A growing body of scientific literature stresses the need to advance current environmental risk assessment (ERA) methodologies and associated regulatory frameworks to better address the landscape-scale and long-term impact of pesticide use on biodiversity and the ecosystem. Moreover, more collaborative and integrative approaches are needed to meet sustainability goals. The One Health approach is increasingly applied by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to support the transition towards safer, healthier and more sustainable food. To this end, EFSA commissioned the development of a roadmap for action to establish a European Partnership for next-generation, systems-based Environmental Risk Assessment (PERA). Here, we summarise the main conclusions and recommendations reported in the 2022 PERA Roadmap. This roadmap highlights that fragmentation of data, knowledge and expertise across regulatory sectors results in suboptimal processes and hinders the implementation of integrative ERA approaches needed to better protect the environment. To advance ERA, we revisited the underlying assumptions of the current ERA paradigm; that chemical risks are generally assessed and managed in isolation with a substance-by-substance, realistic worst-case and tiered approach. We suggest optimising the use of the vast amount of information and expertise available with pesticides as a pilot area. It is recommended to as soon as possible adopt a systems-based approach, i.e. within the current regulatory framework, to spark a step-wise transition towards an ERA framed at a system level of ecological and societal relevance. Tangible systems-based and integrative steps are available. For instance, the rich sources of existing data for prospective and retrospective ERA of pesticides could be used to reality-benchmark existing and new ERA methods. To achieve these goals, collaboration among stakeholders across scientific disciplines and regulatory sectors must be strengthened.

The aim of the present study was to assess the risk related to the exposure of groundwater ecosystems to herbicide glyphosate and its non-relevant metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) based on the quotient between measured concentrations gathered from the Water Resources Information System of Portugal, and groundwater quality standards set in legislation and estimated from environmental quality standards in surface waters. Glyphosate was analyzed in 103 groundwater samples collected from 80 wells located in 21 aquifer systems from the four hydrogeological units of mainland Portugal, between 2019 and 2021. It was detected in 14% of the total samples; however, only 10% presented concentration levels above 0.1 µg/L, the groundwater quality standard, and none of these values exceeded the value of 8.67 μg/L estimated from the annual average environmental quality standard proposed for glyphosate in surface waters. In comparison, AMPA was detected in only 5% of 63 groundwater samples, in four dug wells. In both compounds, the maximum concentration level was quantified in a dug well located in the O25-Torres Vedras aquifer system, from the Western unit, with 4.69 and 4.24 μg/L for glyphosate and AMPA, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that it is extremely important to raise awareness and offer training to farmers on the sustainable use of plant protection products and good agricultural practices, in order to prevent groundwater contamination and improve its quality. There is also an urgent need to carry out ecotoxicological tests with further groundwater species from different functional groups in order to obtain a quality standard that accurately represents the groundwater communities.

The multiple benefits agriculture provides to society depend on the long-term sustainable management of water resources, including the preservation of a good ecological and good chemical status of the water bodies. Presently, this good chemical status has not been reached in the majority of European river basins. Implemented monitoring strategies are targeted to identify the presence and magnitude of the ecological impacts that come from mixtures of chemicals but fail to give information on the causes of the ecosystem disruptions. This work aims to contribute to assessing the quality of surface waters used for irrigation in the LGVFX agricultural area (Central Portugal) by applying non-conventional in vivo phytotoxicity tests on three primary producers, a monocotyledon (Sorghum saccharatum) and two dicotyledons (Lepidium sativum and Sinapsis alba), complemented by chemical screening and mixture-risk modelling with component-based methods (summation of risk quotients) based on the classic concept of concentration addition (CA). Although inhibition percentages of the phytotoxicity parameter germination and root and shoot growth may be related to the presence of mixtures of pesticides, it was not possible to establish the fingerprinting of the detected compounds with the observed biological effects, mostly due to the large gap of ecotoxicological data on terrestrial plants exposed to contaminated water. In addition, pesticides can interact within the plant, leading to antagonism and synergism phenomena.

