In this study, we isolated and characterized Shewanella putrefaciens from shellfish harvested from the West Sea in Korea. For the initial isolation of S. putrefaciens, LB agar plates supplemented with ferrous sulfate and sodium thiosulfate were inoculated with shellfish homogenates, incubated for 24h, and then black colonies were selected. Gram-negative and catalase-positive colonies were subsequently confirmed by PCR assays and API 20E kit test system. The Shewanella-specific 16S rRNA and gyrB genes were used to design S. putrefaciens-specific PCR primers. From 6 species of shellfish tested, 24 S. putrefaciens strains were isolated. These 24 isolates had the following profiles of resistance against 16 antibiotics: all the isolates were resistant to cephalothin and vancomycin and 95.8% were resistant to ampicillin. Here, we report the isolation of S. putrefaciens from shellfish and our results point to a new possible route for exposing healthy individuals to S. putrefaciens.

Sixty-nine samples of surface sediments (0∼5 cm) recovered from the eastern Beibu Bay were analyzed for TOC and heavy metals to examine the element distribution pattern and potential pollutant sources. The sediments in the study area are characterized by variable heavy metal concentrations that are comparable with those of the surrounding regions. Obvious positive correlations were observed amongst the concentrations of Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, Cu and the clay contents, suggesting that fine clay particles are important carriers of trace metals in the sediments. Hg and As show a considerable/low positive correlation with TOC, indicating that organic matter may play a discernible role in the sediment chemistry. Cd contamination was detected in the north of the study area primarily due to the input of phosphate fertilizers carried by rivers. In comparison, Zn, Cr, Pb, and partly Cu are predominantly sourced from lithogenic components, and Hg and As are mainly from organic matter related to anthropogenic input.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, particular matter (PM) is the air pollutant that is most harmful to public health and the environment when compared to other measured criteria pollutants. During recent years, the Government of Bangladesh has tried to control PM emissions coming from anthropogenic sources. About 30–50% of the PM10 mass in Dhaka (depending on location) is in fine particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.2 µm. These particles are mainly of anthropogenic origin and predominately from transport–related sources. However, the combination of meteorological conditions, long–range transport during the winter and local sources results in PM concentrations remaining much higher than the Bangladesh National Ambient Air Quality Standard (BNAAQS). It has been found that black carbon accounted for about 50% of the total fine PM mass before the adoption of control policies. As a result, the PM emission as well as BC has not increased in proportion to the increase in the number of combustion sources like motor vehicles, diesel power generator or brick kiln. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was applied to fine particle composition data from January 2007 to February 2009. It was found that motor vehicles contribute less BC with respect to brick kiln industry. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of the government’s policy interventions since previously vehicles represented the major contributors of BC. BC is also transported over long distances, mixing with other particles along the way as demonstrated by a potential source contribution function analysis. Transboundary transport of air pollution in the South Asian region has become an issue of increasing importance over the past several decades. The relative amounts of local and long–range transported pollutants are currently unknown.

Plans are being made to construct Dalian Offshore Airport in Jinzhou Bay with a reclamation area of 21km2. The large-scale reclamation can be expected to have negative effects on the marine environment, and these effects vary depending on the reclamation techniques used. Water quality mathematical models were developed and biology resource investigations were conducted to compare effects of an underwater explosion sediment removal and rock dumping technique and a silt dredging and rock dumping technique on water pollution and fishery loss. The findings show that creation of the artificial island with the underwater explosion sediment removal technique would greatly impact the marine environment. However, the impact for the silt dredging technique would be less. The conclusions from this study provide an important foundation for the planning of Dalian Offshore Airport and can be used as a reference for similar coastal reclamation and marine environment protection.

Data on beach debris and tar contamination is provided for 21 natural beach sites in Bonaire, Southeastern Caribbean. Transects amounting to a combined length of 991m were sampled March–May 2011 and a total of 8960 debris items were collected. Highest debris and tar contamination were found on the beaches of the windward east-coast of the island where geometric mean debris concentrations (± approx. 70% confidence limits) were 115±58itemsm−1 and 3408±1704gm−1 of beach front. These levels are high compared to data collected almost 20years earlier on the nearby island of Curaçao. Tar contamination levels averaged 223gm−1 on windward beaches. Contamination levels for leeward west-coast beaches were generally two orders of magnitude less than windward beaches.

The role of a yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) small colony in conveying trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, THg, V, Zn) was assessed in a Mediterranean nature reserve (Marinello ponds) at various spatial and temporal scales. Trace element concentrations in guano were high and seasonally variable. In contrast, contamination in the ponds was not influenced by season but showed strong spatial variability among ponds, according to the different guano input. Biogenic enrichment factor B confirmed the role of gulls in the release of trace elements through guano subsidies. In addition, comparing trace element pond concentrations to the US NOAA’s SQGs, As, Cu and Ni showed contamination levels associated with possible negative biological effects. Thus, this study reflects the need to take seabirds into account as key factors influencing ecological processes and contamination levels even in remote areas, especially around the Mediterranean, where these birds are abundant but overlooked.

