Analyzing the potential environmental impact of NIOSH list of hazardous drugs (group 2).

For the first time, several pharmaceuticals have been defined as priority substances in the new proposal of the revision of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Consequently, environmental quality standards have been determined for several drugs. This is the case with the antiepileptic carbamazepine, which is considered as hazardous in healthcare settings by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This organism considers as such drugs that have shown teratogenicity, carcinogenicity, genotoxicity or other developmental, reproductive, or organ toxicity at low doses in studies with animals or humans. This study has been focused on the non-carcinogenic drugs classified in group 2, and their presence in the environment. This group contains many different therapeutic agents such as antineoplastics, psychoactive drugs, immunosuppressants and antivirals, among others. Of the 116 drugs included in the list, 26 have been found in aquatic environmental matrices. Certain drugs have received most attention (e.g., the antiepileptic carbamazepine, progesterone and the antidepressant paroxetine) while others completely lack environmental monitoring. Carbamazepine, fluconazole, paroxetine and warfarin have been found in invertebrates' tissues, whereas carbamazepine, oxazepam and paroxetine have been found in fish tissues. The main aim of the NIOSH's hazardous drug list is to inform healthcare professionals about adequate protection measures to prevent occupational exposure to these pharmaceuticals. However, this list contains useful information for other professionals and researchers such as environmental scientists. The paucity of relevant environmental data of certain hazardous pharmaceuticals might be important to help in the prioritization of compounds that may demand further research.

Improvement of biogas production and nitrogen recovery in anaerobic digestion of purple phototrophic bacteria by thermal hydrolysis.

Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) are a novel driver to recover organics and nutrients from wastewater by assimilative growth. Depending on the source, assimilated resources from the PPB biomass can still be recovered after a releasing step. Anaerobic digestion (AD) releases carbonand nutrients, but the release is incomplete. Thermal hydrolysis (TH) as a pretreatment before AD improves the digestibility, release, and subsequent recovery potentials. This work determines the effects of TH in batch and continuous modes regarding methane potential, nutrients' release efficiencies, volatile solids destruction, degradability, and hydrolysis rates. Continuous runs over 165 days (d) confirmed enhanced recovery potentials, achieving up to 380 LCH4/kgVS (83 % solids destruction) and 73 % N release, respectively. The TH pretreatment is energy-intensive, but with appropriate heat recovery and increased methane production in the AD of the pretreated biomass, a combined configuration is energy positive.

Significados de exposição ao HIV/AIDS atribuídos por mulheres que professam religiões afro-brasileiras / Meanings of exposure to HIV/AIDS attributed by women who profess Afro-Brazilian religions / Significados de exposición al VIH/SIDA atribuidos por mujeres que profesan religiones afrobrasileñas

Objetivo: conhecer os significados atribuídos por mulheres que professam religiões afro-brasileiras à exposição ao HIV/AIDS. Método: estudo interpretativo, qualitativo, com amostragem por meio da técnica de bola de neve, selecionando 21 mulheres que professam religiões afro-brasileiras, em sete grupos amostrais. Coleta deda dados realizada entre julho de 2019 e outubro de 2020, por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, em parque urbano público em São Paulo e, virtualmente. Dados analisados segundo o Interacionismo Simbólico e a Grounded Theory. Resultados: participaram mulheres entre 18 e 70 anos, a maioria casada, com pós-graduação completa, frequentando, pelo menos uma vez na semana, a instituição religiosa, há mais de 5 anos. As participantes significam exposição ao HIV/AIDS como falta de autocuidado, não ter cuidado com o corpo, morada de orixás, relacionando com prevenção, discernimento e respeito, cuja visão conservadora enfoca o outro. Conclusão: os significados atribuídos à exposição ao HIV/AIDS estão fortemente influenciados pelas crenças religiosas, salientando a exposição dos outros.