The measure of physical isolation adopted during a pandemic affected the daily routine of the whole world, including in the sports environment. Therefore, the study sought to compare the coping strategies used by Paralympic boccia athletes during the pandemic period. The sample consisted of 43 athletes (30 men and 13 women) aged 29.95±11,76 years. To identify and measure coping strategies, the ACSI-28 (athletic coping skills inventory) questionnaire was used in its version adapted to Portuguese and added to an electronic form. In data analysis, normality was verified by the Shapiro-Wilk test. After that, all inferential comparison analyzes were measured via nonparametric statistical tests with paired post-hoc DSCF tests. Thus, the results showed that there were significant differences between comparisons in terms of experience, “+10 years”, “5 to 10 years”, and “1 to 3 years” on the subscales “goals and mental preparation” (6.00±1.75 vs 5±1.50 vs 5±1.50; p<0.05; ES: 0.26) and “trainability” (9.00±3.25 vs 6.00±0.500 vs 8.00±3.00; p<0.05; ES: 0.19). More and less experienced athletes in the boccia modality showed superiority in facing the pandemic period, as they obtained better indices in the “goals and mental preparation and trainability” dimensions of coping strategies compared to their peers with less experience. La medida de aislamiento físico adoptada durante una pandemia afectó la rutina diaria de todo el mundo, incluso en el ámbito deportivo. Por lo tanto, el estudio buscó comparar las estrategias de afrontamiento utilizadas por los atletas de bocha paralímpico durante el período de pandemia. La muestra estuvo conformada por 43 deportistas (30 hombres y 13 mujeres) con edad 29.95±11,76 años. Para identificar y medir las estrategias de afrontamiento, se utilizó el cuestionario ACSI-28 (inventario de habilidades de afrontamiento atlético) en su versión adaptada al portugués y agregado a un formulario electrónico. En el análisis de datos, la normalidad fue verificada por la prueba de Shapiro-Wilk. Después de eso, todos los análisis de comparación inferencial se midieron mediante pruebas estadísticas no paramétricas con pruebas DSCF post-hoc emparejadas. Así, los resultados mostraron que hubo diferencias significativas entre las comparaciones en términos de experiencia, “+10 años”, “5 a 10 años” y “1 a 3 años” en las subescalas “metas y preparación mental” (6.00±1.75 vs 5±1.50 vs 5±1.50; p<0,05; TE: 0,26) y “entrenabilidad” (9.00±3.25 vs 6.00±0.500 vs 8.00±3.00; p<0,05; TE: 0,19). Los atletas más e menos experimentados en la modalidad de bocha mostraron superioridad para enfrentar el período de la pandemia, ya que pudieron obtener mejores índices en las dimensiones “metas y preparación mental y entrenabilidad” de las estrategias de afrontamiento en comparación con sus pares con menos experiencia. A medida adotada de isolamento físico durante pandemia afetou a rotina diária de todo o mundo, inclusive no meio esportivo. Sendo assim, o estudo buscou comparar as estratégias de coping utilizadas por atletas de bocha paralímpica no período da pandemia. A amostra foi composta por 43 atletas (30 homens e 13 mulheres) com 29.95±11,76 anos. Para identificar e mensurar as estratégias de coping, foi recorrido o questionário ACSI-28 (athletic coping skills inventory) em sua versão adaptada para o português incrementado em um formulário eletrônico. Na análise dos dados, a normalidade foi verificada pelo teste de shapiro-wilk. Após isto, todas análises inferenciais de comparação foram mensuradas por via de testes estatísticos não paramétricos com testes post-hoc DSCF pareados. Assim, os resultados apontaram que houve diferenças significativas entre comparações no tempo de experiência, “+10 anos”, “5 a 10 anos” e “1 a 3 anos” sobre as subescalas “metas e preparação mental” (6.00±1.75 vs 5±1.50 vs 5±1.50; p<0,05; TE: 0,26) e “treinabilidade” (9.00±3.25 vs 6.00±0.500 vs 8.00±3.00; p<0,05; TE: 0,19). Atletas mais e menos experientes na modalidade da bocha demonstraram superioridade no enfrentamento ao período da pandemia, pois, conseguiram obter melhores índices nas dimensões “metas e preparação mental” e “treinabilidade”, das estratégias de coping quando comparados aos seus pares com menor tempo de experiência.

The use of agricultural drainage water (ADW) in irrigation is a great challenge, improving water use efficiency, nutrient circularity, and avoiding surface and ground-water contamination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical and ecotoxicological characteristics of an ADW to analyze the safety of its reuse. An irrigated area with maize crops was selected (Tejo Basin, Portugal), where a subsurface structure for the recovery of ADW was installed, collecting the drainage in a pond and recycling it for crop irrigation. Water was collected monthly during the irrigation campaign of 2021 (April to August). Three herbicides and two metabolites were quantified, reaching a maximum concentration of 0.74 µg L−1 for S-metolachlor and 0.48 µg L−1 for terbuthylazine. The lethal bioassays did not detect toxicity, except for the sample collected in August toward Vibrio fisheri (EC50 = 25.2%). The samples were not toxic to Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, with a growth inhibition rate of less than 10%. The low lethal and sublethal effects may be ascribed to the high nutrient concentration (e.g., 1.76 mg P L−1 and 98.9 mg NO3− L−1, in July) that could have masked toxic effects. Ecotoxicological responses support the option of ADW reuse in irrigation, offering a safe and sustainable solution for water and nutrient management.

