Environmental Quality Standards Research Articles

Studi Sanitasi RSU “ Dr. Koesnadi ” Kabupaten Bondowoso

The quality of the Hospital Environment (RS) that is good in terms of physical, biological, chemical, and social will make it a place of health services that can guarantee the maintenance and improvement of the health status of the community. Hospitals are places where there is close contact between humans (visitors, patients, and the community) with the surrounding environment, then the hospital must comply with the sanitation quality standards that have been regulated in the applicable law. Hospital health worthiness is carried out to prevent things that can cause problems in decreasing the quality of sanitation and the quality condition of hospital sanitation facilities, such as waste, clean water media, drinking water, food, air media, infrastructure and building quality as well as vectors/animals carrying disease. resulting in the transmission of disease in the hospital itself. The purpose of the study was to find out the description of the hospital's health-worthy quality which was determined through the achievement of standard environmental quality standards and fulfilled other health requirements at the "Dr. Koesnadi” Hospital Bondowoso. This type of research is classified as descriptive evaluative, namely wanting to obtain an explanation of the sanitary conditions in the hospital. The research subject is “dr. Koesnadi” Hospital Bondowoso and his environment in accordance with the reference to the use of the Hospital Environmental Health Inspection Form (IKL) in accordance with the Minister of Health Regulation No. 007/Menkes/Per/II/2019. The results of the research, in general the results of environmental supervision and inspection are very good (total score of 8,840) but still need improvement on variables, especially air health media on aspects of lighting quality standards and certain spaces, ready food health in the certificate process. Healthy Catering Services Category B and measuring vector density numbers, especially those that are still being carried out so that it will affect vector control activities. Keywords: Hospital, environmental quality, hospital category

Use of Plant Protection Products in Lombardy, Italy and the Health Risk for the Ingestion of Contaminated Water

Pesticides used to protect agricultural crops may contaminate groundwater. This work aimed to identify the pesticides used in Lombardy, Italy, in 2016, their concentration in the groundwater and the risk for health associated with the intake of drinkable water in the adult population. The risk was evaluated for the presence of single and multiple active substances in the groundwater, calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) and the hazard index (HI), respectively. Lombardy utilises an agricultural area of 980,112 h, which is mainly cultivated with cereals (74%). Approximately 2354 pesticides (about 1.3 × 107 kg), containing 410 active substances (about 4.5 × 106 kg) were sold. There were groundwater contamination measurements in 158 monitoring points, which were investigated twice a year for 31 active substances, and a total of 9152 determinations. Only 17 currently used active substance were measured in the groundwater, among which three belonged to the 10 best-sold pesticides. The exceedance of the environmental quality standard was observed for about 1.5% determinations. The intake of contaminated water in the adult population resulted in a HQ typically ranging between 10−3 and 10−4 and a HI of about 10−3. Although the number of pesticides sold in 2016 in Lombardy was big, only a small fraction of active substances was monitored in the groundwater. Considering these monitored substances, the intake of contaminated groundwater in the adult general population posed an irrelevant risk for health.

How much do the conventional parameters contribute to the biological toxicity of surface water in different types of villages?

