Linking chemical surface water monitoring and pesticide regulation in selected European countries.

The progress in chemical analytics and understanding of pesticide dynamics in surface waters allows establishing robust data on compounds with frequent exceedances of quality standards. The current chemical, temporal, and spatial coverage of the pesticide monitoring campaigns differs strongly between European countries. A questionnaire revealed differences in monitoring strategies in seven selected European countries; Nordic countries prioritize temporal coverage, while others focus on spatial coverage. Chemical coverage has increased, especially for non-polar classes like synthetic pyrethroids. Sweden combines monitoring data with agricultural practices for derived quantities, while the Netherlands emphasizes spatial coverage to trace contamination sources. None of the EU member states currently has established a process for linking chemical surface water monitoring data with regulatory risk assessment, while Switzerland has recently established a legally defined feedback loop. Due to their design and objectives, most strategies do not capture concentration peaks, especially 2-week composite samples, but also grab samples. Nevertheless, for substances that appear problematic in many data sets, the need for action is evident even without harmonization of monitoring programs. Harmonization would be beneficial, however, for cross-national assessment including risk reduction measures.

[Micropollutants in aquatic environments and residues of human health care products]. / Micropolluants des milieux aquatiques et résidus des produits de soins humains.

The contamination of water and natural environments by micropollutants linked to residues from health care activities (drugs, detergents, parapharmaceuticals, etc.) generates invisible, silent and alarming levels of pollution for the living world. The management of these phenomena is potentially a public health issue. It is necessary to raise awareness among caregivers in order to develop strategies for reducing pollution at the site, compatible with the multiple constraints of their care activities.

The low energy X-ray spectrometry technique as applied to semiconductors.

We describe the recent introduction of low energy X-ray emission spectrometry as a metrology technique to control the fabrication process in the integrated circuit industry. The benefits of this particular analytical method and the wide field of potential applications are addressed.