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El títol de la versió postprint d'aquest article és: 'Fast methodology for the determination of a broad set of antibiotics and some of their metabolites in seafood' ; The presence of antibiotics in seafood for human consumption may pose a risk for consumers. A methodology for the analysis of antibiotics in seafood based on QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) extraction, followed by detection and quantification using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was developed. The analytical method was evaluated for the determination of 23 antibiotics (including parent compounds and some metabolites) in fish, mussels and clams. Recoveries ranged between 30% and 70% for most of the compounds and method detection and quantification limits (MDLs and MQLs) were between 0.01 and 0.31 ng/g dry weigh (dw) and 0.02–1.03 ng/g (dw) respectively. Real seafood samples were analysed using this method. Nine antibiotics were found at levels above MDLs; however none of them exceed the maximum residue limits (MRL) established by the authorities. Tetracycline was the most ubiquitous compound, presenting also the highest concentration: 5.63 ng/g (dw) in fish from Netherlands. In addition, an alternative technique based on microbial growth inhibition was explored as semiquantitative detection method of antibiotics in seafood. This methodology c ould be applied as a fast screening technique for the detection of macrolides and β-lactams in seafood but further research is needed for other antibiotics families ; The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the ECsafeSEAFOOD project (grant agreement n° 311820) and the SEA-on-a-CHIP project (grant agreement no. 614168). It has been co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work has also been partly funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups 2014-SGR-291-Catalan Institute for Water Research 2014 ...

Considerable amounts of pharmaceuticals are used in human and veterinary medicine, which are not efficiently removed during wastewater and slurries treatment and subsequently entering continuously into freshwater systems. The intrinsic biological activity of these non-regulated pollutants turns their presence in the aquatic environment into an ecological matter of concern. We present the first quantitative study relating the presence of pharmaceuticals and their predicted ecotoxicological effects with human population and livestock units. Four representative Iberian River basins (Spain) were studied: Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar and Guadalquivir. The levels of pharmaceuticals were determined in surface water and sediment samples collected from 77 locations along their stream networks. Predicted total toxic units to algae, Daphnia and fish were estimated for pharmaceuticals detected in surface waters. The use of chemometrics enabled the study of pharmaceuticals for: their spatial distribution along the rivers in two consecutive years; their potential ecotoxicological risk to aquatic organisms; and the relationships among their occurrence and predicted ecotoxicity with human population and animal farming pressure. The Llobregat and the Ebro River basins were characterized as the most polluted and at highest ecotoxicological risk, followed by Júcar and Guadalquivir. No significant acute risks of pharmaceuticals to aquatic organisms were observed. However potential chronic ecotoxicological effects on algae could be expected at two hot spots of pharmaceuticals pollution identified in the Llobregat and Ebro basins. Analgesics/antiinflammatories, antibiotics and diuretics were the most relevant therapeutic groups across the four river basins. Among them, hydrochlorothiazide and gemfibrozil, as well as azithromycin and ibuprofen were widely spread and concentrated pharmaceuticals in surface waters and sediments, respectively. Regarding their predicted ecotoxicity, sertraline, gemfibrozil and loratidine were identified as the more concerning compounds. Significantly positive relationships were found among levels of pharmaceuticals and toxic units and population density and livestock units in both surface water and sediment matrices ; Authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for its financial support through the projects SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065). This work has been supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1 Globaqua and by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups "2014 SGR 418 — Water and Soil Quality Unit" and 2014 SGR 291-ICRA

Considerable amounts of pharmaceuticals are used in human and veterinary medicine, which are not efficiently removed during wastewater and slurries treatment and subsequently entering continuously into freshwater systems. The intrinsic biological activity of these non-regulated pollutants turns their presence in the aquatic environment into an ecological matter of concern. We present the first quantitative study relating the presence of pharmaceuticals and their predicted ecotoxicological effects with human population and livestock units. Four representative Iberian River basins (Spain) were studied: Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar and Guadalquivir. The levels of pharmaceuticals were determined in surface water and sediment samples collected from 77 locations along their stream networks. Predicted total toxic units to algae, Daphnia and fish were estimated for pharmaceuticals detected in surface waters. The use of chemometrics enabled the study of pharmaceuticals for: their spatial distribution along the rivers in two consecutive years; their potential ecotoxicological risk to aquatic organisms; and the relationships among their occurrence and predicted ecotoxicity with human population and animal farming pressure. The Llobregat and the Ebro River basins were characterized as the most polluted and at highest ecotoxicological risk, followed by Júcar and Guadalquivir. No significant acute risks of pharmaceuticals to aquatic organisms were observed. However potential chronic ecotoxicological effects on algae could be expected at two hot spots of pharmaceuticals pollution identified in the Llobregat and Ebro basins. Analgesics/antiinflammatories, antibiotics and diuretics were the most relevant therapeutic groups across the four river basins. Among them, hydrochlorothiazide and gemfibrozil, as well as azithromycin and ibuprofen were widely spread and concentrated pharmaceuticals in surface waters and sediments, respectively. Regarding their predicted ecotoxicity, sertraline, gemfibrozil and loratidine were identified as the more concerning compounds. Significantly positive relationships were found among levels of pharmaceuticals and toxic units and population density and livestock units in both surface water and sediment matrices ; Authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for its financial support through the projects SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065). This work has been supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1 Globaqua and by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups "2014 SGR 418 — Water and Soil Quality Unit" and 2014 SGR 291-ICRA