BackgroundIn rural areas, the surface water quality is seriously threatened by pollution from agriculture, breeding, industrial and tourism activities. Even though many strategies and programs were launched for rural environment management, it is challenging to tackle the serious surface water pollution in villages. Since pollution status varies with the type of villages, there is no single parameter that defines environment quality completely. Until recently, most of rural surface water quality monitoring programs focus only on the conventional parameters, while can these conventional parameters reflect comprehensive status of water quality? To study how much the conventional parameters contribute to biological toxicity of surface water in villages, the in situ parameters of pH, DO, EC, ORP, laboratorial parameters of COD, TN, NO3−-N, NO2−-N, NH4+-N, TP, and PO43−-P and acute toxicity were analyzed for the surface water samples those were collected from six types of villages, named breeding, agricultural, handicraft, industrial, agricultural and breeding, and tourism. The correlation analysis was applied to establish the linkages and contributions of each parameter.ResultsThe results showed that all detected surface waters were alkaline, and the concentration of TN and most of COD concentrations in all six types of villages were higher than the Class V limits specified in environmental quality standards for surface water (GB3838-2002). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that significantly positive correlations were found for the acute toxicity effects and laboratorial parameters of NO2−-N, NH4+-N and PO43−-P in agricultural villages, and negative correlations were found for the acute toxicity effects and laboratorial parameters of TN and NO3−-N. No significant correlation was observed in breeding villages and industrial villages.ConclusionThe problems of nitrogen pollution and aerobic pollution are still serious in villages, and more attention should be paid in further rural environment management. NH4+-N could contribute to the acute toxicity of surface water in the most of investigated villages, while no significant correlation was observed between acute toxicity and conventional parameters in industrial villages and tourism villages. Environmental monitoring programs focusing just on the classical conventional parameters are far from sufficient, since the main toxic contributors are quite different in diverse villages. The outcomes of the present study contribute to demonstrate the performance and usefulness of bioanalytical techniques for water quality assessment.

Distribution and Persistence of Diflubenzuron and Teflubenzuron in the Marine Environment Around Salmonid Aquaculture Facilities

To achieve a sustainable salmonid aquaculture industry, the environmental impacts of chemicals used to treat sea lice (Caligidae) infestations need to be considered. Our ability to assess the risks associated with these treatments in relation to human and wildlife health is limited by the lack of information on their concentrations in marine coastal environments. Diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron are chitin synthesis inhibiting insecticides frequently used to treat sea lice infestations on Norwegian salmon farms. In the present study, the distribution, persistence and bioaccumulation of both compounds were assessed in marine sediments and benthic macrofauna collected at four Norwegian aquacultures sites. Both compounds were detected in sediments sampled at 30–1400 m from the selected farms and 8–22 months after the last treatments took place. Diflubenzuron was detected above the limit of quantification (LOQ) in 76% of sediment samples and measured levels ranged between 2.4 and 257 μg/kg dry weight (dw). Teflubenzuron was detected above the LOQ in 92% of sediment samples, at concentrations ranging between 1.3 and 3474 μg/kg dw. In all samples where diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron were detected, the measured levels exceeded the Norwegian environmental quality standards (EQSsediment; 0.2 and 0.0004 μg/kg dw, respectively), indicating that these compounds may pose a risk to benthic marine species living near fish farms. Both compounds were detected in wild fauna collected near the selected aquaculture sites with measured residue levels in the low micro-gramme per kilogramme wet weight range. The residue levels detected in economically important species caught for human consumption, such as pink shrimp (Pandalus montagui) and Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), were substantially lower than biota EQS’s and maximum residue limits (MRL) set by the EU for salmon tissue. Further studies are needed to fully understand the ecological impacts of these compounds in the marine environment, with the potential for lethal and sub-lethal effects to occur in non-target organisms following chronic exposures.

