Estimation of microplastics in sediments at the southernmost coast of India (Kanyakumari)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Increasing urbanization and anthropogenic activities of the last couple of decades have left significant amounts of plastic debris in both coastal and...     

The use of Odonata species for environmental assessment: a meta-analysis for the Neotropical region

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The order Odonata has been regularly used as an indicator of the ecosystem’s condition. The objective of this review was to analyze the...     

Soil contamination in Colombian playgrounds: effects of vehicles,construction, and traffic

The presence of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) in playground soils is generally associated with anthropogenic sources such as vehicle traffic, industries, construction sites, and biomass burning. Studies indicate that PHEs are harmful to human health and may even be carcinogenic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, morphological, and mineralogical properties of soil samples from three public playgrounds located in the cities of Bogota, Medellin, and Barranquilla. Besides, the possible impacts caused by the aerodynamics of particles in Colombian cities were verified. The morphology, composition, and structure of the nanoparticles (NPs) (< 100 nm) present in these soils were evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with high-precision field emission (FE) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Soil samples were predominantly feldspar, quartz, and, to a lesser extent, clay minerals, carbonates, and hematites. The average content of PHEs was anthropogenically enriched in relation to the upper continental crust. As and Sn showed a large spatial variation, indicating the influence of local sources, such as vehicle traffic and industries. There is an inverse relationship between the total concentrations of some elements and their leachable fractions. The accumulation of traffic-derived PHEs has a negative impact on human health and the environment, which is alarming, especially for elements such as Pb, Sb, or As. Therefore, the presence of PHEs should receive greater attention from public health professionals, and limits should be set and exposures controlled. This study includes the construction of a baseline that provides basic information on pollution, its sources, and exposure routes for humans in the vicinity of Colombia’s major cities, characterized by their increasing urbanization and industrialization.

     

Halogen content relative to the chemical and biochemical composition of fifteen marine macro and micro algae: nutritional value,energy supply,antioxidant potency,and health risk assessment

Marine algae have made a strong contribution to global food security in the future. This study is the first report describing the concentration, pathways, and interactions of halogens in 15 species of marine algae collected from the Eastern Harbor in Alexandria, Egypt, relative to 22 key variables. The relationship between halogen content and chemical and biochemical parameters was studied through multivariate analysis. Among all the tested algae, the iodine content was the lowest (2.53–3.00 μg/g). The range of fluoride and chloride in macroalgae (1.12–1.70 and 0.10–0.46 mg/g) was smaller than that of microalgae (0.10–0.46 and 1.48–3.17 mg/g). The bromide content in macroalgae (0.36–5.45 mg/g) was higher than that in microalgae (0.40–0.76 mg/g). The halogen content in macroalgae was arranged in the order of Br > F > Cl > I. In addition, the biochemical parameters such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and certain heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Pb, Ni, Co, Cd, and Cr) were determined. Calories, energy, total antioxidant activity (TAC), K/Na, and ion quotient amounts were estimated. The results showed that the green seaweed species had the highest TAC content. In most of the studied algal species, the calculated ion quotient referred to their likelihood of overcoming high blood pressure. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of algae showed no adverse effects on human health. Most of the research variables are below the acceptable WHO/FAO level. Generally, the calorie content of the selected algae is less than 2 kcal, which makes the algae considered an alternative source of healthy food to reduce obesity.

Graphical abstract

     

Legacy and alternative halogenated flame retardants in Lake Geneva fish

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Legacy (i.e., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)) and alternative halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) were...     

Assessment of semi-natural habitats and landscape features on Irish farmland: New insights to inform EU Common Agricultural Policy implementation

Concerns over the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland have prompted the development of agri-environment policy measures aimed at reducing farming pressure and maintaining semi-natural habitats in farmed landscapes. However, further knowledge is needed to guarantee successful agri-environment measures implementation. The current study assessed the quantity and the quality of semi-natural habitats in farms across a gradient of farming intensities in two contrasting regions in Ireland. Policy protection seemed fundamental for semi-natural habitats preservation. Habitats not protected by agricultural policy relied on extensive farming and are in danger of disappearing if they are intensified or abandoned. Due to the lack of policy incentives for habitat quality, no correlations were found between farming intensity and share of semi-natural habitats with habitat quality. Therefore, extensive farming and retention of habitats alone may not reverse the decline of farmland quality and biodiverisity and, thus, measures incentivising the environmental quality may be more successful.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01344-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity has become the major force in shaping the future of the Earth system as a whole; and the scale and pace of the human dimension have caused climate change, rapid loss of biodiversity, growing inequalities, and loss of resilience to deal with uncertainty and surprise. Taken together, human actions are challenging the biosphere foundation for a prosperous development of civilizations. The Anthropocene reality—of rising system-wide turbulence—calls for transformative change towards sustainable futures. Emerging technologies, social innovations, broader shifts in cultural repertoires, as well as a diverse portfolio of active stewardship of human actions in support of a resilient biosphere are highlighted as essential parts of such transformations.     

Combined effects of human pressures on Europe’s marine ecosystems

Marine ecosystems are under high demand for human use, giving concerns about how pressures from human activities may affect their structure, function, and status. In Europe, recent developments in mapping of marine habitats and human activities now enable a coherent spatial evaluation of potential combined effects of human activities. Results indicate that combined effects from multiple human pressures are spread to 96% of the European marine area, and more specifically that combined effects from physical disturbance are spread to 86% of the coastal area and 46% of the shelf area. We compare our approach with corresponding assessments at other spatial scales and validate our results with European-scale status assessments for coastal waters. Uncertainties and development points are identified. Still, the results suggest that Europe’s seas are widely disturbed, indicating potential discrepancy between ambitions for Blue Growth and the objective of achieving good environmental status within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.Supplementary informationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01482-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Degradation half-life times of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs for environmental fate modeling

Literature search of the knowledge on the degradation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in environmental compartments air, water, soil and sediment was done in purpose to find properties of POPs of interest for modeling. One degradation process, hydrolysis (chemical degradation), was omitted as negligibly slow for POPs studied. The other two, photolysis and biodegradation processes, were considered separately in purpose to develop estimation procedures. The estimates can be given as pseudo first-order rate constants kP for photolysis and kB for biodegradation. For each compartment, an overall degradation rate is k(tot) = kP + kB and lifetime t(1/2) = ln 2/k(tot). The latter values, lifetimes in each compartment, will be used as input parameters to the Baltic Sea model.     

Certification of a long-term sampling system for PCDFs and PCDDs in the flue gas from industrial facilities

AMESA (adsorption method for sampling of dioxins) is a fully automatic system for long term monitoring of dioxin emissions from industrial processes based on the adsorption method. The system has been tested and undergoing a certification procedure according to the German guidelines for certification of systems for continuous monitoring of special substances. The certification covered parameters such as disposability of the system, reproducibility of the results and comparability of the sampling method with German and European standard methods. Furthermore break through, blanks and sample storability were investigated. The results prove that AMESA is a state of the art sampling system for continuous monitoring of dioxin/furan emissions.