The importance of air pollution monitoring networks in urban areas is well known because of their miscellaneous applications. At the beginning of the 1990s, Berlin had more than 40 particulate matter monitoring stations, whereas, by 2013, there were only 12 stations. In this study, a new and free–of–charge methodology for the densifying of the PM10 monitoring network of Berlin is presented. It endeavors to find the non–linear relationship between the hourly PM10 concentration of the still–operating PM10 monitoring stations and the shut–down stations by using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and, consequently, the results of the shut–down stations were simulated and re–constructed. However, input–variables selection is a pre–requisite for any ANN simulation, and hence a new fuzzy–heuristic input selection has been developed and joined to the ANN for the simulation. The hourly PM10 concentrations of the 20 shut–down stations were simulated and re–constructed. The mean error, bias and absolute error of the simulations were 27.7%, –0.03 (μg/m3), and 7.4 (μg/m3), respectively. Then, the simulated hourly PM10 concentration data were converted to a daily scale and the performance of ANN models which were developed for the simulation of the daily PM10 data were evaluated (correlation coefficient >0.94). These appropriate results imply the ability of the developed input selection technique to make the appropriate selection of the input variables, and it can be introduced as a new input variable selection for the ANN. In addition, a dense PM10 monitoring network was developed by the combination of both the re–constructed (20 stations) and the current (12 stations) stations. This dense monitoring network was applied in order to determine a reliable mean annual PM10 concentration in the different areas in Berlin in 2012.

Measurements for indoor air quality assessment were carried out in Painting and Printmaking Department of Anadolu University Faculty of Fine Arts in Turkey. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and 29 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were measured simultaneously by using diffusive samplers. Simultaneous outdoor measurements were also performed at some sampling points. Analyses of NO2 and ozone samples were performed by using ion chromatography and VOCs were analyzed by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Indoor NO2 and ozone concentrations varied between 13.47–89.77 μg m−3 and 3.89–51.82 μg m−3, respectively. Average indoor NO2 concentration was obtained as 35.37 ± 10.9 μg m−3. Indoor/outdoor NO2 ratio (I/O) was found as 1.44 ± 0.4 which indicated the presence of some indoor sources. Average indoor ozone concentration was 9.97 ± 4.4 μg m−3 and I/O ratio was obtained lower than 1 (0.46 ± 0.4). The highest VOC concentrations were observed at workshops where oil painting and stained glass studies were performed. Especially, the concentrations obtained from the stained glass workshop (benzene: 3.98 ± 1.3 μg m−3, toluene: 999.33 ± 104.2 μg m−3, ethly benzene: 66.06 ± 16.1 μg m−3, m,p xylene: 129.44 ± 33.1 μg m−3, o-xylene: 76.14 ± 23.1 μg m−3) were much higher than the other sampling points. Toluene concentrations exceeded the WHO (World Health Organization) limit value (260 μg m−3 weekly average) at 40% of the sampling points. Cancer risks were estimated by using the personal exposure concentrations. Lifetime cancer risks for the people working in the department such as faculty members and technicians were obtained higher than USEPA acceptable risk value (1 × 10−6) while the risks for the students were below this value.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured in young-of-the-year (YOY) winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, collected from several Rhode Island, USA estuarine systems. These included three coastal lagoons, an estuarine river and Narragansett Bay. The δ13C trends observed along transects in several systems showed isotopically depleted terrestrial signals in the upper reaches of the estuaries. Significant differences (P<0.05) in δ15N were observed among all estuarine systems and these differences correlated (P<0.01) with human population densities in the watersheds. Although Narragansett Bay has a strong north–south gradient in nutrient concentrations this trend was not reflected in flounder δ15N. The northernmost station with the highest nutrient concentrations unexpectedly had significantly lower δ15N values. Depleted δ15N values at this nutrient-rich station may indicate that concentration-dependent fractionation needs to be considered when using nitrogen isotope ratios in biota to monitor anthropogenic nitrogen inputs in systems with high nitrogen loadings.

