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There is a worldwide growing use of chemicals by our developed, industrialized, and technological society. More than 100,000 chemical substances are thus commonly used both by industry and households. Depending on the amount produced, physical-chemical properties, and mode of use, many of them may reach the environment and, notably, the aquatic receiving systems. This may result in undesirable and harmful side-effects on both the human and the ecosystem's health. Mediterranean rivers are largely different from Northern and Central European rivers in terms of hydrological regime, climate conditions (e.g. air temperature, solar irradiation, precipitation), and socio-economics (e.g. land use, tourism, crop types, etc.), with all these factors leading to differences in the relative importance of the environmental stressors, in the classes and levels of the pollutants found and their environmental fate. Furthermore, water scarcity might be critical in affecting water pollution because of the lowered dilution capacity of chemicals. This work provides raw chemical data from different families of microcontaminants identified in three selected Mediterranean rivers (the Sava, Evrotas, and Adige) collected during two sampling campaigns conducted in 2014 and 2015 in three different matrices, namely, water, sediments, and biota (fish). More than 200 organic micropollutants were analyzed, including relevant groups like pharmaceuticals, personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, pesticides, pyrethroid insecticides, flame retardants, and persistent organic pollutants. Data obtained were summarized with some basic statistics for all compound families and matrices analyzed. Observed occurrence and spatial patterns were interpreted both in terms of compound physical-chemical properties and local environmental pressures. Finally, their spatial distribution was examined and their ecotoxicological risk in the water phase was assessed. This allowed locating, at each basin, the most polluted sites (“hot spots”) and identifying the respective river basin specific pollutants (RBSPs), prioritizing them in terms of the potential ecotoxicological risk posed to the aquatic ecosystems., This work has been supported by the European Communities EU 7th Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua and partly by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidate Research Group 2017-SGR-01404) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Projects CEX2018-000794-S and IBERAQUA-NET RED2018-102737-T). Special thanks are due to all partners of the GLOBAQUA consortium and the peer review panel for ensuring quality results and a fruitful collaboration within the frame of the project.

The natural processes occurring in subsurface environments have proven to effectively remove a number of organic pollutants from water. The predominantredox conditionsrevealed to be one of the controlling factors. However, in the case of organicmicropollutantsthe knowledge on this potential redox-dependent behavior is still limited. Motivated by managedaquiferrecharge practicesmicrocosmexperiments involving aquifer material, settings potentially feasible in field applications, and organic micropollutants at environmental concentrations were carried out. Different anaerobic redox conditions were promoted and sustained in each set of microcosms by adding adequate quantities of electron donors and acceptors. Whereasdenitrificationand sulfate-reducing conditions are easily achieved and maintained, Fe- and Mn-reduction are strongly constrained by the slower dissolution of the solid phases commonly present in aquifers. The thorough description and numerical modeling of the evolution of the experiments, including major and trace solutes and dissolution/precipitation of solid phases, have been proven necessary to the understanding of the processes and closing the mass balance. As an example of micropollutant results, the ubiquitousbeta-blockeratenololis completely removed in the experiments, the removal occurring faster under more advanced redox conditions. This suggests that aquifers constitute a potentially efficient alternativewater treatmentfor atenolol, especially if adequate redox conditions are promoted during recharge and long enough residence times are ensured. &nbsp

Soil-aquifer processes have proven to work as a natural treatment for the attenuation of numerous contaminants during artificial recharge of groundwater. Nowadays, significant scientific effort is being devoted to understanding the fate of pharmaceuticals in subsurface environments, and to verify if such semipersistent organic micropollutants could also be efficiently removed from water. In this context we carried out a series of batch experiments involving aquifer material, selected drugs (initial concentration of 1μg/L and 1mg/L), and denitrifying conditions. Diclofenac and sulfamethoxazole exhibited an unreported and peculiar behavior. Their concentrations consistently dropped in the middle of the tests but recovered toward the end, which suggest a complex effect of denitrifying conditions on aromatic amines. The transformation products Nitro-Diclofenac and 4-Nitro-Sulfamethoxazole were detected in the biotic experiments, while nitrite was present in the water. Their concentrations developed almost opposite to those of their respective parent compounds. We conjecture that this temporal and reversible effect of denitrifying conditions on the studied aromatic amines could have significant environmental implications, and could explain at least partially the wide range of removals in subsurface environments reported in literature for DCF and SMX, as well as some apparent discrepancies on SMX behavior. &nbsp

