Thirteen samples of seawater were collected from Yellow Sea and East China Sea near Qingdao, Lianyungang, and Xiamen, China. They were analyzed for halogenated organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs). The compounds selected for detection were Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), Tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP), Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP), and Tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (TDBPP). The total concentrations ranged from 91.87 to 1392ng/L and the mean concentrations of these four chemicals were 134.44, 84.12, 109.28, and 96.70ng/L, respectively. TCEP exhibited the highest concentrations, although concentrations of TCPP and TDCPP were also fairly high in Lianyungang and Xiamen. Generally, Lianyungang was the most heavily polluted district, with very high concentrations of TCEP at LYG-2 (550.54ng/L) and LYG-4 (617.92ng/L). The main sources of halogenated OPFRs were municipal and industrial effluents of wastewater treatment plants in the nearby economic and industrial zones.

The natural abundance of 15N (δ15N) has been widely used to detect anthropogenically derived N loads in environmental impact studies. The present study involved retrospective analysis of subsamples of Fucus vesiculosus L. collected during a period of three years (2008–2010) from two sites: a control site, within a coastal reference area, and an area affected by the effluents of a marine land-based fish farm. The isotopic signal in different subsamples of the macroalgae thalli (tissue that has grown during the same period) varied depending on the age of the tissue. Moreover, the isotopic signal decreased significantly with the age of the frond to within a certain range. The δ15N of F. vesiculosus is temporally unstable; therefore, measurement of the δ15N of macroalgal tissues does not allow reliable retrospective biomonitoring of environmental pollution. Further knowledge about the growth and other biological aspects of this species is required.

We evaluated the biodegradability of physically (WAF) and chemically (CEWAF) dispersed oil in brackish water (salinity ∼6.5g/L), and the influence of nutrient availability (low nutrient-LN: background water vs. high nutrient-HN: addition of 100mgNO3-N/L and 10mg PO4-P/L to background water) on oil biodegradation rates at 15±0.5°C for 42days. No oil removal occurred in WAF compared with CEWAF: 24% in HN and 14% in LN within two weeks. The oil biodegradation concerned mainly alkanes as confirmed by GC/MS analyses. Higher O2 consumption (10.30mgL−1day−1) and CO2 production (3.89mg CL−1day−1) were measured in HN compared with LN (O2: 2.79mgL−1day−1, CO2:0.18mg CL−1day−1). Estimated biomass of hydrocarbon degraders and heterotrophic bacteria was at least an order of magnitude larger in HN than in LN. Combining dispersants with nutrients could enhance oil biodegradation and help improve oil spill mitigation responses.

In the framework of an ecological risk assessment of seaport sediments for terrestrial ecosystems when deposited in quarries, we simulated the “ageing” of sediments exposed to rain. This experiment highlighted an inflection point at the solid/liquid ratio 1/25, after which the extraction of pollutants increases moderately. The raw sediments studied inhibited the germination of Lolium perenne and Armeria maritima (a halophytic species) seeds. Furthermore, they affected the early development of L.perenne. The same sediments, leached at a ratio of 1/25, presented a reduction of acute (germination) and chronic (growth) phytotoxicity. The bioconcentration factors of the metals studied decreased with the leached sediment, except for Cu which was still clearly identified in root parts. Thus rotary leaching tests and phytotoxicity bioassays can be used to provide an initial assessment of the ability of plants, particularly halophytes, to colonize deposits of dredged seaport sediments.

Remote-sensing for oil spills is reviewed. The use of visible techniques is ubiquitous, however it gives only the same results as visual monitoring. Oil has no particular spectral features that would allow for identification among the many possible background interferences. Cameras are only useful to provide documentation. In daytime oil absorbs light and remits this as thermal energy at temperatures 3–8K above ambient, this is detectable by infrared (IR) cameras.Laser fluorosensors are useful instruments because of their unique capability to identify oil on backgrounds that include water, soil, weeds, ice and snow. They are the only sensor that can positively discriminate oil on most backgrounds. Radar detects oil on water by the fact that oil will dampen water-surface capillary waves under low to moderate wave/wind conditions. Radar offers the only potential for large area searches, day/night and foul weather remote sensing.