A novel, fully automated analytical methodology based on dual column liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-LC-MS 2 ) has been developed and validated for the analysis of 12 pharmaceuticals and 20 metabolites and transformation products in different types of water (influent and effluent wastewaters and surface water). Two LC columns were used – one for pre-concentration of the sample and the second for separation and analysis – so that water samples were injected directly in the chromatographic system. Besides the many advantages of the methodology, such as minimization of the sample volume required and its manipulation, both compounds ionized in positive and negative mode could be analyzed simultaneously without compromising the sensitivity. A comparative study of different mobile phases, gradients and LC pre-concentration columns was carried out to obtain the best analytical performance. Limits of detection (MLODs) achieved were in the low ng L −1 range for all the compounds. The method was successfully applied to study the presence of the target analytes in different wastewater and surface water samples collected near the city of Girona (Catalonia, Spain). Data on the environmental presence and fate of pharmaceutical metabolites and TPs is still scarce, highlighting the relevance of the developed methodology ; This study has been supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group: Catalan Institute for water Research 2014 SGR 291), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the SCARCE project (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). MJ. García acknowledges the Beatriu de Pinos program (2014 BP-A 00245); Sara Rodriguez-Mozaz acknowledges the Ramon y Cajal program (RYC-2014-16707)

The removal of 27 endocrine-disrupting compounds and related compounds (suspect effect) from a reverse osmosis concentrate using an alternative decontamination method based on a fungal treatment involving Trametes versicolor was assessed. In addition to chemical analysis, the toxicity of the treated water during the treatment was monitored using a bioluminescence inhibition test and estrogenic and anti-estrogenic tests. The compounds 1H-benzotriazole (BTZ) and two tolyltriazoles (TTZs), 4-methyl-1H-benzotriazole (4-MBTZ) and 5-methyl-1H-benzotriazole (5-MBTZ), were present in the reverse osmosis concentrate at the highest concentrations (7.4 and 12.8 μg L −1 , respectively) and were partially removed by the fungal treatment under sterile conditions (58% for BTZ and 92% for TTZs) and non-sterile conditions, although to lesser extents (32% for BTZ and 50% for TTZs). Individual biotransformation studies of BTZ and the TTZs by T. versicolor in a synthetic medium and further analysis via on-line turbulent flow chromatography coupled to an HRMS-Orbitrap allowed the tentative identification of the transformation products (TPs). Six TPs were postulated for BTZ, two TPs were postulated for 4-MBTZ, and four TPs were postulated for 5-MBTZ. Most of these TPs are suggested to have been generated by conjugation with some sugars and via the methylation of the triazole group. Only TP 148 A, postulated to be derived from the biotransformation of BTZ, was observed in the effluent of the bioreactor treating the reverse osmosis concentrate ; This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (project CTQ2010-21776-C02 and CTM2013-48545-C2), co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups: Catalan Institute for water Research 2014 SGR 291 and 2014 SGR 476)

