Between 2008 and 2011, twelve metals from 384 coastal waters samples from San Jorge Bay (Antofagasta, northern Chile) were collected and analyzed. The goal was to evaluate the quality of the bay's water bodies according to the current Chilean Quality Guideline and to establish background levels for these metals.The result suggests that the coastal waters of San Jorge Bay are of very good quality suitable for recreational activities involving human body contact. The natural background thresholds established for this bay were significantly lower than primary and secondary water quality guidelines. The distribution of Cu, Zn and Pb, along the bay's coastline provides evidence of the effects of industrial activity. Both situations suggest that the threshold indicated in the environmental guidelines of the Chilean legislation may be overestimated and do not represent pollution-free environments.

Herein we report the efficient extraction of aromatic analytes from crude oil and tar balls using multiple cyclodextrin derivatives. The known propensity of the cyclodextrins to bind hydrophobic guests in their hydrophobic interiors enhanced the extraction of aromatic analytes from the oil layer to the aqueous layer, with methyl-β-cyclodextrin and β-cyclodextrin providing the most significant enhancement in extraction efficiencies of aromatic toxicants (69% aromatic toxicants in aqueous layer in the presence of methyl-β-cyclodextrin compared to 47% in cyclodextrin-free solution for tar ball oil extraction), and provide optimal tunability for developing efficient extraction systems. The cyclodextrin derivatives also promoted efficient energy transfer in the aqueous solutions, with up to 86% efficient energy transfer observed in the presence of γ-cyclodextrin compared to 50% in the absence of cyclodextrin for oil spill oil extraction. Together, this dual function extraction followed by detection system has potential in the development of environmental remediation systems.

In New Caledonia, semi-intensive shrimp farms release untreated effluents into the mangrove. Foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed for assessing the impact of effluent release on the benthic compartment. Comparison was made between samples collected (1) in an effluent receiving mangrove before and after the rearing cycle, and (2) for one-year monitoring an effluent receiving and a control mangrove. The distribution of foraminiferal assemblages was primarily driven by the gradient between Rhizophora stands and salt-flats, related to salinity and tidal elevation, and by seasonal cycles. The potential impact of effluent release was due to the combined effects of normal-saline effluents on surface salinity, and of nutrient input and microbial stimulation on food availability. Foraminiferal assemblages did not indicate a substantial impact of farm effluents and suggest that semi-intensive shrimp farming using mangrove for effluent discharge may appear as a sustainable solution in New Caledonia, when considering only the impact on the mangrove itself.

Discharge of sewage to the coastal areas resulting in the deteriorating quality of seawater and polluted sediments has been one of important stressor in Kuwait. The objective of this study was to conduct spatial assessment of sewage contamination of coastal areas. The assessment was carried out by measuring fecal sterols as indicator of sewage contamination, in the marine sediments collected from 112 locations throughout the Kuwait’s marine areas. The samples were extracted and sterols separated. Derivatized sterols were analyzed by GC/MS in selected ion monitoring mode. The results showed that areas in the vicinity of the sewage outfalls were heavily contaminated. The western part of Kuwait Bay was worst in terms of contamination level. Two off-shore sites in Kuwait Bay were also classified as contaminated. Coprostanol levels in Kuwait Bay ranged from 0 to 39,428ng/g. Southern coastal areas were less severely contaminated.

The blowout of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drill-rig produced a surface oil layer, dispersed micro-droplets throughout the water column, and sub-surface plumes. We measured stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in mesopelagic fishes and shrimps in the vicinity of DWH collected prior to, six weeks after, and one year after the oil spill (2007, 2010 and 2011). In 2010, the year of the oil spill, a small but significant depletion of δ13C was found in two mesopelagic fishes (Gonostoma elongatum and Chauliodus sloani) and one shrimp (Systellaspis debilis); a significant δ15N enrichment was identified in the same shrimp and in three fish species (G. elongatum, Ceratoscopelus warmingii, and Lepidophanes guentheri). The δ15N change did not suggest a change of trophic level, but did indicate a change in diet. The data suggest that carbon from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was incorporated into the mesopelagic food web of the Gulf of Mexico.

