News Info News

This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at El Triclosán y los perfluorados, presentes en los sistemas fluviales españoles
They affect both the fragile water ecosystems and human beings

The triclosan and the perfluorinated, present at the Spanish river systems

Drafting Interempresas10/12/2010

December 10, 2010

A study carried out by the Institut Català de Recerca de l'Aigua showed contamination of the Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar and Guadalquivir rivers during the year 2010 have increased their levels in chemical as the triclosan and the perfluorinated compoundspresent in cosmetic products as everyday as toothpaste.
Damià Barceló, director of the ICRA and one of the researchers of the study..
Damià Barceló, director of the ICRA and one of the researchers of the study.
.

Spain aims to provide a new leap in the field of environmental conservation, this time having as main objective the River communities of the peninsula, but also in lakes and lagoons of our country. And it is that they found during the execution of a study called Scarce ('evaluation and prediction of the effects of change in the quantity and quality of water in Iberian rivers'), carried out throughout the year 2010 in the main river sources of the Spanish territory, alarming levels of two chemical compounds harmful to water for both human, as they are the tTiclosán and the perfluorinated.

Thus came to be known during the Scarce Conference I held in Girona during the month of December, 2010, in the hands of scientists belonging to Institut Català de Recerca de l'Aigua (Icra) who have published their study ' triclosan persistence through plants for water treatment and its possible toxic effects on systems River ', which have been published in the magazine International Aquatic Toxicology.

The triclosan is not more than a common bactericide which survives to the different processes of purification plants of wastewater and queestá coming to river ecosystems and increasing potential environmental risk, especially in Mediterranean lands where water scarcity results in a high dilution.

This compound is known to be very present in cosmetics and soaps, deodorants, pulp of teeth, among others, which is why it is considered a ' pollutant emerging '. While the triclosan has long present in low concentrations in our river systems, the toxicity recently detected in the algae are highly toxic for rivers, lakes and lagoons, especially their ability to survive in the water purification processes.

Basically what happens, as he relates this study is that the environmental concentrations of triclosan increase bacterial mortality, inhibits algae photosynthetic capacity, as well as its extinction not photochemistry, and finally also affects the viability of the diatoms cells. This results in that the triclosan has a negative impact far greater than the predicted by ecological models.

For Damià Barceló, director of the Icra, which "Sweden has already banned the use of the triclosan already is quite symptomatic". He pointed out that "monitoring continued the theme years ago is being done in Spain, but is now with this study is done when more relevant for establishing both the solo and the environment to which each agency may be".

Set of channels of experimentation that have examined the effects of triclosan on algae and bacteria
Set of channels of experimentation that have examined the effects of triclosan on algae and bacteria.

In 2008, already published a study in which the triclosan appeared in 50% of the samples collected on the Ebro and el Llobregat

The perfluorinated compounds are also major pollutants

The perfluorinated also have been detected in different bodies of water, including the own precipitation, and are a class of organofluorados widely used since the 1940s in industries and households for its physical, chemical and biological stability. They are present in the water and food that we consume and have now been reported in human milk, serum or liver. The problem with them is that they are persistent when it comes to dissolve due to its properties, besides the fact that they are 'bio-accumulable' and 'bio-magnificables' in the food chain, i.e., that are expanded all over the world.

In this regard was presented in the Scarce Conference I work 'Analysis of perfluorinated compounds in the water of the faucet of Spanish cities with a spectrometry', by liquid chromatography mass in where we have examined 18 perfluorinated compounds in tap water of 7 major cities located along the River Ebro: Tortosa, Lleida, Logroño, Miranda, Zaragoza, Pamplona and Barcelona.

While all of them were revealed different rates of concentration of the compound, he was in the city of Barcelona was detected where the worst, with 38% of perfluorinated in measurable higher levels, including the harmful sulfonate acid (PFOA).

Those responsible for this study concluded that one of the hypotheses to explain the levels found in the waters her have in that they would not be entirely deleted or they were redistributed in water treatment plantsas well as to the manner in which it carries to the homes.

This research started in April 2010 and with the support of the Ministry of science and innovation will serve to improve the management of rivers and therefore will be provided to carry out an important interaction between the scientific community and basins. The project, which has already taken more than 5000 samples of the Llobregat, the Ebro, the Júcar and the Guadalquivir, expected to make public its first conclusions at the end of 2011.

Detail of the biofilms of algae and bacteria used in the experiment
Detail of the biofilms of algae and bacteria used in the experiment.

Suscríbase a nuestra Newsletter - Ver ejemplo

Password

Select all

Autorizo el envío de newsletters y avisos informativos personalizados de interempresas.net

I authorize the sending of communications from third parties via interempresas.net

He leído y acepto el Legal notice y la Data protection policy

Responsable: Interempresas Media, S.L.U. Purpose: Subscription to our newsletter(s). User account management. Sending emails related to the same or related to similar or associated interests.Retention: for the duration of the relationship with you, or as long as necessary to carry out the specified purposesTransfer: Data may be transferred to other group companies for internal management purposes.Rights: Access, rectification, opposition, deletion, portability, limitation of processing and automated decisions: contact our DPD. If you consider that the processing does not comply with the regulations in force, you may lodge a complaint with the AEPD.More information: Data protection policy

REVISTAS

TOP PRODUCTS

NEWSLETTERS

  • Newsletter Laboratorios

    17/09/2024

  • Newsletter Laboratorios

    16/07/2024

Highlighted links

Pharmalog

Latest news

Featured companies

OPINIÓN

Entrevista a Optimiza

“Nuestros expertos son capaces de diseñar, asesorar y apoyar proyectos de desarrollo de nuevos materiales o recubrimientos”

OTRAS SECCIONES

Services