The European Partnership for next generation, systems-based Environmental Risk Assessment (PERA) is a strategic initiative launched by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This initiative is in response to the recognition that the current ERA paradigm has "fallen out of step with scientific knowledge and progress" and the new policy and societal ambitions e.g. the EU Green Deal strategy to better safeguard the environment. As part of the initiative, EFSA commissioned the development of a roadmap to facilitate a transition to an integrated and cross-sectoral environmental risk assessment (ERA) approach. The PERA systems-based approach aims to connect relevant partners from various sectors across regulatory silos, promotes and facilitates the sharing of data and expertise, and improves efficiency and transparency of the risk assessment process. In this External Scientific Report, we present the PERA roadmap that comprises of a problem description (current state), a vision (future state) and a series of steps to move towards the vision (transition process). The PERA roadmap was developed after extensive desk research and multiple stakeholder interviews, that were used to identify partners, areas needing further development, challenges, blockers and collaboration opportunities. We designed a vision for next generation ERAs, initially focused on pesticides, based on the ideas of stakeholders and accounting for the identified strengths and weaknesses of the current ERA system. Workshops were held during which stakeholders were invited to comment on these draft concepts providing valuable feedback for further revision. The PERA vision is a visual framework for systems-based ERA, with a concentric circle model. Its core circle builds upon and strengthens current ERA processes by focusing on pesticide specific aspects useful for comparability and decreasing the assessment complexity of pesticides. The inner core circle is surrounded by a supportive circle of landscape scale ERA, that addresses ecosystems properties of generic relevance for all pesticides. These two ERA circles are in turn connected to surrounding circles representing the agricultural, ecological and production systems as well as the political, economic and social systems. To fully optimize the process these circles need to be interconnected with information feed-back loops. The vision and roadmap were designed to incorporate the strengths, knowledge and expertise of the current state into a new holistically framed systems-based ERA. Strategies for transition, as well as concrete projects to spark the transition process are proposed and include concrete and tangible steps in a holistic direction within the current regulatory framework.

In a regulatory perspective addressing the cumulative effect of co-occurring chemicals is the first and most important step in providing a more realistic hazard assessment of chemical cocktails to both man and environment. This study was conducted to show if joint effects on the immobilisation of the crustacean Daphnia magna and on the growth inhibition of algae Raphidocelis subcapitata follow additivity (concentration addition (CA) or independent action (IA) predictions) or if there is an interaction between chemicals in the organisms upon exposure to an environmentally realistic mixture of chlorpyrifos and terbuthylazine, with expected different molecular sites of action. A pattern of antagonism at lower doses and synergism at higher doses was found for acute immobility data, while no deviation from the additive conceptual models was observed in the algae inhibition test. Results in relation to the relevant set of regulatory acceptable concentrations (RACs) and environmental quality standards (EQSs) derived for individual chlorpyrifos and terbuthylazine were evaluated.

Background and objectives: Transient changes in intraoperative cardiac conduction are uncommon. Rare cases of the development or remission of complete left bundle branch block under general and locoregional anesthesia associated with myocardial ischemia, hypertension, tachycardia, and drugs have been reported. Complete left bundle branch block is an important clinical manifestation in some chronic hypertensive patients, which may also be a sign of coronary artery disease, aortic valve disease, or underlying cardiomyopathy. Although usually permanent, it can occur intermittently depending on heart rate (when heart rate exceeds a certain critical value).Case report: This is a case of complete left bundle branch block recorded in the preoperative period of urgent surgery that reverted to normal intraoperative conduction under general anesthesia after a decrease in heart rate. It resurfaced, intermittently and in a heart-rate-dependent manner, in the early postoperative period, eventually reverting to normal conduction in a sustained manner during semi-intensive unit monitoring. The test to identify markers of cardiac muscle necrosis was negative. Pain due to the emergency surgical condition and in the early postoperative period may have been the cause of the increase in heart rate up to the critical value, causing blockage.Conclusions: Although the development or remission of this blockade under anesthesia is uncommon, the anesthesiologist should be alert to the possibility of its occurrence. It may be benign; however, the correct diagnosis is very important. The electrocardiographic manifestations may mask or be confused with myocardial ischemia, factors that are especially important in a patient under general anesthesia unable to report the characteristic symptoms of ischemia. (C) 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.

