The present paper focuses on respirable particulate matter (RPM) measurements conducted at the breathing zone of adult volunteers in sixteen different working environments: two offices, a house, a chemical laboratory, a non–smoking shop, a pharmacy store, a car garage, a hairdresser's store, a photocopy store, a taxi, a gym, a mall, a restaurant, a bar, a kiosk and a school. The sixteen different cases were categorized according to the location, the type of the activities taking place indoors, the number of occupants, the proximity to heavy traffic roads, the ventilation pattern etc. According to the results, the maximum particle concentration (in average 285μg m−3) was recorded at the hairdresser store while the minimum concentration was measured in the cases of the housewife and the employee in the non–smoking shop (in average 30μg m−3). The results indicated smoking as a factor which strongly influences the exposure levels of both smokers and passive smokers. Furthermore, it was found that the building ventilation pattern comprises an important factor influencing the exposure levels especially in cases of buildings with great number of visitors (resuspension) and smoking.

Modeling oil biodegradation is an important step in predicting the long term fate of oil on beaches. Unfortunately, existing models do not account mechanistically for environmental factors, such as pore water nutrient concentration, affecting oil biodegradation, rather in an empirical way. We present herein a numerical model, BIOB, to simulate the biodegradation of insoluble attached hydrocarbon. The model was used to simulate an experimental oil spill on a sand beach. The biodegradation kinetic parameters were estimated by fitting the model to the experimental data of alkanes and aromatics. It was found that parameter values are comparable to their counterparts for the biodegradation of dissolved organic matter. The biodegradation of aromatics was highly affected by the decay of aromatic biomass, probably due to its low growth rate. Numerical simulations revealed that the biodegradation rate increases by 3–4 folds when the nutrient concentration is increased from 0.2 to 2.0mgN/L.

A field experiment to assess the effects of continuous nutrient addition on the macrobenthic community was carried out on an estuarine mudflat on the northeast coast of Brazil. The experiment began on 5 October 2005 and ended on 8 February 2006. Macrofauna was compared at approximately four-week intervals in triplicate plots with three levels (Control – C, Low Dose – LD and High Dose – HD) of weekly fertilizer additions for 17weeks. Inorganic fertilizer (N–P–K) was applied on nine randomly defined quadrangular plots (4m2 each). All measurements were calculated from species abundances. Multivariate analyses as well as the univariate indices (richness, abundance and Shannon–Wiener index) showed statistically significant differences between the enriched and control areas during the period of the experiment. The expected gradual response based on the succession model of Pearson and Rosenberg was not observed. The nutrient doses used were high enough to cause severe decreases in abundance, richness and evenness, and an increase in dominance.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are a new type of persistent organic pollutants that are of great environmental concern because of their wide distribution. In this study, surface sediments and bivalve samples were collected from the coastal area of the Bohai Sea in China. Total SCCP (ΣSCCP) concentrations in surface sediments and bivalves ranged from 97.4ngg−1 dry weight (dw) to 1756.7ngg−1 dw and 476.4–3269.5ngg−1 dw, respectively. C10-CPs and C11-CPs were the predominant homologue groups in all sediments and bivalves. Specific congener composition analysis and correspondence analysis indicated that the local SCCP source mainly came from CP-42 and CP-52 products, and riverine input had an important function. The biota–sediment accumulation factors of ΣSCCPs for bivalves ranged from 1.08 to 1.61, and a significant correlation indicated that the SCCP congener with higher chlorination degree was more likely to be accumulated in bivalves.

An in vitro technique using simulated gastrointestinal (GI) fluids was applied to investigate the desorption of selected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), i.e. bisphenol A (BPA) and 17 α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), from the marine sediment in the digestive environment. The results show that the GI fluids suppressed chemical adsorption and greatly increased the desorption of BPA and EE2 from the sediment. Pepsin in the gastric fluid would compete for the adsorption sites with the adsorbates, and bile salts in the intestinal fluid had a solubilization effect on the chemicals. The amount of chemical release from the sediment in different fluids followed intestinal (fed)>intestinal (fasted)>gastric>saline water. During the dynamic desorption tests, 62% and 21% of sediment-bound BPA and EE2, respectively, could be released into the simulated GI fluids. The enhanced desorption of EDCs from sediment in the digestive system would make the pollutants more bioavailable in the ecosystem.

