Typical groundwater contamination in the vicinity of industrial brownfields and basic methods of their treatment.

The article deals with simple methods of decontamination of groundwater from the vicinity of brownfields contaminated with organic and inorganic substances. In the literature, thousands of articles on this issue at various sophisticated levels of knowledge can be found. The articles are mostly suitable as an extension of scientific knowledge; however, regarding potential costs and respectively scale-up problems, the applications are limited. It turns out that the vast majority of contaminated water can be effectively decontaminated by simple methods, in a coagulation-sedimentation sequence → simple oxidation and reduction methods for separated water (Fenton reaction, photocatalysis, ozonation, reductive dehalogenation with zero metals) → adsorption of remaining pollutants on simple sorbents, eg on biochar → (possibly bioremediation or advanced physical methods such as membrane filtration) → final purification on activated carbon. Due to the usually limited volume loads of soils with pollutants in the vicinity of brownfields, it is not economically advantageous to build demanding decontamination units for water purification. Usually, the simplest solution is the system to pump-and-treat around the source of contamination, with the main emphasis on highly effective removal of pollutants from water that returns underground. Groundwater was taken from boreholes leading to the saturated zone in the vicinity of several selected industrial brownfields. The solutions are shown on individual typical cases.

Sex differences in methamphetamine pharmacokinetics in adult rats and its transfer to pups through the placental membrane and breast milk.

BACKGROUND: Methamphetamine (METH) abuse is a growing health problem worldwide, and METH use during pregnancy not only endangers the mother's health but also the developing fetus. To provide better insight into these risks, we performed the following experiments. METHOD: First, we investigated how sex influences the pharmacokinetics of METH and amphetamine (AMP) in male and female rats. Subsequently, we simulated chronic exposure of prenatal infants to METH abuse by investigating brain and plasma levels of METH and AMP in dams and pups. Finally, we modeled chronic exposure of infants to METH via breast milk and investigated sex differences in pups with regard to drug levels and possible sensitization effect of chronic prenatal METH co-treatment. RESULTS: We observed significantly higher levels of METH and AMP in the plasma and brain of female rats compared to males. Additionally, brain concentrations of METH and AMP in pups exposed to METH prenatally were equivalent to 62.13% and 37.78% relative to dam, respectively. Plasma concentrations of AMP where equivalent to 100% of the concentration in dams, while METH was equivalent to only 36.98%. Finally, we did not observe a significant effect relative to sex with regard to METH/AMP levels or sensitization effects linked to prenatal METH exposure. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that female rats display higher levels of METH and AMP, thus indicating a greater risk of addiction and toxicity. Furthermore, our data show that pups are exposed to both METH and AMP following dam exposure.