INNOVATIVE MARKETING MANAGEMENT IN THE SYSTEM OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC SAFETY

Topicality. One of the most important aspects of innovative marketing management is its focus on the future, which consists in forecasting the possibility of resource extraction, use of new technologies, methods of cleaning, recycling and waste disposal, the ability to meet economic and environmental needs by offering appropriate (or alternative) goods or services . The system of innovative marketing-management of natural resources and conditions, rational use of nature is based entirely on knowledge of consumer demand and its expected changes in the near future, the fuller the product meets the wishes and environmental needs of the buyer, the greater the success of the manufacturer. Such a systematic approach in the development of new information and communication technologies for economic security is relevant. Innovations in marketing management should be considered comprehensively, taking into account environmental factors, as one of the most important components in the future development of the economy, and therefore one of its central links is the study of the market of environmental goods and services, market of environmental needs and environmental demand. environmental safety.Environmental protection, rational use of natural resources, ensuring the environmental safety of human life - an integral condition of economic, environmental and social development of Ukraine. Innovations are the basis for providing an innovative component of marketing management of the economic security of the enterprise, region, state. Sustainable economic development is largely due to the coordinating role of the state in creating conditions for the implementation of innovative marketing management, the accumulation of appropriate funds by enterprises, the use of elements of environmental marketing. That is, without investing real investment in the manufacturing sector, the development and efficiency of innovation processes that determine the economic growth of any country and its economic security is impossible.Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to determine in modern conditions of environmental and economic safety to consider the mechanism of formation of innovative marketing management.Research results. The needs of people in clean natural resources and conditions, in safe goods and services are the basis of strategic state policy - economic and environmental security of society. Of fundamental importance is the focus of production and economic activities on the production of the required environmentally friendly and environmentally safe products that meet environmental quality standards of the product and environmental standards of the environment, withstands production, sales, exchange and consumption. Innovative marketing management promotes the development of basic and applied research, the creation of a special branch of scientific knowledge about the properties and patterns of market dynamics, principles and methods, tools and forms of management of eco-marketing activities in the formation of economic security.Currently, the innovation of marketing management has become universal and has a strong influence on theoretical approaches to environmental management (nature management), of particular importance are studies aimed at stimulating all types of environmental activities and resource conservation. The main direction of economic regulation in terms of economic security is the transformation of the economy - is the soft introduction of certain elements of the economic mechanism without any radical breakage of existing structures to stabilize positions in order to ensure economic security.Conclusion. New technogenic space, organized around new flows of economic and environmental information, transforming production flows, creating a plurality of global industrial networks, including leading eco-innovation environments, on the one hand, contribute to the creation of territorial-spatial and ecoregions, ecometropolises. On the other hand, it leads to the isolation of regions for conducting, for example, organic farming, preservation of traditional forms of nature management, biodiversity. The new global secure economy and the emerging information society have a new spatial form that takes into account marketing management and includes environmental factors in their diversity.It is substantiated that in order to study the theoretical and practical issues of interactions and interactions of technologies, society, space and ecology, the mechanism of innovative marketing management should be applied taking into account the quality of the environment.

Water quality dynamics of the Cunas River in rural and urban areas in the central region of Peru

Water quality is one of the determinants of human well-being and ecosystem health. The increasing deterioration of its quality is one of the most widespread and worrisome environmental problems. In this context, the dynamics of water quality of the Cunas River in rural and urban areas in the central region of Peru during 2017–2019 was evaluated. A total of 168 water samples were collected from 56 sampling sites and nine physicochemical parameters and three heavy metals were determined. The results obtained reveal that the physicochemical parameters did not exceed the environmental quality standards for water, except BOD5 and Fe. Cluster analysis generated three statistically significant clusters based on similar water quality characteristics and the year of study. Group 1 consisted of sectors S6 (2019) and S7 (2017–2019), group 2 consisted of S5 (2017–2019) and S6 (2017 and 2018), and group 3 consisted of S1, S2, S3 and S4 (2017–2019). The PCA generated three main factors with eigenvalues >1, explaining 76.45% of the total variance. PC1, PC2 and PC3 explained 57.6%, 10.08% and 8.70%, respectively. Water quality according to the WQI in the rural sectors was qualified as good quality water and in 67% of the urban sectors, as poor quality water.

Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Sources of Nutrients and Heavy Metals in the Xiujiang River of Poyang Lake Basin in the Dry Season

In December of 2019, a total of 114 river water samples were collected from 38 sampling sites in the Xiujiang River of the Poyang Lake Basin for three consecutive days. The temperature (T), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total phosphorus (TP), and concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn and As) of the samples were measured. The results showed that the average concentrations of heavy metals in the mainstream of the Xiujiang River were Cu > Zn > Cr > As, and those in the main tributary of Xiujiang River (named as the Liaohe tributary) were Zn > Cu > Cr > As, which met the class III of the Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water in China. However, it was founded that TN and NH4+-N in some agricultural areas had not met the class III standard of surface water. Hierarchical clustering analysis grouped sampling sites into four clusters. Clusters 1, cluster 2, cluster 3, and cluster 4 corresponded to an urban industrial area, rural mountainous area, primitive mountainous area, and agricultural area, respectively. The majority of the sampling sites were classified as mountainous rural areas less impacted by human activities, while the Liaohe tributary were urban industrial areas impacted more by human activities. Principal component analysis and correlation analysis results showed that variation of heavy metals and nutrient elements in Xiujiang River is related to the heterogeneity of human activities, which is mainly affected by urban industrial and agricultural pollution, and natural environments of the river with different background values. The results obtained in the current study will potentially provide a scientific basis for the protection and management of freshwater resources and aquatic ecosystems in the Xiujiang River and Poyang Lake Basin.

Perfluorinated alkyl substances: Sewage treatment and implications for receiving waters

This study comprises a detailed analysis of data for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for over 600 wastewater treatment works effluents (WwTW) as well as samples upstream and downstream of each discharge of effluent into its receiving water. This has allowed an investigation of not only the effectiveness of removal of the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds during wastewater treatment but also implications for compliance with the environmental quality standard (EQS) set for PFOS under the Water Framework Directive. It is shown that effluents contain concentrations of PFOS that exceed the annual average EQS by a factor between 1.1-fold and 40-fold. The corresponding factors for PFOA are between 2-fold and 22-fold. The presence of high concentrations upstream, means that between a quarter and a third of individual effluents are found to reduce the concentration of fluorocarbons in the river downstream of the discharge point. The elevated concentrations upstream of the studied wastewater treatment works suggest inputs of these perfluoro compounds into the aquatic environment are ubiquitous and therefore difficult to address from simply setting permit conditions for individual WwTW. The freshwater EQS set for PFOS is based on several worst-case accumulation coefficients and large safety factors, which, when combined, result in a sub ng/L EQS. Consequently, the use of the biota derived quality standard may be a more realistic measure of environmental risk. It may be prudent, to assess the effectiveness of controls implemented in the last few years before considering widespread end-of-pipe treatment.

Surface Water Quality in the Mantaro River Watershed Assessed after the Cessation of Anthropogenic Activities Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In late December 2019, the emerging disease COVID-19 was identified as a global pandemic. Countries around the world have implemented various types of blockades to stop this infection. These health measures have led to a significant reduction in air pollution. However, the impact of these measures on aquatic environments has been little analyzed. In this context, the water quality of rivers in the Mantaro River basin was evaluated using multivariate statistical methods and heavy metal contamination indices during the health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surface water samples were collected in triplicate from 15 sampling sectors at the end of the rainy season, between March and April. Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn and As were determined by the method of atomic absorption flame spectrophotometry. The average concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic in the rivers evaluated did not exceed the environmental quality standards for drinking water of the Peruvian, WHO and US EPA regulations, except for Pb, Fe and As in the Mantaro River and As in the Chia River. PCA presented a total variation percentage of 83.8%. The results showed a clear positive relationship between the five heavy metals and metalloids. The hierarchical cluster analysis according to Spearman's correlation generated a dendrogram where the five chemical elements were grouped in two statistically significant groups, one group conglomerating to Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe and the other group to As. PERMANOVA partition shows that the spatial effects of the sectors are strong and significant. The HPI revealed that 13.33% of the sampling sectors exceeded the critical contamination value (150). The Cd revealed low degree of contamination (<1) in 86.67% of the sampling sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Polish Journal of Environmental Studies is the property of Scientific Investigation Committee and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Heavy metals assay of herbal pharmaceutical effluent

Environmental pollution particularly from heavy metals in effluent is the gravest problem in developing countries like Pakistan. Effluents of Herbal Pharmaceutical are waste water generated during Herbal Medicines manufacturing process. When these effluents deprived of appropriate treatment are released directly into the environment, results in potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. This research work examined the heavy metals parameters of effluents discharged by Herbal pharmaceutical industry in Karachi, Pakistan. In all, 08 parameters were studied. These include Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag and Pb. The study revealed that ranges of Ag and Fe were exceeding the allowable limit of WHO (World Health Organization) and NEQS (National Environmental Quality Standards). This calls for an immediate use of latest treatment plants to decrease the harmfulness that results from waste water.

