European Environment Research Articles

CAMELS‐SE: Long‐term hydroclimatic observations (1961–2020) across 50 catchments in Sweden as a resource for modelling, education, and collaboration

AbstractThis paper introduces a community‐accessible dataset comprising daily hydroclimatic variables (precipitation, temperature, and streamflow) observed in 50 catchments in Sweden (median size of 1019 km2). The dataset covers a 60‐year period (1961–2020) and includes information on geographical location, landcover, soil classes, hydrologic signatures, and regulation for each catchment. Data were collected from various sources, such as the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, the Swedish Geological Survey, and several Copernicus products provided by the European Environment Agency. The compiled, spatially‐matched, and processed data are publicly available online through the Swedish National Data Service (https://snd.se/en), contributing a new region to the collection of existing CAMELS (Catchment Attributes and Meteorology for Large‐sample Studies) datasets. The CAMELS‐SE dataset spans a wide range of hydroclimatic, topographic, and environmental catchment properties, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners to study hydrological processes, climate dynamics, environmental impacts, and sustainable water management strategies in Nordic regions.

High-Precision Microscale Particulate Matter Prediction in Diverse Environments Using a Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network and Street View Imagery.

In this study, we propose a novel long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model that leverages color features (HSV: hue, saturation, value) extracted from street images to estimate air quality with particulate matter (PM) in four typical European environments: urban, suburban, villages, and the harbor. To evaluate its performance, we utilize concentration data for eight parameters of ambient PM (PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10, particle number concentration, lung-deposited surface area, equivalent mass concentrations of ultraviolet PM, black carbon, and brown carbon) collected from a mobile monitoring platform during the nonheating season in downtown Augsburg, Germany, along with synchronized street view images. Experimental comparisons were conducted between the LSTM model and other deep learning models (recurrent neural network and gated recurrent unit). The results clearly demonstrate a better performance of the LSTM model compared with other statistically based models. The LSTM-HSV model achieved impressive interpretability rates above 80%, for the eight PM metrics mentioned above, indicating the expected performance of the proposed model. Moreover, the successful application of the LSTM-HSV model in other seasons of Augsburg city and various environments (suburbs, villages, and harbor cities) demonstrates its satisfactory generalization capabilities in both temporal and spatial dimensions. The successful application of the LSTM-HSV model underscores its potential as a versatile tool for the estimation of air pollution after presampling of the studied area, with broad implications for urban planning and public health initiatives.

Unmet environmental needs and unmet healthcare needs in a population of young adults with cerebral palsy: what the SPARCLE study tells us.

Optimizing care for young adults with cerebral palsy is crucial for their physical and psychological well-being. The inadequacy of proximal environment may play a role in the provision of health services. The aim of this study is to explore the association between unmet environmental needs in the physical, social and attitudinal domains and unmet healthcare needs in four interventions: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and psychological counselling. Young adults with cerebral palsy were recruited in the SPARCLE3 European multicenter cross-sectional study. Healthcare needs and coverages were assessed using the Youth Health Care, Satisfaction, Utilization and Needs questionnaire. The need and availability of environmental factors in physical, social and attitudinal domains were collected using the European Adult Environment Questionnaire. Logistic regressions were conducted separately for each intervention to measure associations between unmet environmental needs and unmet healthcare needs. We studied 310 young adults with cerebral palsy, with a mean age of 24.3 years; 37.4% could not walk independently, 51.5% had an IQ below 70, 34.2% had severe communication difficulties. The most commonly expressed need was physiotherapy (81.6% of participants). Unmet healthcare needs were reported by 20.9%, 32.4%, 40.3% and 49.0% of participants requiring physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological counselling and speech therapy, respectively. The physical environment was never significantly associated with unmet healthcare needs. In contrast, the social environment was significantly associated with unmet healthcare needs across all interventions, with odds ratios over 2.5, depending on the number of unmet needs and the nature of intervention needed. With regard to the attitudinal environment, when at least one unmet attitudinal environmental need was reported, the odds of also reporting an unmet healthcare need were of 3.68 for speech therapy and 3.77 for physiotherapy. The latter association was significant only for individuals with severe motor impairment. Our results highlight the importance of the social and attitudinal environment in meeting healthcare needs in young adults with cerebral palsy. The lack of correlation between unmet healthcare needs and the physical environment suggests that it can be partly compensated for by social support.

