Currently little is known about the prevalence of plastics and microplastics (MPs) in the Persian Gulf. Five sampling stations were selected along the Strait of Hormuz (Iran) that exhibited different levels of industrialization and urbanization, and included a marine protected area. Debris was observed and sediments were collected for MPs extraction via fluidization/floatation methodology. The order of MP abundance (par/kg) generally reflected the level of anthropogenic activity: Bostanu (1258±291)>Gorsozan (122±23)>Khor-e-Yekshabeh (26±6)>Suru (14±4)>Khor-e-Azini (2±1). Across all sites fibers dominated (83%, 11% film, 6% fragments). FT-IR analysis showed polyethylene (PE), nylon, and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) were the commonly recovered polymers. Likely sources include beach debris, discarded fishing gear, and urban and industrial outflows that contain fibers from clothes. This study provides a ‘snapshot’ of MP pollution and longitudinal studies are required to fully understand plastic contamination in the region.

Plastic debris is ubiquitous in the marine environment and the world's shores represent a major sink. However, knowledge about plastic abundance in remote areas is scarce. Therefore, plastic abundance was investigated on a small island of the Maldives. Plastic debris (>1mm) was sampled once in natural long-term accumulation zones at the north shore and at the high tide drift line of the south shore on seven consecutive days to quantify daily plastic accumulation. Reliable identification of plastic debris was ensured by FTIR spectroscopy. Despite the remoteness of the island a considerable amount of plastic debris was present. At both sites a high variability in plastic abundance on a spatial and temporal scale was observed, which may be best explained by environmental factors. In addition, our results show that snapshot sampling may deliver biased results and indicate that future monitoring programs should consider spatial and temporal variation of plastic deposition.

This study reports plastic ingestion in various fish found from coastal and offshore sites in Scottish marine waters. Coastal samples consisted of three demersal flatfish species (n=128) collected from the East and West coasts of Scotland. Offshore samples consisted of 5 pelagic species and 4 demersal species (n=84) collected from the Northeast Atlantic. From the coastal fish sampled, 47.7% of the gastrointestinal tracts contained macroplastic and microplastic. Of the 84 pelagic and demersal offshore fish, only 2 (2.4%) individuals from different species had ingested plastic identified as a clear polystyrene fibre and a black polyamide fibre. The average number of plastic items found per fish from all locations that had ingested plastic was 1.8 (±1.7) with polyamide (65.3%), polyethylene terephthalate (14.4%) and acrylic (14.4%) being the three most commonly found plastics. This study adds to the existing data on macroplastic and microplastic ingestion in fish species.

Numerous countries have been confronted with infectious diseases in mariculture activities, including fungi infections, although reports in scallops are scarce. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the occurrence of filamentous fungi in Nodipecten nodosus specimens from three marine farms in Southeastern Brazil. Eight fungi genera were observed in the branchial arches, intestine and muscle tissue of the scallop specimens. These include potentially toxin-producing species, such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. Their presence may lead to potential public health concerns, since all sampling sites showed the presence of fungi in all scallop organs, with special concern regarding edible muscle tissue. A significant number of species was observed at one of the study areas, which could indicate a previously unknown source of contamination, since increases in fungi species richness in polluted coastal waters have been reported. This is also, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of Pestalotiopsis in shellfish.

To reduce negative environmental impacts from human aquaculture activities, the red alga Gracilaria lemaneiformis was co-cultured with the fish Pseudosciaena crocea in an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) system for 35d in Yantian Bay. The eutrophication index value decreased from 14.5 to 8.4 after seaweeds were co-cultured in cage farming areas, which indicated that the eutrophic water column in Yantian Bay could be mediated by IMTA. Total DIN and DIP of the tidal input and output were 9.23kg, 0.19kg and 11.08kg, and 0.27kg, respectively. Total 5.24kg of dissolved N and 0.81kg of dissolved P were released from IMTA system. These results indicate that G. lemaneiformis co-cultured in IMTA system could not completely remove all excess nutrients. In theory, at least 324.48kg of seaweed seedlings would be required to balance excess nutrients generated from fish cages.