Characterizing the river water quality in China: Recent progress and on-going challenges

Food production systems, urbanization, and other anthropogenic activities dramatically alter natural hydrological and nutrient cycles, and are primarily responsible for water quality impairments in China's rivers. This study compiled a 16-year (2003–2018) dataset of river water quality (161,337 records from 2424 sites), watershed/landscape features, and meteorological conditions to investigate the spatial water quality patterns and underlying drivers of river impairment (defined as water quality worse than Class V according to China's Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Waters, GB3838-2002) at a national scale. Our analysis provided evidence of a distinct water quality improvement with a gradual decrease in the frequency of prevalence of anoxic conditions, an alleviation of the severity of heavy metal pollution, whereas the cultural eutrophication has only been moderately mitigated between 2003 and 2018. We also identified significant spatial variation with relatively poorer water quality in eastern China, where 17.2% of the sampling sites registered poor water quality conditions, compared with only 4.6% in western China. Total phosphorus (TP) and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) are collectively responsible for >85% of the identified incidences of impaired conditions. Bayesian modelling was used to delineate the most significant covariates of TP/NH3-N riverine levels in six large river basins (Liao, Hai, Yellow, Yangtze, Huai, and Pearl). Water quality impairments are predominantly shaped by anthropogenic drivers (82.5% for TP, 79.5% for NH3-N), whereas natural factors appear to play a secondary role (20.5% for TP, 17.5% for NH3-N). Two indicator variables of urbanization (urban areal extent and nighttime light intensity) and farmland areal extent were the strongest predictors of riverine TP/NH3-N levels and collectively accounted for most of the ambient nutrient variability. We concluded that there is still a long way to go in order to eradicate eutrophication and realize acceptable ecological conditions. The design of the remedial measures must be tailored to the site-specific landscape characteristics, meteorological conditions, and should also consider the increasing importance of non-point source pollution and internal nutrient loading.

Recent Trends in Omics-Based Enzyme Discovery to Combat Global Plastic Waste Crisis

The worldwide rapidly increasing amount of plastic waste is considered a major concern in the environmental crisis today. Recycling post-consumer plastics is believed to be a viable approach to mitigate the global plastic waste challenge. Plastic recycling is considered attractive due to the reason that it could help achieve waste valorization while meeting the goals of environmental quality standards. To this end, the current research efforts are heavily focused towards developing innovative technologies for new enzyme discoveries for effective plastic waste management. Recent research has shown biocatalytic depolymerization mediated by enzymes as an efficient and sustainable alternative for plastic treatment and recycling. Using this approach, researchers have discovered different plastic-degrading enzymes that have been derived from microbial sources. Further, the concept of protein engineering has been implemented to modify and optimize plastic-degrading enzymes. In this brief opinion, we describe some of the recent trends and notable advances in mining novel plastic-degrading enzymes through cutting-edge omics-based techniques in order to improve the enzyme catalytic efficiency.

Environmental impacts, water footprint and cumulative energy demand of match industry in Pakistan.

A comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for the matchsticks industry in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan to quantify environmental footprint, water footprint, cumulative energy use, and to identify improvement opportunities in the matchsticks manufacturing process. One carton of matchsticks was used as reference unit for this study. Foreground data was collected from the matchsticks industry through questionnaire surveys, personal meetings, and field measurements. The collected data was transformed into potential environmental impacts through the Centre for Environment Studies (CML) 2000 v.2.05 method present by default in the SimaPro v.9.1 software. Water footprint was calculated using methodology developed by Hoekstra et al., 2012 (water scarcity index) V1.02 and cumulative energy demand by SimaPro v.9.1 software. The results showed that transport of primary material (wood logs), sawn wood for matchsticks, red phosphorous, acrylic varnish, and kerosene fuel oil contributed to the overall environmental impacts. Transport of primary materials and sawn timber for matchsticks contributed significantly to abiotic depletion, global warming, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion, corrosion, human toxicity, and aquatic ecotoxicity effects. The total water footprint for manufacturing one carton of matchsticks was 0.265332 m3, whereas the total cumulative energy demand was 715.860 Mega Joules (MJ), mainly sourced from non-renewable fossil fuels (708.979 MJ). Scenario analysis was also conducted for 20% and 30% reduction in the primary material distance covered by trucks and revealed that reducing direct material transport distances could diminish environmental impacts and energy consumption. Therefore, environmental footprint could be minimized through diverting matchsticks industries freight from indigenous routes to high mobility highways and by promoting industrial forestry close to industrial zones in Pakistan. Many industries did not have emissions control systems, exceeding the permissible limit for emissions established by the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) of Pakistan. Thus, installation of emissions control system could also diminish emissions from match industry in Pakistan.

Ecological risk assessment of toxic metal pollution in the industrial zone on the northern slope of the East Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, NW China

Abstract The ecological risks of six toxic metals (Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Hg, and As) in the industrial zone on the northern slope of the East Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, northwest (NW) China, were assessed. The results showed that the soil toxic metal contents of Zn, Pb, Hg, and As exceeded the regional background values, and concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb, and As exceeded the national soil environmental quality standards of China (GB15618-1995). The Cu and Cr contamination levels were lower than the limits of both soil standards and mainly originated from the parent material, Pb mainly originated from agricultural activity and traffic emissions, and Hg mainly originated from the coal burning and chemical industries. As contamination originated from automobile exhaust emissions, and Zn contamination was influenced by a combination of natural factors and human activities. The mean geo-accumulation index (I geo) values of As, Hg, and Pb ranged from unpolluted to moderately polluted. There was an area not polluted by Zn, Cu, and Cr. The pollution index (PI) value of the six heavy metals showed that the mean PI values of Zn, Cr, and Cu showed no pollution, As and Pb presented medium pollution, and Hg presented heavy pollution. The results of the potential ecological risk analysis in this region showed that Zn, Cu, Cr, and Pb in all sample sites presented a low risk, while Hg presented a high ecological risk. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent further Hg contamination in this region.

Acid rain leaching behavior of Zn-contaminated soils solidified/stabilized using cement–soda residue

Cement–soda residue (CSR) has been proven to be an effective binder for treating heavy metal-contaminated soils, and the durability is its most important characteristic. In this study, the effects of acid rain (AR) on the leaching behavior of CSR-solidified/stabilized, zinc-contaminated soils were investigated using flexible-wall soil column leaching tests. After leaching, some parameters were determined such as the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and permeability coefficient of the samples, the concentrations of Zn2+ and Ca2+ in the filtrate. The test results showed that after AR leaching, the UCS of the solidified soil samples decreased and the permeability coefficient increased, while the zinc concentration in the filtrate always met the third grade of the applicable standard, the Chinese National Environmental Quality Standards (<1 mg⋅L-1). To reveal the binding mechanism, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion testing (MIP) were used to observe the microscopic characteristics of the soil samples. At the micro scale, the MIP and SEM results confirmed that the hydration products in the soil samples—hydrated calcium silicate, calcium hydroxide, and calcium zincate hydrate—partially dissolved during AR leaching, resulting in the loss of their internal structure. Consequently, the high alkalinity of the soda residue contributed to H+ neutralization in the AR leaching agent, indicating that soda residue can not only solidify heavy metal zinc ions effectively but can also buffer the erosive effect of AR on soil.

