High concentrations of DDT and metabolites (ΣDDT) have been detected in sediment and the demersal flatfish hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichtys verticalis) collected from Palos Verdes (PV), California, USA, a site contaminated with over 100 metric tons of DDT throughout 1960s–70s. This study was conducted to assess the transfer of ΣDDT from PV-sediment into polychaetes (Neanthes arenaceodentata) and hornyhead turbot, and to investigate if the responses in turbots from two different laboratory exposures mimic those in turbots caught in PV (PV-turbot). Turbot fed PV-sediment-contaminated polychaete for 7 days had liver concentrations of ΣDDT similar to PV-turbot. After 28 days, ΣDDT also accumulated in livers of turbot gavaged with a ΣDDT mixture. In vitro cell bioassays indicated significant increases of 17β-estradiol equivalents (EEQ) in turbot bile extracts as compared to the control in the 7-day study. These responses corresponded to those measured in PV-fish. Glucocorticoid receptor (GR), anti-androgen receptor (anti-AR), estrogen receptor (ER) or aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activities were also observed in extracts of PV-sediment, and PV-sediment-exposed worm. Anti-AR, AhR and GR activities were significantly higher in PV-sediment than reference sediment (San Diego, SD). Higher transcripts of hepatic VTG, ERα and ERβ were found in PV-turbot than SD-turbot, but were unaltered in fish exposed to sediment-contaminated worms for the 7-day study. In contrast, liver extracts from the 28-day treatment of ΣDDT showed lower EEQ but similar hepatic VTG and ERβ transcripts relative to those of PV-turbot. These data indicated that trophic transfer of sediment-associated DDT in 7-day exposures corresponded to field measurements of DDT residues and in vitro ER bioactivities, but failed to mimic in vivo biological effects observed in field fish. In contrast, treatment with ΣDDT alone for 28 days mimicked in vivo biological effects of DDTs in PV fish, but did not correspond to liver concentrations or in vitro bioactivities.

Although water-dispersible engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) have a wide range of applications, the ENPs used in many nanotoxicological studies tend to form micron-sized aggregates in the exposure media and thus cannot reflect the toxicity of real nanoparticles. Here we described the synthesis of bare hematite nanoparticles (HNPs-0) and two poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-coated forms (HNPs-1 and HNPs-2). All three HNPs were well dispersed in deionized water, but HNPs-0 quickly aggregated in the three culture media tested. By contrast, the suspensions of HNPs-1 and HNPs-2 remained stable, with negligible amounts of PAA and Fe3+ liberated from either one under the investigated conditions. To better quantify the accumulation of the coated HNPs, a relatively innocuous 55Fe-labeled form of HNPs-2 was synthesized as an example and its accumulation in three phytoplankton species was tested. Consistent with the uptake kinetics model for conventional pollutants, the cellular accumulation of HNPs-2 increased linearly with exposure time for two of the three phytoplankton species. These results demonstrate the utility of 55Fe-labeled well-dispersible HNPs as a model material for nanoparticle bioaccumulation studies in nanotoxicology.

In practice, stable Cd isotope ratios are being applied to trace pollution sources in the natural environment. However, Cd isotope fractionation during weathering processes is not yet fully understood. We investigated Cd isotope fractionation of PbZn ore in leaching experiments and in the environment under natural weathering processes. Our leaching experiments demonstrated that the leachate was enriched with heavy Cd isotopes, relative to initial and residual samples (Δ114/110Cdleachate − initial state = 0.40–0.50‰, Δ114/110Cdleachate −residual state = 0.36–0.53‰). For natural samples, δ114/110Cd values of stream sediments were higher than those of the corresponding soil samples collected from the riverbank, Δ114/110Cdstream sediment −soil can be up to 0.50‰. This observation is consistent with our leaching experiments, which indicate significant Cd isotope fractionation during natural weathering processes. Therefore, natural contributions should be considered when using Cd isotopes to trace anthropogenic pollution in water and sediment systems.

