The present study applies the model of American Meteorological Society-Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (AERMOD) to investigate NO2 emissions from Besat thermal power plant, which is fuelled by natural gas to function. Results indicate that the simulated concentration of NO2 based on AERMOD, does not exceed NO2 concentration limit, set by the Iranian Ambient Air Quality Standard. This shows that NO2 emissions from Besat power plant do not have any significant impact on nearby communities. The natural-gas-based power plant is capable of reducing the air pollution level. It also can decrease the hospital treatment costs, thus protecting public health. The modeling results shows that natural-gas-based power plant as a clean technology in power generation. Also, the AERMOD model has been used to determine the pollution source matrix of Besat power plant. An innovative idea has been implemented to not only determine air-pollution-related taxes and complexities but to solve the legal problem associated with it, also. As for the complexities, their determination entails two different methods: one, based on city's boundaries along with simulated amount of air pollutant concentrations in each receptor, and the other, based on the population of each receptor (i.e., the cities of Varamin, Eslamshahr, and Nasirshahr), which plays a vital role. According to the first approach, Varamin has the lion's share in the air pollution, caused by Best power plant. However, the second approach surprisingly shows that the largest portion belongs to Eshalmshahr, indicating the significant influence of its population.

The River Hayle in south-west England is impacted with metals and can be divided into three regions depending on the copper and zinc concentrations: a low-metal upper section; a highly-contaminated middle section and a moderately contaminated lower section. Hayle river water is toxic to metal-naive brown trout, but brown trout are found in the upper and lower regions. The study aimed to evaluate the population genetic structure of River Hayle brown trout and to determine if the highly-contaminated section acts as a chemical barrier to migration. Population genetic analysis indicated that metals were not a barrier to gene flow within the river, but there was a high level of differentiation observed between fish sampled at two sites in the upper region, despite being separated by only 1 km. The metal tolerance trait exhibited by this brown trout population may represent an important component of the species genetic diversity in this region.

Globally, millions of people who rely on groundwater for potable purposes and agriculture have been inadvertently exposed to toxic arsenic (As) because of its natural occurrence in groundwater in several countries of Asia, Europe and America. While the presence of As in groundwater and its impacts on human health have been documented in many countries, there is little information on As contamination in Pakistan. This review highlights, for the first time, the extent and severity of As-induced problems in Pakistan based on relevant published papers; discusses possible sources of As contamination of aquifers; and estimates As-induced potential health hazards in the country in relation to global data. Data from 43 studies (>9882 groundwater samples) were used to describe As variability in groundwater of Pakistan and for comparison with global data. The mean groundwater As content reported in these studies was 120 μg/L (range: 0.1–2090 μg/L; SD: ±307). About 73% of the values for mean As contents in the 43 studies were higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit (10 μg/L) for drinking water, while 41% were higher than the permissible limit of As in Pakistan (50 μg/L). It was observed that groundwater samples in some areas of Punjab and Sindh provinces contained high As concentrations which were almost equal to concentrations reported in the most contaminated areas of the world. We predicted that the mean values of ADD, HQ and CR were 4.4 μg kg⁻¹day⁻¹ (range: 0–77 μg kg⁻¹day⁻¹), 14.7 (range: 0–256) and 0.0029 (range: 0–0.0512), respectively, based on mean As concentrations reported in Pakistan. In addition, this article proposes some integrated sustainable solutions and future perspectives keeping in view the regional and global context, as well as the on-ground reality of the population drinking As-contaminated water, planning issues, awareness among civil society and role of the government bodies. Based on available data, it is predicted that almost 47 million people in Pakistan are residing in areas where more than 50% of groundwater wells contain As concentrations above the WHO recommended limit of As in drinking water.

In this study, a marine mysid, Neomysis awatschensis, was exposed to 1 × 10³–5 × 10⁵ particles mL⁻¹ of polystyrene microbeads (1 and 10 μm). Exposure to microplastics (MPs) resulted in ingestion and egestion in feces. MPs exposure during the early stage resulted in mortality and oxidative stress, while more mature stages were increasingly tolerant to MPs. Feeding rates were inhibited by MPs, and age-specific oxidative stress was observed. Growth parameters were significantly affected by MPs with lower 20–hydroxyecdysone (20E) concentrations and longer intermolt durations. The number of hatched juveniles from females that were exposed to MPs was significantly lower than the control treatment, but no significant differences were observed between survival rates of newly hatched juveniles in the different treatments. Our results suggest that the detrimental effects of prolonged exposure to MPs could be age- and size-specific and harmful for the maintenance of mysid populations.

Understanding how pollution affects populations is critical for targeted environmental risk assessments and adequate protection of the environment. However, the vast majority of ecotoxicology studies still have a traditional focus of identifying effects on individual organisms and do not measure the effects at the population-level. Modelling tools that measure population effects of pollution are available and would add value to current ecotoxicology studies by aligning outcomes more closely to what needs to be protected. In this paper I outline three possible reasons why this knowledge gap still exists and consider how they could be adopted more broadly, including better considerations about what endpoints should be measured at the initial study design phase. The purpose of highlighting this knowledge gap is to assist in facilitating the integration of population-level endpoints into routine pollution monitoring programs and progress of ecologically relevant ecotoxicology research.