Modeling Indium Extraction, Supply, Price, Use and Recycling 1930–2200 Using the WORLD7 Model: Implication for the Imaginaries of Sustainable Europe 2050

The increasing need for indium in photovoltaic technologies is set to exceed available supply. Current estimates suggest only 25% of global solar cell demand for indium can be met, posing a significant challenge for the energy transition. Using the WORLD7 model, this study evaluated the sustainability of indium production and overall market supply. The model considers both mass balance and the dynamic interplay of supply–demand in determining indium prices. It is estimated that a total of 312,000 tons of indium can be extracted. However, the primary hindrance to supply is the availability of extraction opportunities and the necessary infrastructure. Unless we improve production capacity, indium may face shortages, hindering the advancement of pivotal technologies. A concern observed is the insufficient rate of indium recycling. Boosting this could greatly alleviate supply pressures. Projections indicate that indium production will reach its peak between 2025 and 2030, while the peak for photovoltaic solar panels due to indium shortages is anticipated around 2090, with an installed capacity of 1200 GW. Thus, the growth of photovoltaic capacity may lag behind actual demand. For a sustainable future, understanding the role of essential metals like indium is crucial. The European Environment Agency (EEA) introduced four “imaginaries” depicting visions of a sustainable Europe by 2050 (SE2050), each representing a unique future set within specific parameters. Currently, Europe is heavily dependent on imports for tech metals and has limited recycling capabilities, putting it at a disadvantage in a global context. To achieve sustainability, there is a need for improved infrastructure for extraction, recycling, and conservation of metals such as indium. These resources are crucial for realizing Europe’s 2050 sustainability objectives. Furthermore, understanding the role of these metals in wider overarching strategies is vital for envisioning a sustainable European Union by 2050, as depicted in the Imaginaries.

Assessing the Adequacy of the Physical, Social, and Attitudinal Environment to the Specific Needs of Young Adults With Cerebral Palsy: The European Adult Environment Questionnaire

ObjectivesTo present the development of the European Adult Environment Questionnaire (EAEQ), to assess to what extent it covers the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and to describe the adequacy of the physical, social, and attitudinal environment to the specific needs of young adults with cerebral palsy (CP). DesignCross-sectional. SettingAdministrative regions in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. ParticipantsYoung adults with CP (N=357), with varying severity profiles, aged 19-28 years at time of interview (2018-20). InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s)Physical, social, and attitudinal environment unmet needs. ResultsRelevant environmental factors (EFs) for young adults with CP were identified during focus groups in England and Portugal. EFs were mapped to the ICF environmental classification and the EAEQ analytical structure resulted from this linking procedure. It comprised 61 items, linked to 31 ICF environmental classification categories, and covered 4 of its 5 chapters. Content validity assessed with the bandwidth index (percentage coverage of ICF Core Sets for adults with CP) was satisfactory (79.3%). A descriptive analysis was carried out. Participants had a mean age of 24 years, 56% were men, 38% had severely limited mobility. Less than 16% reported unmet needs for EFs relating to home, college/work/day placement, and communication in the Products and technology chapter. Unmet needs were higher (>20%) for the other items in the Public use and Land development categories. Social support, attitudes, and understanding of relatives were often adequate to the participants’ needs. The proportion of unmet needs varied by sex (women were more often concerned) and raised with increasing gross motor impairment. ConclusionThe EAEQ describes in detail the adequacy of the environment to the specific needs of young adults with CP. Its ICF-based structure opens up possibilities for use in a universal conceptual framework.

GENDER INEQUALITY OF WOMEN IN EDUCATION OR WHY WOMEN ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?

