The ocean is an important sink of land-based pollutants. Previous studies showed that serious antibiotic pollution occurred in the coastal waters, but limited studies focused on their presence in offshore waters. In this study, eleven antibiotics in three different categories were investigated in offshore waters of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea in China. The results indicated that three antibiotics dehydration erythromycin, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim occurred throughout the offshore waters at concentrations of 0.10–16.6 ng L−1 and they decreased exponentially from the rivers to the coastal and offshore waters. The other antibiotics all presented very low detection rates (<10%) and concentrations (<0.51 ng L−1). Although the concentrations were very low, risk assessment based on the calculated risk quotients (RQs) showed that sulfamethoxazole, dehydration erythromycin and clarithromycin at most of sampling sites posed medium or low ecological risks (0.01 < RQ < 1) to some sensitive aquatic organisms, including Synechococcus leopoliensis and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata.

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) metabolism was compared across salinity transects in Kahana Bay, a small tropical estuary on Oahu, HI. In surface water, TNT incorporation rates (range: 3–121 μg C L−1 d−1) were often 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than mineralization rates suggesting that it may serve as organic nitrogen for coastal microbial assemblages. These rates were often an order of magnitude more rapid than those for RDX and two orders more than HMX. During average or high stream flow, TNT incorporation was most rapid at the riverine end member and generally decreased with increasing salinity. This pattern was not seen during low flow periods. Although TNT metabolism was not correlated with heterotrophic growth rate, it may be related to metabolism of other aromatic compounds. With most TNT ring-carbon incorporation efficiencies at greater than 97%, production of new biomass appears to be a more significant product of microbial TNT metabolism than mineralization.

Throughout 90-day biodegradation under microaerobic conditions, invasive to Lithuania species boxelder maple (Acer negundo) leaves lost 1.5-fold more biomass than that of autochthonous black alder (Alnus glutinosa), releasing higher contents of Ntot, ammonium and generating higher BOD7. Boxelder maple leaf leachates were characterized by higher total bacterial numbers and colony numbers of heterotrophic and cellulose-decomposing bacteria than those of black alder. The higher toxicity of A. negundo aqueous extracts and leachates to charophyte cell (Nitellopsis obtusa), the inhabitant of clean lakes, were manifested at mortality and membrane depolarization levels, while the effect on H+-ATPase activity in membrane preparations from the same algae was stronger in case of A. glutinosa. Duckweed (Lemna minor), a bioindicator of eutrophic waters, was more sensitive to leaf leachates of A. glutinosa. Fallen leaves and leaf litter leachates from invasive and native species of trees, which enter water body, affect differently microbial biodestruction and aquatic vegetation in freshwater systems.

The influence of biochar (5%) on the loss, partitioning and bioaccessibility of 14C-isoproturon (14C-IPU) was evaluated. Results indicated that biochar had a dramatic effect upon 14C-IPU partitioning: 14C-IPU extractability (0.01 M CaCl2) in biochar-amended treatments was reduced to <2% while, 14C-IPU extractability in biochar free treatments decreased with ageing from 90% to 40%. A partitioning model was constructed to derive an effective partition coefficient for biochar:water (KBW of 7.82 × 104 L kg−1). This was two orders of magnitude greater than the apparent Kfoc value of the soil organic carbon:water (631 L kg−1). 14C-radiorespirometry assays indicated high competence of microorganisms to mineralise 14C-IPU in the absence of biochar (40.3 ± 0.9%). Where biochar was present 14C-IPU mineralisation never exceeded 2%. These results indicate reduced herbicide bioaccessibility. Increasing IPU application to ×10 its recommended dose was ineffective at redressing IPU sequestration and its low bioaccessibility.

Industrial nitrogen (N) emissions in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR), Alberta, Canada, affect nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4) deposition rates in close vicinity of industrial emitters. NO3–N and NH4–N open field and throughfall deposition rates were determined at various sites between 3 km and 113 km distance to the main oil sand operations between May 2008 and May 2009. NO3 and NH4 were analyzed for δ15N–NO3, δ18O–NO3, Δ17O–NO3 and δ15N–NH4. Marked differences in the δ18O and Δ17O values between industrial emissions and background deposition allowed for the estimation of minimum industrial contributions to atmospheric NO3 deposition. δ15N–NH4 values also allowed for estimates of industrial contributions to atmospheric NH4 deposition. Results revealed that particularly sites within ∼30 km radius from the main oil sands developments are significantly affected by industrial contributions to atmospheric NO3 and NH4 deposition.

