ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) have widespread commercial uses and their impact on agricultural systems is unresolved. This study examined whether the metabolites washed from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) roots modulated the metabolic response to the NPs of a biosensor generated in the root colonizer, Pseudomonas putida KT2440. The root wash components boosted light output of the biosensor consistent with their catabolism. Dose-dependent and rapid inhibition of cell metabolism occurred with both ZnO and CuO NPs in water suspensions but high light output was maintained in root wash. Root wash also protected biosensor output in challenges with Zn ions. However the root wash components did not protect culturability or biosensor light output upon exposure to Cu ions. Imaging by atomic force microscopy suggested that root wash materials coated the NPs. We deduced that the response of a microbe to these metal oxide NPs could be negated by components released from roots.

Fifteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM2.5 samples collected in five different cities (Hong Kong (HK), Guangzhou (GZ), Xiamen (XM), Xi'an (XA) and Beijing (BJ)) in China in the winter 2012–12 were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The biological effects of organic extracts were assayed using the human bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B. All sixteen priority PAHs can be found in the PM2.5 samples of XA and BJ, but not in HK, GZ and XM, demonstrating the differential spatial source and distribution of PAHs. Our results showed that the total PAHs ranged from 3.35 to 80.45 ng/m3 air, leading by BJ, followed by XA, XM, GZ and HK. In the cell culture study, transcript levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 were found to be induced in the treatment. The cells exposed to extracts from XA and BJ demonstrated significant migratory activities, indicating a sign of increase of tumorigenicity.

Because large, shallow lakes are heavily influenced by wind–wave disturbance, it is difficult to estimate internal phosphorus load using traditional methods. To estimate the potential contribution of phosphorus from sediment to overlying water in eutrophic Lake Taihu, phosphorus fractions of surface and deep layer sediments were quantified and analyzed for algal bloom potential using a Standard Measurements and Testing (SMT) sequential extraction method and incubation experiments. Phosphorus bound to Fe, Al and Mn oxides and hydroxides (Fe–P) and organic phosphorus (OP) were to be found bioactive. The difference in Fe–P and OP contents between surface and deep layers equates to the sediment pool of potentially algal-available phosphorus. This pool was estimated at 5168 tons for the entire lake and was closely related to pollution input and algal blooms. Profiled SMT fractionation analysis is thus a potentially useful tool for estimating internal phosphorus loading in large, shallow lakes.

We report the Sabella spallanzanii mucus bacterial agglutination response after inorganic arsenic (As) exposure. As is actively adsorbed from the surrounding environment and accumulated at high concentrations in tissues as an anti-predatory strategy. Here we investigated the effect of high As concentrations on its immunobiological response. It may act on mucus lectins and on its ability to agglutinate bacteria. We concluded that As at high concentrations leads to the inhibition of pathogen recognition. Nevertheless, although its biological activity is significant reduced in winter, responses to As concentrations are very similar, and below a certain threshold do not induce alterations, supporting the hypothesis of adaptation to high As concentrations related to involvement in predation defence.

Accurate source identification is the first step of pollution control in environmental emergency management, especially in marine pollution events. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) absorption and fluorescence (excitation-emission matrices, EEMs) analyses were applied to trace contaminant sources for a pollution event that occurred along the coast of Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of the EEMs identified four fluorescent components: terrestrial humic-like (C1), tryptophan-like (C2), and a mixture of terrestrial and marine humic-like (C3) and tyrosine-like (C4) components. The relationships among C1 to C4 and quality indices indicated that the DOM originated from terrestrial input and biological activity. The EEMs-PARAFAC results accompanied by the optical characteristics of DOM and fingerprinting demonstrated that the marine pollution event occurred was from enterprise emissions. The numerical simulation confirmed the reliability of EEMs-PARAFAC modeling for DOM fingerprinting of pollution sources in polluted regions. This study provided a feasible method for source recognition in marine pollution events.

The Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) are heavily dependent on the marine resources for food security, employment, government revenue and economic development, hence the concern about the potential exposure of these resources to pollutants. The main goal of this review was to identify ecotoxicology studies published that were done in PICTs. Four major gaps were identified: i) a quantitative gap, with low number of studies published on the PICTs; ii) a geographic gap, where ecotoxicology studies have unevenly covered the different PICTs; iii) a temporal gap, as no biological effect monitoring study has so far been published for the PICTs; and, iv) a pollutants gap, as all of the PICTs studies focused mainly on environmental monitoring studying on average two types of pollutants (heavy metals and pesticides) per PICT only. We suggest, therefore, the potential risk to the marine environment to be estimated by assessing the fate of pollutants via chemical and biological effect monitoring.

A cliff-face disposal system discharging approximately 940 ML/day, or 80% of sewage generated by the City of Sydney (Australia) (population 3.3 million) was replaced by three deepwater ocean outfalls in the early 1990s. Enrichment of anthropogenic chemicals from cliff-face discharges raised concerns regarding long-term accumulation of sewage particulates and associated contaminants in offshore sediments and for reduced beach water quality. The current post-commissioning investigation detected a southward gradient of sediment fining and increased total organic carbon in the study region. Deepwater ocean discharges have not contributed to an accumulation of fines, or to increased metallic/nonmetallic chemicals of concern with no elevated risk of adverse biological effects beyond pre-commissioning conditions. Instead, the best modelled relationship was recorded between benthic infauna and sedimentary fines and not to contaminants. Historic sea dumping prior to 1932 in the north of the study area has resulted in enrichment of some non-bioavailable sedimentary metals.

The dynamics of the aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) were investigated in the eutrophic coastal waters of Guanabara Bay (RJ-Brazil). Large phytoplankton blooms stimulated by a high nutrient enrichment promoted the production of organic matter with strong uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in surface waters, lowering the concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2aq), and increasing the pH, Ωarag and carbonate ion (CO32−), especially during summer. The increase of Ωarag related to biological activity was also evident comparing the negative relationship between the Ωarag and the apparent utilization of oxygen (AOU), with a very close behavior between the slopes of the linear regression and the Redfield ratio. The lowest values of Ωarag were found at low-buffered waters in regions that receive direct discharges from domestic effluents and polluted rivers, with episodic evidences of corrosive waters (Ωarag<1). This study showed that the eutrophication controlled the variations of Ωarag in Guanabara Bay.

This study investigated the long-term variations and compositions of nutrients and the associated controlling factors in the western North Yellow Sea on the basis of historical data. The NO3-N and DIN concentrations and N/P showed continuous increases over the past two decades, which were dominantly affected by riverine inputs, such as inputs from the Yellow River, Yalujiang River and Jia River and atmospheric deposition. However, due to human activities, such as dam construction in rivers and climate change, the SiO3-Si concentrations and Si/P ratios decreased before the early 1990s and then gradually increased. The vertical distributions of nutrients displayed higher concentrations at the bottom than those at the surface in summer, which was attributed to the combined influence of the thermocline, the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass, the Yellow Sea Warm Current and biological activities.

The metal pollution has posed great risk on the coastal organisms along the Jiulongjiang Estuary in South China. In this work, two-dimensional electrophoresis-based proteomics was applied to the oysters Crassostrea hongkongensis from metal pollution sites to characterize the proteomic responses to metal pollution. Metal accumulation and proteomic responses indicated that the oysters from BJ site were more severely contaminated than those from FG site. Compared with those oyster samples from the clean site (JZ), metal pollution induced cellular injuries, oxidative and immune stresses in oyster heapatopancreas from both BJ and FG sites via differential metabolic pathways. In addition, metal pollution in BJ site induced disturbance in energy and lipid metabolisms in oysters. Results indicated that cathepsin L and ferritin GF1 might be the biomarkers of As and Fe in oyster C. hongkongensis, respectively. This study demonstrates that proteomics is a useful tool for investigating biological effects induced by metal pollution.