Every year >4 million tonnes of plastic are estimated to enter the oceans and much of it comes from land-based sources through rivers and estuaries. To fill the lack of information related to plastic inputs from rivers, a harmonized approach based on visual observations for monitoring floating macro litter was followed in this work. We provide the results of one-year monitoring (October 2016–September 2017) in the Llobregat and El Besos rivers, which are flowing through an industrialized and populated area nearby the city of Barcelona (Catalonia, NE Spain). Floating litter items categories were influenced by urban centres located along the rivers. Overall, similar litter composition was observed in both rivers with a prevalence of plastics, mainly related to the food and beverage sectors. Seasonal variability showed significant correlations with natural factors such as wind and rainfall. Approximately 0.4–0.6 tonnes of plastic per year were estimated to be loaded into the sea by these two Catalan rivers. This study contributes to enlarge our knowledge on anthropogenic riverine litter entering the NW Mediterranean Sea, providing a starting point for the development of further mitigation strategies.

The contamination of marine ecosystems by contaminants of emerging concern such as personal care products or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances is of increasing concern. This work assessed the concentrations of selected contaminants of emerging concern in water and sediment of European aquaculture areas, to evaluate their co-variation with legacy contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and faecal biomarkers, and estimate the risks associated with their occurrence. The 9 study sites were selected in 7 European countries to be representative of the aquaculture activities of their region: 4 sites in the Atlantic Ocean and 5 in the Mediterranean Sea. Musks, UV filters, preservatives, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in at least one of the sites with regional differences. While personal care products appear to be the main component of the water contamination, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were mostly found in sediments. As expected, generally higher levels of personal care products were found in sewage impacted sites, urbanised coasts and estuaries. The risk assessment for water and sediment revealed a potential risk for the local aquatic environment from contaminants of both legacy and emerging concern, with a significant contribution of the UV filter octocrylene. Despite marginal contributions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the total concentrations, PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) aqueous concentrations combined to its low ecotoxicity thresholds produced significant hazard quotients indicating a potential risk to the ecosystems., This study was financially supported by the SEA-on-a-CHIP project, funded from European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-OCEAN-2013) under grant agreement No. 614168. Antonio Marques is supported through the FCT Investigator program (IF).

Pollution has been less investigated in marine and coastal environments than in inland waters. The low levels at which pollutants are expected to be present in seawater calls for the use of reliable and high sensitivity analytical methodologies. In this context, this work presents the optimization and validation of an analytical method to determine 26 medium to highly polar pesticides in seawater based on solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry detection. The developed methodology was linear, accurate (relative recoveries within 80–120% for most analytes), repeatable (relative standard deviations, This work has been financially supported by the EU FP7 through the SOLUTIONS project (FP7-ENV-2013, No. 603437), by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the PLAS-MED project (CTM2017-89701C3-R), and by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 01404 - Water and Soil Quality Unit). Thanks to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for its support through the August T Larsson Guest Researcher Programme. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to Cristina Bosch, Gabriella Schirinzi, Josep Sanchís, Mar Olmos and Samuel Jimenez for their assistance with sampling, and to Simon Monllor for his assistance with sample processing.

Water reuse is becoming a common practice in several areas in the world, particularly in those impacted by water scarcity driven by climate change and/or by rising human demand. Since conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not able to efficiently remove many organic contaminants and pathogens, more advanced water treatment processes should be applied to WWTP effluents for water reclamation purposes. In this work, a pilot plant based on microfiltration (MF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) filtration was applied to the effluents of an urban WWTP. Both the WWTP and the pilot plant were investigated with regards to the removal of a group of relevant contaminants widely spread in the environment: 28 pharmaceuticals and 20 pesticides. The combined treatment by the MF–RO system was able to quantitatively remove the target micropollutants present in the WWTP effluents to values either in the low ng/L range or below limits of quantification. Monitoring of water quality of reclaimed water and water reclamation sources is equally necessary to design the most adequate treatment procedures aimed to water reuse for different needs AcknowledgmentsThis research work has been co-financed by the SpanishMinistry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projectSCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065) and the Euro-pean Union through the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF) and partly supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Con-solidated Research Group: Catalan Institute for Water Research2014 SGR 291)

