Although present in a low concentration in the atmosphere, mercury in particulate matter (PHg) plays an important role in the biogeochemical process of mercury. In this study, the mercury concentrations in three size fractions of airborne particulate matters collected from 14 sites (12 urban sites, 1 rural site and 1 remote site) in the southeast coastal cities of China during different seasons in 2010–2011 were investigated. Most of PHg (46.8–71.9%) was concentrated in the finer particles, i.e. PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter). The average mercury concentrations in PM2.5 were 141.2±128.1 (range of 7.6–956.5), 37.0±19.2 (5.6–89.4), and 24.0±14.6 (3.2– 59.9) pg m–3 at urban, rural, and remote sites during the whole sampling period, respectively. The PHg concentrations were almost at the same level in spring, autumn, and winter, approximately two times of that in summer. PHg concentrations in the atmosphere displayed a significant spatial variation with far higher values in urban areas than those at rural and remote sites. The dry deposition fluxes of total PHg estimated by a theoretical model were 38.3, 47.7, and 58.7 µg m–2 y–1 at Ji’an (JA), Jimei (JM), and Longwen (LW), respectively. The backward air trajectory analysis revealed that the atmospheric PHg concentrations were mainly influenced by air masses from ocean sources that diluted PHg in summer and on contrary from continental sources in other seasons.

In this paper, we develop a bi–level transferable air pollutant price (TAPP) model, and use the model to find ways to mitigate China’s interprovincial air pollution control problem. In this model, the leader is China’s central government and the followers consist of China’s 31 provinces. The leader aims to decrease the nation’s total pollutant control costs, whereas each province attempts to minimize its pollution control costs by balancing its own pollutant reduction cost with transfer payments to or from other provinces, in the context of a transfer price set by the leader. We chose a Karush–Kuhn–Tucker approach with an embedded bisection algorithm to solve the model. We then applied the TAPP model to the seriously polluted Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei area of China. Compared with the current command–and–control regulation approach, the TAPP model for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei area decreased the total environmental cost by US$ 3 964.61×103 (10.5% of the current command–and–control regulation cost). This demonstrated that the TAPP model was superior because it both mitigated the problem of air pollution transport across regional boundaries and utilized the available resources of the study area more efficiently.

In this study, we report results concerning the accumulation of heavy metals in seawater from Izmit Bay. The bay was divided into the three parts: the eastern, the central and the western basins. The goal of this study was to determine levels of heavy metals at various depths in the bay between April 2008 and May 2010. Liquid–liquid extractions were performed on seawater samples. An atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to measure levels of six metals: lead, cadmium, chromium, iron, manganese and zinc. We applied our results to evaluate the status of pollution in the Gulf of Izmit. Significant seasonal differences in metal concentrations and higher concentrations of many metals in water near the shore are evidence for uncontrolled release of pollutants in the water.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (dl-PCBs) concentrations in Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) have been relatively stable since the mid to late 1990s. It is unclear why concentrations in Baltic herring are not following the observed decreases in other environmental matrices. Here, changes in long-term temporal trends in Baltic herring were examined. A number of biological variables were examined alongside the temporal trends to investigate whether fish biology e.g., growth (length, weight, age), lipid content, reproductive phase or fishing date may provide an explanation for the temporal trends observed.Significant (p<0.05) decreasing trends were observed for PCDD/F toxic equivalents (TEQPCDD/F) at three of the four sites (lipid weight (lw) and wet weight (ww), Swedish west coast lw only); however, other TEQ values e.g., TEQPCDD, TEQPCDF, TEQdl-PCB, TEQPCDD/F+dl-PCB were inconsistent, decreasing at some sites but not others. In the most recent 10years of data, fewer significant decreases were seen overall. Over the examined time period, significant decreases (Bothnian Bay, p<0.01, southern Baltic Proper, p<0.02) and increases (Swedish west coast, p<0.02) in lipid content, growth dilution or lack thereof, and significant changes in age were observed. However herring were not randomly selected which biases this result. Continual efforts to decrease PCDD/F and dl-PCB emissions and to locate/reduce hotspots are necessary, while bearing in mind that herring biology may be impeding faster decreases of these chemicals.

The environmental condition of the Baltic Sea is not only of concern for natural scientists. The awareness of the deteriorating state of the ecosystem has become an issue of interdisciplinary interest, and the amount of organizations with the marine environment and ecosystem health on the agenda is large. To present holistic and sustainable solutions and results of the actions taken, an active cooperation between all stakeholder groups and levels are needed. How different stakeholders in the northern Baltic Sea perceive the structures and assessments of the eutrophication were analyzed by semi-structured interviews with 17 stakeholders representing authorities, scientists, NGOs and national interest organizations. The focus was the view of the governance structures, risk assessment, management and communication. There was an overall consensus that eutrophication is a serious problem. Still variations in the opinions both within and between the stakeholder groups were seen. The scientists were most divergent from the rest.

Global marine vessels emissions are adversely affecting human health particularly in southeast Asia. But health burdens from both ocean- and river-going vessels in Pearl River Delta (PRD) regions are not quantified. We estimated the potential health impacts using pooled relative risks of mortality and hospital admissions in China, and the model derived concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) due to vessels emissions. SO2 concentrations due to marine emissions in Hong Kong were 13.6μgm−3 compared with 0.7μgm−3 in PRD regions that were far from the marine vessels. In PRD regions, the estimated annual numbers (per million people) of excess deaths from all natural causes and hospital admissions from cardiorespiratory causes attributable to SO2, NO2, O3 and PM10 combined from marine emissions were 45 and 265 respectively. Marine emission control measures could contribute a large reduction in mortality and hospital admissions in PRD regions especially in Hong Kong.

Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination and macrobenthos in the sandy tidal flats of Taean were monitored for 1year to assess the impacts of Hebei Spirit oil on the macrobenthic community. A total of 207 macrobenthic fauna was collected, and the mean density and biomass of macrobenthic fauna continued to decrease until 12months after the oil spill, but macrobenthic density at the most heavily affected sites increased by about twofold. In January 2008, the dominant species occurred at very low densities in strongly affected sites. The macrobenthic communities differed between oil-affected and unaffected sites. In particular, differences in community structure at Mallipo beach were larger than those at Shinduri. We suggest that long-term monitoring is needed to assess the specific effects of oil pollution on the sandy intertidal macrobenthic community.

Many studies have used valuation techniques to predict the potential effect of environmental improvements on human use of coastal areas, but there is a lack of post hoc empirical evidence that these policies indeed affect the way people use coastal areas. A panel data approach is developed to statistically determine how storm drain diversions affected attendance at 26 beaches in Southern California. This study uses a 10-year time series of data to conduct a statistical analysis of attendance at beaches with and without diversions and before and after the diversions were installed, while controlling for all observable, confounding factors. Results indicate that beach attendance increased at beaches with diversions compared to those that did not have diversions (between 350,000 and 860,000 visits annually at a 95% confidence interval). Establishing this link between mitigation policies and human use patterns can lead to better management of coastal areas.

Spatial gradients of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides were examined in the young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) in the vicinity of a PCB Superfund Site in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts, and in the adjacent waters. PCB concentrations in bluefish varied between different locations, and also among fish from a given location. A generally decreasing gradient in PCB concentrations was evident as the bluefish were collected away from the Superfund Site. The average sum of PCB concentrations were highest for bluefish collected in the Upper Harbor between Interstate-195 Bridge and Coggeshall Street Bridge (Upper Harbor), followed by bluefish in Lower Harbor from north of Popes Island Bridge (Lower Harbor), and bluefish from Outer Harbor south of Hurricane Barrier (Outer Harbor). The levels of PCBs in bluefish from Clarks Cove and PCBs in bluefish from Buzzards Bay were similar and lowest among all bluefish specimens analyzed in the present study. Pesticide concentrations were about one order of magnitude or lower than the PCB concentrations, and the gradient of pesticide concentrations generally followed the gradient of PCB concentrations. Some of the commonly detected pesticides in the order of decreasing concentrations included DDTs and metabolites, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan sulfate, and α-chlordane. Distribution of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides were examined in the tissues of YOY bluefish from Clarks Cove. PCBs and lipids in the brain samples of YOY bluefish were generally numerically greater than PCBs in the liver samples, but these differences were not statistically significant. PCBs and lipids in hypaxial muscle samples were numerically greater than PCBs in epaxial muscle samples, although these two groups of tissues were not statistically different. Despite the higher susceptibility of lighter PCB homologs to geophysical and biogeochemical weathering processes, the relative dominance of lighter homologs in the Upper Harbor and Lower Harbor samples suggested ongoing or recent sources of these lighter PCBs, particularly Aroclor 1242 and Aroclor 1016 in this area. The presence of heavier homologs in the Upper Harbor and Lower Harbor bluefish samples could be attributed to Aroclor 1252 and Aroclor 1254 that were being used in relatively smaller quantities in the manufacture of electrical components in addition to Aroclor 1242 and Aroclor 1016. The concentration of heavier PCB homologs appears to increase in YOY bluefish the further away from the PCB Superfund Site in the Acushnet Estuary the samples were collected. Principal component analyses of PCB 153 normalized concentrations of the individual PCB congeners resulted in two general groupings; a relatively tight group comprised of YOY bluefish from Upper Harbor, Lower Harbor, and Outer Harbor, and a rather loose and more dispersed group comprised of Buzzards Bay bluefish and the tissue samples of bluefish from Clarks Cove. Principal component analyses of major pesticides suggested close groupings of bluefish from Clarks Cove and bluefish from Buzzards Bay. Pesticides in bluefish from Upper Harbor, Lower Harbor, and Outer Harbor formed a loose group, with some bluefish from these locations populating close to Clarks Cove and Buzzards Bay bluefish. Although PCBs have been implicated in various behavioral and health effects in the experimental and field studies, the deleterious effects of chronic exposure to high concentrations of PCBs and the potential for recruitment of New Bedford Harbor YOY bluefish population to the adult stock remains obscure. Adaptive or evolutionary resistance to contaminants have been documented in resident species in some highly contaminated estuaries, however similar responses have not been investigated in the migratory species like bluefish. The results of the present study provide a reference baseline for YOY bluefish for “before-and-after” comparative studies and other toxicological studies for the New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site that is currently being remediated.

Bioinvasions are a significant force of change – and economic and ecological threat – in marine ecosystems. The threat now encroaches on Alaska, which has had relatively few invasions compared to other global regions, prompting need to develop new incursion response tools. We appraised five ‘eco-friendly’ immersion treatment options (dilute acetic acid, dilute bleach, freshwater, brine and hypoxia) at either minute- or hour-scale exposures to kill the invasive tunicate Didemnum vexillum. Data revealed 100% treatment efficacy after two minutes in acetic acid, ten minutes in bleach, four hours in freshwater and over four hours in brine solution. We also demonstrated the importance of monitoring D. vexillum recovery for at least three weeks, since seemingly destroyed colonies rebounded during this timeframe. Combined, these findings provide insights towards a bay-scale eradication and post-border management plan applicable to the recent D. vexillum incursion in Whiting Harbor, Alaska and other shallow, inshore invasion sites.