The Estarreja Channel, Ria de Aveiro, Portugal, received industrial effluents for over 70years. Despite the discharges stopped a decade ago, a recent study showed negative ecological effects still associated with the metal and metalloid contaminated sediments. In contaminated versus reference channels, this study compared the benthic macrofauna collected with corer and mesh-bags for community structure and synthesis descriptors, namely taxa richness (S), Shannon-Wiener diversity (H′), taxonomic (AMBI and M-AMBI) and non-taxonomic (ISS) biotic indices and functional indicators (decomposition rates). The corer infauna dominated community and the associated S, H′, M-AMBI and ISS indices detected significant differences between contaminated and reference channels, otherwise undistinguished by the decomposition rates and the mesh-bags epifauna dominated community and associated indices. This suggests that sediment contamination in the deeper layers is not being transferred to the surface layers, explaining the non-affectation of the benthic macrofauna communities sampled in the leaf-bags.

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The evolution of the impacts of anthropogenic activities in Todos os Santos Bay was evaluated by profiles of trace metals and Pb isotopes determined in sediment cores. Fluxes of metals increased up to 12, 4 and 2 times for Cu, Pb, and Zn, respectively, compared to those recorded in the beginning of the 20th century. Stable Pb isotopes identified a decommissioned lead smelter and burning of fossil fuels as the main sources of Pb. Most metals showed minor to moderate enrichment factors (EF<4), but Cu and Pb were highly enriched (EF=28 and 6, respectively) at the Aratu harbor. Temporal changes in sediments were associated to different activities, namely Pb smelting, burning of fossil fuels, maritime traffic, petroleum related activities, inputs of domestic effluents, and changes in land uses. The effects of the implementation of environmental policies to improve the waters of the bay could not be identified in the evaluated cores.

A technique is proposed to treat saline hazardous wastewater by using marine activated sludge, cultivated with sea mud as seed. Since the developed marine activated sludge had phenol-tolerant microorganisms (MAS-1, MAS-2 and MAS-3) which originated from the ocean, it was envisaged that these bacteria could survive and breakdown phenol in saline environments. In this work, typical phenol-tolerant microorganisms were isolated from the marine activated sludge and identified. After a hierarchical acclimation process, the marine activated sludge was used to treat the industrial phenolic wastewater with high salinity. The marine activated sludge was able to break down phenol and other organic components effectively and efficiently in treating the wastewater with salinity of 5.7% w/v. The results showed a high removal of phenol (99%), COD (80%) and NH3-N (68%).

Three to six-month-old juveniles of Acropora tenuis, A. millepora and Pocillopora acuta were experimentally co-exposed to nutrient enrichment and suspended sediments (without light attenuation or sediment deposition) for 40days. Suspended sediments reduced survivorship of A. millepora strongly, proportional to the sediment concentration, but not in A. tenuis or P. acuta juveniles. However, juvenile growth of the latter two species was reduced to less than half or to zero, respectively. Additionally, suspended sediments increased effective quantum yields of symbionts associated with A. millepora and A. tenuis, but not those associated with P. acuta. Nutrient enrichment did not significantly affect juvenile survivorship, growth or photophysiology for any of the three species, either as a sole stressor or in combination with suspended sediments. Our results indicate that exposure to suspended sediments can be energetically costly for juveniles of some coral species, implying detrimental longer-term but species-specific repercussions for populations and coral cover.

The aim of the present study was to determine the concentrations of the most investigated environmentally relevant heavy metals in two highly endangered sea turtle species (Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas) from the important nesting area on the Northeast Mediterranean Sea. The highest mean concentration was of Fe, while Hg and Pb were lowest. All tissue concentrations of Al, As, Fe and Mn were significantly different between the species. In particular, As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Se, Zn concentrations were lower in Caretta caretta and Cd, Hg, Mn, Zn concentrations were lower in Chelonia mydas than those reported in other parts of the world. Compared to studies conductud in other parts of the Mediterranean, Cd was lower.

