Priority Pollutants Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems Evaluated through Ecotoxicity, Impact, and Risk Assessments

Abstract

As water management is still a problem of international concern, scientists and practitioners are collaborating to develop new tools and methods to improve and help in the decision-making process. When addressing the priority pollutant monitoring and impact assessment, the ecotoxicity effects, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic, should be considered together with the exposure factor and health hazards. The main goals of this study were to assess the ecological and health hazards and to apply integrated impact and risk assessment based on the ecotoxicity and exposure factors of each priority pollutant present in the aquatic ecosystem. This study used as a database the measured concentrations of 5 inorganic and 14 organic priority pollutants from the Siret river basin from NE Romania, from 18 river sections monitored in the period 2015–2020. The USEtox methodology and a new integrated index for environmental impact and risk assessment were developed and applied to evaluate the ecological and health hazards and environmental impacts and risks within the river basin. The total impact scores for heavy metals ranged from 2 × 103 to 2.25 × 109, and those for organic pollutants ranged from 2.72 × 10−1 to 2.95 × 106. The environmental risk in the case of inorganic priority pollutants ranged between 5.56 and 3136.35, and that in the case of organic pollutants was between 4.69 and 4059.17. The results revealed that there is a major to catastrophic environmental impact in almost all monitored river sections (10 out of 18), and the overall risk exposure was found to be at a significant to a major level. This study proved the harmful effects that the priority pollutants may have, even in very small concentrations, on non-target organisms and suggests that greater control over the pollution sources and mitigation of environmental impacts and risks should be applied.

Semántica en la interpretación fáctica sobre el concepto de verdad aproximada del Bioecotoximonitor

“…Asimismo, este criterio asegura la precisión contextual de los hallazgos, lo que los hace útiles para los gestores ambientales en la toma de decisiones informadas sobre la conservación y gestión de los ecosistemas acuáticos. Igualmente, se permite una evaluación completa de estos aspectos, lo que contribuye a la validez y relevancia de los resultados del bioecotoximonitor en el ámbito ambiental (Zait et al, 2022;Menghini et al, 2023).…”

Pollution of the Niger Delta with total petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals and nutrients in relation to seasonal dynamics

“…It is widely known that Cd, Cu, Hg, and Ni are highly toxic metals linked to environmental problems and human health 19 , 20 . They can affect metabolic processes of aquatic organisms, and accumulation in humans can increase the risks of endocrine disruption, adverse reproductive effects, cancers, diseases of the lungs, digestive tract, skin, and may also affect the hematopoietic/immune systems and induce neurologic and reproductive toxicity 19 , 20 . It is obvious that anthropogenic activities associated with crude oil spills, industrial waste and other processes (flooding, petroleum combustion, gas flaring, shipping activities, petroleum loading and off-loading) are causing high TPHs/HMs deposition in the Niger Delta system, and that climate-driven changes will further increase the intensity of these contaminant problems.…”

Quantum Biology and the Potential Role of Entanglement and Tunneling in Non-Targeted Effects of Ionizing Radiation: A Review and Proposed Model

“…Stressors, ranging from chemicals to radioactive agents, impact living organisms [268][269][270]. This influence spans from the induction of cancer to the perturbation of hormonal systems and to the induction of hormesis and adaptive responses, reflecting the wide range of effects that stressors can impose [271][272][273].…”