Objective: to discover the meanings attributed by women who profess Afro-Brazilian religions to exposure to HIV/AIDS. Method: in this interpretive, qualitative study, using the snowball technique, 21 women who profess Afro-Brazilian religions were selected in 7 sample groups. Data were collected from July 2019 to October 2020 by semi-structured interviews in a public urban park in São Paulo and virtually by Google Meet, and analyzed by Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory, with ATLAS.ti9 software. Results: participants were 18 to 70 years old, most married, with complete postgraduate studies, and had attended the religious institution at least once a week for more than 5 years. The participants attributed meaning to exposure to HIV/AIDS as lack of self-care, lack of care for the body, the home of orixá deities, and related it to prevention, discernment and respect, in a conservative view focusing on others. Conclusion: the meanings attributed to exposure to HIV/AIDS were strongly influenced by religious beliefs and emphasized the exposure of others.

Objetivo: conocer los significados atribuidos por mujeres que profesan religiones afrobrasileñas a la exposición al VIH/SIDA. Método: estudio interpretativo, cualitativo, utilizando para la muestra el método de bola de nieve, seleccionando 21 mujeres que profesan religiones afrobrasileñas, en siete grupos de muestra. La recolección de datos tuvo lugar entre julio/2019 y octubre/2020, a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas, en un parque público urbano de São Paulo y también virtualmente. Los datos se analizaron según el Interaccionismo Simbólico y la Grounded Theory. Resultados: participaron mujeres con edades entre 18 y 70 años, la mayoría casada, con estudios de posgrado completo, asistiendo a la institución religiosa al menos una vez por semana desde hace más de 5 años. Las participantes entienden la exposición al VIH/SIDA como falta de autocuidado, descuido del cuerpo, hogar de los orixás, comparado a la prevención, al discernimiento y al respeto, cuya mirada conservadora se enfoca en el otro. Conclusión: los significados atribuidos a la exposición al VIH/SIDA están fuertemente influenciados por las creencias religiosas, destacando la exposición de los demás.

Critical review of technologies for the on-site treatment of hospital wastewater: From conventional to combined advanced processes.

This review aims to assess different technologies for the on-site treatment of hospital wastewater (HWW) to remove pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs) as sustances of emerging concern at a bench, pilot, and full scales from 2014 to 2020. Moreover, a rough characterisation of hospital effluents is presented. The main detected PhCs are antibiotics and psychiatric drugs, with concentrations up to 1.1 mg/L. On the one hand, regarding the presented technologies, membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are a good alternative for treating HWW with PhCs removal values higher than 80% in removing analgesics, anti-inflammatories, cardiovascular drugs, and some antibiotics. Moreover, this system has been scaled up to the pilot plant scale. However, some target compounds are still present in the treated effluent, such as psychiatric and contrast media drugs and recalcitrant antibiotics (erythromycin and sulfamethoxazole). On the other hand, ozonation effectively removes antibiotics found in the HWW (>93%), and some studies are carried out at the pilot plant scale. Even though, some families, such as the X-ray contrast media, are recalcitrant to ozone. Other advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), such as Fenton-like or UV treatments, seem very effective for removing pharmaceuticals, Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria (ARBs) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs). However, they are not implanted at pilot plant or full scale as they usually consider extra reactants such as ozone, iron, or UV-light, making the scale-up of the processes a challenging task to treat high-loading wastewater. Thus, several examples of biological wastewater treatment methods combined with AOPs have been proposed as the better strategy to treat HWW with high removal of PhCs (generally over 98%) and ARGs/ARBs (below the detection limit) and lower spending on reactants. However, it still requires further development and optimisation of the integrated processes.

Contamination of N-poor wastewater with emerging pollutants does not affect the performance of purple phototrophic bacteria and the subsequent resource recovery potential.