The objective of the study was to assess the integrated use of macroinvertebrate indexes and ecotoxicological parameters in the evaluation of the ecological status of a temporary stream with a strong agricultural influence. Water quality was analysed at two sampling sites along the stream, considering: chemical supporting parameters; hazardous substances (pesticides); benthic macroinvertebrate communities, through quality (Iberian Biological Monitoring Working Party and Iberian Average Score Per Taxon) and multi-metric indices (Southern Portuguese Index of Invertebrates and Ecological Quality Ratio); and ecotoxicological responses using lethal and sub-lethal bioassays. The water chemical characterization showed high levels of organic matter and nutrients, mainly in the dry period ((biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5): 18.5–25.5 mg L−1, chemical oxygen demand (COD): 60.8–193.7 mg L−1; total phosphorus (TP): 0.17–0.33 mg L−1)), which may compromise the support of biological life. In accordance with the physicochemical results, the stream had an ecological status less than good. Of the 25 pesticides analysed, only five, namely terbuthylazine, 2-methyl-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, bentazone,mecoprop and metolachlorwere quantified. In general, the concentrations of pesticides detected were low, except at the source of the stream in January 2012 (sum of pesticides 2.29 μg L−1), mainly due to the concentration of bentazone (1.77 μg L−1), both values surpassing the European Commission threshold values. The analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates showed low levels of abundance and family diversity, with communities dominated by resistant groups to organic pollution and pesticides, such as the Chironomidae family. In general, the reproduction ecotoxicological results showed a very marked decrease in the number of juveniles per female. The Spearman correlation identified pesticides, namelyMCPA (R=−0.89; p b 0.05), as the main responsible for the observed effect. The results showed the linearity and complementarity of the two groups of biological responses, allowing to cover the interactions between the ecosystem's species and the different types of pollutants info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The evaluation of sediments, concerning to pesticides, constitutes an important step for the understanding of the principal sources of contamination of the surface water. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate for the first time the occurrence, distribution and risk of pesticides in sediments of the Alqueva reservoir, the largest reservoir in the Europe. For this purpose, the occurrence of 22 pesticides and some of their degradation products was determined in surficial sediments of the Alqueva reservoir. To assess the potential risk on ecosystem, the measured concentrations of pesticides were compared with regulatory and toxicological benchmarks. Of the 22 pesticides analysed, only 8 were detected. Diuron was the pesticide detected in greater concentration, followed by terbuthylazine and chlortoluron. The sediments most polluted by pesticides were from Lucefecit, constituted totally by fine particles (

This study assessed the levels of 21 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in 283 food items (38 from Brazil, 35 from Saudi Arabia, 174 from Spain and 36 from Serbia) among the most widely consumed foodstuffs in these geographical areas. These countries were chosen as representatives of the diet in South America, Western Asia, Mediterranean countries and South-Eastern Europe. The analysis of foodstuffs was carried out by turbulent flow chromatography (TFC) combined with liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QqQ-MS) using electrospray ionization (ESI) in negative mode. The analytical method was validated for the analysis of different foodstuff classes (cereals, fish, fruit, milk, ready-to-eat foods, oil and meat). The analytical parameters of the method fulfill the requirements specified in the Commission Recommendation 2010/161/EU. Recovery rates were in the range between 70% and 120%. For all the selected matrices, the method limits of detection (MLOD) and the method limits of quantification (MLOQ) were in the range of 5 to 650. pg/g and 17 to 2000. pg/g, respectively. In general trends, the concentrations of PFASs were in the pg/g or pg/mL levels. The more frequently detected compounds were perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA). The prevalence of the eight-carbon chain compounds in biota indicates the high stability and bioaccumulation potential of these compounds. But, at the same time, the high frequency of the shorter chain compounds is also an indication of the use of replacement compounds in the new fluorinated materials. When comparing the compounds profile and their relative abundances in the samples from diverse origin, differences were identified. However, in absolute amounts of total PFASs no large differences were found between the studied countries. Fish and seafood were identified as the major PFASs contributors to the diet in all the countries. The total sum of PFASs in fresh fish and seafood was in the range from the MLOQ to 28. ng/g ww.According to the FAO-WHO diets composition, the daily intake (DI) of PFASs was calculated for various age and gender groups in the different diets. The total PFASs food intake was estimated to be between 2300 and 3800. ng /person per day for the different diets.Finally, the risk intake (RI) was calculated for selected relevant compounds. The results have indicated that by far in no case the tolerable daily intake (TDI) (150, 1500, 50,000, 1,000,000, 150, 1500. ng/kg body weight, for perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), fluorotelomer alcohol (FTOH), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), PFOS and PFOA, respectively) was exceeded This work has been financially supported by the Generalitatde Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups “2014 SGR 418 – Water and Soil Quality Unit” and 2014 SGR 291 – ICRA), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projects SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010CSD2009-00065) and the PRI- AIBSE-2011-1184 and th eProject no.172050 of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia,and partly funded by King Saud University Grant number (KSU-VPP-105)