Oxytracycline (OTC) is a broad spectrum antibiotic authorized for use in European aquaculture. Its photo-degradation has been widely studied in synthetic aqueous solutions, sometimes resorting to expensive methods and without proven effectiveness in natural waters. Thus, this work studied the possibility to apply the solar photo-degradation for removal of OTC from marine aquaculture's waters. For that, water samples were collected at different locals of the water treatment circuit, from two different aquaculture companies. Water samples were firstly characterized regarding to pH, salinity, total suspended solids (TSS), organic carbon and UV–Vis spectroscopic characteristics. Then, the samples were spiked with OTC and irradiated using simulated sunlight in order to evaluate the matrix effects on OTC photo-degradation. From kinetic results, the apparent quantum yields and the outdoor half-life times, at 40°N for midsummer and midwinter days were estimated by the first time for these conditions. For a midsummer day, at sea level, the outdoor half-life time predicted for OTC in these aquaculture's waters ranged between 21 and 25 min. Additionally, the pH and salinity effects on the OTC photo-degradation were evaluated and it has been shown that high pH values and the presence of sea salt increase the OTC photo-degradation rate in aquaculture's waters, compared to results in deionised water. The results are very promising to apply this low-cost methodology using the natural sunlight in aquaculture's waters to remove OTC.

The toxicity and genotoxicity of the cationic surfactant benzalkonium chloride (BAC) were studied using Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia as model systems. Acute and chronic toxicity testing were performed according to the international standard guidelines and the genotoxicity was detected through the comet assay on cells from whole organisms in vivo exposed. Acute effects occurred at concentrations in the order of tens of μg/L in D. magna and hundreds of μg/L in C. dubia. Chronic effects were found at one order of magnitude less than short-term effects maintaining the same difference in sensitivity between D. magna and C. dubia. BAC induced relevant DNA damage, in both cladocerans; the lowest adverse effect levels were 0.4 and 4 ng/L for D. magna and C. dubia, respectively. As these effective concentrations are far lower than BAC occurrence in surface waters (units of μg/L) a concerning environmental risk cannot be excluded. The findings of this study showed that D. magna and C. dubia, could be used as model organisms to detect acute and chronic toxicity as well as genotoxicity at the whole organism level.

Urban heat island (UHI) can generate profound impacts on socioeconomics, human life, and the environment. Most previous studies have estimated UHI intensity using outdated urban extent maps to define urban and its surrounding areas, and the impacts of urban boundary expansion have never been quantified. Here, we assess the possible biases in UHI intensity estimates induced by outdated urban boundary maps using MODIS Land surface temperature (LST) data from 2009 to 2011 for China's 32 major cities, in combination with the urban boundaries generated from urban extent maps of the years 2000, 2005 and 2010. Our results suggest that it is critical to use concurrent urban extent and LST maps to estimate UHI at the city and national levels. Specific definition of UHI matters for the direction and magnitude of potential biases in estimating UHI intensity using outdated urban extent maps.

This study aimed to apply an inverse-dispersion calculation method (IDM) to estimate the emission rate of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the complicated industrial area sources, through a case study on a petroleum refinery in Northern China. The IDM was composed of on-site monitoring of ambient VOCs concentrations and meteorological parameters around the source, calculation of the relationship coefficient γ between the source's emission rate and the ambient VOCs concentration by the ISC3 model, and estimation of the actual VOCs emission rate from the source. Targeting the studied refinery, 10 tests and 8 tests were respectively conducted in March and in June of 2014. The monitoring showed large differences in VOCs concentrations between background and downwind receptors, reaching 59.7 ppbv in March and 248.6 ppbv in June, on average. The VOCs increases at receptors mainly consisted of ethane (3.1%–22.6%), propane (3.8%–11.3%), isobutane (8.5%–10.2%), n-butane (9.9%–13.2%), isopentane (6.1%–12.9%), n-pentane (5.1%–9.7%), propylene (6.1–11.1%) and 1-butylene (1.6%–5.4%). The chemical composition of the VOCs increases in this field monitoring was similar to that of VOCs emissions from China's refineries reported, which revealed that the ambient VOCs increases were predominantly contributed by this refinery. So, we used the ISC3 model to create the relationship coefficient γ for each receptor of each test. In result, the monthly VOCs emissions from this refinery were calculated to be 183.5 ± 89.0 ton in March and 538.3 ± 281.0 ton in June. The estimate in June was greatly higher than in March, chiefly because the higher environmental temperature in summer produced more VOCs emissions from evaporation and fugitive process of the refinery. Finally, the VOCs emission factors (g VOCs/kg crude oil refined) of 0.73 ± 0.34 (in March) and 2.15 ± 1.12 (in June) were deduced for this refinery, being in the same order with previous direct-measurement results (1.08–2.65 g VOCs/kg crude oil refined).An inverse-dispersion calculation method was applied to estimate VOCs emission rate for a petroleum refinery, being 183.5 ton/month (March) and 538.3 ton/month (June).

