The impact of MC252 oil on northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) beaches from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) catastrophe was extensive along Alabama’s beaches. While considerable amount of cleanup has occurred along these beaches, as of August 2014, DWH oil spill residues continue to be found as surface residual balls (SRBs), and also occasionally as submerged oil mats (SOMs). Four years of field observations informing the fate and transport of DWH SRBs in Alabama’s beach system are presented here, along with a conceptual framework for describing their physical evolution processes. The observation data show that SRBs containing MC252 residues currently remain in Alabama’s beach system, although their relationship to SOMs is not fully known. Based on our field observations we conclude that small DWH SRBs are likely to persist for several years along the Alabama shoreline.

A total of 1351 Enterobacteriaceae isolates from 144 seawater samples were collected over a four-year period from three public beaches in the eastern Adriatic Sea in Croatia. Approximately 35% of the strains were multidrug-resistant. BlaESBL genes were detected in 4.2% of the isolated Enterobacteriaceae, the main species of which were Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella pneumoniae. BlaTEM-1+SHV-12 was the most dominant genotype, followed by blaCTX-M-15.Raoultella terrigena and E. intermedius simultaneously harboured blaTEM-1,blaSHV-11/12 and blaCTX-M-15. Isolate fingerprinting revealed that marine E. coli isolates were clonally related to CTX-M-producing strains from a regional university hospital. These results indicate that marine beach waters are reservoirs of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae and thus constitute a public health problem with further potential to act as mediators in gene flow between marine coastal areas and clinical settings.

In an effort to assess the impact of mercury in the Antarctic Peninsula, we conducted ecotoxicological research in this region during the summer of 2012 and 2013. The objectives were to assess: (a) mercury levels in sediment samples; (b) mercury accumulation in Antarctic seabird feathers: Catharacta lonnbergi (brown skua), Pygoscelis papua (gentoo penguin) and Pygoscelis antarctica (chinstrap penguin); and (c) biomagnification (BMF predator/prey) and biota sediment accumulation (BSAF skuas/sediment) factors. Mercury concentrations in sediment were relatively low. Mercury concentrations were significantly higher in brown skuas and gentoo penguins than in chinstrap penguins (2012), and significantly higher in brown skuas than in both penguins (2013). BMF indicated 2–7.5 times greater mercury levels in brown skuas than in penguins. BSAF values suggested an apparent temporal decrease of 18.2% of this ratio from 2012 to 2013. Long-range environmental transport is the likely route of entry of mercury into the Antarctic Peninsula.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were first proposed in the 1980s for drinking water treatment and later were widely studied for treatment of different wastewaters. During the AOP treatment of wastewater, hydroxyl radicals (OH·) or sulfate radicals (SO₄ ·⁻) are generated in sufficient quantity to remove refractory organic matters, traceable organic contaminants, or certain inorganic pollutants, or to increase wastewater biodegradability as a pre-treatment prior to an ensuing biological treatment. In this paper, we review the fundamental mechanisms of radical generation in different AOPs and select landfill leachate and biologically treated municipal wastewater as model wastewaters to discuss wastewater treatment with different AOPs. Generally, the treatment efficiencies rely heavily upon the selected AOP type, physical and chemical properties of target pollutants, and operating conditions. It would be noted that other mechanisms, besides hydroxyl radical or sulfate radical-based oxidation, may occur during the AOP treatment and contribute to the reduction of target pollutants. Particularly, we summarize recent advances in the AOP treatment of landfill leachate, as well as advanced oxidation of effluent organic matters (EfOM) in biologically treated secondary effluent (BTSE) for water reuse.

