Surface sediments were collected from the main path of Kuroshio Current (KC) off eastern Taiwan (ETW), and laboratory incubation was conducted for the study of the nutrient exchange at the sediment-water interface. Exchange fluxes of NO3−-N, NO2−-N, NH4+-N, PO43−-P and SiO32−-Si under simulated site condition were −0.0866, 0.00146, 0.0634, −0.00812 and −0.181mmolm−2d−1, respectively. This indicated that sediments in the studied area might act as a source of NO2−-N and NH4+-N and a sink of NO3−-N, PO43−-P and SiO32−-Si. Factors affecting nutrient exchange fluxes were studied by changing incubation conditions. Compared with some coastal areas in China, the main path of KC off ETW showed relatively low nutrient exchange fluxes at the sediment-water interface. It could be inferred that the sediment-water exchange of nutrients in the main path of KC off ETW had little influence on the downstream nutrient transportation by KC year-round based on the results of this research.

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.

Coastal waters receive large amounts of nutrients and pollutants from different point and nonpoint sources through bays and estuaries. Excess supply of nutrients in coastal waters may have detrimental effects, leading to hypoxia and anoxia from eutrophication. Reduction in concentrations of excess nutrients/pollutants in bays/estuarine system is must for healthy coastal ecosystem functioning. Conservations of bays, estuaries and coastal zones are must for sustainable development in any maritime country. Excellent ability of oyster in removing and controlling the concentrations of nutrients, pollutants, suspended particulate matters from bays and estuarine waters stimulated me to provide a viewpoint on oyster reef restoration in controlling nutrient/heavy metals fluxes and marine coastal pollution around India. Oyster reefs restoration may decrease nutrient and heavy metals fluxes in coastal waters and reduce the intensity of oxygen depletion in the coastal Arabian Sea (seasonal) and Bay of Bengal. However, extensive research is recommended to understand the impact of oyster reef restoration in controlling coastal pollution which is essential for sustainable development around India.

Shipping is recognized as a major vector for the global transfer of non-indigenous marine species (NIMS). As a major transshipment port, Singapore can minimize the risk of NIMS transfer by implementing pragmatic management strategies, such as using vessel movement information to assess the risk of NIMS transfer.Findings from vessel movement information in a major port terminal in Singapore showed that vessel residence time is short, with >92% of vessels spending seven days or less. There was little variation in vessel residence time to vessel arrival numbers, while the top three last ports of call were found to be from regional ports. Using two key features obtained from vessel movement records, 1) vessel residence time and 2) biogeographic origin of the vessels' last port of call, a simple risk assessment matrix was constructed and applied to assess the level of risk of NIMS transfer by transiting vessels.

To assess metal contamination in sediments along the entire coastline of South Korea, we estimated the regional background concentrations of metals and assessed the degree of contamination. Major and heavy metal concentrations, grain sizes, and sedimentation rates were analyzed. Regional background concentrations were established by identifying uncontaminated sediments in the cores, using first-order linear regression of background concentration against Cs concentration. The metal contamination of surface sediments was assessed using Korean sediment quality guidelines and a modified geo-accumulation index (Igeo⁎). In total, 14 sediments exceeded the threshold and probable effects level for Cu, 39 for Zn, and 19 for Pb. Based on Igeo⁎, most sediments were not contaminated with Cr, Co, or Ni, whereas 31% (Zn), 34% (Cu), and 43% (Pb) in total surface sediments were contaminated with other metals; 14% of total sediments were contaminated with Cu, and those above class 2 were concentrated near industrial and shipyard facilities.

Air pollution has become more serious in many developing countries. Heavy particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a major threat to people's respiratory and cardiopulmonary health. It is an important problem for public health research to accurately estimate the spatial distribution of high PM concentrations from a limited number of monitoring stations. In this study, a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model was adopted to obtain the probability distribution map of high PM10 concentrations. Daily PM10 concentration data from 19 air quality monitoring stations from the years 2008–2011 were collected. Land cover, road density, and meteorological data were selected as explanatory variables entered in the model. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the MaxEnt model. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) shows that the MaxEnt model fits well in the four year period. AUC is 0.78 in 2008, 0.79 in 2009, 0.81 in 2010, and 0.80 in 2011. A probability distribution map of high PM10 concentration indicates high human health risks in regions of Beijing in areas with dense roads and buildings. During the entire research period from 2008 to 2011, the distribution of high PM10 concentration is relatively stable and it indicates that the trend of high concentration has not changed significantly during the four years. Traffic and land cover are the two most important factors that can explain more than 80% variance of PM10 from 2008 to 2011.

