Molecular tools for bathing water assessment in Europe: Balancing social science research with a rapidly developing environmental science evidence-base

The use of molecular tools, principally qPCR, versus traditional culture-based methods for quantifying microbial parameters (e.g., Fecal Indicator Organisms) in bathing waters generates considerable ongoing debate at the science–policy interface. Advances in science have allowed the development and application of molecular biological methods for rapid (~2 h) quantification of microbial pollution in bathing and recreational waters. In contrast, culture-based methods can take between 18 and 96 h for sample processing. Thus, molecular tools offer an opportunity to provide a more meaningful statement of microbial risk to water-users by providing near-real-time information enabling potentially more informed decision-making with regard to water-based activities. However, complementary studies concerning the potential costs and benefits of adopting rapid methods as a regulatory tool are in short supply. We report on findings from an international Working Group that examined the breadth of social impacts, challenges, and research opportunities associated with the application of molecular tools to bathing water regulations.     

Reviving wood-pastures for biodiversity and people: A case study from western Estonia

Wood-pastures are associated with high cultural and biodiversity values in Europe. However, due to their relatively low productivity, large areas of wood-pastures have been lost over the last century. In some areas, incentive schemes have been developed to revive wood-pastures. We investigated the effects of one such scheme in western Estonia. We compared the structure of grazed wood-pastures (old and restored) to those of abandoned wood-pastures and ungrazed forest stands to explore the effects of management, and conducted interviews with 24 farmers to investigate their motivations to carry out the management. We found a positive influence of active management on the semi-open structure of wood-pastures. Financial support was vital for management, but personal values related to tradition also played an important role. The interviewees differed widely in their range of motivations, suggesting that other strategies in addition to financial incentives would further improve the management of wood-pastures in the region.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0719-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Improving invasive species management by integrating priorities and contributions of scientists and decision makers

Managing invasive species is a major challenge for society. In the case of newly established invaders, rapid action is key for a successful management. Here, we develop, describe and recommend a three-step transdisciplinary process (the “butterfly model”) to rapidly initiate action for invasion management. In the framing of a case study, we present results from the first of these steps: assessing priorities and contributions of both scientists and decision makers. Both scientists and decision makers prioritise research on prevention. The available scientific knowledge contributions, however, are publications on impacts rather than prevention of the invasive species. The contribution of scientific knowledge does thus not reflect scientists’ perception of what is essentially needed. We argue that a more objective assessment and transparent communication of not only decision makers’ but also scientists’ priorities is an essential basis for a successful cooperation. Our three-step model can help achieve objectivity via transdisciplinary communication.     

Long-term passive restoration following fluvial deposition of sulphidic copper tailings: nature filters out the solutions

Despite the growing popularity of ecological restoration approach, data on primary succession on toxic post-mining substrates, under site environmental conditions which considerably differ from the surrounding environment, are still scarce. Here, we studied the spontaneous vegetation development on an unusual locality created by long-term and large-scale fluvial deposition of sulphidic tailings from a copper mine in a pronouncedly xerothermic, calcareous surrounding. We performed multivariate analyses of soil samples (20 physical and chemical parameters) and vegetation samples (floristic and structural parameters in three types of occurring forests), collected along the pollution gradients throughout the affected floodplain. The nature can cope with two types of imposed constraints: (a) excessive Cu concentrations and (b) very low pH, combined with nutrient deficiency. The former will still allow convergence to the original vegetation, while the latter will result in novel, depauperate assemblages of species typical for cooler and moister climate. Our results for the first time demonstrate that with the increasing severity of environmental filtering, the relative importance of the surrounding vegetation for primary succession strongly decreases.     

Proteomic changes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corbicula fluminea</Emphasis> exposed to wastewater from a psychiatric hospital

The increase use of pharmaceutical compounds in veterinary practice and human population results in the ubiquitous presence of these compounds in aquatic ecosystems. Because pharmaceuticals are highly bioactive, there is concern about their toxicological effects in aquatic organisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of an effluent from a psychiatric hospital (containing a complex mixture of 25 pharmaceutical compounds from eleven therapeutic classes) on the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea using a proteomic approach. The exposure of C. fluminea to this complex effluent containing anxiolytics, analgesics, lipid regulators, beta blockers, antidepressants, antiepileptics, antihistamines, antihypertensives, antiplatelets and antiarrhythmics induced protein changes after 1 day of exposure in clam gills and digestive gland more evident in the digestive gland. These changes included increase in the abundance of proteins associated with structural (actin and tubulin), cellular functions (calreticulin, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), T complex protein 1 (TCP1)) and metabolism (aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), alcohol dehydrogenase, 6 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase). Results from this study indicate that calreticulin, PCNA, ALDH and alcohol dehydrogenase in the digestive gland and T complex protein 1 (TCP1)) and 6 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase in the gills represent useful biomarkers for the ecotoxicological characterization of psychiatric hospital effluents in this species.     