The article is devoted to one of the main and topical problems of gender studies, namely, gender inequality of women in education when occupying senior management positions. The following categories are understood by the researchers as management positions in higher education institutions: rector, vice-rectors, president, head or director, who acts within the limits of their powers. Despite the fact that education is one of the most feminized branches of Ukrainian society, the heads of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine according to the Soviet tradition were (with a rare exception to the rule) men. The author analyzes gender differences in the distribution of power in the best higher education institutions of Ukraine according to the consolidated rating. Special attention is paid to the state of gender equality in leadership positions at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. The author believes that one of the main tasks of gender is to find out the factors that prevent women from being active and being elected to leadership positions in institutions of higher education. The author believes that one of the main tasks of gender is to find out the factors that prevent women from being active and being elected to leadership positions in institutions of higher education. The article analyzes the scientific literature, in which the following factors are divided into «availability of offers» and «availability of demand»: «availability of offers» includes the potential readiness of women to occupy management positions in higher education institutions; «availability of demand» includes prejudices of educators regarding the leadership of women in the educational sphere, and in institutions of higher education in particular. The author examines the Gender Equality Index of the World Economic Forum, which contains four dimensions related to the subject of the study: economic opportunities for women in leadership positions; the level of women’s education and its quality; the state of women’s health and the possibility of its recovery; the degree of representation of women in leadership positions in the country. The article proposes ways to solve the situation regarding gender inequality of women in leadership positions in higher education institutions of Ukraine. As a way to improve the state of gender inequality of women in leadership positions in higher education institutions of Ukraine, it is proposed to conduct trainings or shortened courses on gender studies for students, teachers, scientists, senior managers of higher education institutions, which will help women believe in themselves, and the management of higher education institutions recognize the possibility of women’s leadership. In the future, it is planned to continue the development of this topic thanks to the analysis of the state of gender equality of women in the management positions of higher education institutions in the European educational environment and its comparison with the Ukrainian one, as well as the search for positive experience and ways to overcome the existing situation.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) of eco-friendly packaging for dairy products and fourth range.

In the current European regulatory environment, there is a growing emphasis on the need to develop fourth range and dairy packaging materials. which are more environmentally sustainable. In response to this need, a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) was conducted to assess the suitability of replacing traditional polystyrene foam boxes and polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) trays with packaging made of corrugated cardboard and coated with bioplastic. Life cycle analysis shows that bioplastic coated cardboard packaging has a lower environmental impact, despite the impact of corn and sugar cane bioplastic production. In the case of dairy packaging, an improved disposal scenario or scenario has been considered, in particular in terms of recycling. In the second case, raw materials that are totally or partially recyclable were considered. For the cardboard tray, recyclability is 100%, while for PET and PP respectively 50% and 4%, due to insufficient recycling and decontamination processes. In this scenario, the impact of fossil plastics decreases substantially, although corrugated and bioplastic packaging is again the best choice. To confirm these results, a multi-criteria decision analysis (multi-criteria Decision Analysis) was conducted, which corroborated the conclusions obtained through life cycle analysis.

C-ITS Services in Urban Environments: European State of Practice

This paper addresses the state of practice of C-ITS implementation in several cities throughout Europe, and it was carried out under the scope of the C-Roads Platforms. Its goal is to produce an overview of the general scenario of C-ITS development across European urban environments, aiming to better understand the challenges, technological preferences and policy strategies during C-ITS urban deployment. With that purpose, 27 cities were sought through a questionnaire to provide information regarding several aspects, such as city identification and characterization, specifications followed, communication plans and stage of development. In addition to that, the cities were asked to assess the importance and expectations concerning the benefits that would come from the implementation of the C-ITS policies. Results showed that the cities are strongly diverse in terms of road network design, and technological infrastructure and, consequently, experience different policy goals and C-ITS stages of maturity. The outcomes from this paper may support further research studies concerning the strategy behind C-ITS urban deployment and its relation to the city policy goals as well as the benefits of C-ITS systems.