Light pollution from coastal urban development is a widespread and increasing threat to biodiversity. Many amphipod species migrate between the benthos and the pelagic environment and light seems is a main ecological factor which regulates migration. We explore the effect of artificial lighting on amphipod assemblages using two kind of lights, LED and halogen, and control traps in shallow waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Both types of artificial light traps showed a significantly higher abundance of individuals for all species in comparison to control traps. LED lights showed a stronger effect over the amphipod assemblages, with these traps collecting a higher number of individuals and differing species composition, with some species showing a specific attraction to LED light. As emergent amphipods are a key ecological group in the shallow water environment, the impact of artificial light can affect the broader functioning of the ecosystem.

Metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), have been determined in species of Mediterranean marine organisms collected from areas supposed to be at background contamination levels. The Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) approach was adopted for the determination of all the metals. Arsenic, Cd and Pb determined in the 42 samples, do not exceed the pertinent maximum level except a sample of hake. In wild fish, the concentration range for Cr, Ni, V and Cu was, respectively: 0.07–0.09, 87.6–124, 0.022–0.075 and 0.79–1.74μg/g fresh weight (fw). The farmed fish samples show concentration levels below the wild fish ones, except for Cr which range at the same levels. Cadmium and Pb show a high sample number under the quantification limit. The elements do not bio-magnify among the species considered and appear to show low variations in relation to organisms’ position in the food chain and at sampling sites.

Aerosol haze degrades visibility by the process of absorption and scattering of aerosols. In the present study an attempt has been made to characterize the physical and optical properties of aerosols during a haze event on 29 March 2012 and assess its implication on radiative forcing. In this context representative clear (2 March 2012) and normal (19 March 2012) days were identified in terms of their Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) loading over Hyderabad. On the hazy day, a huge spread of haze was observed over the eastern part of India by MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board Terra satellite which is represented by high Aerosol Optical Depth at 550nm. In-situ observations on hazy day showed an enhancement of columnar AOD500 respectively by 4.5 and 1.8 fold in comparison to clear and normal days. Significant increase in the scattering coefficient and a moderate enhancement of Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) are observed on hazy day compared to normal day. Study also showed that Diffuse-to-Direct- beam irradiance Ratio (DDR) had increased 4.5 times at 496.6nm spectral band on hazy day. LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) observations on hazy night showed a threefold increase in aerosol backscattering below the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) compared to normal representative night. The hazy day is characterized by large negative surface forcing (−87.82W m−2) when compared to normal day (−53.90W m−2). A large positive enhancement of atmospheric forcing of 30.56W m−2 is observed on hazy day compared to normal day.

In this study, we are interested in spatial and temporal variations of the biological and physiological responses of mussels collected from contrasting marine sites regarding their levels of pollution. We measured both the conditions indices and the enzymatic biomarker expression: acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity. The enzymatic biomarkers were chosen because they respond to environmental stress. Results show a significant interactions between biomarker variations and conditions indices in the industrial harbor site throughout the seasons. But no significant changes in the reference site. Furthermore, we classified the sites along the seasons according to their potential ecotoxicity, calculated based on the sum of the normalised values of the biomarkers. The results show a very high biomarker index in the impacted site with irregular changes between seasons. This biomarker index is therefore a valuable tool that could be used to classify the toxic potential of coastal sites.

Coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand are highly under-investigated regarding responses to anthropogenic stressors. Thus, this study simulated overfishing and eutrophication using herbivore exclosure cages and slow-release fertilizer to study the in-situ effects on benthic algae and invertebrate settlement in a coral reef of Koh Phangan, Thailand. Settlement of organisms and the development of organic matter on light-exposed and shaded tiles were quantified weekly/biweekly over a study period of 12weeks. Simulated eutrophication did not significantly influence response parameters, while simulated overfishing positively affected dry mass, turf algae height and fleshy macroalgae occurrence on light-exposed tiles. On shaded tiles, settlement of crustose coralline algae decreased, while abundances of ascidians increased compared to controls. An interactive effect of both stressors was not observed. These results hint to herbivory as actual key controlling factor on the benthic community, and fleshy macroalgae together with ascidians as potential bioindicators for local overfishing.