Overview of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects of Pollution in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Nigeria

Pollution has taken on a global dimension, and the effects are most obvious in developing countries. The effects take a toll on human health, animals, and vegetation, as well as on soil, air, and water quality. The objective of this article is to discuss the current relationships among pollution, environmental quality, and human health within the frame of anthropogenic activities in developing countries. In addition to personal observations, we review relevant literature on conditions throughout the developing world and case studies on conditions and activities in Nigeria. Key findings show the significant, adverse contributions to human health and environmental risk from current waste generation and handling practices, indoor and outdoor air pollution, wastewater and effluent generation and disposal, the hazardous nature and pollution potential of wastes, and the human behaviors that contribute to pollution in developing countries. There is an urgent need to create awareness among the various segments of society of the human health hazards posed by pollution as well as a need for the comprehensive development and enforcement of appropriate policies to prevent a descent into an abyss of deteriorating human and environmental health.     

Filtering with a drill pump: an efficient method to collect suspended sediment

Water quality monitoring programs across multiple disciplines use total suspended solids (TSS), and volatile suspended solids (VSS), to assess potential impairments of surface water and groundwater. While previous methods for instream filtering have been developed, the need for rapid, cost‐effective, high volume sampling has increased with the need to verify and supplement data produced by sondes and instantaneous data loggers. We present an efficient method to filter water instream with a portable drill pump that results in reduced sample processing time, and potentially reduced error associated with sample transportation, preservation, contamination, and homogenization. This technical note outlines the advantages of filtering instream vs. in the laboratory. It also compares TSS and VSS concentrations filtered with a drill pump vs. standard filtration methods with a vacuum pump as outlined by USEPA methods 160.2 and 160.4. Samples were collected at 4 sites and filtered in the field, or transported to the laboratory and filtered within 12 or 24 h of collection. Overall TSS and VSS samples filtered instream with a drill pump vs. in the laboratory produced similar concentrations with a similar range in variability for each method. Sample filtering with a drill pump decreased processing time by five minutes per sample.     

Emerging Tools for Continuous Nutrient Monitoring Networks: Sensors Advancing Science and Water Resources Protection

Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well‐known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient concentrations and loads is integral to strategies designed to minimize risk to humans and manage the underlying drivers of water quality impairment. Using nitrate sensors as the primary example, we highlight the types of applications in freshwater and coastal environments that are likely to benefit from continuous, real‐time nutrient data. The concurrent emergence of new tools to integrate, manage, and share large datasets is critical to the successful use of nutrient sensors and has made it possible for the field of continuous monitoring to rapidly move forward. We highlight several near‐term opportunities for federal agencies, as well as the broader scientific and management community, that will help accelerate sensor development, build and leverage sites within a national network, and develop open data standards and data management protocols that are key to realizing the benefits of a large‐scale, integrated monitoring network. Investing in these opportunities will provide new information to guide management and policies designed to protect and restore our nation's water resources.     

Mechanistic insights into the specificity of human cytosolic sulfotransferase 2A1 (hSULT2A1) for hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls through the use of fluoro-tagged probes

Determining the relationships between the structures of substrates and inhibitors and their interactions with drug-metabolizing enzymes is of prime importance in predicting the toxic potential of new and legacy xenobiotics. Traditionally, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies are performed with many distinct compounds. Based on the chemical properties of the tested compounds, complex relationships can be established so that models can be developed to predict toxicity of novel compounds. In this study, the use of fluorinated analogues as supplemental QSAR compounds was investigated. Substituting fluorine induces changes in electronic and steric properties of the substrate without substantially changing the chemical backbone of the substrate. In vitro assays were performed using purified human cytosolic sulfotransferase hSULT2A1 as a model enzyme. A mono-hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl (4-OH PCB 14) and its four possible mono-fluoro analogues were used as test compounds. Remarkable similarities were found between this approach and previously published QSAR studies for hSULT2A1. Both studies implicate the importance of dipole moment and dihedral angle as being important to PCB structure in respect to being substrates for hSULT2A1. We conclude that mono-fluorinated analogues of a target substrate can be a useful tool to study the structure activity relationships for enzyme specificity.     

Multi-component adsorption of copper,nickel and zinc from aqueous solutions onto activated carbon prepared from date stones

The removal of Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Zn²⁺ ions from their multi-component aqueous mixture by sorption on activated carbon prepared from date stones was investigated. In the batch tests, experimental parameters were studied, including solution pH, contact time, initial metal ions concentration, and temperature. Adsorption efficiency of the heavy metals was pH-dependent and the maximum adsorption was found to occur at around 5.5 for Cu, Zn, and Ni. The maximum sorption capacities calculated by applying the Langmuir isotherm were 18.68 mg/g for Cu, 16.12 mg/g for Ni, and 12.19 mg/g for Zn. The competitive adsorption studies showed that the adsorption affinity order of the three heavy metals was Cu²⁺?>?Ni²⁺?>?Zn²⁺. The test results using real wastewater indicated that the prepared activated carbon could be used as a cheap adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals in aqueous solutions.