A review of marine pollution issues in the Caribbean

Marine pollution and coastal degradation have become serious development issues in the Caribbean. Early evidence of marine pollution was mainly anecdotal, but within the last 10--15 years, work conducted by universities and research institutions in the Region has provided the beginnings of a database that identifies several common marine pollution problems. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the Pan American World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) have also been instrumental in co-ordinating several marine pollution studies. In the English-speaking Caribbean, the University of the West Indies, the Institute of Marine Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute located in St Lucia, have taken a lead role in identifying marine pollution problems in their Sub-Region. For the Wider Caribbean a database for petroleum pollution and marine debris has been developed. Land-based sources of marine pollution have been identified as a major problem, with several hot spots identified in mainland countries and in some of the larger industrialised islands. Organic and nutrient pollution, particularly from sewage, is most widespread and is possibly the most serious marine pollution problem in the Caribbean. A lack of capital investment funds to install the appropriate infrastructure to deal with sewage and other liquid effluents is a major stumbling block to solving the problem of marine pollution in the Caribbean. Other factors include political will and administrative and legal structures to regulate human development activities.     

Landbased Pollution Sources and Marine Environmental Quality in the Caribbean

The near shore coastal and marine environment of several Caribbean islands is their most biologically productive and economically important zone. However, almost all landbased activities possess the real potential of degrading the quality of near shore waters and ultimately diminishing the utility of the marine resource. This condition is largely attributed to the individual smallness of the islands and their geographic proximity to each other.

Available sanitary water quality data from across the region indicated that while recreational areas are in general safe for water contact activities, bacterial densities in excess of several international criteria are consistently recorded in harbours. Organochlorine pesticide residues were generally in the 5 ng l^-1 range in unfiltered sea water but were significantly higher (1-100) ng g^-1 in limited samples of sediment and biota. Additional data requirements to gain further insight into the current state of the Caribbean environment are also identified.

A summary of the major land based sources of marine pollution (including sewage, industrial effluents and agricultural run-off) in the insular Caribbean is presented.     

Landbased Pollution Sources and Marine Environmental Quality in the Caribbean

Abstract

The near shore coastal and marine environment of several Caribbean islands is their most biologically productive and economically important zone. However, almost all landbased activities possess the real potential of degrading the quality of near shore waters and ultimately diminishing the utility of the marine resource. This condition is largely attributed to the individual smallness of the islands and their geographic proximity to each other.

Available sanitary water quality data from across the region indicated that while recreational areas are in general safe for water contact activities, bacterial densities in excess of several international criteria are consistently recorded in harbours. Organochlorine pesticide residues were generally in the 5 ng l^?1 range in unfiltered sea water but were significantly higher (1–100) ng g^?1 in limited samples of sediment and biota. Additional data requirements to gain further insight into the current state of the Caribbean environment are also identified.

A summary of the major land based sources of marine pollution (including sewage, industrial effluents and agricultural run-off) in the insular Caribbean is presented.     

Eco-hydrological modelling in a highly regulated lowland catchment to find measures for improving water quality

Water quality modelling in the meso-scale Rhin catchment in the German federal state Brandenburg was done (1) to answer some specific questions concerning identification of point and diffuse sources of nutrient pollution in the catchment, (2) to assess the influences of possible climate and land use changes on water quantity and quality and (3) to evaluate potential measures to be done in order to achieve a “good ecological status” of the river and its lakes as required by the Water Framework Directive (WFD).The Rhin catchment is a typical highly regulated lowland river basin in Northern Germany. The regulations complicate water quantity and quality modelling in the catchment. The research was done by using the eco-hydrological model SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model), which simulates water and nutrient fluxes in soil and vegetation, as well as transport of water and nutrients to and within the river network. The modelling period was from 1981 until 2005. After calibrating the hydrological processes at different gauges within the basin with satisfactory results, water quality (nitrogen and phosphorus) modelling was done taking into account the emissions of different point sources (sewage treatment plants, etc.) and identifying the amount of diffuse pollution caused mainly by agriculture.For suggesting some feasible measures to improve water quality and to reduce diffuse pollution considering possible climate and land use changes, different reasonable scenarios were applied in consultation with the Environmental Agency of Brandenburg (LUA). The study revealed that the amount of water discharge has significant influence on the concentration of nutrients in the river network, and that nitrogen pollution, caused mainly by diffuse sources, could be notably reduced by application of agricultural measures, whereas the pollution by phosphorus could be diminished most effectively by the reduction of point source emissions.     

