This paper contributes for the first time the seasonal mass size distribution of atmospheric aerosols and their possible health implications in a rural area of eastern central India. Size-segregated atmospheric aerosols were collected from July 2012 to June 2013 at rural site near Mahanadi riverside basin of Rajim (20° 59′N and 81°55′E), Chhattisgarh, India using nine-stage cascade impactor. Bimodal size distribution was found with stable peaks at 0.4–0.7 μm (fine mode) and 4.4–5.8 μm (coarse mode) during monsoon, winter, spring and summer seasons at study site. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of total impactor particle sizes was shifted from lower particle size in winter to higher particle size in summer. High concentrations of size-segregated aerosols were found during winter season with 45%, 55% and 36% of PM2.5–10, PM2.5 and PM1, respectively of the total PM10 aerosol. One unique observation was that the mass concentration of particulate matter increases abruptly in May and June during summer season, which was due to in situ burning of rice crop residues. The concentrations of upper respiratory tract and lungs particles were found to be highest during winter whereas respiratory airways particles showed maxima during summer season. The highest numbers of unfavorable days (i.e. value of air quality index > 101) were also observed during winter followed by summer season. The significant positive correlations found among particle in fine size bins (<0.43–2.5 μm) during winter and summer season was mainly due to the biomass burning activities during the study period at a rural site in eastern central India.

We analyzed the resistome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa E67, an epiphytic isolate from a metal-contaminated estuary. The aim was to identify genetic determinants of resistance to antibiotics and metals, assessing possible co-selection mechanisms.Identification was based on phylogenetic analysis and average nucleotide identity value calculation. MLST affiliated E67 to ST395, previously described as a high-risk clone. Genome analysis allowed identifying genes probably involved in resistance to antibiotics (e.g. beta-lactams, aminoglycosides and chloramphenicol) and metals (e.g. mercury and copper), consistent with resistance phenotypes. Several genes associated with efflux systems, as well as genetic determinants contributing to gene motility, were identified.Pseudomonas aeruginosa E67 possesses an arsenal of resistance determinants, probably contributing to adaptation to a polluted ecosystem. Association to mobile structures highlights the role of these platforms in multi-drug resistance. Physical links between metal and antibiotic resistance genes were not identified, suggesting a predominance of cross-resistance associated with multidrug efflux pumps.

With the imminent ratification of the International Maritime Organisation's Ballast Water Management Convention, ship owners and operators will have to choose among a myriad of different Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) and technologies to comply with established discharge standards. However, it has come to our attention that decision-makers seem to be unaware of the problem of regrowth occurring in ballast water tanks after treatment. Furthermore, the information available on the subject in the literature is surprisingly and unfortunately very limited. Herein we summarise previous research findings that suggest that regrowth of bacteria and phytoplankton could occur 18h to 7days and 4 to 20days after treatment, respectively. By highlighting the problem of regrowth, we would like to encourage scientists and engineers to further investigate this issue and to urge ship owners and ship operators to inform themselves on the risks of regrowth associated with the implementation of different BWTS.

The Jakarta Bay Ecosystem is located in the vicinity of the megacity Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Surrounding rivers and canals, carrying solid and fluid waste from households and several industrial areas, flow into the bay. Therefore, the levels of selected trace hazardous elements in water, surface sediments and animal tissues were determined. Samples were collected from two different seasons. The spatial distribution pattern of trace elements in sediment and water as well as the seasonal variation of the contamination were assessed. Quality assessment of sediment using the effects range median (ERM) showed that the concentrations of Hg, Cu and Cr at some stations exceeded the recommended values. Moreover, the concentrations of several trace hazardous elements in the sediments exceeded previously reported toxicity thresholds for benthic species.

Recently, China has faced a large scale air pollution problem not only in urban but also in rural areas. To better understand the occurrence of haze events and properties of particulate matter (PM) in rural area, continuous monitoring of PM and its related characteristics is necessary. Consequently, in this study, a comprehensive observation was performed at a rural site of Zhongmu, Henan Province. The meteorological parameters, physical and chemical properties including number and mass concentration, size resolved and water soluble ions were measured. During the observation period, the highest hourly mass concentration of PM2.5 obtained from Electrical Low Pressure Impactor plus (ELPI+) was 560 μg/m3 on January 5, 2015. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model shows that the most polluted day (January 5) was under the influence of static stability meteorological conditions and greatly influenced by the surrounding regional (within 200 km). During new particle formation stage, higher number concentration in nucleation mode (<30 nm) was found. Through the measurement of water-soluble inorganic ions, it was found that Ca2+ was the highest water-soluble inorganic ions in the coarse fraction (PM2.1–10) while SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ were the three major species in the fine fraction (PM2.1). Furthermore, the ratio of [NH4+]/(2[SO42−] + [NO3−]) was higher in fine particulate and [NH4+]/[SO42−] was more than 2 in fine particulate, indicating the presence of both (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 in fine particulate during haze days. The regional transport and to some extent local dust were responsible for haze formation in the observed site.

