Damia Barcelo

ICRA Catalan Institute for Water Research | ICRA · Water quality

This is the Editorial of a Virtual Special Issue (VSI), which includes a collection of studies providing evidence for hormesis in air, aquatic, soil plants, aquatic and non-aquatic microorganisms, and animals (insects, nematodes). These studies also document hormesis induced by numerous chemical mixtures, including some of the most notorious contam...

Plant secondary metabolites are important sources of biologically active compounds with wide pharmacological potentials. Among the different classes, the chalcones form integral pharmacologically active agents. Natural chalcones and bis-chalcones exhibit high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in various experiments. Studies are also unde...

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) constitute a wide variety of chemistries with diverse properties that may/can pose risks to both humans and the environment. Herein, a total of 26 compounds, including steroids, flame retardants, and plasticizers, were monitored in three major and heavily urbanized river catchments: the R. Liffey (Ireland), the...

Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) are still under research given the vast diversity of compounds reaching freshwater ecosystems and adverse effects they might cause. In this study, the environmental fate of 73 CEC, comprising sweeteners, stimulants and several pharmaceutical therapeutic classes, and changes in fluvial biofilm photosynthetic pa...

Wastewater-based epidemiology has been revealed as a powerful approach for surveying the health and lifestyle of a population. In this context, proteins have been proposed as potential biomarkers that complement the information provided by currently available methods. However, little is known about the range of molecular species and dynamics of pro...

Microplastics (MPs) are in all environmental compartments, including atmosphere, terrestrial, and aquatic environments as well as in marine organisms, foods, drinking water, and indoor and outdoor environments. MPs can enter the human body through the food chain and contaminated environment. Ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact are the routes...

Recently, environment pollution around the globe has increased because of anthropogenic activities. As part of the biota, plants can assimilate the compounds present in air, water and soil and respond to changes in surround conditions, for that, they can be used as bioindicators of global pollution. However, urban plants' ability to monitor organic...

As the World slowly emerged from the then-ongoing pandemic, War broke out in Europe with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The enduring military conflict in Ukraine has had sweeping consequences at the human, social, economic, and environmental levels, not only for the nations involved but across Europe and globally. Damaged infrastructures, sever...

Contaminants of emerging concern and other chemicals are widespread in the environment. While their effects are ambiguous, a wealth of literature now illustrates their ability to induce various effects at concentrations/doses smaller than the toxicological threshold, leading to hormetic biphasic responses. Such responses are increasingly understood...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increments in market sales and prescription of medicines commonly used to treat mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and related problems. The increasing use of these drugs, named psychiatric drugs, has led to their persistence in aquatic systems (bioaccumulation), since they are recalcitra...

The Regions of Interest Multivariate curve Resolution (ROIMCR) methodology has gained significance for analyzing mass spectrometry data. The new SigSel package improves the ROIMCR methodology by providing a filtering step to reduce computational costs and to identify chemical compounds giving low-intensity signals. SigSel allows the visualization a...

In Bangladesh, people primarily depend on on-site sanitation facilities (OSSF) with an immense challenge in achieving safe sanitation due to unplanned infrastructure development, improper management of fecal sludge, and inadequate monitoring. The commitment of attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6.2 (ensuring safe sanitation for all) by 2...

This work describes the development of analytical workflows based on pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of 12 of the most common plastic polymers in environmental samples. The most suitable characteristic pyrolyzate compounds and respective indicator ions were select...

Access to secure water sources has become one of the biggest challenges for human sustainability. Climate change and associated droughts make it difficult to guarantee the usual water source and move to groundwater use or to the re-use of treated wastewater remains unviable due the lack on the capacity of monitoring water quality. Moreover, reusing...

Healthy coastal sabkhas (sabkha is an Arabic term for a salt flat) offer plenty of ecosystem services including climate change mitigation. However, fewer research studies were conducted at coastal sabkhas compared to other coastal marshes. This study was conducted in a total of ten coastal sabkha sites with different vegetation covers along the sou...

Predictive models were generated to evaluate the degree to which nine metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were absorbed by the leaves, stems and roots of forage sorghum in growing media comprising soil admixed with poultry manure concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 g/kg. The data revealed that the greatest contents of the majority of...