The dominant source of coastal pollution adversely affecting the regional coastal water quality is the seasonally variable urban runoff discharged via southern California’s rivers. Here, we use a surface transport model of coastal circulation driven by current maps from high frequency radar to compute two-year hindcasts to assess the temporal and spatial statistics of 20 southern California stormwater discharges. These models provide a quantitative, statistical measure of the spatial extent of the discharge plumes in the coastal receiving waters, defined here as a discharge’s “exposure”. We use these exposure maps from this synthesis effort to (1) assess the probability of stormwater connectivity to nearby Marine Protected Areas, and (2) develop a methodology to estimate the mass transport of stormwater discharges. The results of the spatial and temporal analysis are found to be relevant to the hindcast assessment of coastal discharges and for use in forecasting transport of southern California discharges.

To determine the chemical compositions and source identification of PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 fractions, airborne particulate matter (PM) samples were collected from May, 2011 through April, 2012 at three sites: up and downwind and within a scrap iron and steel smelting industry, Ife–Ibadan highway, south western Nigeria. Samples of PM2.5 (fine) and PM2.5–10 (coarse) were collected on Nuclepore polycarbonate filters using a low volume GENT sampler equipped with a stacked filter unit (SFU). A total of 200 samples were collected (100 of each fraction). The mass concentration of the sampled fine and coarse PM fraction ranged between 14.4–986.5μg/m3 and 11.2–3 250μg/m3, respectively. These values exceed the permissible daily limit (NAAQS) of 35μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 150μg/m3 for PM10. The samples were analyzed for black carbon (BC) using an optical transmissometer and for elemental concentrations using X–Ray Fluorescence (XRF). The size–resolved data sets were analyzed using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) to identify possible sources and estimate the contribution of these sources to the fine and coarse PM mass concentrations. Four source categories, providing stable profiles, were identified for both fine and coarse fractions. The identified sources and their contributions for the fine fraction are coking coal (83%), soil (10%), metallurgical industry (6%), and electronic waste processing (1%). For the coarse fraction, the identified sources are metallurgical production plus electronic waste (53%), suspended input materials (28%), soil (18%), and galvanized steel scrap with cadmium (1%). Conditional probability function (CPF) identified the local sources for both the fine and coarse PM samples. This work presents the first known major use of PMF in Nigeria for source identification in particulate matter (PM) studies.

The concentrations of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) in surface sediments were investigated in the sand flats of Shuangtaizi Estuary, Bohai Sea of China in May, 2013. Ecological risk assessment indicated that most heavy metals cause low ecological risk to the estuarine environment, with the exception of Cd and Hg (considerable and moderate risk, respectively). Principal component analysis in combination with correlation analysis among heavy metals, PHCs and geological factors (e.g., granularity) was used to identify possible sources of pollutants in Shuangtaizi Estuary. Results showed that the main pollution sources of the area come from anthropogenic factors, such as sewage discharge and oil exploitation.

Identification and characterisation of microplastic (MP) is a necessary step to evaluate their concentrations, chemical composition and interactions with biota. MP ≥10μm diameter filtered from below the sea surface in the European and subtropical North Atlantic were simultaneously identified by visual microscopy and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Visually identified particles below 100μm had a significantly lower percentage confirmed by Raman than larger ones indicating that visual identification alone is inappropriate for studies on small microplastics. Sixty-eight percent of visually counted MP (n=1279) were spectroscopically confirmed being plastic. The percentage varied with type, colour and size of the MP. Fibres had a higher success rate (75%) than particles (64%). We tested Raman micro-spectroscopy applicability for MP identification with respect to varying chemical composition (additives), degradation state and organic matter coating. Partially UV-degraded post-consumer plastics provided identifiable Raman spectra for polymers most common among marine MP, i.e. polyethylene and polypropylene.

Thirteen persistent organic pesticides were investigated in the sediments of Vasai Creek near Mumbai to evaluate their pollution levels and potential risks. It was observed that ΣOCPs level was in the range of 597–1538ng/g dw, with an average value of 1115.25ng/g dw. The level of ΣOPPs was in the range of 492–1034ng/g dw, with an average value of 798.15ng/g dw. The values o,p′-DDT/p,p′-DDT ratio gives an indication of use of technical DDT as the prime source of DDT, while the α/γ-BHC ratio indicate that BHCs in study area might have been received from fresh lindane. The results of an ecological risk assessment showed that sediment bound organic pesticides are of more ecotoxicological concern as they might create adverse ecological risk to the marine breeding habitats. These pesticides residues may get remobilize and released to overlying waters creating adverse effects on terrestrial and aquatic organisms.