Seabirds can interact with marine litter, mainly by entanglement or ingestion. The ingestion of plastics can lead to starvation or physical damage to the digestive tract. For chicks, it could additionally lead to reduced growth, affecting survival and fledging. This study quantified the ingestion of plastics by seabird chicks via an opportunistic sampling strategy. When ringing is carried out at colonies, birds may spontaneously regurgitate their stomach contents due to the stress or as a defence mechanism. Regurgitates were collected from nestlings of three different species: Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla, n=38), Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis, n=14) and Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo, n=28). Plastic was present in all species, with the highest frequency of occurrence (FO) in Northern Fulmar chicks (28.6%), followed by Black-legged Kittiwakes (7.9%) and Great Cormorants (7.1%). The observed load of plastics on chicks, which have not yet left the nest, highlights the pervasive nature of plastic pollution.

This study explores how plasticity in biochemical attributes, used as indicators of health and condition, enables the coral Acropora tenuis to respond to differing water quality regimes in inshore regions of the Great Barrier Reef. Health attributes were monitored along a strong and weak water quality gradient, each with three reefs at increasing distances from a major river source. Attributes differed significantly only along the strong gradient; corals grew fastest, had the least dense skeletons, highest symbiont densities and highest lipid concentrations closest to the river mouth, where water quality was poorest. High nutrient and particulate loads were only detrimental to skeletal density, which decreased as linear extension increased, highlighting a trade-off. Our study underscores the importance of assessing multiple health attributes in coral reef monitoring. For example, autotrophic indices are poor indicators of coral health and condition, but improve when combined with attributes like lipid content and biomass.

To develop a test for assessing the immunomodulatory effects of chemical pollutants on fish, we evaluated the effects of dexamethasone on the natural host–pathogen interaction between common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Aeromonas salmonicida. Carp were exposed to 1mgL−1 dexamethasone for the entire experimental period. One week after the exposure test started, the exposed fish, as well as unexposed fish, were bath-infected with A. salmonicida. One hundred percent mortality was observed in bacteria-infected fish exposed to dexamethasone, whereas no infection-associated mortality was observed in infected fish in the absence of dexamethasone exposure. In a separate experiment, dexamethasone exposure significantly suppressed hemolytic complement activity in bacteria-infected fish. These results clearly indicate that exposure to a high concentration of dexamethasone suppressed the carp immune system and caused subsequent mortality. Thus, this proposed test method is likely to be useful for evaluating the immunomodulatory effects of chemicals in fish.

Due to the continuous human activities linked to economic expansion in the Arabian Gulf area (also known as Persian Gulf), various activities have had an adverse impact on the coastal environment. Furthermore, reduction of precipitation and river flows has resulted in alterations to the hydro-environment regime at various levels. The current study uses a detailed numerical model that was validated with recent field measurements to determine the comprehensive seasonal circulations of the Northern Arabian/Persian Gulf (NAG). The seasons were studied individually using a three-dimensional setup and by considering the baroclinic effects and meteorological forcing. It was found that the NAG exhibits distinctive circulation characteristics each season. In winter, a dense water mass that forms near Kuwait flows toward the southeast near-bed, whereas relatively weak Indian Ocean Surface Waters (IOSW) flow along the Iranian coast and, to a lesser extent, oppose these currents. In spring, the southeast near bed circulations are weaker, while the IOSW is in highest conditions reaching the northern latitudes of the Gulf without being significantly diluted. In summer, a thermocline develops, particularly at the main axis of the NAG, and increases the chances of upwelling. The surface water during this season is significantly controlled by wind. Most distinctive, a non-uniform flow is evident at the offshore regions along the Arabian coast due to strong density gradients. In the fall, the circulations are relatively weaker compared to other seasons; however, cyclonic features are evident at the southeast of the estuary. Well-known counter clockwise circulations NAG are evident throughout the season, but at various strengths; summer is the most active season, while fall is the least active season. In a similar manner, the along shore current varied spatially and temporally throughout the seasons.

We quantified the amount of plastic found in food loads delivered to nestlings in Cassin's Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), a small, zooplanktivorous seabird, on Triangle Island, British Columbia, in 1996–2016. The density of plastic in surrounding waters is moderately high, yet few food loads contained any plastic (3 of 850), and none more than two pieces. That result accords well with previous observations on the other four North Pacific auklets (Aethia spp.), leading us to conclude that true auklets rarely transfer plastic to nestlings. However, many hatch-year Cassin's Auklets found dead in coastal British Columbia, Washington and Oregon during the mass mortality event of fall and winter 2014–15 had plastic in their ventriculi. We suggest that these plastic particles would have been obtained at sea after fledging, perhaps while the birds transited south through a region of high plastic density off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Washington and Oregon.

