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The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Ecuadorian school population continues to increase. An important factor in children's nutrition is the food offered in school canteens. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of the challenges faced by and facilities of school canteens in the provinces of southern Ecuador in terms of complying with national regulations. For this qualitative descriptive study, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2021 with six school canteen owners, six school directors, five health experts, and seven parents of children attending school from three provinces, Cañar, Azuay, and Morona Santiago, in Ecuador. The data were transcribed and subsequently analyzed in ATLAS ti. The participants indicated several challenges to comply with the regulations of school canteens, such as the expenses generated by them, the lack of control of street food vendors in the surroundings of the schools, and the lack of trained personnel. Regarding the facilities, they highlighted that the regulation for cleaning and hygiene are more easily fulfilled. Standards and control of the food stipend in school canteens are required to ensure a supply of healthy food for the children. Multiple challenges and strategies are proposed to improve the eating habits of the school population and to improve the nutrition of schoolchildren.

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Emerging contaminants in water bodies is an issue of concern due to their impact on the ecosystem and human health. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the implementation of protective measures such as social distancing, lockdowns, and remote work, which have affected the tourism influx. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of emerging pollutants in bodies of water in Esmeraldas, a coastal province of Ecuador, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a highly touristic region. For this purpose, surface waters from 14 beaches and ten river mouths were sampled at two-time points in November 2019 and November 2020. Compounds widely consumed in Ecuador: acetaminophen, caffeine, sodium diclofenac, trimethoprim, and sulfamethoxazole were extracted from water samples by solid phase extraction SPE and detected with a UPLC-QTOF-MS system. We found a decrease in the occurrence of caffeine from 100 % to 4.2 % of caffeine and 25 % to 0 % of diclofenac, likely related to the decline in tourist afflux due to the lockdown measures. Most of the compounds diminished in terms of frequency and/or concentration; however, as COVID-19 treatments make use of different pharmaceutical compounds such as antivirals, antibiotics, antiparasitics, or glucocorticoids, future studies should include these to assess their environmental impact.

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Gold mining (GM) is a major source of metals and metalloids in rivers, causing severe environmental pollution and increasing the exposure risks to the residents of surrounding areas. Mining in Ecuadorian Amazonia has dramatically increased in recent years, but its impacts on Indigenous local populations that make use of rivers are still unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the risks to adults and children caused by the exposure to metals and metalloids in freshwater ecosystems contaminated with tailings released by GM activities in 11 sites of the upper Napo River basin, Ecuador. We selected a carcinogenic and a noncarcinogenic risk assessment method to estimate the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR). The concentration of Ag, Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, B, and V in water and sediment samples was considered to assess the risks to human health. The calculated HI was 23-352 times greater than the acceptable limits in all sites for both children and adults. Mn and Fe were the main contributors (75% in water and 99% in sediment) to the total calculated risk based on the HI. The calculated TCR for children and adults exceeded approximately one to three times the permissible threshold in all sites. As and Pb contributed up to 93% of the total calculated risk based on TCR for both children and adults. This study demonstrates that the emission and mobilization of metals and metalloids caused by mining activities increase the risk to human health, to which we recommend further monitoring of freshwater contamination in the area and the implementation of preventive health management measures. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:706-716. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

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The effects of emerging contaminants on environmental health are of high concern, especially those potentially induced by mixtures. We assessed single and composite mixtures of triclosan (T), 17ß-estradiol (E2), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and nicotine (N) at various concentrations, on neonates of Daphnia magna. When used in single exposure, T and N induced high toxicity (100% immobility, each one), compared to SMX and E2 (2.5% and 10% immobility, respectively). When T, E2, SMX and N were in mixture, T had the highest contribution to the overall toxicity in mixture exposures. The N toxicity lowered when in a fourfold exposure (85% immobility in fourfold exposure). Due to the high toxicity of T and N, both alone and in the mixtures, our results can serve as a warning about the use of these substances and their release in the aquatic ecosystem.

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This study represents the first assessment of microplastic (MP) contamination in the coastal area of the Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. MPs were quantified in 14 coastal waters in beaches with different urbanization level and in 10 rivers. The most abundant MP types were transparent fibres, brown fragments, grey fragments, transparent fragments, and black fragments, which together represented 84% of the total count. Coastal waters presented significantly higher quantities of MP than rivers. No difference in microplastic abundance was detected between beaches with higher and lower urban occupation, nor between beaches facing North or West. Our results indicate that MP contamination is widespread, and most likely transported from multiple sources. Our results can serve as a baseline for future MP monitoring in the area.

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As the number of legal and illegal gold mining sites increases in the Andes-Amazonia region, integrative methods to evaluate the effects of mining pollution on freshwater ecosystems are of paramount importance. Here, we sampled water and sediments in 11 sites potentially affected by gold mining activities in the Napo province (Ecuador). The environmental impacts were evaluated using the following lines of evidence (LOEs): water physicochemical parameters, metal exposure concentrations, macroinvertebrate community response (AAMBI), and toxicity by conducting bioassays with Lactuca sativa and Daphnia magna. Dissolved oxygen and total suspended solids were under (<80%) and above (>130 mg/Ls) quality standards 65% of the sites. Ag, Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in water and V, B, and Cr in sediments were detected above quality standards at sampled sites. Nine out of eleven sites were classified as having bad environmental quality based on the AAMBI. L. sativa seed germination in both water (37% to 70%) and sediment (0% to 65%) indicate significant toxicity. In five sites, neonates of D. magna showed a 25% reduction in survival compared to the control. Our integrated LOEs index ranked sites regarding their environmental degradation. We recommend environmental impact monitoring of the mining expansion at the Andes-Amazonia region using multiple LOEs.

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This work is a study on the occurrence of emerging pollutants in the northeast Ecuadorian Amazon. Emerging contaminants (ECs)-caffeine, triclosan, estradiol, acetaminophen, nicotine, and ibuprofen-were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in rivers and streams of the Amazon basin near the city of Tena, Ecuador. For that, a total of 16 natural water samples were taken in 8 locations. Sampling sites included areas impacted by discharges from inefficient sewage networks in urban areas, wastes from fish farming and non-functional landfill, a stream with few threats, tap water, and treated sewage. Caffeine was found in the 38% of the samples studied while trimethoprim and acetaminophen had an occurrence of 13%. Caffeine was detected at two sites receiving untreated sewage and one site receiving treated sewage with mean concentrations that ranged between 19 and 31.5 µg L-1. Acetaminophen (50.4 µg L-1) and trimethoprim (2 µg L-1) were only detected in the river receiving treated sewage effluent. This is the first assessment of emerging contaminants in the upper Ecuadorian Amazon basin, and our observations highlight the need for better sewage treatment and water quality monitoring in Amazonian cities.

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