Role of rural solid waste management in non-point source pollution control of Dianchi Lake catchments, China

In recent years, with control of the main municipal and industrial point pollution sources and implementation of cleaning for some inner pollution sources in the water body, the discharge of point source pollution decreased gradually, while non-point source pollution has become increasingly distressing in Dianchi Lake catchments. As one of the major targets in non-point source pollution control, an integrated solid waste controlling strategy combined with a technological solution and management system was proposed and implemented based on the waste disposal situation and characteristics of rural solid waste in the demonstration area. As the key technology in rural solid waste treatment, both centralized plant-scale composting and a dispersed farmer-operated waste treating system showed promise in rendering timely benefits in efficiency, large handling capacity, high quality of the end product, as well as good economic return. Problems encountered during multi-substrates co-composting such as pathogens, high moisture content, asynchronism in the decomposition of different substrates, and low quality of the end product can all be tackled. 92.5% of solid waste was collected in the demonstration area, while the treating and recycling ratio reached 87.9%, which prevented 32.2 t nitrogen and 3.9 t phosphorus per year from entering the water body of Dianchi Lake after implementation of the project.     

Trace Metals and Organochlorine Pesticide and PCB Residues in Mussels from England and Wales, 1978

As part of its work on marine environmental protection the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's, Fisheries Laboratory at Burnham-on-Crouch, undertook a mussel survey in England and Wales in 1978. Trace metal, organochlorine pesticide and PCB residue concentrations were determined. The survey comprised about 80 samples covering the whole of England and Wales.

The results of the survey showed that in general the contaminant concentrations reflected the expected environmental distributions of the compounds of interest. Samples from areas with significant anthropogenic inputs such as industrial estuaries generally contained the highest concentrations and samples from areas influenced mainly by natural sources usually contained much lower contaminant concentrations, although there were some notable exceptions. The survey indicates the usefulness of a mussel watch approach to monitoring in England and Wales and the suggestion is made that if used on a local more intensive scale the technique should be able to identify in greater detail the likely sources of pollution.     

我国海水水质基准的构建:以三丁基锡为例

我国近岸海域污染形势严峻、污染物种类繁多、生态健康风险复杂,现有的海水水质标准难以满足当前海洋环境污染评价、管理和监控的需求,亟需适宜我国海洋区系特征的海水水质基准作为水质标准修订与制定的理论依据.借鉴美国、欧盟和荷兰等国家水质基准的制定方法,提出了构建我国海水水质基准的思路,并给出了数值型双值基准的数据要求、定值方法和相应的计算模式等.以三丁基锡化合物(TBT)为例,按照论文建立的方法,计算了保护我国海洋水生生物的TBT基准.结果表明:我国TBT化合物海水水质基准高值(HSWC)和海水水质基准低值(LSWC)分别为0.43μg·L-1和0.002μg·L-1,与美国,加拿大和英国等国家的推荐基准值略有不同.研究结果将为我国海水水质基准的制定与研究提供帮助.     

长江上游宜宾至泸州江段突发水污染风险评估

为防控长江上游重大突发水污染事件的发生,收集整理长江宜宾至泸州江段沿江水环境污染源及受体基础资料,构建水环境潜在污染风险分级评价体系。采用地统计学理论和地理信息系统(Geographic Information System,GIS)相结合的方法开展突发水污染风险分区评价研究,以揭示研究区江段突发水污染风险空间分布差异性。结果表明,污染源或受体热点分布主要集中在城镇化、工业化较快的地区,如宜宾市叙州区污染源最多,泸州市龙马潭区高风险污染源最密集,宜宾县和南溪县高敏感受体数量最多;其他区域污染源或受体分布较为均衡,未形成明显的冷点区域。水环境潜在污染高风险区集中分布在龙马潭区江段和江阳区江段,须提高该区域对潜在污染的风险管理能力,以降低污染事故发生的可能性。     

It's a dirty job but someone has to do it: The role of marine benthic macrofauna in organic matter turnover and nutrient recycling to the water column

Benthic macrofaunal populations through their feeding, bioturbation, burrow construction and sediment irrigation activities have profound influences on organic matter inputs to marine sediments (biodeposition) and on the vertical distribution of deposited organic matter within the sediment. These effects in turn influence the rates and pathways of organic matter mineralisation, and element cycles. Similarly, bioturbation, burrow construction and burrow irrigation are major determinants of sediment-water column fluxes of oxygen and nutrients.

In this review, I discuss the influences of the different benthic macrofaunal feeding (functional) groups on mineralisation processes and sediment-water column fluxes of particulate and dissolved nutrients. How these effects influence diagenic processes, the balance between aerobic and anaerobic processes, and the redox status of the surficial sediments. Finally, I discuss some of the limitations of the predominantly laboratory techniques which have been used to study “macrofaunal effects” and how this hinders the inclusion of the effects in quantitative sediment biogeochemical models.     