In this study, a non-target metabolomic approach was used to investigate changes in the metabolome of juvenile meagre (Argyrosomus regius) exposed to venlafaxine (20µg/L). A total of 24, 22 and 8 endogenous metabolites tentatively identified in liver, brain and plasma, respectively, were significantly changed in venlafaxine exposed meagre, showing...

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) has become a powerful tool in pandemics, serving as a surveillance strategy. However, there are numerous variables that affect the results obtained from wastewater, ultimately affecting the reliability of the information. These variables include dilution, temperature-related degradation, biomass growth, and other...

Plants are known to have numerous phytochemicals and other secondary metabolites with numerous pharmacological and biological properties. Among the various compounds, polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, alkaloids, and terpenoids are the predominant ones that have been explored for their biological potential. Among these, chalcones and bis-chalco...

The growth of the human population and anthropogenic activity is strongly related to the increase of contamination of the environment. In marine ecosystems, the growing concentration of EOCs like pesticides, personal care products, flame retardants, plasticizers, and hormones has become a major problem that affects the flora and fauna altering thei...

A simple data-based advection-reaction (reactive transport) model applicable to both rivers and aquifers monitoring networks is proposed. It is built on (a) available monitoring data, and (b) graph-theoretical concepts, specifically making use of the Laplacian matrix to capture the network topology and the advection process. The method yields usefu...

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are a group of contaminants that have severe effects on humans and animals when exposed, like cancer and alterations to the nervous and reproductive systems. The increasing concentrations of several endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment are strongly related to anthropogenic activities, and as the populatio...

Micro(nano)plastics accumulate in natural environments worldwide, threatening biota, ecosystem functions, and services. In the last decade, there has been a substantial increase in the number of ecotoxicity studies to address the potential effects of micro(nano)plastics, including their plasticisers and adsorbed hazardous substances. Their environm...

Microalgae and cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms’ sources of renewable biomass that can be used for bioplastic production. These microorganisms have high growth rates, and contrary to other feedstocks, such as land crops, they do not require arable land. In addition, they can be used as feedstock for bioplastic production while not co...

Bionanocomposites based on natural bioactive entities have gained importance due to their abundance; renewable and environmentally benign nature; and outstanding properties with applied perspective. Additionally, their formulation with biological molecules with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities has been produced nowadays. The pr...

In this work, the Regions of Interest-Multivariate Curve Resolution (ROIMCR) method is proposed for the analysis of non-target metabolomics data. Samples from marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) exposed to a sublethal concentration (10 μg/L) of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) during 4 days in different seasonal conditions (summer and winter) were ana...

Worldwide regulatory agencies should (re)examine the consideration of: (i) sub-threshold responses, (ii) non-linear dose-response models able to detect sub-threshold responses of both a beneficial and detrimental nature, and (iii) abandoning the use of default dose-response models for their risk assessment. Mounting evidence for significant sub-thr...

The study of the presence of antibiotics in the aquatic environment is a preliminary step to analyse their possible harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems. In order to monitor their occurrence in the aquatic environment, the European Commission established in 2015, 2018, and 2020 three Watch Lists of substances for Union-wide monitoring (Decisions (...

Increasing amounts of silver iodide (AgI) in the environment are expected because of the recent massive expansion of weather modification programs. Concurrently, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, hydrocarbons, and pesticides in terrestrial ecosystems continue contaminating forests and agroforests. Our review supports that AgI induces hormesis, a biph...

The pursuit of industrial and biotechnological revolutions has led to a growing problem of environmental pollution around the world. The fast-growing contamination of numerous environmental matrices is one of the major problems facing humanity due to the controlled and/or uncontrolled discharge of toxic elements from several industrial sectors. Due...

PFAS are a very diverse group of anthropogenic chemicals used in various consumer and industrial products. The properties that characterize are their low degradability as well as their resistance to water, oil and heat. This results in their high persistence in the environment and bioaccumulation in different organisms, causing many adverse effects...

The widespread occurrence and ubiquitous distribution of estrogens, i.e., estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3) in our water matrices, is an issue of global concern. Public and regulatory authorities are concerned and placing joint efforts to eliminate estrogens and related environmentally hazardous compounds, due to their toxic influences...

Within the last years aspects such as green, eco-friendly and sustainable are making their way into analytical chemistry. The field has changed with the introduction of these concepts. Information on the consumption of toxic solvents and energy is now a part of everyday life. This green analytical chemistry could be playing a pioneering role in the...