CHANGE IN THE SECURITY ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE AS A RESULT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE

At the beginning of the 21st century, many analysts predicted a reset in in-ternational relations and an upcoming change in terms of dominance on the inter-national arena, in which the US would lose its primacy to a multipolar world with China and Russia as key players. The economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and currently the war in Ukraine have raised growing concern about the future of the European security system. Until Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many European Union countries functioned with the belief that Europe would never suffer from war again and that the citizens of UE would always live in a free and cohesive Europe. At present, Europe needs to adapt to the changes in the European security environment and prepare accordingly, all the more that Ukraine has become a theatre of superpowers’ competition for a new European and, consequently, global order. The aim of the article is to present the change that is taking place in the European security environment in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Evaluation of the GRAMM/GRAL model for high-resolution wind fields in Heidelberg, Germany

Independent verification of mitigation efforts for climate and air quality action in cities relies on inferring emissions from atmospheric concentration measurements. As emissions are dispersed in the atmosphere before they reach an instrument, the quantitative estimation of emissions requires an understanding of the atmospheric transport and associated uncertainties. In this study, we analyse the catalogue of steady-state flow fields generated by the Graz Mesoscale Model (GRAMM) coupled to the Graz Lagrangian Model (GRAL) for an entire year in Heidelberg, Germany. We use a loss function for the wind field selection, which assigns a best-matching catalogue entry to any given hour by exploiting observation data. We introduce a new loss function which finds an optimal balance between differences in wind speed and wind direction. We evaluate the performance of the model based on 15 meteorological measurement sites, of which 14 are in the inner high-resolution and building-resolving GRAL domain (12.5 km × 12.5 km, 10 m resolution). Performance metrics include mean bias (MB) and root mean square errors (RMSEs) of simulated and observed wind speed and wind direction for all individual stations. On average, we find a mean underestimation of wind speed of 0.14 ms−1 corresponding to about 7 % of the mean wind speed and a mean RMSE of 1.03 ms−1. For wind direction, a mean overall bias smaller than 1° is achieved, but individual stations show larger biases (mean absolute bias: 37°), especially at stations where wind speeds are low on average. Evaluation benchmarks for mean biases of wind direction and wind speed of mesoscale models provided by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) are met at 11 and 14 out of 15 stations at low measurement heights, respectively. Recently suggested extended benchmarks for complex terrain are met at almost all stations. Additionally, for the first time, we analyse the model's ability to simulate the vertical wind profile and we analyse the benefit of implementing a wind profile measurement into the process. We find that the model does not fully capture the vertical profile in our setting. We further study the required measurement network size and find that a high number (> 6) of meteorological stations improves the selection of flow fields over the entire GRAL domain substantially. The conducted comprehensive analysis of the wind fields in the GRAL domain are the basis for detailed quantitative analysis of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions using the GRAMM/GRAL modelling framework.

Premature deaths from fine particles PM2.5 air pollution in regional capitals of Slovakia during 2016-2020 period.

The purpose of this quantitative study is to assess the impact of fine particles air pollution in major cities of Slovakia. The study aims to estimate number of premature deaths from long-term exposure to fine particles PM2.5 in eight regional capitals of Slovakia in the period 2016-2020. Consequently, the study aims to conduct a comparative analysis using secondary derived indicators. For calculations of estimated premature deaths from long-term exposure to fine particles PM2.5 air pollution we used standardized methodology developed by the World Health Organization and the European Environment Agency. The annual average of estimated premature deaths from PM2.5 air pollution in the studied period was in Bratislava 353, Košice 219, Prešov 84, Žilina 90, Banská Bystrica 76, Nitra 73, Trnava 59, and Trenčín 52. In relative terms per 1,000 inhabitants Bratislava had annual average 1.14 of estimated premature deaths, Košice 1.32, Prešov 1.38, Žilina 1.61, Banská Bystrica 1.35, Nitra 1.35, Trnava 1.27, and Trenčín 1.31. Bratislava as the largest city in Slovakia recorded the smallest relative number of estimated premature deaths. The worst results were recorded by the city of Žilina. The estimated number of premature deaths from long-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution in the regional capitals decreased in the given period. The most of the regional capitals with the exception of Bratislava and Žilina, showed similar levels of estimated premature deaths. However, the current geopolitical situation and rising energy prices threaten return to solid fuel burning which is the largest source of particulate matter air pollution in Slovakia and thus reversing positive trends.

