Seasonal variations of selected herbicides and related metabolites in water, sediment, seaweed and clams in the Sacca di Goro coastal lagoon (Northern Adriatic)

This study assesses the status of Sacca di Goro coastal lagoon (Northern Adriatic, Italy) with respect to watershed pollution. Because 80% of its watershed is devoted to agriculture, plant protection products and their metabolites were found in the water column, sediments (the upper 0-15 cm layer), macroalgae (Ulva rigida) and clams (Tapes philippinarum). Five seasonal sampling campaigns were performed from May 2004 to April 2005 and concentrations measured in five stations in the lagoon and six in the watershed. Relatively high concentrations of the s-triazine - terbuthylazine -, urea herbicides - diuron - and alachlor were detected through the year mainly at stations directly influenced by the Po di Volano inflow. The concentrations of products in use follow a clear seasonal pattern with spring peaks. This pattern is also visible in the sediments as well as in biota. Among metabolites, hydroxylated compounds prevailed, often with concentrations greater than those of the parent compounds. For the most part of the year, the concentrations in biota were close to detection limits, with concentration peaks in spring.     

A biology-based dynamic approach for the reconciliation of acute and chronic toxicity tests: application to Daphnia magna

There is the need to integrate existing toxicity data in a coherent framework for extending their domain of applicability as well as their extrapolation potential. This integration would also reduce time and cost-consuming aspects of these tests and reduce animal usage. In this work, based on data extracted from literature, we have assessed the advantages that a dynamic biology-toxicant fate coupled model for Daphnia magna could provide when assessing toxicity data, in particular, the possibility to obtain from short-term (acute) toxicity test long-term (chronic) toxicity values taking into account the inherent variability of D. magna populations and the multiple sources of data. The results show that this approach overcomes some of the limitations of existing toxicity tests and that the prediction errors are considerably reduced when compared with the factor from 2 to 5 obtained using acute-to-chronic ratios.     

Managers as drivers of CSR in state-owned enterprises

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly required not only of private sector companies, but also of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), whose main function is to provide services to society and not principally to obtain financial reward. The important role played by managers in implementing CSR has been demonstrated by prior research. The objective of this paper is to examine how managers of SOEs perceive the concept of CSR, the reasons for their involvement and how it is integrated into everyday business practices. In addition, we examine whether managers' attitudes towards CSR policies are influenced by their personal profiles and by the sector in which the SOEs work. We find that, although these managers are aware of the importance of the CSR principles underlying their activities and understand the meaning, scope and dimensions of CSR, there remains an evident need to enhance the application of CSR policies among the strategies of SOEs. The manager profile and the sector in which the SOEs work both have a strong influence on their behaviour regarding CSR issues.     

Analysis of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and other perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in the River Po watershed in N-Italy

C7-C11 perfluorinated carboxylates (PFACs) and perfluorooctansulfonate (PFOS) were analysed in selected stretches of the River Po and its major tributaries. Analyses were performed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis HLB cartridges and methanol elution followed by LC-MS-MS detection using 13C-labelled internal standards. High concentration levels ( approximately 1.3 microg l(-1)) of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) were detected in the Tánaro River close to the city Alessandria. After this tributary, levels between 60 and 337 ng l(-1) were measured in the Po River on several occasions. The PFOA concentration close to the river mouth in Ferrara was between 60 and 174 ng l(-1). Using the river discharge flow data in m3 s(-1) at this point (average approximately 920 m3 s(-1) for the year 2006), a mass load of approximately 0.3 kg PFOA per hour or approximately 2.6 tons per year discharged in the Adriatic Sea has been calculated. PFOS concentration levels in the Po River at Ferrara were approximately 10 ng l(-1).     

