Superficial sediments from Lenga estuary in the VIII region of central Chile were analysed for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Organic carbon (OC) analysis was also performed and the statistical correlations (Pearson correlations) between compounds were also tested. Results showed the total PCB concentrations (ngg−1d.w.) fluctuated from ∼20 to 10,000. These levels are higher than those reported in other coastal sediments of the world. The PCB profile was dominated by middle to highly chlorinated congeners (6-Cl=40% and 7-Cl=30%). HCB concentrations (ngg−1d.w.), were lower than the PCBs and, fluctuated between 1 (at L1) and 870 (at L4). OC values ranged from 1% (L1) to 7% (L4) showing a significant positive correlations between OC% and PCBs (r=0.86; p<0.05) and for HCB (r=0.71). These results are an important contribution to knowledge of levels of POPs levels in coastal Chilean environments.

Twelve marine fish species collected from a thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) breeding colony in northern Hudson Bay in the Canadian Arctic during 2007–2009 were analyzed for legacy organochlorines (e.g. PCBs, DDT), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) and sulfonates (PFSAs), and total mercury (Hg). No one species of prey fish had the highest levels across all contaminant groups analyzed. For the two pelagic fish species sampled, concentrations of the major organochlorine groups (e.g. Σ21PCB, ΣDDT, ΣCHL, ΣCBz), ΣPBDE, ΣPFCA and Hg were consistently higher in Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) than in capelin (Mallotus villosus). Biomagnification factors from whole fish to thick-billed murre liver across all species were generally higher for Σ21PCB and ΣDDT. ΣPBDE did not biomagnify.

Reactivation and chemical modification were used to obtain modified activated carbons with different pore structure and surface chemical properties. The samples were characterized by nitrogen absorption–desorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the Bothem method. Using mercury chloride as the target pollutant, the Hg2+ adsorption ability of samples was investigated. The results show that the Hg2+ adsorption capacity of samples increased significantly with increases in micropores and acidic functional groups and that the adsorption process was exothermic. Different models and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated to establish the mechanisms. It was concluded that the adsorption occurred through a monolayer mechanism by a two-speed process involving both rapid adsorption and slow adsorption. The adsorption rate was determined by chemical reaction.

Although contamination of the marine ecosystems by plastics is becoming recognised as a serious pollution problem, there are few studies that demonstrate the contribution made by freshwater catchments. Over a three month period from September to December 2012, at seven localities in the upper Thames estuary, 8490 submerged plastic items were intercepted in eel fyke nets anchored to the river bed. Whilst there were significant differences in the numbers of items at these locations, the majority were some type of plastic. Additionally in excess of 20% of the litter items were components of sanitary products. The most contaminated sites were in the vicinity of sewage treatment works. While floating litter is visible, this study also demonstrates that a large unseen volume of submerged plastic is flowing into the marine environment. It is therefore important that this sub-surface component is considered when assessing plastic pollution input into the sea.

Mangrove ecosystems are coastal estuarine systems confined to the tropical and subtropical regions. The Estero Salado mangrove located in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has suffered constant disturbances during the past 20years, due to industrial wastewater release. However, there are no published data for heavy metals present in its sediments and the relationship with anthropogenic disturbance. In the present study, metal concentrations were evaluated in surface sediment samples of the mangrove, showing that B, Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, V, and Zn levels exceeded those declared in international environmental quality standards. Moreover, several metals (Pb, Sn, Cd, Ag, Mo, Zn and Ni) could be linked to the industrial wastewater present in the studied area. In addition, heavy metal levels detected in this mangrove are higher than previous reports on mangrove sediments worldwide, indicating that this mangrove ecosystem is one of the most disrupted on earth.

