Biodiversity of marine ecosystems is integral to their stability and function and is threatened by anthropogenic processes. We conducted a literature review and meta-analysis of 216 studies to understand the effects of common contaminants upon diversity in various marine communities. The most common diversity measures were species richness, the Shannon-Wiener index (H') and Pielou evenness (J). Largest effect sizes were observed for species richness, which tended to be the most sensitive index. Pollution was associated with marine communities containing fewer species or taxa than their pristine counterparts. Marine habitats did not vary in their susceptibility to contamination, rather a 40% reduction in richness occurred across all habitats. No class of contaminant was associated with significantly greater impacts on diversity than any other. Survey studies identified larger effects than laboratory or field experiments. Anthropogenic contamination is strongly associated with reductions in the species richness and evenness of marine habitats. Contamination substantially reduces the biodiversity of marine communities in all major habitat types and across all major contaminant classes.

There are strong drivers to increasingly adopt bioremediation as an effective technique for risk reduction of hydrocarbon impacted soils. Researchers often rely solely on chemical data to assess bioremediation efficiently, without making use of the numerous biological techniques for assessing microbial performance. Where used, laboratory experiments must be effectively extrapolated to the field scale. The aim of this research was to test laboratory derived data and move to the field scale. In this research, the remediation of over thirty hydrocarbon sites was studied in the laboratory using a range of analytical techniques. At elevated concentrations, the rate of degradation was best described by respiration and the total hydrocarbon concentration in soil. The number of bacterial degraders and heterotrophs as well as quantification of the bioavailable fraction allowed an estimation of how bioremediation would progress. The response of microbial biosensors proved a useful predictor of bioremediation in the absence of other microbial data. Field-scale trials on average took three times as long to reach the same endpoint as the laboratory trial. It is essential that practitioners justify the nature and frequency of sampling when managing remediation projects and estimations can be made using laboratory derived data. The value of bioremediation will be realised when those that practice the technology can offer transparent lines of evidence to explain their decisions. Detailed biological, chemical and physical characterisation reduces uncertainty in predicting bioremediation.

The physico-chemical absorption characteristics of ammonium-N for 10 soils from 5 profiles in York, UK, show its high potential mobility in N deposition-impacted, unfertilized, permanent grassland soils. Substantial proportions of ammonium-N inputs were retained in the solution phase, indicating that ammonium translocation plays an important role in the N cycling in, and losses from, such soils. This conclusion was further supported by measuring the ammonium-N leaching from intact plant/soil microcosms. The ammonium-N absorption characteristics apparently varied with soil pH, depth and soil texture. It was concluded for the most acid soils especially that ammonium-N leached from litter horizons could be seriously limiting the capacity of underlying soils to retain ammonium. Contrary to common opinion, more attention therefore needs to be paid to ammonium leaching and its potential role in biogeochemical N cycling in semi-natural soil systems subject to atmospheric pollution. mmonium mobility is more important than previously thought in N-impacted, unfertilized grasslands.

This study investigated the ability of a saponin-based microbubble suspension to enhance aerobic biodegradation of phenanthrene by subsurface delivery. As the microbubble suspension flowed through a sand column pressure buildup and release was repeatedly observed, which delivered oxygen to the less permeable regions. Burkholderia cepacia RPH1, a phenanthrene-degrading bacterium, was mainly transported in a suspended form in the microbubble suspension. When three pore volumes of the microbubble suspension containing B. cepacia RPH1 was introduced into a column contaminated with phenanthrene (100 mg/kg), the oxygen content declined to 5% from an initial value of 20% within 5 days and correspondingly, 34.4% of initial phenanthrene was removed in 8 days. The addition of two further three pore volumes enhanced the biodegradation efficiency by a factor of 2.2. Our data suggest that a saponin-based microbubble suspension could be a potential carrier for enhancing the aerobic biodegradation under an oxygen-limiting environment. Microbubble suspension can enhance the phenanthrene biodegradation under an oxygen-limiting condition.

Community structure and microcystin accumulation of freshwater molluscs were studied before and after cyanobacterial proliferations, in order to assess the impact of toxic blooms on molluscs and the risk of microcystin transfer in food web. Observed decrease in mollusc abundance and changes in species richness in highly contaminated waters were not significant; however, relative abundances of taxa (prosobranchs, pulmonates, bivalves) were significantly different before and after cyanobacterial bloom. Pulmonates constituted the dominant taxon, and bivalves never occurred after bloom. Microcystin accumulation was significantly higher in molluscs from highly (versus lowly) contaminated waters, in adults (versus juveniles) and in pulmonates (versus prosobranchs and bivalves). Results are discussed according to the ecology of molluscs, their sensitivity and their ability to detoxify.

