In many coastal cities around the world, marine outfalls are used for disposal of partially treated wastewater effluent. The combined use of land-based treatment and marine discharge can be a cost-effective and environmentally acceptable sewage strategy. Before 2001, screened sewage was discharged into Victoria Harbour through many small outfalls. After 2001, the Hong Kong Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) was implemented to improve the water quality in Victoria Harbour and surrounding waters. Stage I of HATS involved the construction of a 24km long deep tunnel sewerage system to collect sewage from the densely populated urban areas of Hong Kong to a centralized sewage treatment plant at Stonecutters Island. A sewage flow of 1.4 millionm³d⁻¹ receives Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment (CEPT) followed by discharge via a 1.2km long outfall 2km west of the harbor. The ecosystem recovery in Victoria Harbour and the environmental response to sewage abatement after the implementation of HATS was studied using a 21-year data set from long term monthly water quality monitoring. Overall, the pollution control scheme has achieved the intended objectives. The sewage abatement has resulted in improved water quality in terms of a significant reduction in nutrients and an increase in bottom DO levels. Furthermore, due to the efficient tidal mixing and flushing, the impact of the HATS discharge on water quality in the vicinity of the outfall location is relatively limited. However, Chl a concentrations have not been reduced in Victoria Harbour where algal growth is limited by hydrodynamic mixing and water clarity rather than nutrient concentrations. Phosphorus removal in the summer is suggested to reduce the risk of algal blooms in the more weakly-flushed and stratified southern waters, while nutrient removal is less important in other seasons due to the pronounced role played by hydrodynamic mixing. The need for disinfection of the effluent to reduce bacterial (E. coli) concentrations to acceptable levels is also confirmed and has recently been implemented.

In this study, total metal (Al, Fe, Mn and Cu) and PAHs analyses have been done in the surface sediments. Sediment samples have been collected from seven parts of the Marmara Sea and the coast of Istanbul during 2009. Total Al, Fe, Mn and Cu contents vary between 1.8% and 5.4%; 1.1% and 2.8%; 122 and 259μgg⁻¹; 27 and 416μgg⁻¹, respectively. EF and CF values of Fe and Mn are lower than 1.5 and 1, respectively, in all the stations. Total PAH contents range between 135 and 6009ngg⁻¹ in the surface sediments. The origin of PAHs has been found pyrolitic according to the Phe/Ant ratio in the all stations. Contrastingly, at K0, MKC and MY1 Stations, PAH origins have been observed petrogenic according to the Flu/Pyr ratio.

Information on temporal distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the coastal sediments of Mediterranean Sea, Mersin was compiled using data published between 1980 and 2009, and the present study. The first congener specific PCB results from the region yield concentration levels of Σ₄₁PCBs in sediments ranging from 0.61 to 1.04ngg⁻¹. Sediment profiles show penta-, hexa- and hepta-chlorobiphenyls, specifically, #149 and 153 as the most abundant congeners in all samples. Comparison of total PCB concentrations over time suggests no recent PCB input to the region. Using congener specific PCB data for the region, identity and contribution of PCB sources were also predicted using a chemical mass balance -based (CMB) receptor model. The CMB model identified Aroclor 1260 to be the major PCB source in coastal sediments. The potential sources for the PCBs were briefly discussed in terms of their use in various industrial applications.

The Mondego estuary (Portugal) experienced profound structural and functional modifications due to eutrophication, which was exacerbated by consecutive weather extremes that compromised a previous restoration project. This work explores multiple climate impacts on macrobenthic communities’ structure and functioning and its implications on ecosystem’s recovery. Floods and heat waves had a stronger negative effect on macrobenthic assemblages than the droughts, imposing a total abundance decline. Contrarily, biomass was not so affected by climate events, being stable and even increased in a mudflat area, where seagrass is re-colonizing. Bivalves and oligochaetes decreased with the flooding episodes, likewise subsurface-deposit feeders and suspension feeders, while crustaceans were particularly sensitive to heat waves. Species richness declined with the floods and heat waves, whilst evenness increased in sandflat area, constituting a positive sign towards recovery. Succession of different climate extremes affected ecosystem structure and functioning, delaying its recovery with possible consequent effects at higher trophic levels.