A potential framework for cross-zonal reserve procurement on European power exchanges based on robust optimization

In order to prepare for unexpected events in the power system, regulation reserves are routinely procured in advance. Economic considerations dictate that it is advantageous to perform reserve procurement and energy allocation on a joint market platform using a single clearing algorithm. Furthermore, it is also beneficial if the option exists to allocate resources between different bidding zones to alleviate local shortages and corresponding price pressures. The present paper proposes a solution algorithm for this task in a European market environment without unit commitment and uplift payments to non-convex bidders. The main challenge of cross-zonal reserve allocation arises from the fact that deployment decisions are not yet known, therefore the actual deployment flows are uncertain at the time of procurement. The proposed algorithm handles this issue with robust optimization techniques and provides a guarantee of feasible transmission limits for deployment i.e. reserve deliverability. The clearing model is formalized as a computationally efficient Mixed Integer Linear Problem; its exact equations are presented along with case studies for the purpose of demonstration. The research is part of the FARCROSS H2020 project of the European Union.

CJEU: WM and Sovim SA v. Luxembourg Business Registers (Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20)

Rules against money laundering and terrorist financing are an area of law in which the European Union is significantly active and introduces many innovations. Public registers of beneficial ownership were one of the crucial tools with which this legislation promoted the openness of corporate structures in the European environment. For this reason, the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, WM and Sovim SA v. Luxembourg Business Registers, which cancelled public access to beneficial ownership registers, caused an immense response. Part of the public sees this step as a major blow to the transparency and part as a victory for the rights of individuals. This paper explains the factual situation in the given case, summarises the Advocate General's opinion and analyses the reasons that led the Court to the presented conclusions. The author also reflects on the jurisprudence of the Court, which led to the issuance of this decision and its importance in the field of AML and the protection of the right to privacy in general. Based on these facts, the conclusion presents the possible development of future beneficial ownership registers in the EU.

Evaluation of Bottom-UP Methodologies in Estimating Atmospheric Emissions from Ships: A Case Study of the Itaguaí-RJ Port Complex

Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the two main bottom-up emission estimation methodologies adopted worldwide for preparing vessel emissions inventories, in order to verify their limitations, as well as best practices. Theoretical framework: This study was conducted based on a bibliographical survey of methodologies adopted to estimate emissions, with the premise being the impact on the environment as a result of maritime transport. Methodology: The two most adopted methodologies, AP-42 from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 2009) and the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2019), were selected to estimate pollutant and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from vessels during hoteling in the Itagui Port Complex (IPC), from 2017 to 2021. Additionally, the study evaluates the application of methodologies in constructing an emissions inventory. Results and conclusion: The results indicate that container ships were identified as the largest sources of pollution by the EEA methodology (2019), unlike the USEPA method (2009), which identifies bulk carriers. Adopting the EEA (2019) methodology, total emissions were higher than USEPA (2009), up to 45 times higher for NOx and 174 times for PM10, while for SO2 it differs by only 26%. Implications of the research: The study is of fundamental relevance, as choosing the most appropriate methodology for estimating emissions is a crucial step for air quality management and emission mitigation measures. Originality/value: This research has social, scientific and environmental value carried out with real data, implying originality in the discussions presented.