To investigate the temporal and spatial behavior of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), daily data of PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations were collected from five air–quality monitoring stations in Chengdu from March 2013 to February 2014. In this period, the daily average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 156.6 and 99.5μg/m3, respectively, which exceeded both the Chinese ambient air–quality standards for PM and the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Higher mass concentrations of both PM10 and PM2.5 were observed in winter and spring, indicating that meteorological parameters play an important role. Although PM mass concentrations were evidently lower than reported in previous studies, the average PM2.5/PM10 ratio in this study was higher, indicating that fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution has become more serious. Weekly variations of PM concentrations were analyzed to estimate the impact of traffic restriction policies. The results show that the highest concentrations of particles were observed on Mondays and the lowest on Thursdays. Weekend effects were also obvious, which were mainly attributed to human activities.

In order to evaluate the ability of granulated coal ash (GCA), a byproduct of coal thermal electric power stations, to remove hydrogen sulfide from organically enriched sediments, a pilot study was carried out at oyster farming sites, where sediments were enriched with oyster feces and dead oysters. Concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the interstitial water of the sediment decreased to nearly zero in both experimental sites, whereas it remained over 0.2mg/l in the control site. Concentration of acid volatile sulfide (AVS) in the sediment also decreased significantly in both experimental sites, while remained over 0.4mg/g in the control site. Increases were observed in both the number of benthic microalgae species and the individual number of benthic animals in the surface sediments. This may have been due to the decrease in hydrogen sulfide.

We investigated bottom-water hypoxia induced by freshwater discharge from two artificial dykes into Chunsu Bay (CSB), Korea, during the summer of 2010. Field observations and model results of the dynamic and water-quality parameters indicated that the triggering mechanism of the hypoxia was strong stratification formed by the freshwater discharge from both dykes, which limited the dissolved oxygen (DO) supply in bottom water. Beneath the pycnocline, DO was consumed by sediment oxygen demand (SOD) during the summer. To investigate these processes, model experiments were conducted using a simplified DO budget model coupled with a 3D hydrodynamic model. The DO concentration in the northern part of CSB reached hypoxic conditions very quickly after 3.4days of discharge and lasted 18days until normal conditions resumed. In sum, in the CSB, marked stratification and its maintenance played a critical role in hypoxia in bottom water.

Terrestrial runoff and flooding have resulted in major impacts on coral communities worldwide, but we lack detailed understanding of flood plume conditions and their ecological effects. Over the course of repeated flooding between 2010 and 2013, we measured coral cover and water quality on the high-latitude coral reefs of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. In 2013, salinity, total suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were altered for up to six months post-flooding. Submarine groundwater caused hypo-saline conditions for a further four months. Despite the greater magnitude of flooding in 2013, declines in coral abundance (∼28%) from these floods were lower than the 2011 flood (∼40%), which occurred immediately after a decade of severe drought. There was an overall cumulative decrease of coral by ∼56% from 2010 to 2013. Our study highlights the need for local scale monitoring and research to facilitate informed management and conservation of catchments and marine environments.

Oil spill identification relies usually on a wealth of chromatographic data which requires advanced data treatment (chemometrics). A simple approach based on Kohonen neural networks to handle three-dimensional arrays is presented. A suite of 28 diagnostic ratios was considered to monitor six oils along four months. It was found that some traditional diagnostic ratios were not stable enough. In particular, alkylated PAHs (e.g. 1-methyldibenzothiophene, 4-methylpyrene, 27bbSTER and the TA21 and TA26 triaromatic steroids) seemed less resistant to medium-weathering than biomarkers. One (or two) ratios were found to differentiate each product: 30O, 28ab (and 25nor30ab), C3-dbt/C3-phe, 27Ts, TA26 and 29Ts characterized Ashtart, Brent, Maya, Sahara, IFO and Prestige oils, respectively.

This study analyzed the microbial diversity colonizing the surface of an oil sample during its contact with water, off the Trindade Island coast and simulated the efficiency of eight different bioremediation strategies for this environment. The diversity analysis was performed using acrylic coupons that served as the support for an oil inclusion at sea. The coupons were sampled over 30days, and T-RFLP multiplex was employed to access the diversity of fungi, Bacteria and Archaea present on the oil surface. The bioremediation strategies were simulated in a respirometer. The results showed that the bacterial domain was the most dominant in oil colonization and that the richness of the species attached to the oil gradually increases with the exposure time of the coupons. The combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation with a native population was proven to be an effective strategy for the remediation of oil off the Trindade Island shoreline.