Reports on pesticides elimination during wastewater treatment are rare since these substances are typically considered of agricultural rather than of urban origin. In this context, the aim of this work was to evaluate the presence, removal and environmental relevance of 22 selected pesticides in three different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), paying attention not only to their occurrence and elimination but also to the toxicity of each pesticide against three aquatic micro organisms (algae, daphnia and fish) through the calculation of the so-named Environmental Relevance of Pesticides from Wastewater treatment plants Index (ERPWI). For this purpose, an analytical method based on isotope dilution on-line solid phase extraction–liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (SPE–LC–MS/MS) was optimized, allowing the determination of the 22 target pesticides in wastewater with satisfactory sensitivity (limits of detection below 30 ng/L), accuracy and precision. Concerning the results, total pesticide levels were in most instances below 1 μg/L but removal in the WWTPs was variable and often poor, with concentrations in the effluent sometimes higher than in the corresponding influent. Possible explanations for these poor or negative removal rates are, among many others considered (e.g. sampling, sample preservation, method biases, atmospheric deposition), deconjugation of metabolites and/or transformation products of the pesticides, hydrolysis, and desorption from particulate matter during wastewater treatment. The most significant pesticides in terms of concentration and frequency of detection were diazinon and diuron. These two pesticides, followed by atrazine, simazine and malathion, were also the most relevant from the environmental point of view, according to the calculated ERPWI., The work has been financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projects SOSTAQUA (CEN 2007–1039) (led by Aguas de Barcelona and financed by the CDTI (Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology) in the framework of the Ingenio 2010 program under the CENIT call), SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010CSD2009-00065) and CEMAGUA (CGL2007-64551/HID), and by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group: Water and Soil Quality Unit 2009-SGR-965). Merck is acknowledged for the gift of LC columns. Marianne Köck Schulmeyer acknowledges the European Social Fund and AGAUR (Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain) for their economical support through the FI pre-doctoral grant. Damià Barceló acknowledges financial support from the Visiting Professor Program of the King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The heads of the wastewater treatment plants are also acknowledge for their collaboration in sampling and for the information provided on the plants.

Contamination of surface waters by pesticides continues to be the focus of concern for water authorities due to the growing evidence of their deleterious effects on aquatic life. In this context, the present work investigates the occurrence of 16 selected pesticides belonging to the classes of triazines, phenylureas, organophosphates, chloroacetanilides and thiocarbamates in surface waters from the Llobregat River (NE Spain) and some of its tributaries (Anoia and Rubí) and assesses their potential impact on the aquatic organisms by applying a recently developed index, the Short-term Pesticide Risk Index for the Surface Water System (PRISW-1), which takes into account the pesticides concentrations and their overall toxicity against three aquatic organisms (algae, Daphnia, and fish). Chemical analysis, performed by means of a fully automated method based on isotope dilution on-line solid phase extraction–liquid chromatography– electrospray–tandem mass spectrometry (on-line SPE–LC–ESI–MS/MS), revealed diuron and diazinon as the most ubiquitous and abundant compounds with levels up to 818 and 132 ng L 1, respectively. Total pesticide concentrations, which in only 1 out of 66 samples surpassed 500 ng L 1, were higher in the tributaries than in the river but their contribution in terms of mass-loads to the overall pesticide pollution of the Llobregat River was relatively small. Contamination increased downstream of the river and was clearly influenced by rainfall and hence river flow. Application of the PRISW-1 index indicated that, although pesticides levels fulfilled the European Union Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for surface waters, the existing pesticide contamination poses a low to high ecotoxicological risk for aquatic organisms, that algae and macro-invertebrates are at higher risk than fish, and that the organophosphates diazinon and malathion and the phenylurea diuron are the major contributors to the overall toxicity and therefore the most problematic compounds.