Green tides have occurred in Qingdao coast in China for seven consecutive years from 2007 to 2013. To provide information on the genetic structure of these blooms, 210 free-floating green algae samples isolated from the green tide in Qingdao coast on June 19, 2013 were identified based on the ITS, rbcL and 5S sequence, and genetic diversity was investigated by microsatellite markers. According to ITS, rbcL and 5S sequence, all the 210 samples belonged to Ulva prolifera. Nei's genetic diversity and Shannon index estimated using eight microsatellite markers indicated that the genetic diversity of U. prolifera population within Qingdao's green bloom in 2013 was low. Taking into account previous reports about life history and physiology of U. prolifera, we proposed that the limited origin area of the free-floating biomass and asexual reproduction of U. prolifera might be responsible for the lower diversity of free floating U. prolifera.

MC252 oil:sand aggregates, termed surface residue balls (SRBs), were sampled for physical, chemical and microbial characteristics from different tidal zones on a coastal headland beach in Louisiana, USA. Supratidal SRBs were smaller, had low moisture content, and salinities that were <2ppt. Intertidal SRBs were hypersaline and had higher N and sulfate concentrations, consistent with regular tidal inundation. Crude oil components were highest in the intertidal “oil mat” SRBs with C1- and C2-phenanthrenes, C2- and C3-dibenzothiophenes comprising the majority of the PAH concentrations. In the other SRB categories, PAHs and alkanes were depleted and profiles were skewed toward higher molecular weight compounds. Oxygen microelectrode measurements demonstrated that saturated O2 is present immediately after wetting, but O2 consumption in the interior of the aggregate occurs after a few days. Microbial populations varied with position on the beach but sequences similar to known PAH-degrading taxa (Mycobacterium sp. and Stenotrophomonas sp.) were observed.

Plastic ingestion by seabirds is a growing conservation issue, but there are few time series of plastic ingestion with large sample sizes for which one can assess temporal trends. Common and Thick-billed Murres (Uria aalge and U. lomvia) are pursuit-diving auks that are legally harvested in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Here, we combined previously unpublished data on plastic ingestion (from the 1980s to the 1990s) with contemporary samples (2011–2012) to evaluate changes in murres’ plastic ingestion. Approximately 7% of murres had ingested plastic, with no significant change in the frequency of ingestion among species or periods. The number of pieces of plastic/bird, and mass of plastic/bird were highest in the 1980s, lowest in the late 1990s, and intermediate in contemporary samples. Studying plastic ingestion in harvested seabird populations links harvesters to conservation and health-related issues and is a useful source of large samples for diet and plastic ingestion studies.

Oil spills are treated as a widespread problem that poses a great threat to any ecosystem. Following first response actions, bioremediation has emerged as the best strategy for combating oil spills and can be enhanced by the following two complementary approaches: bioaugmentation and biostimulation. Bioaugmentation is one of the most controversial issues of bioremediation. Studies that compare the relative performance of bioaugmentation and biostimulation suggest that nutrient addition alone has a greater effect on oil biodegradation than the addition of microbial products because the survival and degradation ability of microbes introduced to a contaminated site are highly dependent on environmental conditions. Microbial populations grown in rich media under laboratory conditions become stressed when exposed to field conditions in which nutrient concentrations are substantially lower. There is increasing evidence that the best approach to overcoming these barriers is the use of microorganisms from the polluted area, an approach proposed as autochthonous bioaugmentation (ABA) and defined as a bioaugmentation technology that exclusively uses microorganisms indigenous to the sites (soil, sand, and water) slated for decontamination. In this work, we examined the effectiveness of strategies combining autochthonous bioaugmentation with biostimulation for successful remediation of polluted marine environments. Seawater was collected from a pristine area (Agios Onoufrios Beach, Chania) and was placed in a bioreactor with 1% v/v crude oil to facilitate the adaptation of the indigenous microorganism population. The pre-adapted consortium and the indigenous population were tested in combination with inorganic or lipophilic nutrients in the presence (or absence) of biosurfactants (rhamnolipids) during 90-day long experiments. Chemical analysis (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) of petroleum hydrocarbons confirmed the results of previous work demonstrating that the biodegradation processes were enhanced by the addition of lipophilic fertilizers (uric acid and lecithin) in combination with biosurfactants (rhamnolipids), resulting in increased removal of petroleum hydrocarbons as well as reduction of the lag phase within 15days of treatment. Considering this outcome and examining the results, the use of biostimulation additives in combination with naturally pre-adapted hydrocarbon-degrading consortia (bioaugmentation) has proved to be an effective treatment and is a promising strategy that could be applied specifically when an oil spill approaches near a shore line and an immediate hydrocarbon degradation effort is needed.