Coolia are marine benthic dinoflagellates which are globally distributed and potentially toxic. This study provides the first investigation of species diversity and toxicity assessment of Coolia in Hong Kong waters. Fifty-one strains of four Coolia species, including C. malayensis, C. canariensis, C. tropicalis, and C. palmyrensis, were isolated from twelve sub-tidal habitats, and identified phylogenetically using 28S rDNA sequences. Exposure experiments (48-hour) demonstrated that the algal lysates extracted from the four Coolia species exhibited different toxic effects on the lethality and abnormality of two invertebrate larvae, i.e., brine shrimp Artemia franciscana and sea urchin Heliocidaris crassispina. Heliocidaris crassispina was more sensitive to the toxic effects of Coolia species than A. franciscana. Toxicity tests from both larvae revealed that C. malayensis was generally more toxic, and caused higher mortality rates when compared with the other three species. The emerging threat of harmful benthic dinoflagellates to marine environments and sensitive biota is discussed.

We simulated in the laboratory the possible effects on fatty acids and immune status of wild fish arriving for the first time in the vicinity of a sea-cage fish farm, shifting their natural diet to commercial feed consumption, rich in fatty acids of vegetable origin. The flesh fatty acid profile of golden mullet specimens was altered after 2weeks of commercial feed consumption, showing an increase in fatty acids of vegetable origin. The serum peroxidase and bactericidal activities, and head-kidney leucocyte phagocytic capacity, increased after eight weeks of the new diet, while the respiratory burst activity decreased. The extent of these changes cannot be considered large enough to regard them as compromising the health status of fish. More research is needed in order to elucidate whether the rapid assimilation of the dietary fatty acids could harm the immune status of fish when feeding for longer periods than two months.

Macrobenthic communities in 2001 and 2012 were compared across the marine environment of Hong Kong based on sediment grab samples collected from 28 stations. CLUSTER analysis showed in both surveys that the stations could be divided into four groups at 20% faunal similarity. However, there were notable changes in the macrobenthic community structure between 2001 and 2012 in three focal areas of pollution control (i.e., Victoria Harbour, Deep Bay and Tolo Harbour). The potential link between macrobenthos and pollution abatement measures, and the contributions of environmental conditions to the differential responsiveness of macrobenthos were explored. Notably, a reduction in nutrient input to the eastern part of Victoria Harbour might have led to recovery of benthic communities therein.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are chemicals that are now omnipresent in the environment and have been detected in different matrices from different parts of the world.They are semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), hence they partition between air, water, soil and sediment. Atmospheric long range transport (LRT) is commonly considered the swiftest route for SVOCs to reach remote environments. As a results, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) advocates air monitoring as a key measure to assess the effectiveness of global control initiatives. There is little information of atmospheric BFR levels in the African continent, which makes it impossible to understand the regional as well as global perspective of these pollutants in the atmosphere. The aim of this review is therefore to establish scientific reasons to explain why it is necessary to have atmospheric research in Africa, and provide research gaps that need to be considered in further studies in order to better understand these pollutants in the atmosphere.To date there are about 57 published studies on BFRs in different matrices in various countries of the African continent, out of which, only three have concentrated on the atmosphere. The amounts are not as high as detected in other regions but are likely to increase due to the fact that the continent is developing at a fast rate thus an anticipated increase in BFRs use. The review therefore provides different recommendations which all clearly develop a foundation of the necessity of air monitoring of BFRs in the African continent.

Concentrations of 16 US EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in 15 marine wild organism species from South China Sea. The concentration (dry weight) of 16 PAHs ranged from 94.88 to 557.87ng/g, with a mean of 289.86ng/g. The concentrations of BaP in marine species were no detectable. The composition of PAHs was characterized by the 2- and 3-ring PAHs in marine species, and NA, PHE and FA were the dominant constituents. PAHs isomeric ratios indicated PAHs mainly originated from grass, wood and coal combustion, and petroleum. The human health risk assessment based on the excess cancer risk (ECR) suggested the probability of PAHs posing carcinogenic risk to human beings with consumption of marine organisms were negligible (probability<1×10−6).