Passive air sampling (PAS) consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed simultaneously over four periods of 2–5 months at four locations in urban and sub–urban sites of Bari and San Vito Taranto in Southern Italy. The purpose of the study was to characterize the urban pollution for two groups of semi volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), by using two different approaches consisting of PAS–PUF and air quality models (Flexible Air quality Regional Model, FARM). The concentrations in the air ranged from 20 to 200pg m−3 for PCBs and from 5 to 48ng m−3 for PAHs with the highest concentrations being detected at Bari center. PCB composition was dominated by the 3–Cl congeners (periods 1 and 2) and by 5–Cl (periods 3 and 4). PCB–28 and –37 were the most abundant congeners during the four periods. The PAHs profile was dominated by the 3–ring (70±6)%, with phenanthrene alone accounting for (49±2)%. On a seasonal basis opposite patterns were observed for PCBs and PAHs showing high PCB concentrations during the warm periods, period 3: summer and 2: spring, while PAHs were found during cool periods, period 4: autumn, and 1: winter. The results obtained from the application of the FARM model, during 2010, and limited to period 4 in this study, showed similar estimated levels for PCBs indicating a good performance for PCB modeled concentrations whilst for benzo[b]fluoranthene (B[b]F) the results showed a less better agreement. This study represents one of the few efforts at characterizing PCBs and PAHs compositions in ambient air in southern Italy and also represents one of the preliminary attempts at using PAS–PUF to give more insight into a modeling prediction in Italy. These results also provide useful information for the future development of the FARM model.

Long-line mussel farming has been proposed as a mitigation tool for removal of excess nutrients in eutrophic coastal waters. A full-scale mussel farm optimized for cost efficient nutrient removal was established in the eutrophic Skive Fjord, Denmark where biological and economic parameters related to nutrient removal was monitored throughout a full production cycle (1yr). The results showed that it was possible to obtain a high area specific biomass of 60tWWha−1eqvivalent to a nitrogen and phosphorus removal of 0.6–0.9 and 0.03–0.04tha−1yr, respectively. The analysis of the costs related to establishment, maintenance and harvest revealed that mussel production optimized for mitigation can be carried out at a lower cost compared to mussel production for (human) consumption. The costs for nutrient removal was 14.8€kg−1N making mitigation mussel production a cost-efficient measure compared to the most expensive land-based measures.

In the present study, the number size distributions of aerosols generated from five commonly and widely used household fuels namely firewood, coal, dung cake, kerosene stove and LPG stove were investigated using scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). Important parameters of PSD such as total number concentration, geometric mean (GM) and geometric standard deviation (GSD) for tested fuels were evaluated and compared. It was found that solid biomass (firewood and dung cake) generates higher particle number concentrations then non-solid fuels i.e. kerosene and LPG stove. For all biomass fuels the number concentrations were in the order of 107 particle/cm3. The geometric mean diameter was highest for dung cake generated aerosols, while LPG and coal generated aerosol showed lower GM diameter. The geometric mean diameter varied between 48nm and 152nm for all tested fuels. The geometric standard deviation values of all tested fuels revealed that in solid biomass combustion, there was more dispersion in aerosol sizes than non-solid fuels. The number concentration emitted by LPG was found to be the lowest among all fuels and the GSD was also the lowest.

A total of 50 rainwater samples were analyzed in order to investigate trace elements in wet precipitation of Juiz de Fora City, during February, 2010 and February, 2011. Samples were analyzed for major cations (H3O+, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+) and anions (NO3−, SO42−, Cl− and HCO3−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), some trace metals (Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+), as well as some other physicochemical aspects like pH, conductivity and redox potential. Rainwater pH mean was of 5.77 (±0.52). Cations and anions mean values ranged from 7.12μEq L−1 (K+) to 39.6μEq L−1 (Ca2+). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax normalized rotation was performed, grouping the major analyzed cations and anions into different factors. Mg2+, K+, Ca2+ and HCO3− were assigned to soil contribution, Na+ and Cl− to sea–salt contribution and NO3−, SO42− and NH4+ to anthropogenic sources. Hydrogen peroxide average concentration was of 19.2±17.5μmol L−1 with higher values in summer and lower in spring and autumn, reverse case was observed for H3O+ levels. Zn2+ (7.31±2.74)μg L−1 and Cu2+ (4.07±0.74)μg L−1 were within the range of other studied areas, while Cd2+ and Pb2+ were below the detection limit.

The present paper utilizes a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) approach to intuitively present and quantify our current understanding of the complex physical, chemical, and biological processes that lead to eutrophication in an estuarine ecosystem (New River Estuary, North Carolina, USA). The model is further used to explore the effects of plausible future climatic and nutrient pollution management scenarios on water quality indicators. The BBN, through visualizing the structure of the network, facilitates knowledge communication with managers/stakeholders who might not be experts in the underlying scientific disciplines. Moreover, the developed structure of the BBN is transferable to other comparable estuaries. The BBN nodes are discretized exploring a new approach called moment matching method. The conditional probability tables of the variables are driven by a large dataset (four years). Our results show interaction among various predictors and their impact on water quality indicators. The synergistic effects caution future management actions.