Validation of isotope signatures in sediments affected by anthropogenic inputs from uranium series radionuclides

This paper aims to show the usefulness of 226Ra/228Ra activity ratios and confirm the possibility of using 230Th/232Th activity ratios as chronological markers in sediment cores from an estuarine system strongly contaminated by discharges from non-nuclear industries (fertiliser plants). The validation was carried out using an independent, well-established dating technique based on the analysis of the 137Cs fallout profile, which comprises the same time interval as that covered by both isotope ratios. The advantage of using the 226Ra/228Ra activity ratio profile instead of the Th-isotope profile is that determination can be accomplished with a non-destructive, simpler and less time-consuming technique, because both Ra isotopes can be determined by gamma-ray spectrometry.     

Radioactive impact of Fukushima accident on the Iberian Peninsula: evolution and plume previous pathway

High activity concentrations of several man-made radionuclides (such as (131)I, (132)I, (132)Te, (134)Cs and (137)Cs) have been detected along the Iberian Peninsula from March 28th to April 7th 2011. The analysis of back-trajectories of air masses allowed us to demonstrate that the levels of manmade radionuclide activity concentrations in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula come from the accident produced in the nuclear power plant of Fukushima. The pathway followed by the radioactive plume from Fukushima into Huelva (southwest of the Iberian Peninsula) was deduced through back-trajectories analysis, and this fact was also verified by the activity concentrations measured of those radionuclides reported in places crossed by this radioactive cloud. In fact, activity concentrations reported by E.P.A., and by IAEA, in several places of Japan, Pacific Ocean and United States of America are according to the expected ones from the air mass trajectory arriving at Huelva province.     

Sequential extraction of 226Ra in sediments from an estuary affected historically by anthropogenic inputs of natural radionuclides

Riverbed sediments from an estuary historically affected by wastes discharged by several phosphate fertiliser plants and enriched in uranium-series radionuclides were operationally speciated using a Tessier-based method. In each selective fraction the (226)Ra content was determined by alpha-particle spectrometry after radiochemical isolation and electrodeposition onto stainless steel planchets. These studies were performed in (226)Ra-polluted estuarine sediments collected one year after anthropogenic discharges had ceased in order to obtain useful information about the operational forms in which this radionuclide remains associated with the sediments at this time. The results obtained revealed that one year after (226)Ra inputs had stopped, the radionuclide was associated mostly with the more refractory forms. Consequently, it is possible to foresee little potential remobilisation of (226)Ra contamination from sediments to the aqueous phase in the future under normal environmental conditions.     

Failure to confirm previous identification of two putative museum specimens of the Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, as the Adriatic sturgeon, A. naccarii

MtDNA analyses were employed to examine the species identification of three preserved museum sturgeon specimens from the River Guadalquivir, two of which were originally described as Acipenser sturio L., 1758 by Hernando (1975; Doñana, Acta Vertd 2: 263–264). Later the same two specimens were identified as A. naccarii Bonaparte, 1836 by Garrido-Ramos et?al. (1997; Mar Biol 129: 33–39) on the basis of morphometric and nuclear DNA analyses. Three different laboratories using independent techniques were unsuccessful in extracting authentic DNA from tissue samples from the three specimens and in obtaining any verifiable PCR product. We cannot confirm the previous molecular identification of two of these specimens by Garrido-Ramos et?al. as A. naccarii. We suggest that these specimens are indeed A. sturio.     

230Th/232Th activity ratios as a chronological marker complementing 210Pb dating in an estuarine system affected by industrial releases

The main purpose of this research is to show the usefulness of the 230Th/232Th activity ratios as a chronological marker that can be helpful in the dating of sediment cores collected from an estuarine system located in the south west of Spain highly polluted by wastes from fertilizer plants. These wastes, being released for 30 years, and enriched in radionuclides from the uranium series including 210Pb, invalidate the application of the 210Pb dating technique in full extent to the sediment cores collected in this estuary. However, the evaluation and the interpretation of both 210Pb and 230Th/232Th profiles allows the determination of average sedimentation rates in different parts of the cores, contaminated and noncontaminated zone, that agree in the case analysed in this research. Through this approach, a confident chronology covering the last century, which is essential to analyse and reconstruct the historical evolution of other pollutants in this heavily contaminated system can be established.