Eutrophication status and control strategy of Taihu Lake

The water quality and eutrophication status of Taihu Lake in recent years are presented and the pollution trends are analyzed. It is shown that because of unreasonable industrial structures, pollution discharge per GDP is high within the Taihu basin, and the pollution discharge from point and non-point sources exceed the basin’s environmental carrying capacity. Especially, excessive pollutants containing nitrogen and phosphorus are being discharged. Moreover, eutrophication may also result from internal pollution sources such as the release of nutrient elements from sediment. All these factors have resulted in the water quality deterioration of Taihu Lake. To solve this environmental problem, possible control strategies are summarized, including the control of internal pollution sources and inflow-river pollution, ecological restoration and reconstruction of the degraded lakeside zone ecosystem, clean water diversion, dredging, and manual algae removal.     

Bacteriophages in water pollution control: Advantages and limitations

•Phages can be better indicators of enteric viruses than fecal indicator bacteria. •Multiple phages should be added to the microbial source tracking toolbox. •Engineered phage or phage cocktail can effectively target resistant bacteria. •In phage use, phage-mediated horizontal gene transfer cannot be ignored. •More schemes are needed to prevent phage concentration from decreasing. Wastewater is a breeding ground for many pathogens, which may pose a threat to human health through various water transmission pathways. Therefore, a simple and effective method is urgently required to monitor and treat wastewater. As bacterial viruses, bacteriophages (phages) are the most widely distributed and abundant organisms in the biosphere. Owing to their capacity to specifically infect bacterial hosts, they have recently been used as novel tools in water pollution control. The purpose of this review is to summarize and evaluate the roles of phages in monitoring pathogens, tracking pollution sources, treating pathogenic bacteria, infecting bloom-forming cyanobacteria, and controlling bulking sludge and biofilm pollution in wastewater treatment systems. We also discuss the limitations of phage usage in water pollution control, including phage-mediated horizontal gene transfer, the evolution of bacterial resistance, and phage concentration decrease. This review provides an integrated outlook on the use of phages in water pollution control.     

天津引滦入津水源保护与生态恢复技术

介绍了引滦入津水系的生态特征、水质问题及发展趋势,在此基础上对引滦入津水源保护的应采取的战略方针及生态恢复技术进行了讨论。提出了从汇水区域生态管理入手,控制水体富营养化,建立流域管理与区域管理相结合的新管理模式,水源保护管理工程实行企业化经营管理方式等建议;以及面源污染防治技术、湿地处理系统的设计与建设等研究内容。     

中国农业非点源污染控制的经济措施探讨--以北京密云水库为例

针对我国农业非点源污染特征,提出污染控制经济政策体系,包括基于限制和约束功能的税费政策,基于引导和鼓励功能的补贴、补偿等优惠政策,以及创建基于流域的使污染削减总成本最小化的排污权交易市场。选择北京市重要水源地———密云水库的2大汇水流域之一的潮河流域(密云县境内)为政策设计示范区,从经济、技术及制度方面分析了各经济政策的功能和适用情况,提出本区以鼓励扶持引导为主、收费惩罚为辅控制削减农业非点源污染的经济政策构想,并估算了对农民环保行为给予补贴和补偿的额度。     

Assessment of the Water Quality of the River Arno in the Area of Florence, Italy

The quality of the waters collected from R. Arno was examined in the period September 1988 to December 1989. A first campaign in September/October 1988, during a period of low water, gives a general picture of pollution conditions along the river from the source to the mouth. the river appears to be heavily polluted immediately downstream of Florence and in the area of the textile industry.

In the second campaign, through the whole year 1989, particular attention has been given to the Florence area; the most significant results, compared with those from a previous investigation carried out in 1971, show only a small reduction of the pollution load, due to the shortage and inadequacy of wastewater depuration. Some considerations are reported on pollution drop with full spate.     

淮河流域水污染防治与生态经济思考

淮河流域水环境严重污染的形成,既有历史社会经济发展中忽视环境保护、欠帐过多的问题,也有水资源条件差、环境容量较小的问题。淮河流域水环境污染多种多样,既有工业点源,又有农业和农村面源,还有人口迅速膨胀及城镇迅速发展所带来的污染。淮河流域水环境污染是生态经济问题。因此,解决淮河流域水环境污染问题,仅仅做到治理工业污染源、建立城市污水处理厂,是远远不够的。要从根本上解决淮河流域水环境问题,则应当在１９９５ 年淮河流域对工业污染源和城市生活污水治理进行规划的基础上,就人口、资源、环境、社会、经济进行综合考虑,从生态经济角度进一步做好全面的水环境规划。在规划中尤其要突出可持续发展,并在实施可持续发展中解决污染问题,要在工业、农业中普遍实行清洁生产,要注意节约水资源和合理利用水资源,注意控制人口增长并提高人口素质,在农村城镇化水平迅速提高的同时做好城镇生活污水利用和处理。     