The present study investigates heavy metal concentrations in gastropods and bivalves collected from major fishing centers in South India. Three gastropods, Bursa spinosa, Tibia curta, and Murex trapa, and two bivalves, Perna viridis and Villoritta cyprinoids, were collected for the analysis of heavy metals. The metals in the present study followed the order Mg>Ca>Zn>Fe>Cu>Mn>Cr>Pb>Ni>Co>Cd. Trace metal concentrations in the soft tissue of the molluscs varied as follows: for Cd: 0.04–5.33, Co: 0.09–0.87, Cr: 2.18–7.59, Cu: 9.54–37.02, Mn: 1.30–8.50, Ni: 0.94–3.21, Pb: 1.16–2.64 and Zn: 68.16–113.64mgkg−1. Metal concentrations in all the species were below the limits proposed by the World Health Organization, except for Pb and Cd. This baseline study suggests that the levels of toxic metals in M. trapa, T. curta, and B. spinosa should be continuously monitored to assess the fate and effects of these metals in this fragile ecosystem.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Management of lands contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) continues to evolve, as project goals may be shifting from contaminant reduction to ecosystem restoration. Restoring soil function is vital to overall ecosystem recovery, as soils perform numerous processes that are inhibited by PHC contamination. The purpose of this review is to summarize the effects of various remediation strategies on soil properties and evaluate how those effects relate to soil functions. RECENT FINDINGS: All remediation techniques alter soil function, and the extent of alteration is based on project-specific operational parameters. Broadly, most techniques alter soil organic matter (SOM) content and soil pH, which are important variables associated with many soil processes. Additionally, recent technological advances have made the characterization of soil microbial communities and activities more accessible, so the field continues to gain knowledge on how remediation strategies affect soil microorganisms that are vital in nutrient cycling and waste management. This review identified soil properties and functions that are likely to be affected by each strategy and that should be monitored following successful remediation. The extent of changes in soil properties is dictated by specific implementation of remediation methods, so general comparisons between methods may not be appropriate. While important variables like SOM and pH are valuable indicators of soil function, the dynamic relationships between all soil properties should not be overlooked following soil remediation. Thus, future research on soil remediation should strive to assess changes in how soils function, in addition to contaminant removal efficiency.

Coral skeletal growth anomaly (GA) is a common coral disease. Although extensive ecological characterizations of coral GA have been performed, the molecular pathology of this disease remains largely unknown. We compared the meta-transcriptome of normal and GA-affected polyps of Platygyra carnosa using RNA-Seq. Approximately 50 million sequences were generated from four pairs of normal and GA-affected tissue samples. There were 109 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in P. carnosa and 31 DEGs in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium sp. These differentially expressed host genes were enriched in GO terms related to osteogenesis and oncogenesis. There were several differentially expressed immune genes, indicating the presence of both bacteria and viruses in GA-affected tissues. The differentially expressed Symbiodinium genes were enriched in reproduction, nitrogen metabolism and pigment formation, indicating that GA affects the physiology of the symbiont. Our results have provided new insights into the molecular pathology of coral GA.

Nanoparticle emission from gasoline driven vehicles is reported to be significantly lower compared to diesel vehicles. Accordingly, there is no threshold limit implemented by the regulatory authorities in India for gasoline driven vehicles. Recent studies however indicate that this is true as far as the mass concentration of the nanoparticles is concerned. The number concentration of nanoparticles particularly of smaller dimensions is reported to be significantly higher for gasoline driven vehicles under certain operating range of speed and load. Smaller the dimension of the particles more are their residence time in environment and more susceptible are these particles to be inhaled by human respiratory and cardiovascular system. Thus an estimate of the size distribution of nano-sized particulate matter emission from gasoline driven vehicle is of immense importance in context to Indian urban population. In this direction, laboratory measurements are reported for the nanoparticle size distribution emitted from a gasoline engine under different loading conditions. On-field measurements are carried out in the wake of a stationary vehicle under idling and throttling condition. Simultaneous measurement of vehicular acceleration and deceleration is also reported along with nanoparticle distribution in the wake of a moving vehicle. The measurements reported in this paper reveal the need for deciding threshold value of number concentration to be implemented for gasoline vehicles by the Indian regulatory authorities.