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The cold neutron beam at the PF1b line at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), without fast neutrons and a low contribution of gamma rays, is a very suitable facility to measure cell damage following low-energy neutron irradiation. The biological damage associated with the thermal and the boron doses can be obtained in order to evaluate the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. Three different experiments were carried out on the A375 melanoma cell line: the first one in a hospital LINAC, to obtain the reference radiation data, and the other two at the ILL, in which the damage to cells with and without boron compounds added was measured.

During the last few decades, the input of mercury to the environment resulting from anthropogenic activities has increased. This can translate into effects to both wildlife and humans. For the last fifty years, a chlor-alkali plant situated at the locality of Flix (NE Spain), ca. 100 km above the Ebro river mouth, has dumped mercury- loaded residues into the river. The residues have been transported throughout the river reaching its delta ecosystems (e.g., rice fields, flood plains, marshes, lagoons). The Ebro Delta (ca. 30000 ha of wetlands) is a highly important site of rice production with more than 75% of its area intended to this activity. Moreover, it constitutes one of the largest wetlands of the Mediterranean being also relevant from the conservation point of view, as it is the breeding habitat for several bird species. Rice paddies are considered a potential ‘hotspot’ for methylmercury due to the biotic methylation activities of soils, as well as a source of methylmercury for both aquatic and terrestrial food webs.