Propagation of emerging pollutants (EPs) in wastewater treatment plants has become a warning sign, especially for novel resource-recovery concepts. The fate of EPs on purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB)-based systems has not yet been determined. This work analyzes the performance of a photo-anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating a low-N wastewater contaminated with 25 EPs. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), N and P removal efficiencies were stable (76 ±â€¯8, 62 ±â€¯15 and 36 ±â€¯8 %, respectively) for EPs loading rate ranging from 50 to 200 ng L-1 d-1. The PPB community adapted to changes in both the EPs concentration and the organic loading rate (OLR) and maintained dominance with >85 % of total 16S gene copies. Indeed, an increment of the OLR caused an increase of the biomass growth and activity concomitantly with a higher EPs removal efficiency (30 ±â€¯13 vs 54 ±â€¯11 % removal for OLR of 307 ±â€¯4 and 590 ±â€¯8 mgCOD L-1 d-1, respectively). Biodegradation is the main mechanism of EPs removal due to low EPs accumulation on the biomass, the membrane or the reactor walls. Low EPs adsorption avoided biomass contamination, resulting in no effect on its biological methane potential. These results support the use of PPB technologies for resource recovery with low EPs contamination of the products.

Author Correction: Forearc carbon sink reduces long-term volatile recycling into the mantle.

An Amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Author Correction: Forearc carbon sink reduces long-term volatile recycling into the mantle.

Change history: In this Article, the original affiliation 2 was not applicable and has been removed. In addition, in the Acknowledgements there was a statement missing and an error in a name. These errors have been corrected online.

Forearc carbon sink reduces long-term volatile recycling into the mantle.

Carbon and other volatiles in the form of gases, fluids or mineral phases are transported from Earth's surface into the mantle at convergent margins, where the oceanic crust subducts beneath the continental crust. The efficiency of this transfer has profound implications for the nature and scale of geochemical heterogeneities in Earth's deep mantle and shallow crustal reservoirs, as well as Earth's oxidation state. However, the proportions of volatiles released from the forearc and backarc are not well constrained compared to fluxes from the volcanic arc front. Here we use helium and carbon isotope data from deeply sourced springs along two cross-arc transects to show that about 91 per cent of carbon released from the slab and mantle beneath the Costa Rican forearc is sequestered within the crust by calcite deposition. Around an additional three per cent is incorporated into the biomass through microbial chemolithoautotrophy, whereby microbes assimilate inorganic carbon into biomass. We estimate that between 1.2 × 108 and 1.3 × 1010 moles of carbon dioxide per year are released from the slab beneath the forearc, and thus up to about 19 per cent less carbon is being transferred into Earth's deep mantle than previously estimated.

Wastewater sludges pretreated by different oxidation systems at mild conditions to promote the biogas formation in anaerobic processes.

The effect of different oxidation processes at mild conditions including the coupled-Fenton (sono-Fenton, photo-Fenton, and sono-photo-Fenton) and their blank systems (ultrasound, ultraviolet, zero valent iron, and Fenton) on anaerobic digestion of the sludge for biogas production was investigated. Ultrasounds led to the highest organic matter solubilization (3.8 up to 5.2 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L, for the raw and treated sludge, respectively), while for the rest, organic matter transformation was observed resulting in an almost soluble COD net balance. Results indicated that for the most oxidative processes, the released organic matter was probably mineralized by the hydroxyl radicals produced during the treatments. It is interesting to remark that even if the biochemical methane potential was barely enhanced by the different methods applied, all the methods demonstrated to enhance the overall kinetics of the biomethanation processes, increasing the rapidly biodegradable fraction of the sludge.

Elimination of drugs of abuse and their toxicity from natural waters by photo-Fenton treatment.

This paper investigates the elimination of drugs of abuse from six different chemical classes and their metabolites in natural fluvial waters (nearby the output of a sewage system). Mineralization of these substances and toxicological characterization before and after treatment by a heterogeneous photo-Fenton system has been evaluated. This advanced oxidation technology was able to significantly reduce the concentration of the drugs of abuse in all the tested conditions (different hydrogen peroxide and catalyst loadings). However, toxicological analyses measured as inhibition of fern spore mitochondrial activity, showed only a complete elimination of acute and chronic toxicity when a higher solid catalyst loading was used (0.6 g/L). A lower catalyst loading of 0.2 g/L was not enough for toxicity elimination. These results evidence the need for combining toxicological tests and chemical analyses in order to establish the effectiveness of the water treatment technologies based on advanced oxidation processes.

