Marine debris (MDs) produces a wide variety of negative environmental, economic, safety, health and cultural impacts. Most marine litter has a very low decomposition rate (plastics), leading to a gradual accumulation in the coastal and marine environment. Characterization of the MDs has been done in terms of their pollutant content: PAHs, ClBzs, ClPhs, BrPhs, PCDD/Fs and PCBs. The results show that MDs is not a very contaminated waste. Also, thermal decomposition of MDs materials has been studied in a thermobalance at different atmospheres and heating rates. Below 400–500K, the atmosphere does not affect the thermal degradation of the mentioned waste. However, at temperatures between 500 and 800K the presence of oxygen accelerates the decomposition. Also, a kinetic model is proposed for the combustion of the MDs, and the decomposition is compared with that of their main constituents, i.e., polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), nylon and polyethylene-terephthalate (PET).

The composition, spatial distribution and source of marine litter in the Spanish Southeast Mediterranean were assessed. The data proceed from a marine litter retention programme implemented by commercial trawlers and were analysed by GIS. By weight, 75.9% was plastic, metal and glass. Glass and plastics were mainly found close to the coast. A high concentration of metal was observed in some isolated zones of both open and coastal waters. Fishing activity was the source of 29.16% of the macro-marine litter, almost 68.1% of the plastics, and 25.1% of the metal. The source of the other 60.84% could not be directly identified, revealing the high degree of uncertainty regarding its specific origin. Indirectly however, a qualitative analysis of marine traffic shows that the likely sources were merchant ships mainly in open waters and recreational and fishing vessels in coastal waters.

In studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, visual separation of plastic particles from gastrointestinal tracts or their dietary content can be challenging. Earlier studies have used solutions to dissolve organic materials leaving synthetic particles unaffected. However, insufficient tests have been conducted to ensure that different categories of consumer products partly degraded in the environment and/or in gastrointestinal tracts were not affected. In this study 63 synthetic materials and 11 other dietary items and non-plastic marine debris were tested. Irrespective of shape or preceding environmental history, most polymers resisted potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, with the exceptions of cellulose acetate from cigarette filters, some biodegradable plastics and a single polyethylene sheet. Exposure of hard diet components and other marine debris showed variable results. In conclusion, the results confirm that usage of KOH solutions can be a useful approach in general quantitative studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife.

A new method based on photographic sampling coupled with in situ observations was applied to 53 stations along the French Mediterranean coast, to assess the integrity of coralligenous reefs affected by different levels of anthropogenic pressure. The conservation state of the assemblages characterizing these habitats was then assessed by an index – the INDEX-COR – that integrates three metrics: (i) the sensitivity of the taxa to organic matter and sediment deposition, (ii) the observable taxonomic richness, and (iii) the structural complexity of the assemblages. The sensitivity of INDEX-COR was tested and showed good correlation with the Level of Pressure calculated for each station according to expert judgment and field observations.

Swordfish (Xiphias gladius L., 1758) is an apex predator, highly migratory meso-pelagic fish widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. As top predators, this fish may be the end reservoir of the bioaccumulation of trace elements in a food chain because they occupy higher trophic levels and are an important food source, causing them to be potentially hazardous to consume. This study aims to investigate the concentration of 18 trace elements of Swordfish, caught in the Mediterranean Sea and to discuss human exposure risks. The mean element levels in the fish muscles were clearly below the maximum allowable concentrations established by International food safety regulations. The data suggested that the risk is minor and acceptable for human health. The findings of this study amplify the scarce database on contaminants available, especially new data on “emerging elements”, for this species from the Mediterranean Sea.

We simulated in the laboratory the possible effects on fatty acids and immune status of wild fish arriving for the first time in the vicinity of a sea-cage fish farm, shifting their natural diet to commercial feed consumption, rich in fatty acids of vegetable origin. The flesh fatty acid profile of golden mullet specimens was altered after 2weeks of commercial feed consumption, showing an increase in fatty acids of vegetable origin. The serum peroxidase and bactericidal activities, and head-kidney leucocyte phagocytic capacity, increased after eight weeks of the new diet, while the respiratory burst activity decreased. The extent of these changes cannot be considered large enough to regard them as compromising the health status of fish. More research is needed in order to elucidate whether the rapid assimilation of the dietary fatty acids could harm the immune status of fish when feeding for longer periods than two months.