Alterações transitórias da condução cardíaca no intraoperatório são pouco frequentes. Foram reportados raros casos de desenvolvimento ou remissão de bloqueio completo de ramo esquerdo sob anestesia (geral e locorregional), associados a isquemia do miocárdio, hipertensão, taquicardia e fármacos. O bloqueio completo de ramo esquerdo é uma manifestação clínica importante em alguns hipertensos crônicos, pode também significar doença arterial coronária, doença valvular aórtica ou cardiomiopatia subjacentes. Embora habitualmente permanente, pode ocorrer na forma intermitente dependente da frequência cardíaca (quando a frequência cardíaca excede determinado valor crítico). Este é um caso de bloqueio completo de ramo esquerdo registrado no pré‐operatório de cirurgia urgente que reverteu para condução normal no intraoperatório sob anestesia geral após diminuição da frequência cardíaca. Ressurgiu, de forma intermitente e dependente da frequência cardíaca, no pós‐operatório imediato, acabou por reverter novamente à condução normal de forma sustentada durante vigilância em unidade semi‐intensiva. O estudo com marcadores de necrose muscular cardíacos foi negativo. A dor do quadro cirúrgico urgente e pós‐operatório imediato pode ter estado na origem da subida da frequência cardíaca até ao valor crítico e causado bloqueio. Embora o desenvolvimento ou a remissão desse bloqueio sob anestesia sejam incomuns, o anestesiologista deverá estar alertado para a possibilidade da sua ocorrência. Pode ter caráter benigno, contudo o diagnóstico correto é muito importante. As manifestações eletrocardiográficas podem ser confundidas com ou encobrir isquemia miocárdica, fatos de especial importância num paciente sob anestesia geral incapaz de referir sintomatologia característica de isquemia. Transient changes in intraoperative cardiac conduction are uncommon. Rare cases of the development or remission of complete left bundle branch block under general and locoregional anesthesia associated with myocardial ischemia, hypertension, tachycardia, and drugs have been reported. Complete left bundle branch block is an important clinical manifestation in some chronic hypertensive patients, which may also be a sign of coronary artery disease, aortic valve disease, or underlying cardiomyopathy. Although usually permanent, it can occur intermittently depending on heart rate (when heart rate exceeds a certain critical value). This is a case of complete left bundle branch block recorded in the preoperative period of urgent surgery that reverted to normal intraoperative conduction under general anesthesia after a decrease in heart rate. It resurfaced, intermittently and in a heart‐rate‐dependent manner, in the early postoperative period, eventually reverting to normal conduction in a sustained manner during semi‐intensive unit monitoring. The test to identify markers of cardiac muscle necrosis was negative. Pain due to the emergency surgical condition and in the early postoperative period may have been the cause of the increase in heart rate up to the critical value, causing blockage. Although the development or remission of this blockade under anesthesia is uncommon, the anesthesiologist should be alert to the possibility of its occurrence. It may be benign; however, the correct diagnosis is very important. The electrocardiographic manifestations may mask or be confused with myocardial ischemia, factors that are especially important in a patient under general anesthesia unable to report the characteristic symptoms of ischemia.

To meet good chemical and ecological status, Member States are required to monitor priority substances and chemicals identified as substances of concern at European Union and local/river-basin/national level, respectively, in surface water bodies, and to report exceedances of the environmental quality standards (EQSs). Therefore, standards have to be set at national level for river basin specific pollutants. Pesticides used in dominant crops of several agricultural areas within the catchment of Mediterranean river basins ('Mondego', 'Sado' and 'Tejo', Portugal) were selected for monitoring, in addition to the pesticides included in priority lists defined in Europe. From the 29 pesticides and metabolites selected for the study, 20 were detected in surface waters of the river basins, seven of which were priority substances: alachlor, atrazine, chlorfenvinphos, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, simazine and terbutryn, all of which exceeded their respective EQS values. QSs for other specific pollutants were calculated using different extrapolation techniques (i.e. deterministic or probabilistic) largely based on the method described in view of the Water Framework Directive. Non-acceptable aquatic risks were revealed for molinate, oxadiazon, pendimethalin, propanil, terbuthylazine, and the metabolite desethylatrazine. Implications of these findings for the classification of the ecological status of surface water bodies in Portugal and at the European level are discussed.