Ecosystem uptake and transfer processes of Sellafield-derived radiocarbon (14C) within the Irish Sea were examined. Highly variable activities in sediment, seawater and biota indicate complex 14C dispersal and uptake dynamics. All east basin biota exhibited 14C enrichments above ambient background while most west basin biota had 14C activities close to background, although four organisms including two slow-moving species were significantly enriched. The western Irish Sea gyre is a suggested pathway for transfer of 14C to the west basin and retention therein. Despite ongoing Sellafield 14C discharges, organic sediments near Sellafield were significantly less enriched than associated benthic organisms. Rapid scavenging of labile, 14C-enriched organic material by organisms and mixing to depth of 14C-enriched detritus arriving at the sediment/water interface are proposed mechanisms to explain this. All commercially important fish, crustaceans and molluscs showed 14C enrichments above background; however, the radiation dose from their consumption is extremely low and radiologically insignificant.

The aim of the study is to select a cellulosic waste material from paper industry solid wastes and process it for sorbent production. Four different solid wastes were collected from a local paper production facility and rejects were selected due to its sorption capacity and processability. Oil sorption experiments were conducted according to the ASTM F 726-12 method. Effect of sorbent dosage, contact and dripping time, recovery of the oil, reusability of the sorbent and sorption from the water surface were also determined. Maximum oil sorption capacity was determined as 9.67, 12.92 and 12.84g/g for diesel oil, 0W30 and 10W30 motor oils respectively for the static test and 8.27, 10.45 and 11.69g/g for the dynamic test. An efficient and low-cost sorbent was produced from paper industry rejects that can be used on land and on water.

We reveal a dose–response relationship for bioaccumulation of Zn, Cu and Cr in shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti from Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our model estimates the current risk (AD50 was 70% of the legal limit) and the daily metal uptake rate for each metal. It can also evaluate the relative reliability of predictions for tissue concentrations reaching the legal limits for human consumption (approximately 1year) and predictions related to asymptotic length, arising from (i) direct regression of the metal concentration (MeC) versus total length (TL) and age (duration of exposure), and (ii) correlation of the incorporation rate (IR=MeC/TL) with age. Metal incorporation rates (IR), i.e. a kinetic proxy for absorption during growth up to attainment of asymptotic length, decrease with age, reflecting a slow-down in metal absorption. This pattern mitigates the high initial concentrations observed for juveniles.

This paper uses ARIMA models for daily temporal analysis of the effect of land surface coverage (LSC) on PM10 concentrations in a high-altitude megacity. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is the urban center with the greatest population density and third-highest air pollution levels in Latin America. Six automatic monitoring stations were used; they were equipped with measurement instruments for PM10, temperature and solar radiation as well as wind speed and wind direction. The duration of the sampling period was 6 years. The hourly PM10 sampling system included continuous-monitoring equipment that used beta ray attenuation. We analyzed atmospheric stability and the spatial distribution of LSC (vegetated, non-vegetated, impervious and water bodies) before applying the iterative process of Box-Jenkins for ARIMA models. ARIMA analysis indicates greater persistence in PM10 pollution in the presence of increased vegetated LSC (trees and grasslands); persistence decreased in the presence of more impervious LSC (roofs, pavements and footpaths). PM10 persistence is found to be 2 days (48 h). The best distance to demonstrate these findings is between 50 and 100 m, with respect to the monitoring stations' physical location. Urban areas with a predominance of vegetated LSC register lower PM10 concentrations than urban areas with a predominance of impervious LSC (average daily difference = 42.7%). This study's findings serve as a reference point for the development of differentiated strategies for air pollution control in line with urban LSC.

Chemical pollution was monitored and assessed along the Swedish west coast. 62 of 172 analyzed organic chemicals were detected in the water phase of at least one of five monitored sites. A Concentration Addition based screening-level risk assessment indicates that all sites are put at risk from chemical contamination, with total risk quotients between 2 and 9. Only at one site did none of the individual chemicals exceeded its corresponding environmental threshold (PNEC, EQS). The monitoring data thus demonstrate a widespread blanket of diffuse pollution, with no clear trends among sites. Further issues critical for the environmental chemical risk assessment include the challenges to achieve sufficiently low levels of detection, especially for hormones and cypermethrin (a pyrethroid insecticide), the appropriate consideration of non-detects and the limited availability of reliable PNECs and EQS values.