Currently, about half of the groundwater bodies in Catalonia present a bad status in terms of water quantity and chemical quality. The latter is linked to land use, since groundwater contamination originates from agricultural, industrial, and urban activities. This chapter reviews the monitoring programs performed in up to 18 groundwater bodies of Catalonia with the common objective of assessing the occurrence and fate of different polar organic contaminants (PolOPs) in the subsurface. They include the evaluation of polar pesticides and the veterinary antibiotics sulfonamides in rural areas and the study of pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, and UV filters in urban areas. A review of the analytical methodologies used for the analysis of these compounds in groundwater has been provided, and PolOP concentrations measured have been discussed in terms of spatial and temporal variability and linked to potential contamination sources.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of the pesticides detected in the Alqueva reservoir (Guadiana Basin, South Iberian Peninsula) on the aquatic organisms belonging to this ecosystem. For this purpose, the occurrence and risk assessment of 25 pesticides and of a number of their degradation products were determined in the Alqueva surface waters. The areas (sampling stations) most polluted by pesticides were Sra. Ajuda, Lucefecit and Alamos in the northern and in the middle portions of the reservoir, respectively. The aquatic risk assessment revealed that from the various compounds analysed terbuthylazine, chlorfenvinphos and diazinon presented non-acceptable risk when maximum concentrations were used as the measured environmental concentrations (MEC). The locations that had more samples with risk quotients higher than 1 (high risk) were Sra. Ajuda followed by Lucefecit. The use of risk assessment allowed us to conclude that, despite that the pesticides' concentrations in the water column fulfil the European environmental quality standards, a number of the compounds show a high ecotoxicological risk for the aquatic organisms in the Alqueva ecosystem. The results thereby demonstrate that to have an efficient risk management process, the regulatory authorities of each country must consider an integrative chemical and ecotoxicological approach.

Because of the complexity of the sediment matrix, selective methods are necessary to identify and quantify different kinds of pesticides at a time. In this context, a multiresidue method based on isotope dilution and final analysis by liquid chromatography-electrospray–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI–MS/MS) was developed for the determination of 26 pesticides and transformation products in sediment. The method developed comprises pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and further purification of the extract by solid phase extraction (SPE) prior to analysis. In the process of method optimization various SPE cartridges as well as PLE and SPE elution solvents were evaluated. Due to the relatively high volatility of some compounds (e.g., propanil), special attention was paid to the evaporation step. Experiments comparing different pressures and times during solvent evaporation were performed with the aim to improve the recovery of these compounds. Matrix effects were also studied even though they were corrected through the use of 23 deuterated compounds as surrogate standards for quantification. The analytical method developed showed good validation parameters in terms of linearity, sensitivity (limits of detection in the pg g −1 or low ng g −1 range and limits of determination below 80 ng g −1 ), accuracy (relative recoveries between 92 and 118%, except for malaoxon (66.5%)), and repeatability (relative standard deviations between 1.5 and 17%, for all compounds except the acidic herbicides). Its main advantage is the simultaneous analysis of pesticides with a large variety of physical–chemical properties, as well as its improved accuracy due to the use of the isotope dilution method. Application of the method to the analysis of 5 real samples from 4 different Spanish rivers revealed the presence of 5 of the 26 target compounds, being chlorpyrifos, diuron and diazinon the most ubiquitous, as expected, due to their high bioaccumulation and low mobility features.

We investigated the effects of pharmaceuticals and pesticides detected in a Mediterranean river, on fluvial biofilms by translocation experiments performed under controlled conditions. Water was sampled from three sites along a pollution gradient. Biofilms grown in mesocosms containing relatively clean water were translocated to heavily polluted water. Several biofilm descriptors were measured before and after translocations. Fifty-seven pharmaceuticals and sixteen pesticides compounds were detected in river waters. The translocation from less to more polluted site was the most effective. Autotrophic biomass and peptidase increased while phosphatase and photosynthetic efficiency decreased. Multivariate analysis revealed that analgesics and anti-inflammatories significantly affected biofilm responses. Ibuprofen and paracetamol were associated with negative effects on photosynthesis, and with the decrease of the green algae/cyanobacteria ratio, while diclofenac was associated with phosphatase activity. The effects of these emerging compounds on biofilms structure and function may cause important alterations in river ecosystem functioning.© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Financial support was provided by the EU projects, MODELKEY (SSPI-CT-2003-511237-2) and KEYBIOEFFECTS (MRTN-CT-2006–035695), and the Spanish projects, SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio CSD2009-00065), FLUMED-HOT-SPOTS(CGL2011-30151-C02-01) and VIECO (009/RN08/011).

