New Approach to Modelling the Impact of Heavy Metals on the European Union's Water Resources

The present research aims to address the highly topical issue of heavy metal water pollution from an integrated European perspective, i.e., to quantify through modelling a general model of water pollution reduction in the EU. The objectives of the study are mainly aimed at identifying effective solutions to reduce heavy metal water pollution and providing supranational decision-makers with public policy directions in the field. The research methods consist of the foundation of working hypotheses based on the study of the literature, the consolidation of official statistical databases in the field, econometric modelling and the conceptualisation of a general model and its testing and validation by statistical methods. The results of the analysis consist of the following marginal contributions: the identification of a general model for combating heavy metal pollution; the calculation of the degree of contribution of regional policies to the general model; and the identification of effective solutions to improve the combating of heavy metal water pollution in Europe. The main conclusion of the analysis shows that significant progress has been achieved at the EU level in the field of combating heavy metal water pollution. However, the level of disparity and poor policy coordination are real vulnerabilities for the EU.

To a Green Economy across the European Union

"Is the green economy a real solution to the present economic development?" represents the main question of the present research. The paper deals with assessing the impact of innovation on the green economy and quality of life through policies promoted at the European Union (EU) level. The objectives of the paper are to assess the impact level of the policy implementation across the Member States through the research and development (R&D) process and to identify models for the development of the green economy in Europe. The applied methods are empirical and analytical based on the study of literature, econometric modeling, pivoting econometric models, trend synthesis, prioritization, and staging of policy experimentation in the Member States through data processing and statistical programs. The results consist in obtaining development models for the green economy at the EU and national levels. In conclusion, the paper contributes to the early identification of vulnerabilities that may affect the development of European strategic projects in relation to events and security breaches occurring at the EU level at any given time.

Multisensory System Used for the Analysis of the Water in the Lower Area of River Danube

The present paper describes the development of a multisensory system for the analysis of the natural water in the Danube, water collected in the neighboring area of Galati City. The multisensory system consists of a sensor array made up of six screen-printed sensors based on electroactive compounds (Cobalt phthalocyanine, Meldola’s Blue, Prussian Blue) and nanomaterials (Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Multi-Walled Graphene, Gold Nanoparticles). The measurements with the sensors array were performed by using cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammograms recorded in the Danube natural water show redox processes related to the electrochemical activity of the compounds in the water samples or of the electro-active compounds in the sensors detector element. These processes are strongly influenced by the composition and physico-chemical properties of the water samples, such as the ionic strength or the pH. The multivariate data analysis was performed by using the principal component analysis (PCA) and the discriminant factor analysis (DFA), the water samples being discriminated according to the collection point. In order to confirm the observed classes, the partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) method was used. The classification of the samples according to the collection point could be made accurately and with very few errors. The correlations established between the voltammetric data and the results of the physico-chemical analyses by using the PLS1 method were very good, the correlation coefficients exceeding 0.9. Moreover, the predictive capacity of the multisensory system is very good, the differences between the measured and the predicted values being less than 3%. The multisensory system based on voltammetric sensors and on multivariate data analysis methods is a viable and useful tool for natural water analysis.

Evaluation of radical products from beta-alanine/sugar mixtures by use of GC-MS with the galvinoxyl radical

We have quantified the radical production of Maillard systems with beta-alanine and different sugars by a method that uses the free radical scavenger capacity of galvinoxyl (2,6-di-tert-butyl-alpha-(3, 5-di-tert-butyl-4-oxo-2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-ylidene)-p-tolyloxy) and a GC-MS separation and quantification. We have compared the results with the spectrophotometrical conclusions and highlight the importance of the radical production in the Maillard systems. The method is precise (CV < 5%), accurate (>97%), sensitive (limit of detection 10 ng/mL galvinoxyl), and may be used for the detection and quantification of radical activity in the chemical and biological systems.