Chicken organs, animal feed, droppings, and ambient air were sampled at a farm in Beijing to determine the concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites (DDTs). Mean fresh weight concentrations of HCHs and DDTs were 0.122 ± 0.061 ng/g and 0.051 ± 0.038 ng/g in the muscles. These values are 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than those reported in China in 1980. Contaminated feed was the main source of HCHs and DDTs. Only 12.8% of HCH and 3.3% of DDT of the amount consumed were excreted. Accumulated quantities of HCHs and DDTs increased during growth. However, concentrations of HCHs and DDTs did not increase because of dilution from rapid growth. Based on the observed residual levels in mature chicken and the average diet of residents of China, the contributions from chicken and egg consumption to per capita daily intake of HCHs and DDTs were 487% and 88% of those of fish consumption.

To estimate the atmospheric exposure of the greenhouse workers to pesticides, solid phase microextraction (SPME) was used under non-equilibrium conditions. Using Fick's law of diffusion, the concentrations of pesticides in the greenhouse can be calculated using pre-determined sampling rates (SRs). Thus the sampling rates (SRs) of two modes of SPME in the lab and in the field were determined and compared. The SRs for six pesticides in the lab were 20.4-48.3 mL min-1 for the exposed fiber and 0.166-0.929 mL min-1 for the retracted fiber. In field sampling, two pesticides, dichlorvos and cyprodinil were detected with exposed SPME. SR with exposed SPME for dichlorvos in the field (32.4 mL min-1) was consistent with that in the lab (34.5 mL min-1). SR for dichlorvos in the field (32.4 mL min-1) was consistent with that in the lab (34.5 mL min-1). The trends of temporal concentration and the inhalation exposure were also obtained.

Recent research suggests anthropogenic disturbance may disproportionately advantage non-indigenous species (NIS), aiding their establishment within impacted environments. This study used novel laboratory- and field-based toxicity testing to determine whether non-indigenous and native bryozoans (common within marine epibenthic communities worldwide) displayed differential tolerance to the common marine pollutant copper (Cu). In laboratory assays on adult colonies, NIS showed remarkable tolerance to Cu, with strong post-exposure recovery and growth. In contrast, native species displayed negative growth and reduced feeding efficiency across most exposure levels. Field transplant experiments supported laboratory findings, with NIS growing faster under Cu conditions. In field-based larval assays, NIS showed strong recruitment and growth in the presence of Cu relative to the native species. We suggest that strong selective pressures exerted by the toxic antifouling paints used on transport vectors (vessels), combined with metal contamination in estuarine environments, may result in metal tolerant NIS advantaged by anthropogenically modified selection regimes.

The presence of triclosan, a widely-used antibacterial chemical, is currently unknown in higher trophic-level species such as marine mammals. Blood plasma collected from wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Charleston, SC (CHS) (n = 13) and Indian River Lagoon, FL (IRL) (n = 13) in 2005 was analyzed for triclosan. Plasma concentrations in CHS dolphins ranged from 0.12 to 0.27 ng/g wet weight (mean 0.18 ng/g), with 31% of the sampled individuals having detectable triclosan. The mean IRL dolphin plasma concentrations were 0.072 ng/g wet weight (range 0.025-0.11 ng/g); 23% of the samples having detectable triclosan. In the CHS area, triclosan effluent values from two WWTP were both 190 ng/L and primary influents were 2800 ng/L and 3400 ng/L. Triclosan values in CHS estuarine surface water samples averaged 7.5 ng/L (n = 18) ranging from 4.9 to 14 ng/L. This is the first study to report bioaccumulation of anthropogenic triclosan in a marine mammal highlighting the need for further monitoring and assessment. Triclosan in bottlenose dolphin plasma and their environment.

The application of geochemical signals in mosses is more and more popular to investigate the deposition of atmospheric pollutants, but it is unclear whether records of atmospheric sulfur in mosses differ between their diverse habitats. This study aimed to investigate the influence of growing condition on tissue sulfur and δ³⁴S of Haplocladium microphyllum. Epilithic and terricolous mosses in open fields, mosses under different canopy conditions were considered. We found that tissue sulfur and δ³⁴S of mosses under different habitats were not consistent and could not be compared for atmospheric sulfur research with each other even collected at the same site, moss sulfur and δ³⁴S records would be distorted by subsoil and upper canopies in different degrees, which possibly mislead the interpretation of atmospheric sulfur level and sources. Consequently, mosses on open rocks can be used reliably to assess atmospheric-derived sulfur in view of their identical sulfur and δ³⁴S evidences. Mosses on open rocky surfaces are reliable bioindicators of atmospheric sulfur deposition.