The odours in the ambient air, through the discomfort that they induce, represent an actual problem for the communities located nearby companies with technological processes that emit in the air different strong and unpleasant odorous substances. The standard method for odour assessment involves measuring the concentration through dynamic olfactometry according with SR EN 13725:2003, a very complex method that requires specialized working staff and expensive equipment. The paper presents an indirect method for odour assessment in the ambient air, based on monitoring the process and meteorological data - Predictive Emission Monitoring Systems (PEMS) and it is applied to a livestock farm. Using the multiple regression analysis of the monitoring data for the most important specific technological and meteorological parameters it can be developed a mathematical model that could be used for the calculation of odour concentration in air, without the necessity of direct measurement, after the initial step. For the case study presented in the paper, the distance between the slurry lagoon was identified as a significant statistical parameter that can determine in a proportion of 72% the concentration of odour in the ambient air nearby the farm; the margin of error for odour concentration assessment, according to the model validation tests, is ± 8%, acceptable value for an estimation method by mathematical modelling.

Degradation experiments on 5-Fluorouracil synthetic solutions were performed using three types of advanced oxidation systems: UV/H2O2, UV/TiO2 and UV/H2O2/TiO2. Optimum parameters for all three systems were established and 5-Fluorouracil degradation efficiencies were calculated, for all systems being more than 97%. The results showed that the combined UV/H2O2/TiO2 system is offering shortest irradiation time, the possibility to recover and reuse the photo catalyst as well as the possibility to use solar radiation. Obtained results proved also that advanced oxidation processes represent a viable option for degradation of hazardous pollutants that cannot be removed properly via conventional wastewater treatment processes.

The worldwide population rise corroborated with the raise of the health-care standards have generated an escalation of the antibiotic production and uncontrolled usage. The subsequent effects of this escalation have led to an increase of the antibiotic resistance rates, Romania is in the top of the EU countries regarding the antibiotic resistance rates, and to a continuous presence in the environment, including the aquatic environment. Unfortunately, the present design of the classical WWTPs is not optimized for the efficient removal of antibiotics since these compounds may have highly soluble and polar molecular structures. Instead, antibiotics removal using microorganisms could be an ecofriendly solution to this environmental issue, as long as their antibiotic degradation structures are not more toxic than the antibiotic itself. In the present review, we focus on the environmental presence and biodegradation of the most commonly used antibiotics as well as on their biodegradation, based on bacterial model, monitored by mass-spectrometric methods.

The market expansion due to globalization generated more anthropogenic contaminants, enhancing their negative impact on the environment. In order to prevent and balanced their negative effect, more rapid, sensitive and eco-friendly ecotoxicological studies as risk assessments were developed. Each country developed national programs to ensure the research infrastructure for implementation and development of new testing methodologies, generating new experimental data transferable to governmental authorities, economic agents and academia. In this review, we intend to highlighted the progress of Romanian researchers in the last 10 years in the field of ecotoxicology and aquatic risk assessment. The studies focused on aquatic systems as a non-targeted system to the anthropogenic pollutants impact. The implemented methodologies according with international requirements for chemical control like REACH Regulation, Detergents Regulation, Biocide Products Regulation or the Aquatic Risk Assessment Guidelines were presented. The ecotoxicological effects of various contaminants such as detergents, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, biocides or heavy metals and environmental polluted samples (surface water, sediment or sludge) were provided. Overall, the studies presented in our studies have a nationally novelty through the variety of test substances, the complexity of laboratory experiments and data processing. The research work has a continue applicability in industry and for control authorities. New accredited testing services that providing useful information about the chemicals and their impact on the environmental were introduced. In addition, the ecotoxicology studies and their challenges were a great source for professional training like PhD and master studies and for impact published papers.

The degradation of some toxic pollutants like chlorobenzenes, nitrobenzene and 4-chloroaniline in various advanced oxidation system such as: UV/ H2O2, UV-VIS/Fe-TiO2 and UV-VIS/TiO2/ H2O2 were studied. The influence of working conditions (pH0, H2O2 dose, photocatalyst dose, pollutant initial concentration and irradiation time) on pollutant degradation rate constant and efficiency were investigated. For any studied advanced oxidation systems, pollutant degradation followed a pseudo first order kinetics. The degradation pathway of chlorinated and nitro aromatic pollutants includes initial •OH radicals attack to aromatic ring with hydroxylated intermediates formation, followed by their step by step oxidation up to carboxylic acids. Inorganic ions like Cl-, NO3-, NH4+ are also formed as mineralization products.

The presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic ecosystem has received great attention from the scientific community in the last decades, due to their potential impact on living organisms. This paper presents a short review of the results of investigations performed by INCD-ECOIND concerning the occurrence of 32 pharmaceutical compounds belonging to important therapeutic classes and 2 disinfectants along the Danube River and its tributaries. Grab water samples were collected from multiple points along the River (10 sites) and from 2 locations for each of the tributaries Jiu, Olt and Argeș, upstream and downstream of large cities. All samples were quantified via solid phase extraction, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results of these studies show that various pharmaceutical compounds are present in the dissolved water phase of the Danube River and its tributaries in low to moderate amounts with variation due to season and location.

The present article presents the expertise realized by the Department of Environmental Monitoring Pollution Evaluation within the INCD ECOIND, in the evaluation of the quality of urban soils in the municipality of Bucharest and the main big cities in Romania. The current data available at the level of the 27 member states of the European Union show that annually over 100,000 hectares of land are introduced into the urban environment, a direct consequence of the development of cities. There are a number of legislative obstacles to strategic soil protection measures. Moreover, at the level of the local authorities there is a conflict regarding the measures of soil protection in the long term, on the one hand, and, the accelerated economic development in the short term, on the other. European environmental experts consider that the urban development, absolutely necessary for the economic growth, requires an adequate management of the natural resources in order for the development to be done on a sustainable basis, respectively to follow a series of strategic objectives. In our country, at least in the last decade, we find on a large scale the conversion of industrial areas into commercial or residential areas. The footprint of industrial activities can be found even after long periods of time present by identifying the remnant of soil pollution or in those areas known as historically polluted (for example the town of Copsa Mica). The conclusions stemming from the assessment of pollution in urban areas over large areas, in correlation with the potential sources of pollution, underline the need to monitor the quality of soils in the urban environment, but also to apply a performance management in order to protect this natural resource in the long term.

The paper aims a review of the water quality monitoring and evaluation studies conducted at National R&D Institute for Industrial Ecology over the last ten years, at the level of aquatic ecosystem complexes in the Danube Delta. The paper will include a broad compendium of data including: a data bank of abiotic variables which control the structure and composition of biotic communities; studies of ecological status assessment; methodology development for assessing the bioaccumulation of chemical pollutants (metals) in the biota; ecotoxicological study of surface water and sediment on aquatic organisms (algae, crustaceans, rotifers); studies on the benthic invertebrate species as biological vectors for pathogens; technical / scientific support for 5 national / international project proposals; 19 papers published in international / national journals; 22 papers presented at international / national scientific conferences.