Marine picoplankton metagenomes and MAGs from eleven vertical profiles obtained by the Malaspina Expedition.

The Ocean microbiome has a crucial role in Earth's biogeochemical cycles. During the last decade, global cruises such as Tara Oceans and the Malaspina Expedition have expanded our understanding of the diversity and genetic repertoire of marine microbes. Nevertheless, there are still knowledge gaps regarding their diversity patterns throughout depth gradients ranging from the surface to the deep ocean. Here we present a dataset of 76 microbial metagenomes (MProfile) of the picoplankton size fraction (0.2-3.0 µm) collected in 11 vertical profiles covering contrasting ocean regions sampled during the Malaspina Expedition circumnavigation (7 depths, from surface to 4,000 m deep). The MProfile dataset produced 1.66 Tbp of raw DNA sequences from which we derived: 17.4 million genes clustered at 95% sequence similarity (M-GeneDB-VP), 2,672 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of Archaea and Bacteria (Malaspina-VP-MAGs), and over 100,000 viral genomic sequences. This dataset will be a valuable resource for exploring the functional and taxonomic connectivity between the photic and bathypelagic tropical and sub-tropical ocean, while increasing our general knowledge of the Ocean microbiome.

Human footprint on the water quality from the northern Antarctic Peninsula region.

This study assessed the human footprint on the chemical pollution of Antarctic waters by characterizing inorganic chemicals and selected organic anthropogenic contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in inland freshwater and coastal seawater and the associated ecotoxicological risk. Nicotine and tolytriazole, present in 74% and 89% of the samples analyzed, respectively, were the most ubiquitous CECs in the investigated area. The most abundant CECs were citalopram, clarithromycin, and nicotine with concentrations reaching 292, 173, and 146 ng/L, respectively. The spatial distribution of CECs was not linked to any water characteristic or inorganic component. The contamination pattern by CECs in inland freshwater varied among locations, whereas it was very similar in coastal seawater. This suggests that concentrations in inland freshwater may be ruled by environmental processes (reemission from ice, atmospheric deposition, limited photo- and biodegradation processes, etc.) in addition to human activities. Following risk assessment, citalopram, clarithromycin, nicotine, venlafaxine, and hydrochlorothiazide should be considered of concern in this area, and hence, included in future monitoring of Antarctic waters and biota. This work provides evidence on the fact that current measures taken to protect the pristine environment of Antarctica from human activities are not effective to avoid CEC spread in its aquatic environment.

Antibiotics in the Basque coast (N Spain): Occurrence in waste and receiving waters, and risk assessment (2017-2020).

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 (EU) 2015/495, 2018/840, and 2020/1161), where some antibiotics within the classes of macrolides, fluoroquinolones and penicillins were included. In the Basque coast, northern Spain, three macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin) and ciprofloxacin were monitored quarterly from 2017 to 2020 (covering a period before and after the COVID19 outbreak), in water samples collected from two Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs), and three control points associated with receiving waters (transitional and coastal water bodies). This work was undertaken for the Basque Water Agency (URA). The three macrolide antibiotics in water showed a frequency of quantification >65 % in the Basque coast, with higher concentrations in the WWTP emission stations than in receiving waters. Their frequency of quantification decreased from 2017 to 2020, as did the consumption of antibiotics in Spanish primary care since 2015. Ciprofloxacin showed higher frequencies of quantification in receiving waters than in wastewaters, but the highest concentrations were observed in the WWTP emission stations. Although consumption of fluoroquinolones (among which is ciprofloxacin) in primary care in the Basque Country has decreased in recent years, this trend was not observed in the waters sampled in the present study. On the other hand, concentrations of clarithromycin, azithromycin, and ciprofloxacin in receiving waters exceeded their respective Predicted No-Effect Concentrations, so they could pose an environmental risk. These substances are widely used in human and animal medicine, so, although only ciprofloxacin is included in the third Watch List, it would be advisable to continue monitoring macrolides in the Basque coast as well.

Fungal degradation of selected medium to highly polar pesticides by Trametes versicolor: kinetics, biodegradation pathways, and ecotoxicity of treated waters.