Since the 1970s, the catch of Tairagi and Agemaki shellfish that inhabit the shallow sediments of the Ariake Sea of Japan has fallen dramatically. This is partly accounted for by the Isahaya land reclamation dike project and by the increasingly frequent local red tides. A recent survey of local fisherman suggested that the decline in the shellfish harvest may also be due to the practice of laver treatment in the tidal flats of the Ariake Sea. We carried out field and laboratory investigations to determine whether the practice changes the geoenvironmental properties of the fine-grained sediments in the tidal flats. There were notable changes in the salt concentration, pH, and sulfide content between the sediments exposed to a laver treating agent and those without laver treatment. Based on these differences, we identified potential mechanisms by which the laver treating agent was transported into the sediments and influenced the sulfide levels.

By measuring a battery of cytological and biochemical biomarkers in adult female perch (Perca fluviatilis), the city of Stockholm (Sweden) was investigated as a point source of anthropogenic aquatic pollution. The investigation included both an upstream gradient, 46km westwards through Lake Mälaren, and a downstream gradient, 84km eastwards through the Stockholm archipelago. Indeed, there was a graded response for most of the biomarkers and for the muscle concentrations of ΣPBDE, four organotin compounds and PFOS in the perch. The results indicated severe pollution in central Stockholm, with poor health of the perch, characterised by increased frequency of micronucleated erythrocytes, altered liver apoptosis, increased liver catalase activity, decreased brain aromatase activity, and decreased liver lysosomal membrane stability. Some biomarker responses were lowest in the middle archipelago and increased again eastwards, indicating a second, partly overlapping, gradient of toxic effects from the Baltic Sea.

Surface sediments collected from 2001 to 2011 were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and five heavy metals. The sediment concentration ranges of TPH, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Hg were 6.3–535μg/g, 58–332μg/g, 7.2–63μg/g, 4.3–138μg/g, 0–0.98μg/g, and 0.10–0.68μg/g, respectively. These results met the highest marine sediment quality standards in China, indicating that the sediment was fairly clean. However, based on the effects range-median (ERM) quotient method, the calculated values for all of the sampling sites were higher than 0.10, suggesting that there was a potential adverse biological risk in Bohai Bay. According to the calculated results, the biological risk decreased from 2001 to 2007 and increased afterwards. High-risk sites were mainly distributed along the coast. This study suggests that anthropogenic influences might be responsible for the potential risk of adverse biological effects from TPH and heavy metals in Bohai Bay.

Derelict crab traps impact the coastal ecosystem through continued catch of target species and species of conservation, economic, or recreational importance. During volunteer-supported crab trap cleanups in 2012 and 2013, we quantified ghost fishing activity in derelict crab traps in coastal Louisiana through a citizen scientist program. Volunteers removed 3607 derelict traps during these events, and over 65% of traps analyzed by citizen scientists were actively ghost fishing. Additionally, volunteers identified 19 species enmeshed in derelict traps, including a combination of fresh and saltwater species. We also detected a significant difference in the number of blue crab in actively ghost fishing derelict traps across removal locations with estimated catches varying between 2.4 and 3.5 crabs/trap. Our instantaneous estimates of ghost fishing activity are greater than those previously thought in Louisiana, further justifying current derelict crab trap prevention and removal extension and outreach programs in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

With the recent development of society and economy in the cities of Huludao and Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China, environment and ecosystem problems have become increasingly serious in Jinzhou Bay, China, because of the increasing amount of heavy metal pollutants being discharged. To solve these problems, a water quality model of heavy metals coupled with a 3D hydrodynamic model is constructed to estimate the environmental capacity (EC) and total maximum allocated loads (TMALs) for Zn and Cd of three river catchments in Jinzhou Bay. According to the model, the ECs for Zn and Cd are approximately 17 and 8tons per month, respectively, if the criterion obtained from HC5 values (fifth percentile of the SSD) is set as the control criterion (8.24μg/L for Zn and 3.83μg/L for Cd) in Jinzhou Bay, and the TMALs of the three river catchments are 4 and 1.7 tons per month.