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According to its high production and value, Akkar is considered as the second agricultural region in Lebanon. Groundwater constitutes the principal source of water in Akkar including drinking water of local inhabitants in Akkar. As such, the contamination of groundwater by organic pollutants can impact directly the population health. In this study, we evaluated the contamination status of groundwater in this region. Three classes of pesticides including 19 organochlorine (OC) pesticides, 8 organophosphorus (OP) pesticides, and 6 organonitrogen (ON) pesticides were monitored in 15 groundwater samples collected from different villages on the Akkar plain. Samples were extracted by using solid phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed high contamination of Akkar groundwater by OCs with levels that can reach 58.9 μg/L. They were detected in the majority of the sample and represent 95-100% of ∑pesticides. Our results showed the recent use of these molecules with an average level of 0.3 and 0.39 μg/L for ∑HCHs and DDTs, respectively. Their concentrations were higher than those observed in the same region in 2014 and other regions elsewhere. OPs were also detected at high levels and among them, methylparathion was the predominant OP detected (44.6 μg/L). For ONs, lower levels were measured in all samples with a mean value of 5.6 μg/L. As a conclusion of this work, groundwater on the plain of Akkar was remarkably contaminated by the studied pesticides; indefinitely, more efforts should be taken to manage the pesticide use in this region, assess, and reduce their effects on human health. In the future, the application of organic farming can be a great solution to the groundwater contamination problem.

The Seine is one of the most polluted rivers in Europe with respect to potentially harmful elements. It receives effluents from the upstream Paris urban and industrial area, and also local inputs from the heavily industrialized Rouen and Le Havre regions. The present study deals with this environmental topic and the concentrations of Cd, Ni, Pb, Hg, Zn and Cu were determined in sediment cores collected in the docks basin of Rouen harbour in 2008. The intensity of metal pollution during recent decades was evaluated using an enrichment factor (EF) and a geoaccumulation index (Igeo). The results of vertical distribution showed that the metal pollution in the past is much higher than in the surface sediment. Mercury was found to be the heaviest pollutant (with Igeo and EF exceeding 4 and 20, respectively), and Cd and Pb were the second most important pollutants. A slight contamination in Ni was observed with very low Igeo values. To estimate the sediment toxicity, simultaneously extracted metals/acid volatile sulfides ratio (SEM/AVS) was calculated. Low values of the toxicity index SEM/AVS were observed in the core sediments indicating the inexistence of metal potential toxicity. Also the concentrations of these trace metals were lower than the probable effect concentration values reported as consensus-based sediment quality guidelines for fresh water ecosystems.

8-Hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) was chosen as a powerful ligand for Hg solid phase extraction. Among several chelating resins based on 8-HQ, 5-phenylazo-8-hydroxyquinoline (5Ph8HQ) is used for mercury extraction in which the adsorption dynamics were fully studied. It has been shown that Hg(II) is totally absorbed by 5Ph8HQ within the first 30 minutes of contact time with t 1/2 5 minutes, following Langmuir adsorption model. At pH 4, the affinity of mercury is unchallenged by other metals except, for Cu(II), which have shown higher Kd value. With these latter characteristics, 5Ph8HQ was examined for the preconcentration of trace levels of Hg(II). The developed method showed quantitative recoveries of Hg(II) with LOD = 0.21 pg mL−1 and RSD = 3–6% using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (CV-AFS) with a preconcentration factor greater than 250.

Due to very high anthropogenic pressures and urban waste discharge, the Seine estuary is still among the world's most polluted estuaries. The purpose of this work is to investigate the distribution of trace metals in surface sediments in order to assess to the contamination level, metal bioavailability, and ecotoxicological status. Five sites covering the salinity gradient of the estuary were chosen to evaluate the distribution and contamination level of trace metals in surface sediments. The results showed that trace metal concentration varied seasonally and spatially. Subsequently to assess the actual environmental toxicity of sediments, the Microtox 1 Bioassay using Vibrio fischeri was applied on aqueous extract of sediment. Calculated enrichment factors revealed that these sediments were highly polluted by mercury, cadmium, zinc, and lead. Most of pollution sources are localized upstream especially in Poses and Oissel, and the contamination levels decreased from Poses to north mudflat site. Positive values of toxicity index were detected in the upstream sediments indicating potential bioavailability of trace metals in the sediments. Sediment toxicity measured with the Microtox 1 test was positively correlated with toxicity index demonstrating the usefulness of the toxicity index for sediment quality assessment and possible implication of metals in sediment toxicity.

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Pollution generated from landfill solid wastes constitute one of the major threat to the environment. The landfill leachate contains various toxic pollutants, making it the most dangerous issue of the landfills. Monitoring the xenobiotic organic concentrations in landfill leachate is an important step to evaluate the environmental impacts. This work aims to monitor the concentration of organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalic acid esters (PAEs), and bisphenols (BPs) in leachate samples collected from the old and new units of Tripoli landfill-Lebanon. The organic pollutants were extracted by using the solid-phase extraction and quantified by using GC-MS/MS. The results showed high level of PAEs, BPs, PCBs and PAHs in the leachate samples. The fluxes of pollutants to the Abou Ali River and Mediterranean Sea have been detected at 0.23 kg, 0.01 kg, 116.85 kg, 15.93 kg, and 7.58 kg for Σ16PAHs, Σ28PCBs, Σ6PAEs, Σ4BPs, and 4-NP respectively.

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