Internal macrobioeroders and their erosion rate in three live and dead coral genera (Favia, Platygyra and Porites) from the intertidal zone of the Hormuz Island were studied by collecting five live and five dead colonies from each genus, from which 4mm cross-sections were cut and photographed. Photos were analyzed using the Coral Point Count with Excel extensions. Totally, 9 taxa were identified: four bivalve species, one sponge, three polychaetes, and one barnacle. Bioerosion rate did not significantly differ among the three live corals, but among the dead ones only Porites was significantly more eroded than Favia. Sponge had the highest role in the erosion of the dead Platygyra, while barnacles were the most effective eroding organism in the live Platygyra. Polychaetes, followed by bivalves, were the most destructive bioeroders on the dead and live Porites. Further, none of the bioeroding organisms had selectively chosen either the dead or live Favia.

The present study focuses on the application of stochastic modeling technique in analyzing the future trends of aerosol optical properties. For this, the Box–Jenkins ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) model has been used for simulating the monthly average Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD550 nm) retrieved from Terra MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) over New Delhi, the urban capital of India. The satellite dataset has been collected for a period of ten years from 2004 to 2014. The analysis of autocorrelation function indicates existence of seasonality in the AOD time series. Several seasonal ARIMA models have been generated and their validation has been verified by assessing various estimation parameters, using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20). After rigorous evaluation of the selected models, the ARIMA (1,0,0)x(0,1,2)12 is identified as the best fit model w.r.t. measures of goodness-of-fit like Stationary R-square (0.530), R-square (0.674), Root Mean Squared Error (0.128); Mean Absolute Error (0.095); Mean Absolute Percentage Error (16.942); and normalized Bayesian Information Criteria (−3.941). The selected models have been further used to forecast AOD values for the year 2014 at 95% level of confidence. However, the ARIMA (1,0,0)x(2,1,1)12 model is found to have minimum forecasting error, calculated as Mean Percentage Error (0.220). As the difference in BIC of both the models is minimal (0.046), so both the models have been considered as best fit models and utilized for prediction of AOD. Satisfactory results have been obtained using the selected ARIMA models, suggesting that a simplistic modeling technique for determining the future values of AOD is feasible.

Unusually large amounts of marine snow, including Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS), were formed during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The marine snow settled with oil and clay minerals as an oily sludge layer on the deep sea floor. This study tested the hypothesis that the unprecedented amount of chemical dispersants applied during high phytoplankton densities in the Gulf of Mexico induced high EPS formation. Two marine phytoplankton species (Dunaliella tertiolecta and Phaeodactylum tricornutum) produced EPS within days when exposed to the dispersant Corexit 9500. Phytoplankton-associated bacteria were shown to be responsible for the formation. The EPS consisted of proteins and to lesser extent polysaccharides. This study reveals an unexpected consequence of the presence of phytoplankton. This emphasizes the need to test the action of dispersants under realistic field conditions, which may seriously alter the fate of oil in the environment via increased marine snow formation.

The EU directive to quantify ecological quality by deviation from pre-impacted conditions often fails to be implemented because past information is usually incomplete or missing. Molluscan death assemblages, representing long-term accumulation of shells on the sea floor, average out short-term variability and can serve as a baseline for quality assessment. AMBI, Bentix and Shannon–Wiener indices were calculated for live and dead assemblages from polluted and control stations on the highly oligotrophic Levantine shallow shelf of Israel. Bentix successfully tracked deterioration over time, from moderate EcoQS in the dead to poor in the live assemblage. Additional modification of the ecological classification of species by scoring the naturally abundant Corbula gibba as pollution-sensitive improved the utility of the Bentix index in monitoring in this part of the Mediterranean. This adjustment of Bentix, and use of death assemblages for an ecological baseline, should therefore be incorporated in monitoring for compliance with EU directives.

Effect of environmental particulate materials on kinetics and mechanism of corrosion of industrial grade copper exposed in different parts of India is investigated. It is observed that the level of particulate materials in the atmosphere has more dominant role than the acidic gases on initiation of corrosion, formation of protective patina on the surface of the exposed samples leading to mitigation of corrosion. The identification of corrosion products formed on the surface of exposed samples by Raman spectroscopy provides very vital information to explain the observed corrosion rate of the metal computed in different environments. Electrochemical anodic polarization of the exposed samples supports the mechanism proposed for accelerating and protective effect on corrosion of the metals exposed in different environments.