While numerous studies worldwide have evaluated the short-term associations of fine and coarse particulate matter (PM) air pollution with mortality and morbidity, these studies may be susceptible to short-term harvesting effect. We aimed to investigate the short-term association between mortality and PM with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and those between 2.5 and 10 μm (PMc) within a month prior to death, and assess the mortality displacement by PM2.5 and PMc among elderly population in Hong Kong.We obtained air pollution data from January 2011 to December 2015 from Environmental Protection Department, and daily cause-specific mortality data from Census and Statistical Department of Hong Kong. We performed generalized additive distributed lag model to examine the acute, delayed and long-lasting effects of PM2.5 and PMc within one month on mortality.We observed a statistically significant association of PM2.5 and PMc exposure over lags 0–6 days with all natural mortality and cardio-respiratory mortality. The overall cumulative effect of PM2.5 over 0–30 lag days was 3.44% (95% CI: 0.30–6.67%) increase in all natural mortality and 6.90% (95% CI: 0.58–13.61%) increase of circulatory mortality, which suggested the absence of mortality displacement by PM2.5. On the other hand, no significant cumulative association with mortality was found for PMc over 0–30 lag exposure window, and thus mortality displacement by PMc cannot be ruled out. Findings remained robust in various sensitivity analyses.We found adverse effect of both PM2.5 and PMc exposure within one week prior to death. While there was no evidence of mortality displacement in the association of PM2.5 exposure over one month prior with all natural and circulatory mortality, mortality displacement by PMc cannot be ruled out. PM2.5 may contribute more to the longer term effect of particulate matter than PMc.

Studies differentiating the cardiorespiratory morbidity effects of PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, and PM₂.₅∼₁₀ (i.e. coarse PM or PMc) are still limited and inconsistent.To estimate the acute, cumulative, and harvesting effects of exposure to the three size-specific PM on cardiorespiratory morbidity, and their concentration-response relations.A total of 6,727,439 emergency department (ED) visits were collected from 16 public teaching hospitals in Guangzhou, from January 1st 2012 to December 31st 2015, among which over 2.1 million were asthma, COPD, pneumonia, respiratory tract infection (RTI), hypertension, stroke, and coronary heart disease (CHD). Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) was used to estimate the associations between the three size-specific PM and ED visits for the cardiovascular diseases. Long-term trends, seasonality, influenza epidemics, meteorological factors, and other gas pollutants, including SO2, NO₂, and O₃, were adjusted. We stratified the analyses by gender and age.Elevated PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ were significantly associated with increased ED visits for pneumonia, RTI, and CHD at both lag₀ and lag₀₋₃. A 10 μg/m³ increment of PMc (at lag₀₋₁₄) was estimated to increase ED visits for pneumonia by 6.32% (95% CI, 4.19, 8.49) and for RTI by 4.72% (95% CI, 3.81, 5.63), respectively. PMc showed stronger cumulative effects on asthma in children than elderly. We observed significant harvesting effects (i.e. morbidity displacements) of the three size-specific PM on respiratory but very little on cardiovascular ED visits. The concentration-response curves suggested non-linear relations between exposures to the three different sizes of PM and respiratory morbidity.Overall, the three size-specific PM demonstrated distinct acute and cumulative effects on the cardiorespiratory diseases. PM₂.₅ and PMc would have significant effects on pneumonia and RTI. Strategies should be considered to further reduce levels of ambient PM₂.₅ and PMc.

The Manila clam is emerging as a relevant species for the Portuguese market. The present work was conducted in the Tagus estuary to evaluate 1) the metals and As content in the sediments of the Tagus estuary, especially on those areas subjected to Manila clam harvesting 2) the metals and As content in clams, and the risk associated with their consumption 3) the physiological and biochemical responses of the clam to metals and As contamination, and its possible role as a pollution bioindicator in the estuarine environment. The most contaminated sediments were identified nearby industrial areas, nevertheless clams collected in low contaminated areas showed high metals and As concentrations. The condition index, glycogen content, membrane oxidative damage, biotransformation enzymes and metallothioneins showed consistent responses to metals and As content in clams. Results emphasize the need for the development of a management plan for the species exploitation in the Tagus estuary.