三峡库区生态环境综合评价与聚类分析

三峡库区是我国水土流失比较严重的地区之一 ,面临着生物多样性下降、生态系统功能降低、农业非点源污染加剧、岸边污染带扩大、水质恶化等一系列的环境问题。本文在建立生态环境综合评价指标体系的基础上 ,根据三峡库区不同地区生态环境问题的相似性和差异性 ,进行了聚类分析。依据聚类分析结果可以将该区 19个县市区划分为7类地区     

Microplastic sources,formation, toxicity and remediation: a review

Microplastic pollution is becoming a major issue for human health due to the recent discovery of microplastics in most ecosystems. Here, we review the sources, formation, occurrence, toxicity and remediation methods of microplastics. We distinguish ocean-based and land-based sources of microplastics. Microplastics have been found in biological samples such as faeces, sputum, saliva, blood and placenta. Cancer, intestinal, pulmonary, cardiovascular, infectious and inflammatory diseases are induced or mediated by microplastics. Microplastic exposure during pregnancy and maternal period is also discussed. Remediation methods include coagulation, membrane bioreactors, sand filtration, adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, electrocoagulation and magnetic separation. Control strategies comprise reducing plastic usage, behavioural change, and using biodegradable plastics. Global plastic production has risen dramatically over the past 70 years to reach 359 million tonnes. China is the world's top producer, contributing 17.5% to global production, while Turkey generates the most plastic waste in the Mediterranean region, at 144 tonnes per day. Microplastics comprise 75% of marine waste, with land-based sources responsible for 80–90% of pollution, while ocean-based sources account for only 10–20%. Microplastics induce toxic effects on humans and animals, such as cytotoxicity, immune response, oxidative stress, barrier attributes, and genotoxicity, even at minimal dosages of 10 μg/mL. Ingestion of microplastics by marine animals results in alterations in gastrointestinal tract physiology, immune system depression, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, differential gene expression, and growth inhibition. Furthermore, bioaccumulation of microplastics in the tissues of aquatic organisms can have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem, with potential transmission of microplastics to humans and birds. Changing individual behaviours and governmental actions, such as implementing bans, taxes, or pricing on plastic carrier bags, has significantly reduced plastic consumption to 8–85% in various countries worldwide. The microplastic minimisation approach follows an upside-down pyramid, starting with prevention, followed by reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and ending with disposal as the least preferable option.

     

常州水污染治理方案研究

本文讨论《常州市水污染治理工程可行性研究》报告的若干结论和该研究的某些方法,着重讨论污染源、运河水质、污染源预测、自净能力和建议方案的要点.     

珠三角地区POPs农药的污染现状及控制对策

概述了中国及国际社会对持久性有机污染物（Persistent Organic Pollutants,POPs）的关注情况。并通过对POPs农药在珠江三角洲地区（Pearl River Delta Area,PRD）使用情况的调查，以及对珠江三角洲地区POPs农药在各环境介质中的污染现状的文献综述，结合环境污染数据以及POPs农药污染调查工作中得到的数据和信息，对该地区POPs污染的可能原因和环境中可能存在的新近污染源进行了初步探讨。同时也指出了当前珠江三角洲地区在POPs农药削减与淘汰工作中所遭遇到的缺乏完善的管理体系等困难，并针对问题提出了包括加大科研投入，加强基础研究，掌握污染物来源和去向，加强替代药物的研究，建立和实施更严格的环境法规以及标准，加强环境监测能力建设，建立POPs农药污染的信息公开机制等一系列的控制对策。     

Plastics in the Marine Environment: Problems and Solutions

Plastics debris is known to be present in all of the world's oceans, and on most amenity beaches, although comparatively little data are available to provide reliable information on the extent of damage from this pollution, and on its spatial and temporal variations.

Marine pollution by plastics has been shown to be damaging to marine mammals, birds and reptiles. This is due to entanglement in packaging bands, synthetic ropes and lines, or drift nets; or by the ingestion of small items of plastics debris. More research is needed to quantify the extent of the problems.

Wider use of degradable plastics will not solve the problems of plastics pollution. Their lifetimes are relatively long and unpredictable, and they are not generally acceptable for recycling.

Marine plastics pollution may be alleviated by the judicious application of both economic incentives and legislation, designed to decrease their use, to increase the rate of recycling, and to restrict uncontrolled discards.