COMPETENCE APPROACH WITHIN PROFESSIONAL AND FUNDAMENTAL TRAINING OF FUTURE UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERS UNDER CONDITIONS OF EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS

Summary: the article addresses to the problem of the introduction of competence approach in bachelors’ professional and fundamental training as future engineers in varied specialties at a technical university under educational transformations and joining the European education environment. The authors accentuate on the fact that under conditions of native education modernization, special significance attains the problem of professional training for specialists to be competitive in the labor market, competent, and to master their profession extensively. In the course of the study, it was established that educational activity modernization is taking place within the context of the European requirements, principles and standards of the EU states. It is established that the introduction of the competence approach to the education of the EU member-states assumes that the knowledge obtained corresponds to the following four constituents: to know what, to know why, to know how, to know who.
 A number of inner and outer factors are dealt with in the article that determine the urgency of introduction of the competence approach to the education practices of Ukraine.
 The presented analysis of scientific researches has enabled defining the key elements of professional competence in a future engineer. The content of the main traits is disclosed as well as peculiarities in the introduction of the competence approach in the process of professional and fundamental training of bachelors – future engineers – in varied specialties under educational transformations.

A New Approach to the Development of Geothermal Water Utilization in the Context of Identifying and Meeting the Social Needs of Local Communities: A Case Study from the Mogilno–Łódź Trough, Central Poland

For many years, geothermal energy has been successfully used for both energy as well as balneological, healing, and recreational purposes. It should be emphasized that, along with the great interest in geothermal investments, the development of other economic sectors (i.e., tourism, cosmetology, food production, and many other sectors related directly or indirectly to geothermal waters) are also noted in this paper. That kind of development is seen both in regions where centers using geothermal energy are created, as well as in their immediate vicinity. An important aspect of the use of geothermal energy is also its positive impact on the environment by reducing the emission of pollutants that could end up in the environment as a result of using conventional energy sources, namely coal or natural gas. Given the high level of air pollution in Poland, according to data from the European Environment Agency, 12 Polish cities are among the 20 most polluted cities in Europe (data for 2021–2022), and this aspect seems to be key for achieving sustainability while maintaining economic balance. In this article, a new approach to the development of geothermal water utilization in the context of identifying and meeting the social needs of local communities in the Mogilno–Łódź Trough region is described.

Is microbiological control of the box tree moth feasible? Effectiveness and impact on non-target diurnal Lepidoptera

Recent outbreaks of the invasive alien species Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) have led to the widespread loss of boxwoods in Europe. Although details on its biology are not fully unraveled, the box tree moth (BTM) can be considered a major pest, severely damaging its primary host, Buxus sempervirens, ultimately affecting the associated coenosis. In European environments, box trees form the Habitat 5110, and BTM outbreaks are seriously endangering its long-term survival.The effectiveness of microbiological treatments with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk) on the survival of BTM was evaluated in field and controlled conditions. Given the scant specificity of Btk action, an in-depth survey of its potential impact on non-target diurnal Lepidoptera has been conducted by monitoring their communities’ changes in treated and control areas.Btk spraying was highly effective in the field, and five days after treatments larval density reduction was over 90% in all sites and years, with similar mortality trends achieved in controlled conditions.No significant short-term effects were detected either on non-target diurnal lepidopterans’ abundance or species richness.These results can be combined with the outcomes of spatially explicit models to overcome issues that, up to now, have caused the failure of appropriate strategies to control C. perspectalis. Even if no impact has been observed on non-target Lepidoptera, a rigorous plan for the application, detection and surveillance of the potential effects of microbiological treatments needs to be established.

ADULT EDUCATION IN DENMARK: MODERN DISCOURSE OF LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT

Sustainable and rational adult education is now a crucial component of the European education system due to the demands of a modern, innovative workforce that must be highly educated and adaptable. This article provides a comparative examination of adult education contemporary situation in Denmark and Ukraine. The author’s research interests are in the sphere of the legal frameworks supporting the structural patterns, guiding principles, financing, and acknowledgement of Danish adult education. For the establishment of adult education policies in Ukraine, the Danish setting is essential because of Denmark's unique experience in developing a democratic adult training system that is a part of lifelong learning. In data collection for this study, the author has analyzed multiple legislative sources in European and Danish educational environments at various time points from 2000 to 2023. The conducted research demonstrates that the legal framework in the modern Danish environment encourages adult education in a way that shapes it into a very effective system. On the other hand, significant legislative, structural, and technological changes are needed for adult education in Ukraine, particularly in light of the ongoing aggressive war. This comparative study will contribute to a better understanding of the educational situation with adults in advanced European countries and will help to justify new approaches to the training of adult citizens in Ukraine.

