Concentrations of 11 elements were quantified in five marine species from different trophic levels of a food web (algae, mussel, shrimp and fish), representative for shallow Senegalese coastal waters, and including species of commercial importance. Significant differences in element concentrations and bioaccumulation were demonstrated, revealing the utility of employing a suite of organisms as bioindicators to monitor metal contamination in coastal areas. There was no clear seasonal pattern in concentration of elements, however inter-site differences were observed. Calculations of transfer factors for all the studied elements showed that transfer factors from water were greater than those from sediments. For shrimp and mussel, the concentrations of Pb and Cd were below the EU's maximum level for human consumption, however high concentrations of arsenic in shrimp were recorded at all sites.

Stormwater is a challenging source of coastal pollution to abate because stormwater also involves complex natural processes, and differentiating these processes from anthropogenic excesses is difficult. The goal of this study was to identify the natural concentrations of stormwater constituents along the 1377km coastline of California, USA. Twenty-eight ocean reference sites, a priori defined by lack of human disturbance in its adjacent watershed, were collected following 78 site-events and measured for 57 constituents and toxicity. Results indicated a complete lack of toxicity and undetectable levels of anthropogenic constituents (i.e., pesticides). The range of concentrations in ocean receiving waters for naturally-occurring constituents (i.e., total suspended solids, nutrients, trace metals) typically ranged three orders of magnitude. Regional differences and storm characteristics did not explain much of the variations in concentration. The reference site information is now being used to establish targets for marine protected areas subject to runoff from developed watersheds.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the burden of environmental pollution by Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Organochlorine Pesticides (OCs) in two localities of Rio de Janeiro coast, through the determination of these levels in specimens of mullets and croakers collected from May to August 2008, at Guanabara Bay (GB) and from Araújo Island (AI), at Paraty Bay. Twenty three organochlorine pollutants were detected in croakers at GB and twenty in mullets and all PCBs congeners investigated in the study were present in the two species. Ratio ∑DDT/∑PCB of 1.4 shows an important contribution of agricultural residues in GB and p,p′-DDE/∑DDT of 0.1 demonstrates a reintroduction of DDT. Consumption of mullet may represent a risk to the health of fishermen families from GB, with average and maximum estimated daily intake of ∑DDT of 9.012μg/kg p.c. and 26,174μg/kg p.c., representing 45% and 131% of ADI established by WHO.

We evaluated the influence of storm waves on the intertidal community structure of urbanized and non-urbanized areas of a sandy beach on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The macrofauna was sampled before (PREV) and after two storm wave events (POEV I; POEV II) in 2013 and 2014. Significant differences in community structure between PREV and POEV I in the urbanized sector demonstrate higher macrofauna vulnerability, and the community recovery within 41days on this scenario of less frequent events in 2013. On the other hand, significant differences in the macrofauna only in the urbanized sector between PREV and POEV II also highlight macrofauna vulnerability and community recovery failure within 42days on this scenario of more frequent storm in 2014. Urbanization and wave height were the variables that most influenced species, indicating that high storm wave events and increasing urbanization synergism are a threat to the macrofauna.

Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay, and the Seto Inland Sea are the total pollutant load control target areas in Japan. A significant correlation between the incidence of red tides and water quality has been observed in the Seto Inland Sea (Honjo, 1991). However, while red tides also occur in Ise Bay and Tokyo Bay, similar correlations have not been observed. Hence, it is necessary to understand what factors cause red tides to effectively manage these semi-closed systems. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the dynamics of the Red Tide Index and nitrogen regulation as well as phosphorus regulation, even in Ise Bay where, unlike Tokyo Bay, there are few observation items, by selecting a suitable objective variable. The introduction of a new technique that uses the Red Tide Index has revealed a possibility that the total pollution load control has influenced the dynamics of red tide blooms in Ise Bay.