Although pesticide regulatory tools are mainly based on individual substances, aquatic ecosystems are usually exposed to multiple pesticides from their use on the variety of crops within the catchment of a river. This study estimated the impact of measured pesticide mixtures in surface waters from 2002 and 2008 within three important Portuguese river basins (‘Mondego’, ‘Sado’ and ‘Tejo’) on primary producers, arthropods and fish by toxic pressure calculation. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs), in combination with mixture toxicity models, were applied. Considering the differences in the responses of the taxonomic groups as well as in the pesticide exposures that these organisms experience, variable acute multi-substance potentially affected fractions (msPAFs) were obtained. The median msPAF for primary producers and arthropods in surface waters of all river basins exceeded 5%, the cut-off value used in the prospective SSD approach for deriving individual environmental quality standards. A ranking procedure identified various photosystem II inhibiting herbicides, with oxadiazon having the relatively largest toxic effects on primary producers, while the organophosphorus insecticides, chlorfenvinphos and chlorpyrifos, and the organochloride endosulfan had the largest effects on arthropods and fish, respectively. These results ensure compliance with European legislation with regard to ecological risk assessment and management of pesticides in surface waters.

A two-tiered outline for the predictive environmental risk assessment of chemical mixtures with effect assessments based on concentration addition (CA) approaches as first tier and consideration of independent action (IA) as the second tier was applied based on realistic pesticide mixtures measured in surface waters from 2002 to 2008 within three important Portuguese river basins ('Mondego', 'Sado' and 'Tejo'). The CA-based risk quotients, based on acute data and an assessment factor of 100, exceeded 1 in more than 39 % of the 281 samples, indicating a potential risk for the aquatic environment, namely to algae. Seven herbicide compounds and three insecticides were the most toxic compounds in the pesticide mixtures and provided at least 50 % of the mixture's toxicity in almost 100 % of the samples with risk quotients based on the sum of toxic units (RQSTU) above 1. In eight samples, the maximum cumulative ratio (MCR) and the Junghan's ratio values indicated that a chemical-by-chemical approach underestimated the toxicity of the pesticide mixtures, and CA predicted higher mixture toxicity than that of IA. From a risk management perspective, the results pointed out that, by deriving appropriate programmes of measures to a limited number of pesticides with the highest contribution to the total mixture toxicity, relevant benefits also on mixture impact could be produced.

The potential aquatic risk of application of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid for aphid control in rice was assessed. To this end, imidacloprid was applied as Confidor® 200 SC at the recommended field dose of 100 g a.i./ha to a Portuguese rice plot. Subsequently, fate of the test compound in water and potential effects of water samples on a battery of test species were determined. As compared to the first-tier predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) calculated using MED-Rice (around 30 µg/L depending on the scenario used) and US-EPA (78 µg/L) simulations, the actual peak concentration measured in the paddy water (52 µg/L) was higher and lower, respectively. As was anticipated based on 50% effect concentrations (EC50 values) for Daphnia magna published in the open literature and that calculated in the present study (48 h-EC50 immobility=84 mg/L), no effects were observed of field water samples on daphnids. The sediment-dwelling ostracod Heterocypris incongruens, however, appeared relatively sensitive towards imidacloprid (6 d-EC50 growth inhibition=0.01–0.015 mg/L) and a slight effect was indeed noted in field samples taken the first week after application. Species sensitivity distributions based on published EC50 and NOEC values also revealed that other species are likely to be affected at the peak and time-weighted average imidacloprid concentrations, respectively. By applying the relative tolerance approach (i.e. by dividing the EC50 value of a certain species with that of Daphnia magna), ostracods appear to contain the most sensitive taxa to imidacloprid, followed by EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) taxa. Future field studies into (higher-tier) fate modelling of pesticides in rice paddies and effect assessment on field communities are required to ensure protection of aquatic life and wildlife (e.g. birds) from pesticide stress.

A solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method has been applied for the simultaneous analysis of six pesticides in water, with polar to moderately polar range, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Two types of fiber coatings [60 µm polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 65 µm polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB)] and the effect of salt (addition of 10 and 25% of NaCl) were compared. The extraction efficiency was higher with PEG than with the PDMS/DVB fiber for all pesticides, with the exception of terbuthylazine and phosmet, and with addition of 25% NaCl. The optimized SPME-GC-MS method, adopting the PEG fiber and the addition of 25% NaCl, in addition to other conditions [60 min of direct dipping of the fiber into the water sample (10 mL) under agitation (250 rpm) at ambient temperature; desorption period of 5 min at 240°C] allowed the determination of all studied pesticides and showed good linearity for concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 5 µg/L. Limits of detection varied between 0.003 and 0.145 µg/L, with values below 0.025 µg/L for most of the analytes. Precision ranged from 4.2 to 12%. The proposed method is fast and simple, and was proven to be reliable for the routine analysis of pesticides in water, primarily for environmental monitoring.