Characterization of urban aerosol pollution before and during the COVID-19 crisis in a central-eastern European urban environment

The worldwide restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic induced a radical change in urban air quality. The objective of this work was to study and understand the variation of PMcoarse and PM2.5 pollution besides other air quality (AQ) parameters in the city of Debrecen, Hungary from 2018 to 2022. To achieve this goal, we introduced an integrated approach that combines source apportionment by receptor modelling, trajectory-based statistical methods and takes into account local and regional meteorology. Concentration, elemental composition, and sources of atmospheric particulate matter (APM) were determined for four lockdown periods with varying levels of restrictions, two transition intervals and two relaxation periods in 2020-22, and they were compared to corresponding baseline values from 2018-19. The concentration, composition and sources of PM2.5, PMcoarse showed strong seasonality. The main component of PMcoarse was mineral dust (32%), while BC (15%), sulphate aerosols (19%) and mineral dust (13%) were the major constituents of PM2.5. Source apportionment by Positive Matrix Factorization identified 8 sources on both size fractions: two types of soil, traffic, combustions, biomass burning, biogenic emission, sea salt, construction, roadworks, secondary sulphate. The relative contribution of sources did not change during the pandemic compared to the previous two years. However, considering the whole 2-year-long period affected by restrictions, a 20–25% reduction was detected in the concentrations and source contributions, apart from temporary sources like roadworks or sea salt episodes. The changed habits of the population could be traced in the evolution of APM. Before the pandemic, increased concentration of traffic related pollutants was characteristic of the school year, while in 2020-21 it was more typical in the summers, the relaxation periods. On the other hand, staying at home during lockdowns led to a significant increase in biomass burning from domestic heating in spring 2020 and 2021. By studying the individual lockdown and relaxation periods, we have shown that the evolution of APM pollution in relatively short, 2-3-month intervals was significantly influenced by local and regional meteorological parameters, the origin of air masses, desert dust episodes and periodic construction works.

Defining the data gap: What do we know about environmental exposure, hazards and risks of pharmaceuticals in the European aquatic environment?

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their transformation products inevitably enter waterways where they might cause adverse effects to aquatic organisms. Identifying the potential risks of APIs in the environment is therefore a goal and current strategic direction of environmental management described in the EU Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and the Green Deal. This is challenged by a paucity of monitoring and ecotoxicity data to adequately describe risks.In this study we analyze measured environmental concentrations (MECs) of APIs from 5933 sites in 25 European countries as documented in the EMPODAT database or collected by the German Environment Agency for the time period between 1997 and 2020. These data were compared with empirical data on the ecotoxicity of APIs from the U.S. EPA ECOTOX database. Although 1763 uniquely identifiable APIs are registered with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for sale in the European Economic Area (EEA), only 312 (17.7%) of these are included in publicly available monitoring data, 36 (1.8%) compounds have sufficient ecotoxicological data to derive a PNEC, and only 27 (1.5%) compounds meet both the hazard and exposure data requirements required to to perform an environmental risk assessment according to EMA guidelines. Four of these compounds (14.8%) had a median risk quotient (RQ) > 1. Endocrine disruptors had the highest median RQ, with 7.0 and 5.6 for 17α-ethinyl-estradiol and 17β-estradiol respectively.A comparison of in-silico and empirical exposure data for 72 APIs demonstrated the high protectiveness of the current EMA guidelines, with predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) exceeding median MECs in 98.6% of cases, with a 100-fold median increase.This study describes the data shortfalls hindering an accurate assessment of the risk posed to European waterways by APIs, and identifies 68 APIs for prioritized inclusion in monitoring programs, and 66 APIs requiring ecotoxicity testing to fill current data gaps.