Antibiotics accumulation in aquatic organisms may be of great concern from an ecological point of view but also from a human perspective, especially when they are accumulated in edible animals like marine mussels. In this work, mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were exposed to sulfamethoxazole antibiotic (SMX) at 10 µg/L during 96 h, followed by 24 h of depuration. The experiment was carried out at summer and winter conditions. SMX showed a bioconcentration factor in mussel of 1.5 L/Kg (dry weight) and 69% of the compound was eliminated from the organism in 24 h. The metabolomics approach revealed alterations in amino acids levels (aspartate, phenylalanine, valine and tryptophan) pinpointing disturbances in osmotic regulation and energy metabolism. Besides, the levels of some nucleotides (guanosine and inosine) and a carboxylic acid were also affected. However, SMX exposed mussels did not show any significant alteration in the enzymatic activities related to the xenobiotic metabolism and oxidative stress. Moreover, some of the changes observed in mussel's metabolites suggested alterations in mussel's organoleptic characteristics that can affect its quality as seafood commodity. Overall, our results showed that SMX exposure to marine mussels may have ecological implications by provoking sub-lethal effects to exposed organisms. Nevertheless, no risk for consumers derived from mussel ingestion is expected due to the low bioconcentration capacity of SMX and fast depuration in this seafood type ; This work has received funding from SEA-on-a-CHIP project under grant agreement No.614168 from European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7-OCEAN-2013) and been also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the PLAS-MED (CTM2017-89701-C3-2-R) and AIMCOST (CGL2016-76332-R MINECO/FEDER/UE) projects. Authors acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government through Consolidated Research Group (ICRA-ENV 2017 SGR 1124 and 2017-SGR-1404-Water and Soil ...

The removal efficiency of 6 micro-grain AC (μGAC) was examined for 23 selected pharmaceutical compounds, usually found at trace level in municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. Two different sets of experiments were carried out using distilled water and a real WWTP secondary effluent in order to understand the adsorption mechanisms of pharmaceuticals, including the role of the presence of background organic matter. Physical and chemical properties of μGACs and target pollutants were checked for their potential to predict the pharmaceutical removal. Textural properties of μGACs, and especially the mesopore volume, seemed to play the most important role during the adsorption without background organic matter whereas the chemistry of the μGACs, such as the presence of surface oxygen groups and the point of zero charge, could have more influence in the experiments with WWTP effluent water. Positively charged molecules are better adsorbed due to the influence of the background organic matter and the presence of oxygenated groups in the surface of the μGACs. The UV254 removal correlated well with the pharmaceutical removal and it is confirmed as an indicator to control the performance of pharmaceuticals adsorption with μGACs in tertiary treatment ; This work has also received funding from the European Union'sHorizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the MarieSkłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 712949 (TECNIOspringPLUS) and from the Agency for Business Competitiveness of theGovernment of Catalonia. LEQUIA has been recognized as consoli-dated research group by the Catalan Government with code 2017-SGR-1552

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the main sources of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in freshwater ecosystems, and several studies have reported bioaccumulation of these compounds in different organisms in those ecosystems. River biofilms are exceptional indicators of pollution, but very few studies have focused on the accumulation of these emerging contaminants. The objectives of this study were first to develop an efficient analytical methodology for the simultaneous analysis of 44 pharmaceuticals and 13 endocrine disrupting compounds in biofilm, and second, to assess persistence, distribution, and bioaccumulation of these contaminants in natural biofilms inhabiting a WWTP-impacted river. The method is based on pressurized liquid extraction, purification by solid-phase extraction, and analysis by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS) in tandem. Recoveries for pharmaceuticals were 31-137%, and for endocrine disruptors 32-93%. Method detection limits for endocrine disruptors were in the range of 0.2-2.4ng g-1, and for pharmaceuticals, 0.07-6.7ng g-1. A total of five endocrine disruptors and seven pharmaceuticals were detected in field samples at concentrations up to 100ng g-1 ; This study has been co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project WATER-Fate (CTM2012-38314-C0201), by the EU through the FP7 project GLOBAQUA (Grant agreement No. 603629) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was partly supported by the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA)

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the main sources of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in freshwater ecosystems, and several studies have reported bioaccumulation of these compounds in different organisms in those ecosystems. River biofilms are exceptional indicators of pollution, but very few studies have focused on the accumulation of these emerging contaminants. The objectives of this study were first to develop an efficient analytical methodology for the simultaneous analysis of 44 pharmaceuticals and 13 endocrine disrupting compounds in biofilm, and second, to assess persistence, distribution, and bioaccumulation of these contaminants in natural biofilms inhabiting a WWTP-impacted river. The method is based on pressurized liquid extraction, purification by solid-phase extraction, and analysis by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS) in tandem. Recoveries for pharmaceuticals were 31-137%, and for endocrine disruptors 32-93%. Method detection limits for endocrine disruptors were in the range of 0.2-2.4ng g-1, and for pharmaceuticals, 0.07-6.7ng g-1. A total of five endocrine disruptors and seven pharmaceuticals were detected in field samples at concentrations up to 100ng g-1 ; This study has been co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project WATER-Fate (CTM2012-38314-C0201), by the EU through the FP7 project GLOBAQUA (Grant agreement No. 603629) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was partly supported by the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA)