In order to assess the environmental quality of the Bizerte lagoon (Tunisia), biomarker and contaminant levels were measured in Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from five selected sites. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were quantified in whole body and enzyme activities such as acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in gills. Despite the relatively low levels of organic contaminants, the selected biomarkers responded differently according to the pollution level at the different sites. GST and AChE activities were correlated with the amount of DDTs in mussel tissues. These two enzymatic activities were also correlated to temperature and pH. No significant difference was observed for CAT activity. Principal component analysis showed a clear separation of sampling sites in three different assemblages which is consistent with POP body burden in mussels. Our results confirmed the usefulness of combining biomarker and chemical analyses in mussels to assess chemical pollution in the Bizerte lagoon.

Hypoxia alters the oxidation–reduction balance and the biogeochemical processes in sediments, but little is known about its impacts on the microbial community that is responsible for such processes. In this study, we investigated the effects of hypoxia and the ubiquitously dispersed flame-retardant BDE47 on the bacterial communities in marine surface sediments during a 28-days microcosm experiment. Both hypoxia and BDE47 alone significantly altered the bacterial community and reduced the species and genetic diversity. UniFrac analysis revealed that BDE47 selected certain bacterial species and resulted in major community shifts, whereas hypoxia changed the relative abundances of taxa, suggesting slower but nonetheless significant community shifts. These two stressors targeted mostly different taxa, but they both favored Bacteroidetes and suppressed Gammaproteobacteria. Importantly, the impacts of BDE47 on bacterial communities were different under hypoxic and normoxic conditions, highlighting the need to consider risk assessments for BDE47 in a broader context of interaction with hypoxia.

Reverse osmosis membranes at many desalination plants are disinfected by periodic shock treatments with sodium metabisulphite, which have potentially toxic effects to the environment for marine life, although no empirical and experimental evidence for this is yet available. The aim of this study was to characterise for the first time, the physico-chemical modification of the marine environment and its biological effects, caused by hypersaline plumes during these membrane cleaning treatments. The case study was the Maspalomas II desalination plant, located in the south of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). Toxicity bioassays were performed on marine species characteristic for the infralittoral soft bottoms influenced by the brine plume (Synodus synodus and Cymodocea nodosa), and revealed a high sensitivity to short-term exposure to low sodium metabisulphite concentrations. The corrective measure of incorporating a diffusion system with Venturi Eductors reduced nearly all the areas of influence, virtually eliminating the impact of the disinfectant.

Global in its distribution and pervading all levels of the water column, marine debris poses a serious threat to marine habitats and wildlife. For cetaceans, ingestion or entanglement in debris can cause chronic and acute injuries and increase pollutant loads, resulting in morbidity and mortality. However, knowledge of the severity of effects lags behind that for other species groups. This literature review examines the impacts of marine debris on cetaceans reported to date. It finds that ingestion of debris has been documented in 48 (56% of) cetacean species, with rates of ingestion as high as 31% in some populations. Debris-induced mortality rates of 0–22% of stranded animals were documented, suggesting that debris could be a significant conservation threat to some populations. We identify key data that need to be collected and published to improve understanding of the threat that marine debris poses to cetaceans.

Green algal blooms have occurred in the Yellow Sea for seven consecutive years from 2007 to 2013. In this study, satellite image analysis and field shipboard observations indicated that the Ulva blooms in 2013 originated in the Rudong coast. The spatial distribution of Ulva microscopic propagules in the Southern Yellow Sea also supported that the blooms originated in the Rudong coast. In addition, multi-source satellite data were used to evaluate the biomass of green algae on the Pyropia aquaculture rafts. The results showed that approximately 2784 tons of Ulva prolifera were attached to the rafts and possessed the same internal transcribed spacer and 5S rDNA sequence as the dominant species in the 2013 blooms. We conclude that the significant biomass of Ulva species on the Pyropia rafts during the harvesting season in radial tidal sand ridges played an important role in the rapid development of blooms in the Yellow Sea.