The United Arab Emirates fisheries consist of highly diverse fish communities, and the most popular equipment used by fishermen to harvest them is a traditional baited basket fishing trap known locally as “gargoor”. Gargoors are dome-shaped traps made from galvanized steel; they have a circular supporting base and a funnel-like entrance. Unintended impacts of gargoors on marine fauna include bycatch of non-target species and, when lost, ghost fishing. However, there is very little information on sea turtle interaction with gargoors. In this paper we present two case reports from the eastern coast of the UAE of green sea turtle strandings associated with gargoor interactions. The first case report describes a turtle that was discovered trapped inside a lost or abandoned gargoor. The second case report describes another turtle that suffered from extensive perforation of the gastrointestinal tract resulting from the ingestion of 32 pieces of rusty gargoor fragments.

The straw on the soil in the green cane harvesting system acts as a physical barrier to the action of the pre-emergence herbicides. However, some herbicides have physico-chemical characteristics to pass through the straw in water solution. The aim was to evaluate the influence of different densities of sugarcane straw on the leaching of aminocyclopyrachlor in a tropical soil (Oxisol—Typic Hapludox) in a system of green cane harvesting. The experiment was carried out using glass columns filled with soil, with and without sugarcane straw (0, 5, 10, and 20 t ha⁻¹) on the top of the soil. ¹⁴C-aminocyclopyrachlor was applied followed by 200 mm of simulated rain for 48 h. The herbicide was detected in all soil layers (0–30 cm), and in the leachate (> 30 cm), in small trace amounts (≤ 0.21%) in all treatments, showing that aminocyclopyrachlor undergoes a high degree of leaching in the clayey soil. In the absence of straw, 39% of the herbicide remained in the upper layer (0–5 cm). In the presence of straw, the herbicide was distributed through the soil profile, mainly from 0 to 25 cm. Forty percent more herbicide was retained in the straw with 20 t ha⁻¹ of sugarcane straw. Thus, it is concluded that the straw in high amounts retains aminocyclopyrachlor, but does not prevent it from reaching the soil; the high solubility of the herbicide and intense rainfall in a short period of time are factors that contribute to the herbicide passing through this barrier.

Along the coast of Maine, USA, there are numerous wastewater treatment plants that discharge their treated effluents into a river estuary which is shared by commercial fishing and shellfish harvesting. Occasionally, there can be failures or bypasses of treatment plants that lead to untreated or partially treated sewage flowing into shellfish harvesting waters. To prevent any toxic contamination of harvested shellfish, a prohibitive zone is established around the treatment plant where shellfish harvesting is prohibited. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conducted numerous dye studies on both coasts of the USA to determine these prohibitive zones, based on the guidelines of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. In May 2010, the FDA conducted such a dye study at the Yarmouth, Maine wastewater treatment plant. The results are compared with a numerical coastal model that provides the velocity field for the currents around the treatment plant. This model includes a diffusion equation to simulate dye dispersion from a point source which is used to determine the prohibitive zone. The numerical model shows good correlation with the FDA dye study report and establishes a prohibitive zone for commercial harvesting in keeping with that of the FDA study. The benefits of the numerical model include sampling at thousands of locations simultaneously, seasonal changes in river volumes, and changes in plant discharge volumes.

Even if it is less polluting than other farm sectors, grape growing management has to adopt measures to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to preserve the quality of grapevine by-products. In viticulture, by land and crop management, GHG emissions can be reduced through adjusting methods of tillage, fertilizing, harvesting, irrigation, vineyard maintenance, electricity, natural gas, and transport until wine marketing, etc. Besides CO₂, nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄), released from fertilizers and waste/wastewater management are produced in vineyards. As the main GHG in vineyards, N₂O can have the same harmful action like large quantities of CO₂. Carbon can be found in grape leaves, shoots, and even in fruit pulp, roots, canes, trunk, or soil organic matter. C sequestration in soil by using less tillage and tractor passing is one of the efficient methods to reduce GHG in vineyards, with the inconvenience that many years are needed for detectable changes. In the last decades, among other methods, cover crops have been used as one of the most efficient way to reduce GHG emissions and increase fertility in vineyards. Even if we analyze many references, there are still limited information on practical methods in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in viticulture. The aim of the paper is to review the main GHG emissions produced in vineyards and the approached methods for their reduction, in order to maintain the quality of grapes and other by-products.