Pesticide usage in Delta del Ebro (NE Spain) during the rice growing season has been associated with oyster episodes of mortality that occur early in summer. However, there are no studies that have directly evaluated pesticide levels and effects in oysters (Crassotrea gigas) cultured in Ebro's Bays. In this study pesticide levels in water, metal body burdens and up to 12 different biochemical markers were monitored in gills and digestive glands of oysters transplanted from May to June in 2008 and 2009. Biochemical responses evidenced clear differences in oysters from 2008 and 2009. Oysters transplanted in 2009 showed their antioxidant defenses unaffected from May to June and consequently increased levels of tissue damage measured as lipid peroxidation and DNA strand breaks and of mortality rates. Conversely oysters transplanted in 2008 increase their antioxidant defenses from May to June, had low levels of lipid peroxidation and DNA damage and low mortality rates. Some pesticides in water such as bentazone and propanil together with high temperatures and salinity levels were related with tissue damage in oyster transplanted in 2008 but the observed large differences between years indicate that abiotic factors alone could not explain the high mortalities observed in 2009. An analysis of recent reported studies pointed out in the direction that in addition to abiotic factors the use of oysters sensitive to diseases may explain the observed responses.

Contamination of groundwater by pesticides is a subject of growing concern, first, because groundwater is the most sensitive and also the largest body of freshwater in the European Union and, second, because pesticides have been shown to be ubiquitous contaminants in this aquatic compartment. This work presents the results of a monitoring study carried out in Catalonia (NE, Spain) to investigate the occurrence of 22 multiclass polar pesticides in 13 different groundwater bodies where agricultural practice is significant, between 2007 and 2010. Results have shown a pesticide profile dominated by triazines (atrazine, simazine, terbuthylazine), although organophosphates such as dimethoate and phenylureas such as diuron and linuron show also an important contribution. The groundwater quality standards set by Directive 2006/118/EC for both individual and total pesticides levels were surpassed in several cases. The most contaminated groundwater bodies were located in areas with intensive agricultural activity (especially irrigated lands). Temporal trends indicate that the area known to be the most polluted by pesticides in Catalonia (Lleida) is changing over time to better conditions, whereas in others, pesticide pollution remains constant or slightly increases.

Pesticide use has increased worldwide to protect the food supply of the swelling global population. Although it is undisputed that pesticides are essential in modern agriculture, there is a growing concern about environmental contamination from agrochemicals. For example, application of pesticides in the Ebro River delta (NE, Spain) during the rice-growing season is suspected to be one of the major causes behind the shellfish mortality episodes that occur yearly in this area at springtime. In an attempt to disclose the causes of these seafood mortality episodes, this chapter presents the results obtained from a monitoring study carried out in April–June 2008 in the Ebro River delta (NE, Spain), where surface water and seafood samples were analyzed for both toxicity and pesticides. The main conclusion of this study was that pesticides are likely responsible, together with other not investigated parameters, such as metals, for the observed mortality. The results obtained are discussed also in relation to others previously published for the same or other similar areas.

Corrigendum to “Are pesticide residues associated to rice production affecting Oyster production in Delta del Ebro, NE Spain?” [Sci Total Environ 437 (2012) 209–218] Victoria Ochoa, Carmen Riva, Melissa Faria, Marianne Kock-Schulmeyer, Miren Lopez de Alda, Damia Barcelo, Margarita Fernandez Tejedor , Ana Roque, Antoni Ginebreda, Carlos Barata⁎ a Center for Research and Innovation in Toxicology, Technical University of Catalonia, Campus Terrassa zona IPCT Ctra, Nac.150. km. 15 08227 Terrassa, Spain b Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18, 08034 Barcelona, Spain c IRTA-Sant Carles de la Rapita, 43540, Spain