Periurban Areas in the Design of Supra-Municipal Strategies for Urban Green Infrastructures

Nowadays, an increasing number of large cities, districts, and towns have tools for the Planning and Management of Green Infrastructures. All such tools seek a progression towards a future city model that is more resilient on an environmental, economic, and social level. To achieve this, emphasis is placed on the creation of a green infrastructure and, particularly, on improving urban biodiversity, urban forests, the value of natural areas in the urban environment, periurban agriculture, ecological connectivity, and accessibility. Moreover, the recent COVID19 health crisis has further highlighted that the city dweller’s relationship with the environment requires a reconciliation with nature and rural life that goes beyond typical compartmentalization. The objective must be to emphasize the need to establish creative processes which, through micro-scale activities (landscaping), generate the articulation of visible actions on a territorial scale (landscape planning) in both the natural environment (environmental landscape planning) and the urban environment (town planning based on the landscape). This article analyzes the issue of the large towns in south-west Madrid, where there is a dramatic divide on the border between the city landscape and the surrounding natural or agricultural landscape, and where there is an increasing need to establish landscapes with a certain uniqueness and to classify them as protected periurban areas, nature reserves, or land for which use and management is regulated. It is therefore important to develop environmental quality standards to assess Green Infrastructures as a whole: the administrative processes, their design, construction, maintenance, and resilience. This research focuses upon how this change in the planning and management of green periurban areas improves the multifunctionality of periurban spaces along with the intrinsic quality of the landscape, and promotes the city’s sustainability and resilience and improves governance. From the conclusions drawn, it should be noted that analysis, design, and action should be built on premises of sustainability and multifunctionality, and comply with the criteria for characterizing elements as green infrastructure. In the field of study, the characterization of the periurban area, and its subsequent assessment as a green infrastructure, provide the guidelines for action for devising an Open Space Strategy. This strategy constitutes a cross-disciplinary planning tool for local authorities when reading the landscape.

Occurrence of pesticides and their transformation products in headwater streams: Contamination status and effect of ponds on contaminant concentrations

In France, more than 90% of monitored watercourses are contaminated with pesticides. This high contamination level increases at the head of agricultural watersheds, where dilution capacities are low and transport from treated lands is direct. Ponds, numerous around headwater streams, could provide additional protection against pesticide pollution. Because of their long hydraulic residence time and large water volumes, they mitigate pesticide concentrations between upstream and downstream rivers. However, pesticide transformation products may also be responsible for the degradation of environments, owing to their presence at high concentrations and their persistence, but related data are scarce, particularly because of their high level of molecular diversity. We first reported on the state of water contamination in agricultural headwater streams, based on high frequency water sampling. Analysis of 67 molecules (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) showed pesticides and pesticide transformation product mixtures of up to 29 different compounds in one sample. Regardless of the sampling location, transformation products represented at least 50% of the detected compounds. Then, we demonstrated the capacity of a pond to reduce contaminant concentrations in downstream rivers for 90% of the detected compounds. Upstream from this pond, environmental quality or ecotoxicological standards were exceeded during sampling, with pesticide and transformation product sum concentrations of up to 27 μg/L. Downstream from the study pond, few exceedances were observed, with a maximum total concentration of 2.2 μg/L, reflecting significant water quality improvement.