Coupling membrane separation and photocatalytic oxidation processes for the degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants.

The coupling of membrane separation and photocatalytic oxidation has been studied for the removal of pharmaceutical pollutants. The retention properties of two different membranes (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) were assessed. Comparable selectivity on the separation of pharmaceuticals were observed for both membranes, obtaining a permeate stream with concentrations of each pharmaceutical below 0.5 mg L(-)(1) and a rejected flux highly concentrated (in the range of 16-25 mg L(-)(1) and 18-32 mg L(-)(1) of each pharmaceutical for NF-90 and BW-30 membranes, respectively), when an initial stream of six pharmaceuticals was feeding to the membrane system (10 mg L(-)(1) of each pharmaceutical). The abatement of concentrated pharmaceuticals of the rejected stream was evaluated by means of heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation using TiO2 and Fe2O3/SBA-15 in presence of hydrogen peroxide as photo-Fenton system. Both photocatalytic treatments showed remarkable removals of pharmaceutical compounds, achieving values between 80 and 100%. The nicotine was the most refractory pollutant of all the studied pharmaceuticals. Photo-Fenton treatment seems to be more effective than TiO2 photocatalysis, as high mineralization degree and increased nicotine removal were attested. This work can be considered an interesting approach of coupling membrane separation and heterogeneous photocatalytic technologies for the successful abatement of pharmaceutical compounds in effluents of wastewater treatment plants.

Drugs of abuse in surface and tap waters of the Tagus River basin: heterogeneous photo-Fenton process is effective in their degradation.

This work investigates for the first time the occurrence of drugs of abuse and metabolites in surface waters from the Tagus River on its way through the province of Toledo (downstream Madrid metropolitan area) and in drinking waters in two nearby cities. Some of the studied drugs are used for therapeutic purposes but they can also be consumed as illicit drugs. The results of this preliminary study have revealed the presence of 12 out of 22 drugs of abuse analyzed in fluvial water at concentrations ranging from 1.14 to 40.9 ng/L. The largest concentrations corresponded to the anxiolytics diazepam and lorazepam, the cocaine metabolite benzoilecgonine, the amphetamine-like compound ephedrine, and the methadone metabolite EDDP. All these substances, except for lorazepam, were detected in all the sampling points. Traces of methadone and ephedrine were detected in some samples of tap water. Despite the low concentrations of these pollutants, effects on wildlife or human health cannot be disregarded, especially on vulnerable population. Thus, the treatment of these substances using a heterogeneous photo-Fenton process has been evaluated, rendering a remarkable effectiveness for their degradation.

Integrated heterogeneous sono-photo Fenton processes for the degradation of phenolic aqueous solutions.

The removal of organic compounds from aqueous solutions has been tackled by a novel integrated heterogeneous system. The efficacy of the different systems has been assessed using Fenton-like processes (H2O2/Fe2O3-SBA-15) and phenol as model pollutant. Sono- and photo-Fenton processes separately applied as well as combined systems were studied in order to evaluate of possible beneficial effects on the use of coupled systems. The sequential system evidences an enhancement in terms of phenol and TOC conversions compared to the ultrasound or UV-light irradiation processes. A total phenol degradation and ca. 90% TOC reduction are achieved by sequentially ultrasound followed by UV-visible light irradiation. These effects are ascribed cavitation effect of ultrasound producing a reduction of particle size that provides a higher amount of available active sites due to an increased surface area for the subsequent photo-Fenton system. These encouraging results open new paths for the existing oxidation technologies for potable water and wastewater treatment.

Preparation and characterization of vanadium oxide deposited on thermally stable mesoporous titania.