The massive use of pesticides represents one of the main causes of environmental deterioration, as they have adverse effects on non-target organisms. Thus, the development of technologies capable of reducing their release into the environment is urgently needed. This study reports for the first time the white-rot fungus Trametes versicolor as an alternative towards the degradation of medium to highly polar pesticides such as the organophosphate malathion, and the neonicotinoids acetamiprid and imidacloprid. Specifically, T. versicolor could completely remove 1 mg/L of malathion in an Erlenmeyer flask within 48 h, while experiments of acetamiprid and imidacloprid (4 mg/L), conducted in air-pulse fluidized bioreactors, resulted in degradation percentages of 20% and 64.7%, respectively, after 7 days of operation. Enzymatic exploration studies revealed that the cytochrome P450 system, instead of the extracellular enzyme laccase, is involved in the degradation of acetamiprid and imidacloprid. The degradation pathways were proposed based on the main transformation products (TPs) formed in the solutions: seven in the case of malathion, and two and one in the case of imidacloprid and acetamiprid, respectively. Although the TPs identified were predicted to be less toxic than the investigated pesticides, the toxicity of the individual solutions slightly increased throughout the degradation process, according to the Microtox assay. However, the solution toxicity was always below the threshold established in the local regulation. Although additional research is needed to implement this treatment at a pilot plant scale, this work highlights the potential of T. versicolor to bio-remediate pesticide-contaminated waters.

Evaluation of an outdoor pilot-scale tubular photobioreactor for removal of selected pesticides from water.

This work assesses the capacity of a microalgae-based system to remove three highly to medium polar pesticides typically found in freshwater: acetamiprid, bentazone, and propanil. Degradation of the pesticides was firstly studied individually at batch lab-scale reactors and abiotic and heated-killed controls were employed to clarify their removal pathways. At lab-scale, propanil and acetamiprid were completely removed after 7 days whereas bentazone was not removed. Four and two transformation products (TPs) were generated in the biodegradation process for acetamiprid and propanil, respectively. Then, the simultaneous removal of the pesticides was assessed in an outdoor pilot photobioreactor, operated with a hydraulic residence time of 8 days. During the steady-state, high removal efficiencies were observed for propanil (99%) and acetamiprid (71%). The results from batch experiments suggest that removal is mainly caused by algal-mediated biodegradation. Acetamiprid TPs raised throughout the operational time in the photobioreactor, while no propanil TP was detected at the pilot-scale. This suggests complete mineralization of propanil or residual formation of its TPs at concentrations below the analytical method detection limit. Aiming at biomass valorization, diverse microalgae harvesting methods were investigated for biomass concentration, and the effect of residual pesticides on the biogas yield was determined by biochemical methane potential tests. Anaerobic digestion was not inhibited by the pesticides as verified by the digestion performance. The results highlight the potential of microalgae-based systems to couple nutrient removal, biomass production, micropollutant biodegradation, and biofuel production.

Effect of processing smoked salmon on contaminant contents.

The influence of the type of smoking process (natural/liquid; hot/cold) and salt (NaCl or KCl) on the levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in smoked salmon was evaluated. One parent compound - BDE 47 - and two methoxylated forms - 2'-MeO-BDE-68 and 6-MeO-BDE-47 - were detected in all the samples. Among the 14 PAHs analysed, naphthalene was the most abundant followed by phenanthrene and fluorene. Only smoked salmon treated with NaCl presented quantifiable levels of chrysene and benzo[b]fluoranthene. Among the four smoking processes evaluated, natural smoke led to higher levels of PAHs. Risk characterization tools, such as hazard index (HI) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR), showed that the risk of both PBDEs and PAHs to human health through the consumption of smoked salmon was very low.

The embodiment of wastewater data for the estimation of illicit drug consumption in Spain.

Data obtained from wastewater analysis can provide rapid and complementary insights in illicit drug consumption at community level. Within Europe, Spain is an important country of transit of both cocaine and cannabis. The quantity of seized drugs and prevalence of their use rank Spain at the top of Europe. Hence, the implementation of a wastewater monitoring program at national level would help to get better understanding of spatial differences and trends in use of illicit drugs. In this study, a national wastewater campaign was performed for the first time to get more insight on the consumption of illicit drugs within Spain. The 13 Spanish cities monitored cover approximately 6 million inhabitants (12.8% of the Spanish population). Untreated wastewater samples were analyzed for urinary biomarkers of amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, and cannabis. In addition, weekend samples were monitored for 17 new psychoactive substances. Cannabis and cocaine are the most consumed drugs in Spain, but geographical variations showed, for instance, comparatively higher levels of methamphetamine in Barcelona and amphetamine in Bilbao, with about 1-fold higher consumption of these two substances in such metropolitan areas. For amphetamine, an enantiomeric profiling was performed in order to assure the results were due to consumption and not to illegal dumping of production residues. Furthermore, different correction factors for the excretion of cannabis were used to compare consumption estimations. All wastewater results were compared with previously reported data, national seizure data and general population survey data, were a reasonable agreement was found. Daily and yearly drug consumption were extrapolated to the entire Spanish population with due precautions because of the uncertainty associated. These data was further used to estimate the retail drug market, where for instance cocaine illicit consumption alone was calculated to contribute to 0.2-0.5% of the Spanish gross domestic product (ca. 3000-6000 million Euro/year).