The Biguglia lagoon is a shallow Mediterranean coastal ecosystem where eutrophication is increasing for years. A channel supplying freshwater was cleared in 2009 to enhance lagoon water circulation and alleviate dystrophic crises. Monthly monitoring was started in 2010 to document the impacts of this action on abiotic characteristics and phytoplankton communities. Three stations were surveyed (by microscopy and HPLC). Evidence suggests that this operation had an unexpected outcome. Salinity footprints indicated the succession of three main hydrological sequences that depended on rainfall and circulation pattern. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominated the first sequence, characterized by heavy rainfall, while Prorocentrum minimum became progressively the dominant species in the second period (increasing salinities) with extensive bloom over the whole lagoon (5.93×10-5cells·L−1) during the third period. These phytoplankton successions and community structures underline the risk of pernicious effects arising from remediation efforts, in the present case based on increasing freshwater inputs.

Blooms of Alexandrium pacificum (formerly Alexandrium tamarense) are common in Chinhae Bay (Korea), presumably linked to anthropogenic eutrophication. Here we examine PSP toxin content and composition in axenic chemostat and batch cultures of A. pacificum using growth conditions that differed according to dilution rate, nutrient limitations, and enrichments. Phosphate (P)-limited cells in chemostat cultures had higher toxin content and a toxin composition that differed from that of nitrogen (N)-limited cells at the highest growth rates. Therefore, toxin composition changes do occur in axenic cultures of A. pacificum following extended growth under steady state conditions. In nutrient-limited batch cultures that received N and P enrichment, the N-enriched cultures showed a more diverse toxin profile than the P-enriched cells; the toxin content of N-enriched cells was lower than in the P-enriched cultures. We infer the following order for the biosynthesis of individual toxins: C1, C2>GTX3>GTX1>neoSTX.

Stable isotope analyses of the abundant infaunal polychaete Hediste diversicolor, recognised as an indicator of sewage pollution, support the hypothesis that nutrient enrichment promotes surface deposit feeding, over suspension feeding and predation. At sewage-polluted sites in three estuaries in SE England Hediste mainly consumed microphytobenthos, sediment organic matter and filamentous macroalgae Ulva spp. At cleaner sites Hediste relied more on suspension feeding and consumption of Spartina anglica. There were no consistent differences in Hediste densities between the polluted and cleaner sites, probably because of increased densities at the cleaner sites too, facilitated by the planting of Spartina and nitrogen enrichment there too, including from agricultural run-off. Increased nutrient enrichment and the artificial availability of Spartina have probably increased densities of, and deposit-feeding by, Hediste in the past half-century and contributed indirectly to saltmarsh losses, since deposit-feeding by Hediste has been implicated in recent saltmarsh erosion in SE England.

The results of three measurement campaigns are presented in this study. The campaigns have been undertaken at an urban roadside site in London, for more than a year and three months in 2003–2004 and for a year in 2008, and at an urban background site in Birmingham, U.K, for about four months in 2002. The concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NOx and NO2 were predicted using the roadside dispersion model CAR-FMI, combined with a national U.K. emission model, a meteorological pre-processor, and measured values at urban background stations. The agreement of the predicted and measured hourly and daily time-series has been assessed statistically for all of the campaigns and pollutants. For instance, the Indices of Agreement (IA) in all the campaigns ranged from 0.68 to 0.78, 0.87, from 0.70 to 0.80, and from 0.61 to 0.83 for PM2.5, PM10, NOx and NO2, respectively. However, in case of the campaigns in London, both the PM fractions and the nitrogen oxide concentrations were under-predicted. The model performance in terms of atmospheric stability, wind speeds and other factors was analysed, and reasons for the disagreement of predictions and measurements have been discussed. It is useful to consider the model performance statistics for several measurement campaigns simultaneously, as some of the results were found to be specific only to one or two campaigns. The spatial concentration distribution of NOx in London for 2008 has also been presented.

Indoor concentrations of 34 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) were measured at 32 sampling points in classes, offices and hallways of the Environmental Engineering Department (ENVE) in the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. Outdoor samples were also collected around the department during the sampling campaigns. Two passive sampling campaigns, one in summer and the other one in winter, were conducted. Indoor concentrations of most pollutants were higher than their outdoor concentrations owing to the presence of indoor sources. The notable exception to this general pattern is O3. The average indoor/outdoor concentration ratio (I/O) was 10.9 in winter and 3.7 in summer. For most of the VOCs, the winter concentrations were higher than their summer concentrations due to more effective ventilation of the building and variation of emissions during summer months. Compounds with higher concentrations in the summer samples were the ones that were strongly affected by solvent evaporation in laboratories.