as well as the efficiency of the different methodologies of removal applied in these treatment facilities. To the present day, it has been demonstrated that WWTPs lack the ability to remove musks completely. This shows a clear need to develop new effective and cost-efficient remediation approaches and foresees potential for further improvements in this field.

Synthetic musks are organic compounds used as fragrance additives and fixative compounds in a diversity of personal care products. A new method based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction followed by GC-MS for the analysis of 12 musks in personal care products was developed and validated. Some experimental parameters, such as total QuEChERS mass, sample mass/solvent volume ratio, type of extraction solvent, as well as salts and sorbents amount were investigated and optimized. The final method involves the musks extraction using acetonitrile, followed by the addition of anhydrous magnesium sulphate and sodium acetate. The clean-up step was performed using dispersive SPE with primary and secondary amine and octadecyl-silica sorbents. This extraction procedure is fast (about 10 min) when compared to other traditional approaches. The method was robust for the matrices studied and shows a high precision (%RSD < 15%) and accuracy (average recovery of 85%), allowing the detection of musks in minimum concentrations between 0.01 ng/g (galaxolide) and 15.80 ng/g (musk xylene). The developed method was applied to the analysis of 12 samples, which revealed musks concentrations ranging from 2 ng/g (toothpaste) to 882,340 ng/g (perfumed body lotion).

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Vegetation is a useful matrix for the quantification of atmospheric pollutants such as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). In particular, pine needles stand out as effective biomonitors due to the excellent uptake properties of their waxy layer. Having previously validated an original and reliable method to analyse pesticides in pine needles, our workteam set the objective of this study to determine the levels of 18 pesticides in Pinus pinea needles collected in 12 different sampling sites in Portugal. These compounds were selected among a total of 70 pesticides by previous chemical scoring, developed to assess their probability to occur in the atmosphere. The risk of exposure was evaluated by the binomial chemical score / frequency of occurrence in the analyzed samples. Levels and trends of the chemical families and target of the pesticides were 2 obtained regarding the type of land occupation of the selected sites, including the use of advanced statistics (principal component analysis, PCA). Finally, some correlations with several characteristics of the sampling sites (population, energy consumption, meteorology, etc) were also investigated.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of preparation conditions of espresso coffee (EC) on the diterpenes profile. ECs were prepared from roasted and ground (R&G) Arabica coffee and analyzed for the content of cafestol and kahweol by liquid-liquid extraction followed by HPLC-DAD, as well as their lipid content. The main variables in the present study were: the water quantity, the amount of coffee, the particle size, the percolation time, the water temperature and pressure.Average cafestol, kahweol and lipid content of R&G Arabica coffee were 467 ± 20 mg/100 g, 638 ± 33 mg/100 g, and 15.1 ± 0.1 g/100 g, respectively. Although all parameters influenced the diterpenes content of ECs (21 samples), the particle size and water quantity were the most significant ones. It was possible to reduce the total diterpenes from 58.8 ± 0.7 mg/L (2.3 mg/40 mL) to 30.7 ± 0.8 mg/L (1.2 mg/40 mL) by varying the brewing conditions. The extraction yield of diterpenes and lipids were in the range of 1.5-2.5% and 7.0-9.0%, respectively. Regarding total cafestol and kahweol, very fine particles seem to be more desirable for the production of highly concentrated brew (2.3 mg/40 mL) with cafestol and kahweol extraction yields of 2.8 and 2.9%, respectively, than other studied ECs. On the other hand, samples brewed at 70 ºC exhibited lower diterpenes content (1.2 mg/40 mL) and diterpenes extraction efficiency (1.4%) with respect to all other considered parameters. This study clearly shows that parameters for coffee brew preparation may be changed to modify the diterpenes content of ECs according to the desired purpose.Keywords Espresso coffee, Brewing, Diterpenes, Roasted coffee beans IntroductionCoffee is a globally consumed beverage and can be prepared in different ways. One of the common coffee brewing techniques is the Italian "Espresso" which are consumed over than 50 million cups per days [1]. Espresso coffee (EC) is an intense beverage with special aroma made for immediate consumption [2]. For the preparation of espresso coffee, a limited amount of hot water (90±5 °C), under pressure (9±2 bar), passes through a compressed finely roasted and ground coffee (R&G, 6.5±1.5 g) in a short period of time (30±5 s) and produces a brew (15-50 mL) with strong taste and flavor topped with crema (dense foam layer) [1,

The contamination of the aquatic environment by non-metabolized and metabolized antibiotic residues has brought the necessity of alternative treatment steps to current water decontamination technologies. This work assessed the feasibility of using a multistage treatment system for amoxicillin (AMX) spiked solutions combining: i) a biological treatment process using an enriched culture to metabolize AMX, with ii) a solar photocatalytic system to achieve the removal of the metabolized transformation products (TPs) identified via LC-MS, recalcitrant to further biological degradation. Firstly, a mixed culture (MC) was obtained through the enrichment of an activated sludge sample collected in an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Secondly, different aqueous matrices spiked with AMX were treated with the MC and the metabolic transformation products were identified. Thirdly, the efficiency of two solar assisted photocatalytic processes (TiO2/UV or Fe 3+ /Oxalate/H2O2/UV-Vis) was assessed in the degradation of the obtained TPs using a lab-scale prototype photoreactor equipped with a compound parabolic collector (CPC). Highest AMX specific biodegradation rates were obtained in buffer and urban wastewater (WW) media (0.10 ± 0.01 and 0.13 ± 0.07 gAMX gbiomass -1 h -1 , respectively). The resulting TPs, which no longer presented antibacterial activity, were identified as amoxicilloic acid (m/ z = 384). The performance of the Fe /Oxalate/H2O2/UV-Vis system in the 2 removal of the TPs from WW medium was superior to the TiO2/UV process (TPs no longer detected after 40 min (QUV = 2.6 kJ L -1 ), against incomplete TPs removal after 240 min (QUV = 14.9 kJ L -1 ), respectively).

Background and objectivesThe gold standard for the treatment of postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is the epidural blood patch (EBP). Regional techniques—sphenopalatine ganglion block (SPGB), greater occipital nerve block (GONB) and trigger point infiltration (TPI)—can also be used for the treatment of PDPH. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of these peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) in the treatment of PDPH.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted including all patients with PDPH in the obstetrics department of our institution between April 2016 and December 2017. Data were retrieved from clinical records regarding anesthetic technique, symptoms, treatment, Numeric Pain Score (NPS) before and after treatment, among others.ResultsWe observed 50 cases of PDPH: 25 following spinal anesthesia, 19 following epidural block and 6 following combined spinal-epidural. Of these, seven were managed conservatively and one received EBP as first-line treatment. The remaining 42 patients received PNB as first-line treatment. Of these, 27 received only 1 course of PNB, while 15 received 2 courses. We observed a statistically significant improvement in the NPS after the first course of blocks (n=42), with a reduction of the median NPS by 6.0 (IQR 4.0–7.5; p<0.001). Improvement was also observed after the second course of blocks (n=15), with a reduction of the median NPS of 3.5 (IQR 1.5–5.0; p=0.02). Due to treatment failure, 9 of the 42 patients treated with PNB required EBP. None of these were cases following spinal anesthesia.ConclusionSPGB, GONB and TPI can be safe and effective options for treatment of PDPH, but do not completely eliminate the need for EBP. Prospective studies designed to identify factors associated with unsuccessful treatment are required.