Radiocarbon levels were recorded in Fucus vesiculosus samples collected on a monthly basis over a three-year period at a site on the east coast of Ireland. The resulting data was analysed using a numerical model which estimates the transit times from the Sellafield plant to the sampling location, and the mean availability time of ¹⁴C in seaweed. With the inclusion of a model parameter allowing for seasonal variability in uptake by the Fucus, good correlation was observed between the predicted and measured concentrations. Future temporal trends of ¹⁴C Fucus concentrations along the eastern Irish coastline were modelled with the application of three possible prospective discharge scenarios, predicting ¹⁴C Fucus concentrations to reduce to ambient background levels within 2.5-years of discharges being set to zero. Such projections may prove helpful in assessing the consequences of discharge management and policy making in the context of the OSPAR convention.

Induction of cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) has been used as a biomarker in fish for monitoring aromatic and organic contaminants. In this study, a partial of CYP1A gene in redeye mullet (Liza haematocheila) was isolated and sequenced, and then a real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for quantification of CYP1A mRNA normalized to β-actin. The developed method was applied to detect CYP1A mRNA expression in redeye mullets collected from Nandaihe (reference site) and Dashentang (impacted site) in Bohai Bay, China. CYP1A mRNA expression values were significantly elevated in redeye mullets from Dashentang compared to a reference site – Nandaihe, which was correlated with the contents of different environmentally relevant pollutants in tissues, particularly with PCBs and PBDEs.

The concentrations of metals were measured in macroalgae species seasonally at eight coastal stations along the eastern Aegean coast. Sediment and seawater samples were also collected to detect their metal contents in order to gain more information on the environmental conditions of the area and possible bioaccumulation patterns. The aim of this study is, to gather more information on the use of selected species as cosmopolitan biomonitors for the eastern Aegean; to provide information on the marine environmental quality by the use of macroalgae and to determine which algae species are suitable as biomonitoring species for the study area. The relative abundance of metals in macroalgae decreases in the order: Fe–Zn–Cu–Cr–Cd–Hg–Pb and seawater: Fe–Zn–Pb–Cu–Cr–Cd–Hg. In sediment the distribution order from higher to lower was Fe–Cr–Zn–Pb–Cu–Hg–Cd. The brown algae Cystoseira sp., the green algae Ulva sp. and Enteromorpha sp. possess high potential as cosmopolitan biomonitors for trace metals in the Aegean Sea.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous pollutants in the environment and subject of several studies due to their adverse effects as endocrine disruptors. Despite the concern over widespread distribution of PBDEs even in sparsely populated regions of the world, few studies have reported their occurrence in Brazil. In this study, PBDEs and PCBs levels were measured in selected fish species and dolphins from Paraiba do Sul River, Brazil. BDE 47 and 85 were the predominant congeners. Low chlorinated congeners showed the highest concentrations in fish; however dolphins presented the highest proportion of PCBs 153, followed by 138 and 180. The daily intake of PBDEs and PCBs was estimated for the population of this region. PCB daily intake through consumption of croaker was above the limits set by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, raising great concern over the existence of a source of PCB contamination in Brazil.

The activities of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were determined in commonly consumed seafoods to evaluate the internal exposure and risk to humans residing Kudankulam coast where a mega nuclear power plant is under construction. The concentration of ²¹⁰Po in seafoods ranged from 1.2±0.7 to 248±8.1Bqkg⁻¹. Meanwhile, ²¹⁰Pb ranged between 1.1±0.05 and 14.8±1.6Bqkg⁻¹. The committed effective dose (CED) due to ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb varied from 11.04 to 515.6 and 3.93 to 23.5μSvyr⁻¹, respectively. The lifetime cancer risk for the public due to ²¹⁰Po was in the range of 3.47×10⁻⁵–1.62×10⁻³ and it was 4.03×10⁻⁵–1.96×10⁻⁴ due to ²¹⁰Pb. The activity intake, effective dose and cancer risk was found lesser than international guidelines and the seafood intake was considered to be safe for human consumption.