Effects of teflubenzuron on sediment processing by members of the Capitella species-complex

The cosmopolitan deposit-feeding polychaete Capitella is widely used as an indicator of organic pollution and plays an important role in waste recycling at aquaculture sites. Teflubenzuron is currently employed by salmon farms as an in-feed compound to control ectoparasite infestations. Its occurrence in sediments could pose a hazard to local sediment infauna. A bioassay to investigate the effects of exposing Capitella sp I and Capitella sp B to sediment spiked with environmentally relevant concentrations of teflubenzuron (8.4, 25 and 41.8 microg/g dry wt. sediment) is described. No mortality was recorded for Capitella sp I, but increasing teflubenzuron concentrations significantly reduced egestion rates. Capitella sp B exhibited mortality, although egestion was not affected. These results using Capitella spp. indicated that teflubenzuron could affect the rate of sediment processing by polychaetes close to fish farms treated with this compound. Further studies are recommended to assess the potential of contaminants in aquaculture wastes.     

Sediment processing in Capitella spp. (Polychaeta: Capitellidae): strain-specific differences and effects of the organic toxicant fluoranthene

The effects of the widespread polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fluoranthene on sediment-processing rates in the infaunal polychaete Capitella spp. were investigated by comparing five populations of this deposit-feeding species complex: Capitella sp. I from New York, USA; Capitella sp. M from Milos, Greece; Capitella sp. S from Sylt, Germany; and two unidentified Capitella populations from salmon farm sediments –Capitella population K from Kilmelford, Scotland and Capitella population C from Cranford, Ireland. Replicate worms from each strain were exposed to 0, 10, and 95 μg (g dry wt sediment)⁻¹ fluoranthene (=μg/g fluoranthene) for a period of 16 days. Initial and final wet and dry weights (mg) of worms and worm-specific growth rates (WSGRs) were calculated. Sediment processing was measured as the sum of the total dry weight of pellets produced during the experiment, and we estimated size-specific processing rates (SSPRs) as a measure of sediment processed per mg worm dry weight per day. The five populations of Capitella spp. differed significantly in body size, WSGR, and sediment-processing rates. Capitella sp. I grew faster than all of the other populations. Capitella population C and Capitella population K from fish farm sediments, with the largest body lengths (up to 52.0 ± 27.2 mm), had the highest processing rates, whereas the small Capitella sp. S (up to 17.1 ± 5.6 mm) had the lowest. There were also significant differences in SSPR among populations with Capitella sp. I having a higher SSPR (about 12 × body wt/day) than Capitella population C (about 5 × body wt/day) and Capitella population K (3 × body wt/day). The fluoranthene concentrations used in the present study, while representing moderately to highly contaminated conditions, had only marginal effects on sediment-processing and growth rates of all of the Capitella populations examined. Processing of contaminated sediment by Capitella spp. may be important in the remediation of PAH-contaminated sediment. Received: 16 January 2000 / Accepted: 28 August 2000     

PM10 and PM2.5 source apportionment in the Barcelona Metropolitan area, Catalonia, Spain

Levels of total suspended particles, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 were continuously monitored at an urban kerbside in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona from June 1999 to June 2000. The results show that hourly levels of PM2.5 and PM1 are consistent with the daily cycle of gaseous pollutants emitted by traffic, whereas TSP and PM10 do not follow the same trend, at least in the diurnal period. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio is dependent on the traffic emissions, whereas additional contribution sources for the >10 μm fraction must be taken into account in the diurnal period. Different PM10 and PM2.5 source apportionment techniques were compared. A methodology based on the chemical determination of 83% of both PM10 and PM2.5 masses allowed us to quantify the marine (4% in PM10 and <1% in PM2.5), crustal (26% in PM10 and 8% in PM2.5) and anthropogenic (54% in PM10 and 73% in PM2.5) loads. Peaks of crustal contribution to PM10 (up to 44% of the PM10 mass) were recorded under Saharan air mass intrusions. A different seasonal trend was observed for levels of sulphate and nitrate, probably as a consequence of the different thermodynamic behaviour of these PM species and the higher summer oxidation rate of SO₂.     

CH4 continuous measurements in the upper Spanish plateau

Continuous methane, CH₄, concentrations were measured in a rural area of the upper Spanish plateau from June 2010 to May 2012 by cavity ring-down spectroscopy technique. The results obtained have proven the local impact of anthropogenic nearby sources on CH₄ concentrations, and evidence a significant influence on the overall mean, averaged daily and seasonal patterns recorded at the measuring site. The positive anomalies in CH₄ concentrations, statistically significant at 95 %, in the southeast sector, defined here as ESE, SE, SSE and S sectors, have been attributed to the contribution of the Valladolid urban plume and the urban landfill. Based on this finding, CH₄ background levels were associated to the concentrations recorded in the remaining un-disturbed sectors. CH₄ means of the overall data set, the southeast sector and background sectors yielded average means of 1,894.1, 1,927.9 and 1,887.1 ppb, respectively. The diurnal and seasonal patterns of the overall data set and background concentrations have shown that CH₄ concentrations are mainly dominated by its reaction with OH radicals. Maximum hourly concentrations were reached during night-time and early morning, 5–7 h, whereas minimum concentrations were recorded at 16 h. Maximum and minimum monthly means were recorded in January and July, respectively. The diurnal and seasonal amplitudes, namely, peak-to-peak means, of background concentrations were 25.1 and 48.1 ppb, respectively. These values were significantly lower than those obtained for the overall data set, 42.9 and 58.1 ppb, revealing the significant role of local influences on CH₄ concentrations despite the low frequency of southeast winds recorded at the measuring site, 16.9 %.     

Analysis of tropospheric ozone concentration on a Western Mediterranean site: Castellon (Spain)

Ozone dynamics in our study area (Castellon, Spain) is both strongly bound to the mesoscale circulations that develop under the effect of high insolation (especially in summer) and conditioned by the morphological characteristics of the Western Mediterranean Basin. In this work we present a preliminary analysis of ozone time series on five locations in Castellon for the period 1997–2003. We study their temporal and spatial variations at different scales: daily, weekly, seasonally and interannually. Because both the O₃ concentration and its temporal variation depend on the topographic location of the observing station, they can show large differences within tens of kilometer. We also contrast the variation in the ozone concentration with the variations found for meteorological variables such as radiation, temperature, relative humidity and recirculation of the air mass. The link between elevated ozone concentrations and high values of the recirculation factor (r=0.7–0.9) shown the importance of recirculating flows on the local air pollution episodes.