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) is a novel community-wide monitoring tool that provides comprehensive real-time data of the public and environmental health status and can contribute to public health interventions, including those related to infectious disease outbreaks (e.g., the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic). Nonetheless, municipalities without c...

Imatinib is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. It enters the environment by excretion from the body through urine and feces and is transferred with wastewater to a wastewater treatment plant. There, it can be degraded by activated sludge, forming a number of biotransformation products. Presence of imatinib...

Massive additional quantities of disinfectants have been applied during the COVID-19 pandemic as infection preventive and control measures. While the application of disinfectants plays a key role in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the effects of disinfectants applied during the ongoing pandemic on non-target organisms remain unknown....

Aim: The commonly used analytical methods for microplastic (MPs) detection in drinking water and the threat of MP pollution in water intended for human consumption to human beings are presented through a systematic review. Furthermore, MP occurrence, transport, and fate from raw to treated drinking water, tap water, and bottled water, as well as th...

Water Emerg Contam & Nanoplastics: Contaminants of emerging concern are widespread in the world’s waters, raising concerns regarding their effects on living organisms. To evaluate the effects of and predict risks associated with such chemicals, dose-response studies are needed, while the nature of the dose-response relationship is critical for the...

Essential oils are biologically and environmentally safe pesticidal compounds yielded from aromatic plants. Spices are important sources of essential oils, and they are widely used in the medicine, food, and various other industries. Among the different spices, Allspice (Pimenta dioica) is underexplored in terms of its biological efficacy and a lim...

Climate change is a shift in the average weather patterns, which could stand for a long-term period. This phenomenon is related to greenhouse gas emissions generated by anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic activities. The most notable climate change effects are the rise of sea levels, changes in the water pH, apparition or increased transmission of...

The genus Ocimum belonging to the family Lamiaceae, have been widely used in traditional medicines for the management of inflammation, dysentery, and chronic diarrhea as well as insect bites. The study aims to evaluate the phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of Ocimum gratissimum (OG), O. basilicum (OB), O. canum (OC), O. kilimandscharicu...

The increasing contamination of worldwide water with numerous antibiotics has become an emerging environmental concern due to the considerable ecotoxicity and health issues associated with some antibiotics. Microalgae-mediated remediation of pollutants is of growing scientific interest due to the ability of microalgae to take up organic/inorganic n...

Microplastics have become predominant contaminants, attracting much political and scientific attention. Despite the massively-increasing research on microplastics effects on organisms, the debate of whether environmental concentrations pose hazard and risk continues. This study critically reviews published literatures of microplastics effects on or...

Microplastics pollution is predicted to increase in the coming decades, raising concerns about its effects on living organisms. Although the effects of microplastics on individual organisms have been extensively studied, the effects on communities, biological diversity, and ecosystems remain underexplored. This paper reviews the published literatur...

With a rule published on 6 January 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers for the first time sub-threshold responses, abandoning the use of default dose-response models. This may affect worldwide scientific research, in terms of research design and methodology, and regulatory actions in China and other countries.

The massive consumption of a wide range plastic products has generated a huge amount of plastic waste. There is a need to provide awareness of their uses and routine management as a part of our lifestyle. Nowadays, plastics are increasingly being used in our daily life activities, including the packaging in different food and brewing companies, cos...

The growing persistence of estrogenic pollutants in water resources is a worrying concern because of their endocrine disrupting activities and potentially hazardous consequences on the environmental matrices, ecology, and human health, even at low concentration. The long-term persistence of steroidal estrogens leads to their bioaccumulation in aqua...

The aim of this study is to design de novo prediction models in order to gauge the likely uptake of eight heavy metals (Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) by Lycopersicon esculentum, the tomato plant. Uptake was assessed within the plant’s root, stem, leaf and fruit tissues, respectively. The plant was cultivated in soil amended by different applic...

The aim of this study is to utilize novel and powerful workflows with publicly available tools to efficiently process data and facilitate rapid acquisition of knowledge on environmental fate studies. Taking imatinib (IMA) as an example, we developed an efficient workflow to describe IMA biodegradation with activated sludge (AS) from wastewater trea...

Riverine systems act as converging pathways for discarded litter within drainage basins, becoming key elements in gauging the transfer of mismanaged waste into the ocean. However, riverine litter data are scarce and biased towards microplastics, generally lacking information about larger items. Based on the first ever database of riverine floating...