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the main sources of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in freshwater ecosystems, and several studies have reported bioaccumulation of these compounds in different organisms in those ecosystems. River biofilms are exceptional indicators of pollution, but very few studies have focused on the accumulation of these emerging contaminants. The objectives of this study were first to develop an efficient analytical methodology for the simultaneous analysis of 44 pharmaceuticals and 13 endocrine disrupting compounds in biofilm, and second, to assess persistence, distribution, and bioaccumulation of these contaminants in natural biofilms inhabiting a WWTP-impacted river. The method is based on pressurized liquid extraction, purification by solid-phase extraction, and analysis by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS) in tandem. Recoveries for pharmaceuticals were 31-137%, and for endocrine disruptors 32-93%. Method detection limits for endocrine disruptors were in the range of 0.2-2.4ng g-1, and for pharmaceuticals, 0.07-6.7ng g-1. A total of five endocrine disruptors and seven pharmaceuticals were detected in field samples at concentrations up to 100ng g-1 ; This study has been co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project WATER-Fate (CTM2012-38314-C0201), by the EU through the FP7 project GLOBAQUA (Grant agreement No. 603629) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was partly supported by the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA)

Background Hospital wastewater is commonly polluted with high loads of pharmaceutically active compounds, which pass through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and end up in water bodies, posing ecological and health risks. White-rot fungal treatments can cope with the elimination of a wide variety of micropollutants while remaining ecologically and economically attractive. Unfortunately, bacterial contamination has impeded so far a successful implementation of fungal treatment for real applications. Results This work embodied a 91-day long-term robust continuous fungal operation treating real non-sterile hospital wastewater in an air pulsed fluidized bed bioreactor retaining the biomass. The hydraulic retention time was 3 days and the ageing of the biomass was avoided through partial periodic biomass renovation resulting in a cellular retention time of 21 days. Evolution of microbial community and Trametes abundance were evaluated. Conclusions The operation was able to maintain an average pharmaceutical load removal of over 70% while keeping the white-rot fungus active and predominant through the operation ; This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project CTM 2013–48545-C2) and partly supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups 2017-SGR-14, 2017SGR-1404, 2017-SGR-1124 and 2017-SGR-1762) and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Antidepressant drugs such as Venlafaxine (VFX) and O-desmethylvenlafaxine (ODMVFX) are emerging contaminants that are commonly detected in aquatic environments, since conventional wastewater treatment plants are unable to completely remove them. They can be precursors of hazardous by-products, such as the carcinogenic N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), generated upon water chlorination, as they contain the dimethylamino moiety, necessary for the formation of NDMA. In this study, the capability of three white rot fungi (Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus) to remove both antidepressants from water and to decrease NDMA formation potential was investigated. Furthermore, transformation by-products (TPs) generated along the treatment process were elucidated and also correlated with their NDMA formation potential. Very promising results were obtained for T. versicolor and G. lucidum, both being able to remove up to 100% of ODMVFX. In the case of VFX, which is very recalcitrant to conventional wastewater treatment, a 70% of removal was achieved by T. versicolor, along with a reduction in NDMA formation potential, thus decreasing the associated problems for human health and the environment. However, the NDMA formation potential remained practically constant during treatment with G. lucidum despite of the equally high VFX removal (70%). This difference was attributed to the generation of different TPs during both fungal treatments. For example, G. lucidum generated more ODMVFX, which actually has a higher NDMA formation potential than the parent compound itself ; This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy,Industry and Competitiveness (project CTQ2010-21776-C02 andCTM2013-48545-C2), cofinanced by the European Union throughthe European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and supportedby the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Groups:Catalan Institute for water Research 2014 SGR 291 and 2014 SGR476). The Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of the ...

A huge variety of organic microcontaminants are presently detected in freshwater ecosystems, but there is still a lack of knowledge about their interactions, either with living organisms or with other contaminants. Actually, carbon nanomaterials like fullerenes (C 60 ) can act as carriers of organic microcontaminants, but their relevance in processes like bioaccumulation and biotransformation of organic microcontaminants by organisms is unknown. In this study, mesocosm experiments were used to assess the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of three organic microcontaminants (venlafaxine, diuron and triclosan) in river biofilms, and to understand how much the concomitant presence of C 60 at environmental relevant concentrations could impact these processes. Results indicated that venlafaxine exhibited the highest bioaccumulation (13% of the initial concentration of venlafaxine in water), while biotransformation was more evident for triclosan (5% of the initial concentration of triclosan in water). Furthermore, biotransformation products such as methyl-triclosan were also present in the biofilm, with levels up to 42% of the concentration of accumulated triclosan. The presence of C 60 did not involve relevant changes in the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of microcontaminants in biofilms, which showed similar patterns. Nevertheless, the study shows that a detailed evaluation of the partition of the organic microcontaminants and their transformation products in freshwater systems are important to better understand the impact of the co-existence of others microcontaminants, like carbon nanomaterials, in their possible routes of bioaccumulation and biotransformation ; This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project NANOTRANSFER; ERA SIINN PCIN-2015-182-C02-02 and project PLAS-MED; CTM2017-89701-C3-2-R). Authors also acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government through Consolidated Research Group(ICRA ENV2017 SGR1124 & ...

The effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) include a complex mixture of nutrients and pollutants. Nutrients can subsidise autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms, while toxic pollutants can act as stressors, depending, for instance, on their concentration and interactions in the environment. Hence, it is difficult to predict the overall effect of WWTP effluents on river ecosystem functioning. We assessed the effects of WWTP effluents on river biofilms and ecosystem metabolism in one river segment upstream from a WWTP and three segments downstream from the WWTP and following a pollution gradient. The photosynthetic capacity and enzymatic activity of biofilms showed no change, with the exception of leucine aminopeptidase, which followed the pollution gradient most likely driven by changes in organic matter availability. The effluent produced mixed effects on ecosystem-scale metabolism. It promoted respiration (subsidy effect), probably as a consequence of enhanced availability of organic matter. On the other hand, and despite enhanced nutrient concentrations, photosynthesis-irradiance relationships showed that the effluent partly decoupled primary production from light availability, thus suggesting a stress effect. Overall, WWTP effluents can alter the balance between autotrophic and heterotrophic processes and produce spatial discontinuities in ecosystem functioning along rivers as a consequence of the mixed contribution of stressors and subsidisers ; This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER foundings through the SCARCE Consolider-Ingenio CSD2009-00065 and ABSTRACT CGL2012-35848 projects, and the European Communities 7th Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua. We especially thank the people who assisted in the field and in the laboratory. A thorough review of the manuscript by Prof. Roger I. Jones and two unknown reviewers is deeply appreciated too. We also want to acknowledge financial support in terms of predoctoral grants from the University of the Basque Country (I. Aristi), the Basque Government (M. Arroita), as well as a postdoctoral grant 'Juan de la Cierva' (jci-2010-06397) (D. von Schiller) and a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant (PERG07-GA-2010-259219) (V. Acuña). This work was partly supported by the Basque Government (Consolidated Research Group: Stream Ecology 7-CA-18/10)

The effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) include a complex mixture of nutrients and pollutants. Nutrients can subsidise autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms, while toxic pollutants can act as stressors, depending, for instance, on their concentration and interactions in the environment. Hence, it is difficult to predict the overall effect of WWTP effluents on river ecosystem functioning. We assessed the effects of WWTP effluents on river biofilms and ecosystem metabolism in one river segment upstream from a WWTP and three segments downstream from the WWTP and following a pollution gradient. The photosynthetic capacity and enzymatic activity of biofilms showed no change, with the exception of leucine aminopeptidase, which followed the pollution gradient most likely driven by changes in organic matter availability. The effluent produced mixed effects on ecosystem-scale metabolism. It promoted respiration (subsidy effect), probably as a consequence of enhanced availability of organic matter. On the other hand, and despite enhanced nutrient concentrations, photosynthesis-irradiance relationships showed that the effluent partly decoupled primary production from light availability, thus suggesting a stress effect. Overall, WWTP effluents can alter the balance between autotrophic and heterotrophic processes and produce spatial discontinuities in ecosystem functioning along rivers as a consequence of the mixed contribution of stressors and subsidisers ; This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER foundings through the SCARCE Consolider-Ingenio CSD2009-00065 and ABSTRACT CGL2012-35848 projects, and the European Communities 7th Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua. We especially thank the people who assisted in the field and in the laboratory. A thorough review of the manuscript by Prof. Roger I. Jones and two unknown reviewers is deeply appreciated too. We also want to acknowledge financial support in terms of predoctoral grants from the University of the Basque Country (I. Aristi), the Basque Government (M. Arroita), as well as a postdoctoral grant 'Juan de la Cierva' (jci-2010-06397) (D. von Schiller) and a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant (PERG07-GA-2010-259219) (V. Acuña). This work was partly supported by the Basque Government (Consolidated Research Group: Stream Ecology 7-CA-18/10)