Promise and performance of agricultural nutrient management policy: Lessons from the Baltic Sea

Following decades of international collaboration to restore the Baltic Sea, we provide an assessment of the domestic implementation of measures agreed to limit diffuse agricultural pollution and the patterns of policy instruments applied. Despite the Helsinki Convention being unusually specific in detailing what measures countries should introduce, we find many shortcomings. These are most pronounced in the larger countries (Poland, Germany and Russia), while smaller countries perform better, notably Sweden and Estonia. The patterns of policy instruments applied differ, influenced by domestic politics. The limited use of complementary policy instruments suggests that other priorities overrule full and effective implementation, with engagement mirroring the advantages that a restored Baltic Sea can bring to countries. Using the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to support farmers in managing nutrients, particularly advisory services and investments in modern manure management technologies, represents a significant opportunity for reducing agricultural pollution in most countries.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01549-3.     

Environmental justice: lessons on definition and delivery from Scotland

This paper considers the concept of environmental justice in Scotland. It reviews the research and developments in law and policy in this area, starting with the Dynamic Earth speech in Edinburgh in 2002. It analyses the findings by grouping causes and solutions to environmental justice and identifies a particularly wide definition of the concept in Scotland. It concludes that the inclusion of social justice is a defining feature of environmental justice in Scotland; however, measures to mitigate environmental injustice are being implemented in an incremental way, with the most significant achievements being through the implementation of international obligations.     

PAH-sequestration capacity of granular and powder activated carbon amendments in soil, and their effects on earthworms and plants

A field lysimeter study was carried out to investigate whether the amendment of 2% powder and granular activated carbon (PAC and GAC) to a soil with moderate PAH contamination had an impact on the PAH bioaccumulation of earthworms and plants, since AC is known to be a strong sorbent for organic pollutants. Furthermore, secondary effects of AC on plants and earthworms were studied through growth and nutrient uptake, and survival and weight gain. Additionally, the effect of AC amendments on soil characteristics like pH, water holding capacity, and the water retention curve of the soil were investigated. Results show that the amendment of 2% PAC had a negative effect on plant growth while the GAC increased the growth rate of plants. PAC was toxic to earthworms, demonstrated by a significant weight loss, while the results for GAC were less clear due to ambiguous results of a field and a parallel laboratory study. Both kinds of AC significantly reduced biota to soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) of PAHs in earthworms and plants. The GAC reduced the BSAFs of earthworms by an average of 47 ± 44% and the PAC amendment reduced them by 72 ± 19%. For the investigated plants the BSAFs were reduced by 46 ± 36% and 53 ± 22% by the GAC and PAC, respectively.     

Insecticide residues in bats along a land use-gradient dominated by cotton cultivation in northern Benin,West Africa

Many regions in Africa are currently being converted from subsistence to cash crop farming such as cotton. Agricultural intensification is usually accompanied by increased use of pesticides, which can have an impact on non-target organisms. Bats are particularly sensitive to insecticide loads while providing substantial ecosystem services as predators of herbivorous insects. In this study, pesticide residues in bats in a landscape in northern Benin were investigated, which spanned a land use gradient from an agricultural zone dominated by cotton farms, through a buffer zone, and into a national park. Insecticides used in cotton cultivation, such as endosulfan, chlorpyrifos, flubendiamide, and spirotetramat, as well as persistent insecticides such as bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT), lindane, and aldrine, were analysed. Insecticide residues detected in bats comprised DDT, endosulfan, and their corresponding transformation products. Maximum concentrations in the sampled bats were 11.2 mg/kg lipid of p,p′-DDE (median: 0.0136 mg/kg lipid) and 0.797 mg/kg lipid of β-endosulfan (median: below detection limit [DL]). While insecticide concentrations were below lethal concentrations our data suggest that DDT had probably been recently used in the study region, and larger scale use would pose an increased risk for bat populations due to the high biomagnification of DDT.     

Development of Tools for Integrated Monitoring and Assessment of Hazardous Substances and Their Biological Effects in the Baltic Sea

The need to develop biological effects monitoring to facilitate a reliable assessment of hazardous substances has been emphasized in the Baltic Sea Action Plan of the Helsinki Commission. An integrated chemical–biological approach is vitally important for the understanding and proper assessment of anthropogenic pressures and their effects on the Baltic Sea. Such an approach is also necessary for prudent management aiming at safeguarding the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and Services. The BEAST project (Biological Effects of Anthropogenic Chemical Stress: Tools for the Assessment of Ecosystem Health) set out to address this topic within the BONUS Programme. BEAST generated a large amount of quality-assured data on several biological effects parameters (biomarkers) in various marine species in different sub-regions of the Baltic Sea. New indicators (biological response measurement methods) and management tools (integrated indices) with regard to the integrated monitoring approach were suggested.     

Thermal treatment for pathogen inactivation as a risk mitigation strategy for safe recycling of organic waste in agriculture

Thermal treatment at temperatures between 46.0°C and 55.0°C was evaluated as a method for sanitization of organic waste, a temperature interval less commonly investigated but important in connection with biological treatment processes. Samples of dairy cow feces inoculated with Salmonella Senftenberg W775, Enterococcus faecalis, bacteriophage ?X174, and porcine parvovirus (PPV) were thermally treated using block thermostats at set temperatures in order to determine time-temperature regimes to achieve sufficient bacterial and viral reduction, and to model the inactivation rate. Pasteurization at 70°C in saline solution was used as a comparison in terms of bacterial and viral reduction and was proven to be effective in rapidly reducing all organisms with the exception of PPV (decimal reduction time of 1.2 h). The results presented here can be used to construct time-temperature regimes in terms of bacterial inactivation, with D-values ranging from 0.37 h at 55°C to 22.5 h at 46.0°C and 0.45 h at 55.0°C to 14.5 h at 47.5°C for Salmonella Senftenberg W775 and Enterococcus faecalis, respectively and for relevant enteric viruses based on the ?X174 phage with decimal reduction times ranging from 1.5 h at 55°C to 16.5 h at 46°C. Hence, the study implies that considerably lower treatment temperatures than 70°C can be used to reach a sufficient inactivation of bacterial pathogens and potential process indicator organisms such as the ?X174 phage and raises the question whether PPV is a valuable process indicator organism considering its extreme thermotolerance.     

