This study investigated associations between long-term exposure to ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and mortality. 58,760 Toronto residents (≥35 years of age) were selected from tax filings and followed from 1982 to 2004. Death information was extracted using record linkage to national mortality data. Land-use regression surfaces for benzene, n-hexane, and total hydrocarbons were generated from sampling campaigns in 2002 and 2004 and assigned to residential addresses in 1982. Cox regression was used to estimate relationships between each VOC and non-accidental, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Positive associations were observed for each VOC. In multi-pollutant models the benzene and total hydrocarbon signals were strongest for cancer. The hazard ratio for cancer that corresponded to an increase in the interquartile range of benzene (0.13 μg/m3) was 1.06 (95% CI = 1.02–1.11). Our findings suggest ambient concentrations of VOCs were associated with cancer mortality, and that these exposures did not confound our previously reported associations between NO2 and cardiovascular mortality.

Marine debris has been found in marine animals since the early 20th century, but little is known about the impacts of the ingestion of debris in large marine mammals. In this study we describe a case of mortality of a sperm whale related to the ingestion of large amounts of marine debris in the Mediterranean Sea (4th published case worldwide to our knowledge), and discuss it within the context of the spatial distribution of the species and the presence of anthropogenic activities in the area that could be the source of the plastic debris found inside the sperm whale. The spatial distribution modelled for the species in the region shows that these animals can be seen in two distinct areas: near the waters of Almería, Granada and Murcia and in waters near the Strait of Gibraltar. The results shows how these animals feed in waters near an area completely flooded by the greenhouse industry, making them vulnerable to its waste products if adequate treatment of this industry’s debris is not in place. Most types of these plastic materials have been found in the individual examined and cause of death was presumed to be gastric rupture following impaction with debris, which added to a previous problem of starvation. The problem of plastics arising from greenhouse agriculture should have a relevant section in the conservation plans and should be a recommendation from ACCOBAMS due to these plastics’ and sperm whales’ high mobility in the Mediterranean Sea.

Plastic debris is often ingested by marine predators and can cause health disorders and even death. We present the first assessment of plastic ingestion in Mediterranean seabirds. We quantified and measured plastics accumulated in the stomach of 171 birds from 9 species accidentally caught by longliners in the western Mediterranean from 2003 to 2010. Cory’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) showed the highest occurrence (94%) and large numbers of small plastic particles per affected bird (on average N=15.3±24.4 plastics and mass=23.4±49.6mg), followed by Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan, 70%, N=7.0±7.9, 42.1±100.0mg), Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus, 70%, N=3.6±2.9, 5.5±9.7mg) and the rest of species (below 33%, N=2.7, 113.6±128.4mg). Plastic characteristics did not differ between sexes and were not related to the physical condition of the birds. Our results point out the three endemic and threatened shearwater species as being particularly exposed to plastic accumulation.

In laboratory experiments, the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa was exposed to settling particles. The effects of reef sediment, petroleum drill cuttings and a mix of both, on the development of anoxia at the coral surface were studied using O2, pH and H2S microsensors and by assessing coral polyp mortality. Due to the branching morphology of L. pertusa and the release of coral mucus, accumulation rates of settling material on coral branches were low. Microsensors detected H2S production in only a few samples, and sulfate reduction rates of natural reef sediment slurries were low (<0.3nmolScm−3d−1). While the exposure to sediment clearly reduced the coral’s accessibility to oxygen, L. pertusa tolerated both partial low-oxygen and anoxic conditions without any visible detrimental short-term effect, such as tissue damage or death. However, complete burial of coral branches for >24h in reef sediment resulted in suffocation.

Air particulate matter (PM) samples were collected in Singapore from 21 to 29 October 2010. During this time period, a severe regional smoke haze episode lasted for a few days (21–23 October). Physicochemical and toxicological characteristics of both haze and non-haze aerosols were evaluated. The average mass concentration of PM₂.₅ (PM with aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm) increased by a factor of 4 during the smoke haze period (107.2 μg/m³) as compared to that during the non-smoke haze period (27.0 μg/m³). The PM₂.₅ samples were analyzed for 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and 10 transition metals. Out of the seven PAHs known as potential or suspected carcinogens, five were found in significantly higher levels in smoke haze aerosols as compared to those in the background air. Metal concentrations were also found to be higher in haze aerosols. Additionally, the toxicological profile of the PM₂.₅ samples was evaluated using a human epithelial lung cell line (A549). Cell viability and death counts were measured after a direct exposure of PM₂.₅ samples to A459 cells for a period of 48 h. The percentage of metabolically active cells decreased significantly following a direct exposure to PM samples collected during the haze period. To provide further insights into the toxicological characteristics of the aerosol particles, glutathione levels, as an indirect measure of oxidative stress and caspase-3/7 levels as a measure of apoptotic death, were also evaluated.