Contaminants of emerging concern in the Basque coast (N Spain): Occurrence and risk assessment for a better monitoring and management decisions.

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 aquatic environment, the European Commission established in 2015 and 2018 two watch-list of substances for Union-wide monitoring in the field of water policy (Decision (EU) 2015/495 and Decision (EU) 2018/840). In the coast of the Basque Country, southeast of the Bay of Biscay, 19 of these watch list substances were monitored quarterly from May 2017 to March 2019. Water samples were collected at the effluent of three wastewater treatment plants and five control points associated with receiving waters (transitional and coastal water bodies). The most frequently quantified substances were azithromycin (91%), imidacloprid (82%), clarithromycin (80%), diclofenac (78%) and erythromycin (73%), with frequencies of quantification higher in wastewaters (83-100%) than in receiving waters (70-85%). In general, concentrations in wastewater were also higher than in receiving waters, indicating a dilution effect in the environment. In receiving waters, six out of the nineteen substances monitored exceeded their respective Predicted No-Effect Concentrations: azithromycin (34%), imidacloprid (9%), 17ß-estradiol (E2) (9%), clarithromycin (7%), ciprofloxacin (7%), and diclofenac (5%); and therefore, their levels could pose an environmental risk.

Drugs of abuse and their metabolites in river sediments: Analysis, occurrence in four Spanish river basins and environmental risk assessment.

The environmental impact produced by the presence of drugs of abuse in sediments has been scarcely studied to date, even though many of them may adsorb onto particulate matter due to their physical-chemical properties. This study presents an analytical method for the determination of 20 drugs of abuse and metabolites in sediments. The validated method was satisfactory in terms of linearity (r2 >0.99), recovery (90-135 %), repeatability (relative standard deviations <15 %), sensitivity (limits of quantification <2.1 ng/g d.w, except for cannabinoids), and matrix effects (ionization suppression <40 %). The method was applied to the analysis of 144 sediments collected in four Spanish river basins. Cocaine, methadone, and its metabolite 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) were the most ubiquitous compounds (detection frequencies>36 %), whereas cannabinol, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and methadone were the most abundant compounds (up to 44, 37, and 33 ng/g d.w, respectively). The presence of EDDP, THC, and methadone in the sediments of 28 locations may pose a risk to sediment-dwelling organisms. To the author`s knowledge, this is the most extensive study conducted so far on the occurrence of drugs of abuse in sediments, and the first time that sediment-water distribution coefficients for EDDP, methadone, MDMA, and diazepam are reported from field observations.

Assessing population exposure to phthalate plasticizers in thirteen Spanish cities through the analysis of wastewater.

Phthalates are widely used plasticizers that produce endocrine-disrupting disorders. Quantifying exposure is crucial to perform risk assessments and to develop proper health measures. Herein, a wastewater-based epidemiology approach has been applied to estimate human exposure to six of the mostly used phthalates within the Spanish population. Wastewater samples were collected over four weekdays from seventeen wastewater treatment plants serving thirteen cities and ca. 6 million people (12.8 % of the Spanish population). Phthalate metabolite loads in wastewater were transformed into metabolite concentrations in urine and into daily exposure levels to the parent phthalates. Considering all the sampled sites, population-weighted overall means of the estimated concentrations in urine varied between 0.7 ng/mL and 520 ng/mL. Very high levels, compared to human biomonitoring data, were estimated for monomethyl phthalate, metabolite of dimethyl phthalate. This, together with literature data pointing to other sources of this metabolite in sewage led to its exclusion for exposure assessments. For the remaining metabolites, estimated concentrations were closer to those found in urine. Their 4-days average exposure levels ranged from 2 to 1347 µg/(day∙inh), exceeding in some sites the daily exposure thresholds set for di-i-butyl phthalate and di-n-buthyl phthalate by the European Food Safety Authority.

Assessing alcohol consumption through wastewater-based epidemiology: Spain as a case study.