The Subaé river watershed is considered one of the most critical Pb-impacted environments in Brazil and around the world, due to pollutant dispersion during 33 years of lead ore purification in Santo Amaro da Purification. Severe damages have been reported in biota and population, which depends on the Subaé river watershed quality for agriculture, fishing, and shellfish harvesting. This study aims to understand the geochemical characteristics and dynamics of the river close to the former Pb smelter. The river was sampled at eight sites upstream and eight sites downstream the smelter, near the estuary in the Todos os Santos Bay, six times during a year. Immediate analyses were performed by multiprobe. Major ions were measured by chromatography, dissolved metals by ICP-OES in the filtrated samples (0.45 μm), and particulate metals > 0.45 μm by EDX spectrometry. The ions Na⁺ and HCO₃⁻ are dominated in the river. Most of the samples (47.6%) were classified as sodic, due to oceanic saline intrusion during tide. Despite the high pollution caused by the smelter from 1960 to 1993, still observed in the surrounding soils, dissolved and particulate metals in the river remained low in all sites during the entire year. Only Cu presented some concentration above the threshold of the Brazilian regulations. The discharge of metals by the river into the Todos os Santos Bay appears to be low for Pb and Zn (2.2 and 14.3 kg km⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively), but higher for Cu comparatively to other worldwide bays.

Rice cultivation and energy use for rice production can produce the environmental impacts, especially related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Also, rice straw open burning by farmers generally practiced after harvesting stage in Thailand for removing the residues in the rice field is associated with emissions of air pollutants, especially particulate matter formation that affects human health and global climate. This study assessed the environmental burdens, consisting of GHG emissions, energy use, and particulate matter formation (PM10), from rice cultivation in Thailand by life cycle assessment (LCA) and compared the environmental burdens of rice straw management scenarios: open burning, incorporation into soil, and direct combustion for electricity generation. The data were collected from the rice production cooperative in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, via onsite records and face-to-face questionnaires in 2016. The environmental impacts were evaluated from cradle-to-farm gate. The results showed that the total GHG emissions were 0.64 kg CO₂-eq per kilogram of paddy rice, the total energy use was 1.80 MJ per kilogram of paddy rice and the PM10 emissions were 0.42 g PM10-eq per kilogram of paddy rice. The results of rice straw management scenarios showed that rice straw open burning had the highest GHG and PM10 emissions. However, rice straw utilization by incorporation into soil and direct combustion for electricity generation could reduce these impacts substantially.

Contamination of toxic metals in P. viridis mussels has been prevalently reported; hence, health risk assessment for consuming this aquaculture product as well as the surrounding surface seawater at its harvesting sites appears relevant. Since Kampung Pasir Puteh, Pasir Gudang is the major harvesting site in Malaysia, and because the last heavy metal assessment was done in 2009, its current status remains unclear. Herein, flame atomic absorption spectrometry and flow injection mercury/hydride system were used to determine the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu and total Hg in P. viridis mussels and surface seawater (January–March 2015), respectively. Significantly higher concentrations of these metals were found in P. viridis mussels (p < 0.05) than that of surface seawater samples. The concentrations for Pb (4.27–6.55 μg/g) and Cd (1.55–2.21 μg/g) in P. viridis mussels exceeded the maximum permitted proportion prescribed by the Malaysian law. The concentrations of all metals in surface seawater also violated the Malaysia Marine Water Quality Criteria and Standards. Significant (p < 0.05) and high strength of association (r = 0.787) observed between Pb concentration in P. viridis mussel with the surface seawater indicates its possible application for inferring Pb concentrations in the mussel. Since both the calculated target hazard quotient and hazard index for Pb and Cd exceeded 1, the possible detrimental health impacts on human for consuming P. viridis mussels from this rearing site cannot be ignored. Hence, promoting continuous monitoring programmes and developing efficient toxic metal removal techniques prior to entering the market are required.