In this study, the aqueous uptake and dietary assimilation (trophic transfer) of two endocrine disrupting compounds (dioxin and phathalic acid) in the green mussel Perna viridis were quantified. During short-term exposure period, dioxin rapidly sorbed onto phytoplankton and its accumulation was much higher than that of phthalate. The uptake of these two compounds by the mussels increased with increasing temperature and salinity (for dioxin only). The dietary assimilation of the two contaminants was rather modest (10–64% for dioxin and 20–47% for phthalate), and was greatly dependent on the food species and concentration. Interestingly, dietary assimilation increased with increasing diatom food concentration. Gut passage time was partially responsible for the variable dietary assimilation. Given the high dissolved uptake rate and the modest dietary assimilation, aqueous exposure was predicted to be the dominant bioaccumulation source for both dioxin and phthalate in the green mussels under most conditions.

Organic pollutants effects on lichens have not been addressed. Rehydration is critical for lichens, a burst of free radicals involving NO occurs. Repeated dehydrations with organic pollutants could increase oxidative damage. Our aim is to learn the effects of cumene hydroperoxide (CP) during lichen rehydration using Ramalina farinacea (L.) Ach., its photobiont Trebouxia spp. and Asterochloris erici. Confocal imaging shows intracellular ROS and NO production within myco and phycobionts, being the chloroplast the main source of free radicals. CP increases ROS, NO and lipid peroxidation and reduces chlorophyll autofluorescence, although photosynthesis remains unaffected. Concomitant NO inhibition provokes a generalized increase of ROS and a decrease in photosynthesis. Our results suggest that CP induces a compensatory hormetic response in Ramalina farinacea that could reduce the lichen's antioxidant resources after repeated desiccation-rehydration cycles. NO is important in the protection from CP.

Earthworms were exposed to artificially contaminated soils with ten perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). PFASs with longer perfluorinated carbon chain displayed higher uptake rate coefficients (ku), longer half-life (t1/2) and time to steady-state (tss) but lower elimination rate coefficients (ke) than the shorter ones. Similarly, perfluorosulfonates acids (PFSAs) displayed higher ku, longer t1/2 and tss but lower ke than perflurocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) with the same perfluorinated chain length. All the studied PFASs, including those with seven or less perfluorinated carbons, were bioaccumulated in the earthworms and the biota-to-soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) increased with perfluorinated carbon chain length and were greater for PFSAs than for PFCAs of equal perfluoroalkyl chain length. The BSAFs were found to be dependent on the concentrations of PFASs in soil and decreased as the level of PFASs in soil increased.

Vegetation is often quoted as an effective measure to mitigate urban air quality problems. In this work we demonstrate by the use of computer models that the air quality effect of urban vegetation is more complex than implied by such general assumptions. By modelling a variety of real-life examples we show that roadside urban vegetation rather leads to increased pollutant concentrations than it improves the air quality, at least locally. This can be explained by the fact that trees and other types of vegetation reduce the ventilation that is responsible for diluting the traffic emitted pollutants. This aerodynamic effect is shown to be much stronger than the pollutant removal capacity of vegetation. Although the modelling results may be subject to a certain level of uncertainty, our results strongly indicate that the use of urban vegetation for alleviating a local air pollution hotspot is not expected to be a viable solution.

Tropospheric ozone is a secondary pollutant whose primary sources are volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. The national standard is exceeded on a third of summer days in some areas of the Chilean Metropolitan Region (MR). This study reports normalized springtime experimental emissions factors (EF) for biogenic volatile organic compounds from tree species corresponding to approximately 31% of urban trees in the MR. A Photochemical Ozone Creation Index (POCI) was calculated using Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential of quantified terpenes. Ten species, natives and exotics, were analysed using static enclosure technique. Terpene quantification was performed using GC-FID, thermal desorption, cryogenic concentration and automatic injection. Observed EF and POCI values for terpenes from exotic species were 78 times greater than native values; within the same family, exotic EF and POCI values were 28 and 26 times greater than natives. These results support reforestation with native species for improved urban pollution management.