Of the wide variety of dumped objects containing radioactive materials in the Arctic seas, the submarine K-27 constitutes a major risk due to the large amount of highly enriched uranium onboard and its location in shallow waters. As the matter of potential operations involving raising of the submarine have entered the public arena, a priori assessment of the contamination in the Arctic marine environment that could result after a possible accident during such operations is a matter of some interest. The dispersion of contaminants within the Arctic has been assessed using a large scale hydrodynamic model for a series of plausible accident scenarios and locations under different oceanographic regimes. Results indicate that, depending primarily on the nature of a release (i.e. instantaneous or continuous), large areas of the Arctic marine environment will exhibit contamination to varying degrees.

The replenishment and persistence of marine species is contingent on dispersing larvae locating suitable habitat and surviving to a reproductive stage. Pelagic larvae rely on environmental cues to make behavioural decisions with chemical information being important for habitat selection at settlement. We explored the sensory world of crustaceans and fishes focusing on the impact anthropogenic alterations (ocean acidification, red soil, pesticide) have on conspecific chemical signals used by larvae for habitat selection. Crustacean (Stenopus hispidus) and fish (Chromis viridis) larvae recognized their conspecifics via chemical signals under control conditions. In the presence of acidified water, red soil or pesticide, the ability of larvae to chemically recognize conspecific cues was altered. Our study highlights that recruitment potential on coral reefs may decrease due to anthropogenic stressors. If so, populations of fishes and crustaceans will continue their rapid decline; larval recruitment will not replace and sustain the adult populations on degraded reefs.

Atmospheric PM1 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 μm) samples have been collected during foggy (n = 17) and non-foggy nights (n = 19) in wintertime at Kanpur in central Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) to assess light absorption characteristics and direct radiative forcing of water-extractable brown carbon (BrC). We have observed a significant enhancement (two-tailed t-test: t = 2.2; at significance level: p < 0.05) in the absorption coefficient of water-extractable BrC at 365 nm (babs-BrC-365) from non-foggy (Avg.: 53.5 Mm⁻¹) to foggy episodes (69.3 Mm⁻¹). Enhancement in mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of BrC (1.8 m²/g C) during foggy episodes is consistent with that of babs-BrC-365. Absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) remained similar (2.8) during foggy and non-foggy episodes. Significantly lower value of AAE (2.8) at Kanpur compared to other places in IGP (∼5) highlights more light absorbing potential of atmospheric BrC over central IGP. Furthermore, MAE of EC at 660 nm during foggy period (8.5 m²/g) is relatively high as compared to that during the non-foggy episode (7.0 m²/g). The MAE of BrC and EC exhibited enhancement by ∼15% and 20%, respectively during foggy events. These observations are also reflected by an increase (t = 11.1; p < 0.05) in direct radiative forcing of water-extractable BrC (relative to EC) in the atmosphere: from 23.7 ± 10.8% during non-foggy to 54.3 ± 16.5% during foggy episodes. Differences in chemical composition, loading, absorption properties and direct radiative forcing (DRF) of carbonaceous aerosols during non-foggy and foggy episodes indicate predominant influence of fog-processing.

This paper presents the characterization and modeling of exhaust emissions released from the passenger cars on urban roads under heterogeneous traffic conditions. Onboard exhaust emissions measurement were made at selected corridors in a populous urban area of India. Exhaust emissions were characterized for different driving modes classified according to vehicle specific power (VSP). Results indicated that emissions at VSP modes under cruising speeds were 10–12 times less than idling (which is the mode used for emission standard certification), braking and accelerating conditions. Also it has been found that more than 20% of time vehicles were in idling conditions at most of the roads.Real-time exhaust emission prediction models for heterogeneous traffic conditions were developed using artificial neural network (ANN) technique. The vehicle characteristics such as revolutions per minute (RPM), speed, acceleration and VSP were used as input to the model. The onboard measurements of CO, HC and NOx concentrations were used to train the ANN based exhaust emission prediction models. Result showed good agreement with onboard measured emissions data (index of agreement = 0.9) of all driving modes. Further, ANN model's emissions were compared with emissions estimated from the COPERT model and emission factors recommended by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). It was found that the ANN model emissions were edge over the ARAI and COPERT model emissions and useful for urban air quality management and traffic planning.