Environmental occurrences, behavior, fate, and ecological effects of nanomaterials: an introduction to the special series

The release of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) into the biosphere will increase as industries find new and useful ways to utilize these materials. Scientists and engineers are beginning to assess the material properties that determine the fate, transport, and effects of ENMs; however, the potential impacts of released ENMs on organisms, ecosystems, and human health remain largely unknown. This special collection of four review papers and four technical papers identifies many key and emerging knowledge gaps regarding the interactions between nanomaterials and ecosystems. These critical knowledge gaps include the form, route, and mass of nanomaterials entering the environment; the transformations and ultimate fate of nanomaterials in the environment; the transport, distribution, and bioavailability of nanomaterials in environmental media; and the organismal responses to nanomaterial exposure and effects of nanomaterial inputs, on ecological communities and biogeochemical processes at relevant environmental concentrations and forms. This introductory section summarizes the state of knowledge and emerging areas of research needs identified within the special collection. Despite recent progress in understanding the transport, transformations, and fate of ENMs in model environments and organisms, there remains a large need for fundamental information regarding releases, distribution, transformations and persistence, and bioavailability of nanomaterials. Moreover, fate, transport, bioaccumulation, and ecological impacts research is needed using environmentally relevant concentrations and forms of ENMs in real field materials and with a broader range of organisms.     

How oxygen deficiency in the Baltic Sea proper has spread and worsened: The role of ammonium and hydrogen sulphide

Even large inflows of oxygen-rich seawater to the Baltic Proper have in recent decades given only short-lived relief from oxygen deficiency below the halocline. We analyse long-term changes in oxygen deficiency, and calculate the “total oxygen debt” ΣOD, the oxygen required to oxidize the hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) and ammonium (NH₄) that builds up during stagnation periods. Since the early 1990s, oxygen below 65m has gradually decreased during successive stagnation periods, and the ΣOD has increased, with NH₄ more important than previously recognised. After the major inflow in 2014, the Baltic Proper ΣOD has reached its highest level so far. The gradual shift of the ΣOD to shallower sub-halocline waters in the western and northern basins has increased the risk of periodic coastal hypoxia and export of hypoxic water to the Bothnian Sea. The potential for inflows large enough to more than eliminate the ΣOD seems limited in the near term.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01738-8.     

Mitigation of methane emission from Fakse landfill using a biowindow system

Landfills are significant sources of atmospheric methane (CH₄) that contributes to climate change, and therefore there is a need to reduce CH₄ emissions from landfills. A promising cost efficient technology is to integrate compost into landfill covers (so-called “biocovers”) to enhance biological oxidation of CH₄. A full scale biocover system to reduce CH₄ emissions was installed at Fakse landfill, Denmark using composted yard waste as active material supporting CH₄ oxidation. Ten biowindows with a total area of 5000 m² were integrated into the existing cover at the 12 ha site. To increase CH₄ load to the biowindows, leachate wells were capped, and clay was added to slopes at the site. Point measurements using flux chambers suggested in most cases that almost all CH₄ was oxidized, but more detailed studies on emissions from the site after installation of the biocover as well as measurements of total CH₄ emissions showed that a significant portion of the emission quantified in the baseline study continued unabated from the site. Total emission measurements suggested a reduction in CH₄ emission of approximately 28% at the end of the one year monitoring period. This was supported by analysis of stable carbon isotopes which showed an increase in oxidation efficiency from 16% to 41%. The project documented that integrating approaches such a whole landfill emission measurements using tracer techniques or stable carbon isotope measurements of ambient air samples are needed to document CH₄ mitigation efficiencies of biocover systems. The study also revealed that there still exist several challenges to better optimize the functionality. The most important challenges are to control gas flow and evenly distribute the gas into the biocovers.     

Physiological and perceptual strain of firefighters during graded exercise to exhaustion at 40 and 10 °C

Purpose. To study whether perceptual identification should be included as a measure to evaluate physiological stress. Methods. Physiological variables oxygen uptake (V_O2), ventilation, heart rate, blood lactate concentration, rectal temperature (T_rec) and mean skin temperature, and perceptual variables rate of perceived exertion, thermal sensation and time to exhaustion, were measured at submaximal and maximal intensities during graded exercise on a treadmill to exhaustion in 12 firefighters wearing protective clothing and extra mass at 40 and 10 °C. Physiological strain index (PhSI) and perceptual strain index (PeSI) were calculated. Results. Apart from T_rec, all physiological and perceptual variables were higher at submaximal intensities of 40 °C. Time to exhaustion was 16% shorter and the corresponding V_O2 was reduced by 7% in the heat. A high correlation (r?=?89) between PhSI and PeSI was found at both temperatures. PeSI scores were equal to PhSI at both ambient temperatures, except at the two highest intensities in the heat, where PeSI was higher. Conclusions. These findings support use of perceptual identification to evaluate physiological stress. However, at very high intensities under hot conditions the perceptual strain was estimated higher than the physiological strain. More precise indexes are needed to include perceptual measures in safety standard.