BACKGROUND: In this study, an alternative and complementary method to those approaches currently used to estimate alcohol consumption by the population is described. This method, known as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), allows back-calculating the alcohol consumption rate in a given population from the concentrations of a selected biomarker measured in wastewater. METHODS: Composite (24-h) wastewater samples were collected at the inlet of 17 wastewater treatment plants located in 13 Spanish cities for seven consecutive days in 2018. The sampled area covered 12.8% of the Spanish population. Wastewater samples were analyzed to determine the concentration of ethyl sulfate, the biomarker used to back-calculate alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Alcohol consumption ranged from 4.5 to 46 mL/day/inhabitant. Differences in consumption were statistically significant among the investigated cities and between weekdays and weekends. WBE-derived estimates of alcohol consumption were comparable to those reported by its corresponding region in the Spanish National Health Survey in most cases. At the national level, comparable results were obtained between the WBE-derived annual consumption rate (5.7 ± 1.2 L ethanol per capita (aged 15+)) and that reported by the National Health Survey (4.7 L ethanol per capita (aged 15+)). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest WBE study carried out to date in Spain to estimate alcohol consumption rates. It confirms that this approach is useful for establishing spatial and temporal patterns of alcohol consumption, which could contribute to the development of health care management plans and policies. Contrary to established methods, it allows obtaining information in a fast and relatively economical way.

First nation-wide estimation of tobacco consumption in Spain using wastewater-based epidemiology.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become a very useful tool to monitor a population's drug consumption or exposure to environmental and food contaminants. In this work, WBE has been applied to estimate tobacco consumption in seven Spanish regions. To this end, 24 h composite wastewater samples were taken daily for one week in 17 wastewater treatment plants, covering altogether a population of ca. 6 million inhabitants. The samples were treated by enzymatic deconjugation and the wastewater content of two human-specific nicotine metabolites (namely, cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine) was measured to estimate the daily consumption of nicotine. The population-weighted average nicotine consumption in the seven analyzed regions was 2.2 g/(day∙1000 inh.), without any daily pattern. This average estimated nicotine consumption value agreed with the value derived from official tobacco sales data. Differences in consumption among the seven studied regions were found, being Galicia, the region with the lowest rate, and the Basque Country and Catalonia those with the highest rates. However, no conclusive correlation was found between those values and the prevalence data taken from two different national surveys, nor sociodemographic and health data. This study demonstrates that this tool can complement other indicators in order to accurately assess tobacco consumption rates at regional and national levels and provides the most extensive application of the approach in the Spanish territory.

Fungal bioremediation of diuron-contaminated waters: Evaluation of its degradation and the effect of amendable factors on its removal in a trickle-bed reactor under non-sterile conditions.

The occurrence of the extensively used herbicide diuron in the environment poses a severe threat to the ecosystem and human health. Four different ligninolytic fungi were studied as biodegradation candidates for the removal of diuron. Among them, T. versicolor was the most effective species, degrading rapidly not only diuron (83%) but also the major metabolite 3,4-dichloroaniline (100%), after 7-day incubation. During diuron degradation, five transformation products (TPs) were found to be formed and the structures for three of them are tentatively proposed. According to the identified TPs, a hydroxylated intermediate 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-hydroxymethyl-1-methylurea (DCPHMU) was further metabolized into the N-dealkylated compounds 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-methylurea (DCPMU) and 3,4-dichlorophenylurea (DCPU). The discovery of DCPHMU suggests a relevant role of hydroxylation for subsequent N-demethylation, helping to better understand the main reaction mechanisms of diuron detoxification. Experiments also evidenced that degradation reactions may occur intracellularly and be catalyzed by the cytochrome P450 system. A response surface method, established by central composite design, assisted in evaluating the effect of operational variables in a trickle-bed bioreactor immobilized with T. versicolor on diuron removal. The best performance was obtained at low recycling ratios and influent flow rates. Furthermore, results indicate that the contact time between the contaminant and immobilized fungi plays a crucial role in diuron removal. This study represents a pioneering step forward amid techniques for bioremediation of pesticides-contaminated waters using fungal reactors at a real scale.

Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Wastewater-based epidemiology is an additional indicator of drug use that is gaining reliability to complement the current established panel of indicators. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess spatial and temporal trends of population-normalized mass loads of benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in raw wastewater over 7 years (2011-17); (ii) address overall drug use by estimating the average number of combined doses consumed per day in each city; and (iii) compare these with existing prevalence and seizure data. DESIGN: Analysis of daily raw wastewater composite samples collected over 1 week per year from 2011 to 2017. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Catchment areas of 143 wastewater treatment plants in 120 cities in 37 countries. MEASUREMENTS: Parent substances (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA) and the metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine) and of Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol) were measured in wastewater using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Daily mass loads (mg/day) were normalized to catchment population (mg/1000 people/day) and converted to the number of combined doses consumed per day. Spatial differences were assessed world-wide, and temporal trends were discerned at European level by comparing 2011-13 drug loads versus 2014-17 loads. FINDINGS: Benzoylecgonine was the stimulant metabolite detected at higher loads in southern and western Europe, and amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine in East and North-Central Europe. In other continents, methamphetamine showed the highest levels in the United States and Australia and benzoylecgonine in South America. During the reporting period, benzoylecgonine loads increased in general across Europe, amphetamine and methamphetamine levels fluctuated and MDMA underwent an intermittent upsurge. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real-time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.

Psychoactive substances in mussels: Analysis and occurrence assessment.

This work presents an analytical methodology based on a "Quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe" (QuEChERS) extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of 35 psychoactive substances in fresh mussel samples. The compounds investigated include illicit drugs, new psychoactive substances, commonly prescribed psychiatric pharmaceuticals, and caffeine. The methodology was validated in terms of recovery (relative recoveries 77-118%), repeatability (relative standard deviation values <20%), and sensitivity (limits of detection and quantification <2 ng/g fresh weight (f.w.) and <6.7 ng/g f.w., respectively, for most compounds). The method was applied to the analysis of 15 samples, covering both commercially available mussels purchased from local food markets and wild fresh mussels collected in the Northeast coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Only one sample corresponding to wild mussels was found to contain 2 of the target analytes, namely, sertraline (1.5 ng/g f.w.) and caffeine, (12.8 ng/g f.w.).

A fully automated approach for the analysis of 37 psychoactive substances in raw wastewater based on on-line solid phase extraction-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

This work presents a multi-residue method for the simultaneous determination of 37 legal and illicit psychoactive substances in wastewater, including the most common illicit drugs (cocaine-related compounds, amphetamine-type stimulants, hallucinogens, opiates/opioids, and cannabinoids), new psychoactive substances (two synthetic cathinones, the synthetic opioid AH-7921, and the arylcyclohexylamine methoxetamine), and legal but controlled psychoactive substances (stimulants, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, sedatives, antipsychotics, and hypnotics). To this end a fully automated analytical approach based on solid phase extraction coupled in series to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry detection (on-line SPE- LC-MS/MS) was used. The methodology developed was validated in terms of linearity, recovery, repeatability, and sensitivity in wastewater. Method linearity was between 0.1 ng/L (or the analyte limit of quantification if higher) and 2,000 ng/L (10,250 ng/L in the case of caffeine). Absolute recoveries were variable (between 5% and 132%), depending on the analyte. However, the use of isotopically labeled compounds corrected for analyte losses during the extraction process and matrix effects (relative recoveries within the range of 80-120%). Repeatability of the method was satisfactory for all analytes, with RSD values lower than 13% for most compounds. Limits of detection and quantification in wastewater were below 7 and 23 ng/L, respectively, for all analytes except lormetazepam (10 and 32 ng/L), caffeine (13 and 44 ng/L), and the cannabinoids 11-nor-9-carboxy- Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (18 and 61 ng/L) and 11-hydroxy-Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol (69 and 228 ng/L). The method was applied to the analysis of wastewater samples collected daily in Barcelona for one week. Twenty-five of the 37 analytes were detected in the samples analyzed. Average concentrations ranged from 7 ng/L in the case of zolpidem to 54 µg/L in the case of caffeine.

[Wastewater-based epidemiology: applications towards the estimation of drugs of abuse consumption and public health in general. The Spanish network ESAR-Net]. / Análisis de aguas residuales con fines epidemiológicos: aplicaciones a la estimación del consumo de sustancias de abuso y en salud pública en general. Red española ESAR-Net.

This manuscript introduces Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) and its potential in the assessment of diverse aspects related to public health. This methodology can provide data in a relatively short temporal and local scale (typically dialy-weekly at the municipal level) on consumption patterns of illicit drugs (e.g. cocaine or cannabis), licit substances of abuse (e.g. alcohol) by measuring their consumption biomarkers (i.e. the original unmetabolized substance or some of its metabolite) in wastewater. Besides discussing the fundaments, advantages and shortcomings of WBE, it reviews some of the main precedents at international level and most remarkable activities that have been taken place in this field in Spain. Finally, the Spanish Network of Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (ESAR-Net) as is presented. ESAR-Net is an Excellence Network that sums up the efforts of the most relevant Spanish researchers in the field of WBE, aiming to investigate future perspectives of this methodology and its impact on Public Health competences in Spain.