Simultaneous measurements of gaseous SO2, NO2, HNO3, NH3 and particulate SO42–, NO3– and NH4+ were carried out in a suburban area in Cairo during summer 2009 and winter 2009–2010. PTFE membrane filters were used to collect particulate SO42–, NH4+ and NO3–, followed by the impregnated filter to collect HNO3. Colorimetric methods were used for determination of NO2, SO2, NH3, SO42–, NH4+ NO3–, and HNO3 levels. The mean concentrations of NO2, SO2 and NH3 were 75.0, 40.1 and 29.1 µg/m3 in winter and 54.1, 25.1 and 44.9 µg/m3 in summer, respectively. The daytime/nighttime concentration ratios were 1.3 and 1.2 for NO2, 1.3 and 1.2 for SO2 and 0.6, and 0.8 for NH3 during the winter and summer, respectively. The mean values of NH4+, SO42–, NO3–, HNO3 and total NO3– were 4.4, 19.0, 3.4, 1.1 and 4.5 µg/m3 in winter and 7.5, 28.0, 4.2, 3.1 and 7.3 µg/m3 in summer, respectively. The levels of NH4+, SO42–, NO3– and HNO3 were relatively higher in daytime than in nighttime. Sulfur conversion (Fs) and nitrogen conversion ratios (Fn) in summer were about 1.78 and 2.15 times higher than in winter, respectively. Fs and Fn were higher in daytime than in nighttime. Significant positive correlation was found between Fs and relative humidity. The positive correlation between Fn and relative humidity was insignificant. The correlation between the concentration of NH4+ and NO3– indicates that NO3– may be found in fine mode (NH4NO3) in winter and it may be present predominantly as a coarse mode, such as Ca(NO3)2, Mg(NO3)2 and NaNO3 in summer. The concentration of SO42– was significantly correlated with NH4+ concentration, suggesting neutralization by NH3 and indicating that the forms of (NH4)2SO4 and/or NH4HSO4 exist in the aerosol. The NH4+/SO42– molar ratio indicates that SO42– in aerosol may be present as (NH4)2SO4, (NH4)2SO4.CaSO4.2H2O and CaSO4.

Size selective particulate matter (PM) sampling inlets play an important role in ambient PM measurement. Improper design of the sampling inlets results in collecting of PM with undesired size, which leads to significant errors in the measurement of ambient PM concentrations. Therefore, the performance of PM inlets should be carefully evaluated in a proper environment prior to their field of applications. In this study, a new aerosol wind tunnel system was designed to evaluate the performance of ambient PM10 inlets and evaluated for the uniformity of wind speed distribution and aerosol concentration. In addition, a custom–made PM10 inlet was tested in the aerosol wind tunnel to determine its 50% cutoff diameter. Results of the wind speed distributions show that the percentage deviations from the mean wind speeds at any measurement point are less than 10% with turbulence intensity of less than 5% for three different wind speed levels (0.57m/s, 2.22m/s, and 6.67m/s). Results from the aerosol concentration measurements show that the percentage deviations from the mean aerosol concentrations at any measurement point are less than 10% for three different wind speed levels, which meets the aerosol wind tunnel performance specifications specified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Results from PM10 inlet performance tests show that the 50% cutoff diameters of the PM10 inlet are 10.0 μm, 10.3 μm, and 10.0 μm at wind speeds of 0.57m/s, 2.22m/s, and 6.67m/s, respectively. The PM10 inlet is characterized to meet the performance specifications for PM10 inlets, 10.0±0.5 µm, specified by the U.S. EPA. The results indicate that the newly developed aerosol wind tunnel meets the performance requirements for evaluating the performance of PM10 size selective inlets.

Air pollution control strategies have helped to improve the air quality over Europe over the last twenty years. Despite this success, the improvements have been insufficient to protect health of those who spend most of their time within urban areas and particularly near major roads. Given the inherent complexity of urban environments and the incomplete understanding of the physical and chemical processes involved in pollutant dispersion, it is a challenging task to estimate urban air quality. In order to address this issue, a new regression model for estimating the urban increment for all cities of a region up to Europe as a whole is developed. The model is able to capture the higher pollutant concentrations commonly found within urban areas for assessing the localized effects associated to urban emissions. This approach is used for estimating annual concentrations of PM10 and NO2 for all urban areas with more than 50 000 inhabitants in Germany for the reference year 2005. The results showed that there are differences on air quality levels across urban areas in Germany. This information is relevant when evaluating the impact of emission reduction policies on air quality, which should take into account the cost–benefit of each measure. Furthermore, as the modelling approach allows for flexibility changing initial conditions and building scenarios, the added values of this approach are the large spatial domain covered, the high spatial resolution, and its inherent flexibility to address other environmental issues, such as analysis of emission reduction scenarios, the human exposure to certain pollutants and their associated human health impacts.

The sources, distribution and risk of 51 organic micropollutants (OMPs) in the Cantabrian coastal environment (NW Spain) were evaluated. Gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry was used to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorinated pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, phthalates esters, bisphenol A and alkylphenols. 45 OMPs were detected in coastal/estuarine waters. Wastewater treatment plant effluents and emissary discharges were identified as the main sources of contamination. The accumulation of OMPs in sediments and the bioaccumulation in 21days caged mussels were also assessed. Chemical results were combined with the “Combined Monitoring-based and Modeling-based Priority Setting Scheme” COMMPS procedure for risk assessment analysis. Finally, the chemical status of the different sampling locations was estimated using site risk indexes. Those indexes can be conveniently displayed in quality geographical maps and are considered a valuable tool for the environmental management and risk assessment of the region under study.