A new methodology is proposed for the non-target protein analysis of samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Proteins captured using polymeric (polycaprolactonediol) probes placed along different sites of a WWTP were extracted, digested and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Selection of the Regions of Interest (ROI) from the raw MS data allowed their...

The study of the presence of antibiotics, considered as Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC), in the aquatic environment is a preliminary step to analyse their possible harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems. In order to monitor the occurrence of CECs in the aquatic environment, the European Commission established in 2015 and 2018 two watch-list o...

The study of the presence in the aquatic environment of certain substances considered as contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) is a preliminary step to the analysis of the possible harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems and the establishment of the corresponding environmental quality standards. In order to monitor the occurrence of CECs in the aqua...

The principal objective of this study is to generate mathematical regression equations that facilitate the estimation of the extent to which Eichhornia crassipes (C. Mart.) Solms, water hyacinth, absorbs heavy metals (HMs) into four plant organs (laminae, petioles, roots, and stolons). This study considers the absorption of nine HMs (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu...

In this study, water of the channels and ponds that conduct residual water in two most important cities of Saudi Arabia were assessed to ascertain the influence of the population on the occurrence and pollution characteristics of microplastics (MPs) (>20 µm in size). Riyadh has 5,188 million inhabitants and is an urban city even though also have in...

The occurrence and removal of 49 antibiotics and 11 selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were investigated in 2 vertical subsurface flow(VF) constructedwetlands (1.5m2 each): an unsaturated (UVF) unit and a partially saturated (SVF) unit (0.35 m saturated out of 0.8 m) operating in parallel and treating urban wastewater. Thirteen antibiotics...

The management of the anthropogenic water cycle must ensure the preservation of the quality and quantity of water resources and their careful allocation to the different uses. Protection of water resources requires the control of pollution sources that may deteriorate them. This is a challenging task in multi-stressed catchments. This work presents...

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 rec...

Conventional active sludge (AS) process at municipal centralized wastewater treatment facilities may exhibit little pharmaceuticals (PhACs) removal efficiencies when treating hospital wastewater (HWW). Therefore, a dedicated efficient wastewater treatment at the source point is recommended. In this sense, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and fun...

In this study, the occurrence of 12 organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), 64 pesticides, 21 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and 34 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in surface water, sediments and vegetation collected from seven locations along the South Riyadh and six locations along the Al-Jubail industrial city (Saudi Ara...

In this study, we evaluated the distribution of up to forty-three antibiotics and 4 metabolites residues in different environmental compartments of an urban river receiving both diffuse and point sources of pollution. This is the first study to assess the fate of different antibiotic families in water, biofilms and sediments simultaneously under a...

Microplastics (MPs) have been recognized as an environmental threat due to their persistence, ubiquity, and toxicity potential. Due to their small size, MPs are endowed with a large specific surface area, having the ability to sorb and accumulate other contaminants that co-exist with them in the aquatic environment as it is the case of pharmaceutic...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the fate and interaction of pharmaceuticals in soil-crop systems. It addresses the principles of their transport, uptake and metabolism and reviews methodologies for their analytical determination. It also discusses ecotoxicological effects arising from their presence and highl...

Temporary rivers become dependent on wastewater effluent for base flows, which severely impacts river ecosystems through exposure to elevated levels of nutrients, dissolved organic matter, and organic micropollutants. However, biodegradation processes occurring in these rivers can be enhanced by wastewater bacteria/biofilms. Here, we evaluated the...

The presence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the environment has gained increasing attention the past two decades. After administration, PhACs are excreted and thus delivered with wastewater to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). WWTP effluents are usually discharged into receiving environment and, therefore, a high proportion...

Two different methodologies were combined to evaluate the risks that antibiotics can pose in the environment; i) an effect-based methodology based on microbial growth inhibition and ii) an analytical method based on liquid-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The first approach was adapted and validated for the screening of four ant...

The occurrence of polar pesticides in sediments has not been extensively investigated because of their relatively poor hydrophobicity and apparently less persistence in the environment. However, their continuous release into the aquatic systems calls for the evaluation of their potential accumulation in sediments and the role of this matrix as a po...

The management of the anthropogenic water cycle must ensure the preservation of the quality and quantity of water resources and their careful allocation to the different uses. Protection of water resources requires the control of pollution sources that may deteriorate them. This is a challenging task in multi-stressed catchments. This work presents...