En este artículo se presenta la metodología de análisis de aguas residuales con fines epidemiológicos (wastewater-based epidemiology, WBE) y su potencial para abordar diversos aspectos relacionados con la salud pública. Esta metodología permite obtener datos a una escala temporal y espacial relativamente pequeña (típicamente datos diarios-semanales sobre un municipio) de hábitos de consumo de sustancias de abuso, ilegales (como la cocaína o el cannabis) o legales (como el alcohol) a través de la determinación de biomarcadores de consumo (el compuesto original no metabolizado o alguno de sus metabolitos) en el agua residual. Aparte de discutir los fundamentos, ventajas y limitaciones de WBE, se comentan los precedentes más relevantes a nivel internacional, y las actividades más destacables en España en este ámbito. Finalmente, se exponen, los objetivos de la Red Española de Análisis de Aguas Residuales con Fines Epidemiológicos (ESAR-Net), una "Red de Excelencia" que agrupa a investigadores españoles con amplia experiencia en el área de WBE, así como las perspectivas de futuro de esta metodología puede tener para mejorar las competencias de la Salud Pública en España.

Simultaneous LC-MS/MS determination of 40 legal and illegal psychoactive drugs in breast and bovine milk.

This work presents a fast, sensitive and reliable multi-residue methodology based on fat and protein precipitation and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of common legal and illegal psychoactive drugs, and major metabolites, in breast milk. One-fourth of the 40 target analytes is investigated for the first time in this biological matrix. The method was validated in breast milk and also in various types of bovine milk, as tranquilizers are occasionally administered to food-producing animals. Absolute recoveries were satisfactory for 75% of the target analytes. The use of isotopically labeled compounds assisted in correcting analyte losses due to ionization suppression matrix effects (higher in whole milk than in the other investigated milk matrices) and ensured the reliability of the results. Average method limits of quantification ranged between 0.4 and 6.8 ng/mL. Application of the developed method showed the presence of caffeine in breast milk samples (12-179 ng/mL).

Five-year monitoring of 19 illicit and legal substances of abuse at the inlet of a wastewater treatment plant in Barcelona (NE Spain) and estimation of drug consumption patterns and trends.

Illicit and legal drugs of abuse, including alcohol, continue to be in the focus of many governmental national and international studies due to the important consequences of their consumption at both individual and social level. Estimation of drug use at the community level from the concentrations of the drugs themselves or their major metabolites measured in wastewater has become an increasingly accepted and extended tool, complementary to the methods traditionally used for this purpose. The present work describes the application of this approach, generally known as wastewater epidemiology, to investigate the latest drug consumption patterns and trends in the European city of Barcelona. To this end, a total of 19 selected drugs of abuse and metabolites were monitored at the inlet of one of the main wastewater treatment plants of Barcelona every day during one week in March between 2011 and 2015. Analysis of the selected drugs and metabolites in the wastewater samples was performed by means of two methodologies based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and the concentrations obtained were translated into consumption data. In agreement with official records, alcohol, followed by cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine-like compounds, and methadone were the most consumed drugs. Alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine consumption were on average 18mL(14g)/day/inhabitant (>15), 38g/day/1000 inhabitants aging 15-64, and 2.4g/day/1000 inhabitants aging 15-64, respectively. As for drug use trends, consumption increased over the 5years monitored for all drugs, but for heroin and diazepam. Weekly profiles characterized by higher consumption over the weekend as compared to weekdays were observed only for alcohol, cocaine, and MDMA. Extrapolation of the data obtained for the area under study to the national Spanish territory yields consumption figures of 142t of illicit drugs per year and >2500 million euro turnover per year in the black market.

Assessment of a blood pressure measurement training programme for lay observers.

This study assessed a training programme attended by 25 observers, intentionally chosen for their lay status, who were invited to participate in a prevalence of hypertension study. The results highlight the fact that the 14 trainee observers finally selected were comparable to professionals in terms of both the estimated validity of the blood pressure measurement [the mean difference (standard deviation) compared with the expert being -0.4 (1.8) mmHg for systolic blood pressure and 0.0 (1.8) mmHg for diastolic blood pressure] and estimated inter-observer variability (100% of the observers complying with the criteria recommended for professional health-care workers), even though the training given to the former was in no way more comprehensive than or distinct from that recommended for professional health-care workers in community studies.