Pollution and Irrigation Applicability of Surface Water from Wet, Normal, and Dry Periods in the Huixian Karst Wetland, China

To reveal the hydrochemical characteristics of karst wetland located in a subtropical area and at lower elevations in China, 27 surface water samples were collected during three periods (wet, normal, and dry) in the Huixian karst wetland to investigate the distributions, pollution, and irrigation application of 12 inorganic ions and 10 heavy metals. Based on their concentrations, the Nemerow index and the four evaluation systems of the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), sodium concentration (SC), permeability index (PI), and residual sodium carbonate (RSC) were applied to evaluate the pollution characteristics and irrigation application. It was found that the water type in this area was Ca2+-HCO3- and weakly alkaline. Regarding the 12 inorganic ions and 10 heavy metals, NH4+ exceeded the Chinese standards for drinking water with an exceedance rate of 25.93%, and the exceedance rates of Al, Mn, and Hg were 11.11%, 44.44%, and 37.04%, respectively. The spatiotemporal scaling effect on inorganic ions was lower than that of heavy metals, and the distributions of the inorganic ions and heavy metals were in the order of wet period > normal period > dry period. However, the surface water quality in the Huixian karst wetland was generally well-protected based on the pollution assessment. The Nemerow index ranged from 0.75 to 2.69, which recognized the main pollution contributors as NH4+, Mn, Al, and Hg with the contamination grade from slight pollution to moderate pollution, especially in the core area during the wet period. According to the limits of standards for irrigation water quality and environmental quality for surface water, as well as the evaluation results of the SAR, SC, PI, and RSC, the surface water in the Huixian karst wetland was generally suitable for irrigation, and the water quality in the dry period was better than that in the wet and normal periods. The surface water from site PH1 during the normal period with 19.1 μg·L-1 of Hg and site FH8 during the wet period with 13.7 mg·L-1 of NH4+ were not suitable for agricultural irrigation.

Micropollutants in Urban Stormwater Runoff of Different Land Uses

The main aim of this study was a survey of micropollutants in stormwater runoff of Berlin (Germany) and its dependence on land-use types. In a one-year monitoring program, event mean concentrations were measured for a set of 106 parameters, including 85 organic micropollutants (e.g., flame retardants, phthalates, pesticides/biocides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)), heavy metals and standard parameters. Monitoring points were selected in five catchments of different urban land-use types, and at one urban river. We detected 77 of the 106 parameters at least once in stormwater runoff of the investigated catchment types. On average, stormwater runoff contained a mix of 24 µg L−1 organic micropollutants and 1.3 mg L−1 heavy metals. For organic micropollutants, concentrations were highest in all catchments for the plasticizer diisodecyl phthalate. Concentrations of all but five parameters showed significant differences among the five land-use types. While major roads were the dominant source of traffic-related substances such as PAH, each of the other land-use types showed the highest concentrations for some substances (e.g., flame retardants in commercial area, pesticides in catchment dominated by one family homes). Comparison with environmental quality standards (EQS) for surface waters shows that 13 micropollutants in stormwater runoff and 8 micropollutants in the receiving river exceeded German quality standards for receiving surface waters during storm events, highlighting the relevance of stormwater inputs for urban surface waters.

Utility of a source-related matrix in basin management studies: a practice on a sub-Basin in Turkey.

According to the water framework directive (WFD), the chemical status should be determined for each water body in a basin through monitoring and evaluation studies, and the gap between the status of water bodies and good water status should be revealed in river basin management plans. In this context, the methodology starting with the evaluation of the monitoring results of the priority substances (PSs) until the end of determining the measures to achieve good condition in surface waters was given in this study. The key aim was to provide a useful methodology defined as a matrix for determining the sources of pollutants that caused this gap. This matrix was applied to the most polluted sub-basin of Küçük Menderes Basin located on the western part of the Turkey. Monitoring studies were carried out in 21 water bodies for a 1-year period for 45 PSs and monitoring results were compared with environmental quality standards (EQS). It was determined that 13 of 45 PSs in 15 water bodies exceeded the EQS. The common PSs in the basin were lead, nickel, fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, C10-13 chloroalkanes, and 4-nonylphenols and average rates of exceeding the EQS were 58.3%, 36.4%, 91.5%, 99.9%, 74.8%, and 49.4%, respectively. The detailed emission inventory of each water body in the basin has been made. Potential sources of PSs were searched via the matrix formed and a total number of 420 basic and supplementary measures were proposed to improve the water quality of the sub-basin.