Dredging is frequently used in the river mouths of eutrophic lakes to reduce internal phosphorus (P) loading from the sediment. However, the accumulation of P-adsorbed suspended particulate matter (SPM) from the inflowing rivers negatively affects the post-dredging sediment-water interface and ultimately increases internal P loading. Here, a 360-d experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of riverine SPM on the efficacy of dredging in reducing internal P loading. SPM was added to dredged and undredged sediments collected from the confluence area of Lake Chaohu. Several parameters related to internal P loading, including oxygen profile, soluble reactive P, and ferrous iron across the sediment-water interface, organic matter, alkaline phosphatase activity, and P fractions, were measured throughout the experimental period. The results showed that the P content (especially mobile P) in the sediment increased to the pre-dredging level with the accumulation of SPM in the dredged sediment. In addition, the P flux across the sediment-water interface increased with the accumulation of SPM. Several characteristics of SPM, including high organic matter content, mobile P, high activity of alkaline phosphatase, and high biological activity, were considered correlated with the post-dredging increase in internal P loading. Overall, this study showed that the heavily contaminated riverine SPM regulates the long-term efficacy of dredging as a nutrient management option in the confluence area. Management is needed to avoid or reduce this phenomenon during dredging projects of this nature.

The levels of nitrate in 52 drinking water wells in rural Central Java, Indonesia were evaluated in April 2014, and the results were used for a health risk assessment for the local populations by using probabilistic techniques. The concentrations of nitrate in drinking water had a range of 0.01–84 mg/L, a mean of 20 mg/L and a medium of 14 mg/L. Only two of the 52 samples exceeded the WHO guideline values of 50 mg/L for infant methaemoglobinaemia. The hazard quotient values as evaluated against the WHO guideline value at the 50 and 95 percentile points were HQ50 at 0.42 and HQ95 at 1.2, respectively. These indicated a low risk of infant methaemoglobinaemia for the whole population, but some risk for the sensitive portion of the population. The HQ50 and HQ95 values based on WHO acceptable daily intake dose for adult male and female were 0.35 and 1.0, respectively, indicating a generally a low level of risk. A risk characterisation linking birth defects to nitrate levels in water consumed during the first three months of pregnancy resulted in a HQ50/50 values of 1.5 and a HQ95/5 value of 65. These HQ values indicated an elevated risk for birth defects, in particular for the more sensitive population. A sanitation improvement program in the study area had a positive effect in reducing nitrate levels in wells and the corresponding risk for public health. For example, the birth defect HQ50/50 values for a subset of wells surveyed in both 2014 and 2015 was reduced from 1.1 to 0.71.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Hong Kong are situated in close proximity to urbanized areas, and inevitably influenced by wastewater discharges and antifouling biocides leached from vessels. Hence, marine organisms inhabiting these MPAs are probably at risk. Here an integrative approach was employed to comprehensively assess ecological risks of eight priority endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in four MPAs of Hong Kong. We quantified their concentrations in environmental and biota samples collected in different seasons during 2013–2014, while mussels (Septifer virgatus) and semi-permeable membrane devices were deployed to determine the extent of accumulation of the EDCs. Extracts from the environmental samples were subjected to the yeast estrogen screen and a novel human cell-based catechol-O-methyltransferase ELISA to evaluate their estrogenic activities. The results indicated ecological risks of EDCs in the Cape d'Aguilar Marine Reserve. This integrated approach can effectively evaluate ecological risks of EDCs through linking their concentrations to biological effects.