Vanadium oxide was deposited on mesoporous titania by the molecular designed dispersion method to investigate the potential properties of these catalysts. Mesoporous titania was synthesized following the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method with a subsequent treatment with ammonia to increase the thermal stability. As a result, the mesoporous titania obtained shows a high surface area (approximately 350 m2/g) and high stability. Vanadium oxide was deposited by the MDD method using a vanadyl acetylacetonate complex that was transformed into VOx after a controlled calcination in air flow at 300 degrees C. The mesostructure and porosity characteristics of titania remain even until the maximum V-loading was reached (0.4 mmol/g), as it was shown by N2 sorption measurements at -196 degrees C. The catalysts were characterized by chemical analysis, Fourier transform infrared-photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (DR), and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectra showed isolated V species for the different V-containing catalysts. Furthermore, UV-vis-DR revealed a higher contribution of polymeric species as the V loading increases. The VOx/mesoporous titania catalysts were highly active in the selective catalytic reduction of NOx. A high activity in the NO conversion was observed, which increases with increasing metal loading.

Characterization of vanadium and titanium oxide supported SBA-15.

Supported vanadium and titanium oxide catalysts were prepared by adsorption and subsequent calcination of the vanadyl and titanyl acetylacetonate complexes, respectively, on mesoporous SBA-15 by the molecular designed dispersion (MDD) method. Liquid and gas phase depositions at different temperatures were carried out with vanadyl acetylacetonate, and the different results together with those of titanyl acetylacetonate in the liquid phase deposition were discussed. The bonding mechanism, the influence of the metal interaction with the support material, and differences due to the way of deposition and the temperature were investigated by TGA, chemical analysis, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. Elevated dissolving temperatures in the liquid phase led to higher final loadings on the SBA-15 without the formation of clusters, even at high loadings. The decomposition of the anchored vanadium and titanium complexes, their thermal stability, and the conversion to the covalently bound VO(x) and TiO(x) species on SBA-15 were studied and investigated by in situ transmission IR spectroscopy. In general, the titanium complex is more reactive than the vanadium complex toward the surface of SBA-15 and has a higher thermal stability. The MDD method of the VO(acac)2 and TiO(acac)2 enables to create a dispersed surface of supported VO(x) and TiO(x), respectively. The structure configurations of VO(x) and TiO(x) oxide catalysts obtained at different metal loadings were studied by Raman spectroscopy. Pore size distributions, XRD, and N2 sorption confirmed the structural stability of these materials after grafting. VO(x)/SBA-15 and TiO(x)/SBA-15 samples, with different metal loadings, were also catalytically tested for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with ammonia.

[Kidney transplantation with donors in heart block. Long-term results]. / Transplante renal con donantes en parada cardíaca. Resultados a largo plazo.

OBJECTIVES: The shortage of renal grafts has led to the search for other alternatives. The use of grafts from non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) can increase the number of transplants 8% to 20%. Clinical studies conducted by different groups, have found that the long-term graft and patient survival are not different from those of recipients of kidneys from heart-beating donors (HBCD). METHODS/RESULTS: The long-term results of a group of 52 recipients of NHBD kidneys were compared with those of 98 recipients of HBCD grafts. There were no differences in donor and recipient ages, HLA compatibility, reperfusion and cold ischemia times. There were no differences in the incidence of rejection episodes or non-functioning kidneys. Warm ischemia between 30 to 60 min or < 30 min did not influence the incidence of non-functioning kidneys. However, NHBD graft recipients had a higher incidence of acute tubular necrosis (67% versus 46%), recovers of renal function was slower, the duration of oliguria was longer and dialysis was required. The 8-year actuarial survival data were similar for both groups; 65% for the NHBD and 70% for the HBCD graft recipients. CONCLUSIONS: We can conclude that NHBDs are an important source of donor kidneys. The 12 points established by The First International Workshop on Non-Heart-Beating Donors which appear at the end of the present article are embodied in the Treaty of Maastricht regulations of organ transplantation from non-heart-beating donors.