Thirty-five and eleven air samples were collected using, respectively, active samplers (filter + PUF) and passive samplers (PUF disks), over two consecutive four-month periods (spring and autumn-winter), in urban, urban/industrial, and rural (background) sites in São Paulo, Brazil. All the samples were extracted with toluene:acetone (9:1) in a Soxhlet apparatus, and the extracts were then purified. Analysis for polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and for dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) were made by High Resolution Gas Chromatography/High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS). Human exposure risk was evaluated using inhalation risk assessment. Results showed: (1) there are statistical differences for PCDD/F concentrations in air between periods 1 and 2 (p = 0.03), whereas dl-PCB levels were not statistically different (p = 0.52); (2) PCDD/F and dl-PCB air levels were in the following order: urban/industrial > urban > rural for both active and passive samples; (3) PCDD/F and dl-PCB concentrations ranged from 7.76 to 453 fg TEQ/m³ in active air samples, and from 6.11 to 469 fg TEQ/m³ in passive air samples; (4) sampling rates for PCDD/Fs by the two approaches used showed considerable differences; (5) average daily intake by inhalation ranged from 18.1 to 55.6 fg TEQ/kg day, respectively, for adults and children, representing 1.8–5.6% of the lower range of the Tolerable Daily Intake recommended by the World Health Organization. Based on these results, the inhalation risk for PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs, for local São Paulo residents, should be considered low.

A simultaneous monitoring study on organotins (butyltins and phenyltins) and most frequently used alternative antifouling biocides (Irgarol 1051, Diuron, Sea-Nine 211 and M1) in water and sediments (n=44) collected from three Special Management Sea Areas operated by Korean government. The lower concentration of butyltins (BTs) than that of new antifouling biocides (NEW) was found in water but the significant greater concentration of BTs than that of NEW was still found in sediments. The tributyltin (TBT) levels in water exceeded the chronic criterion to protect seawater aquatic life at several sites. Even ten years after the ban of the use of TBT-based antifouling paint, the concentrations of TBT, Diuron and Irgarol 1051 in sediments from shipyards exceeded global sediment quality guidelines and potentially poses adverse risks on marine organisms and extremely high concentration of TBT up to 2304ng/g was found for a sediment collected at a shipyard.

Ascidians are good monitors for assessing water quality, since they filter large volumes of water; however, little is known about how xenobiotics, including metals, can affect ascidian hemocytes. Metals can be either toxic or beneficial to health, inducing many different responses. The response mechanism depends on the class of metals to which organisms are exposed: essential, nonessential, and borderline. To analyze the influence of metals from different classes on the protective mechanisms of an ascidian, we investigated the production of nitric oxide (NO) after exposure to various concentrations of Mg, Mn and Pb over different time periods. We also determined the amounts of each metal in the hemocytes. Our results indicated that especially Pb could stimulate NO production. Although Pb induced the highest NO production, cell viability was not severely altered in all Pb concentrations and time periods. Ascidians might serve as biomonitor for Pb, since their vanadocytes accumulate Pb.

The effects of oil spills on marine biological systems are of great concern, especially in regions with high biological production of harvested resources such as in the Northeastern Atlantic. The scientific studies of the impact of oil spills on fish stocks tend to ignore that spatial patterns of natural mortality may influence the magnitude of the impact over time. Here, we first illustrate how spatial variation in natural mortality may affect the population impact by considering a thought experiment. Second, we consider an empirically based example of Northeast Arctic cod to extend the concept to a realistic setting. Finally, we present a scenario-based investigation of how the degree of spatial variation in natural mortality affects the impact over a gradient of oil spill sizes. Including the effects of spatial variations in natural mortality tends to widen the impact distribution, hence increasing the probability of both high and low impact events.