Characterizing the Relative Contributions of Large Vessels to Total Ocean Noise Fields: A Case Study Using the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

In 2006, we used the U.S. Coast Guard’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) to describe patterns of large commercial ship traffic within a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary located off the coast of Massachusetts. We found that 541 large commercial vessels transited the greater sanctuary 3413 times during the year. Cargo ships, tankers, and tug/tows constituted 78% of the vessels and 82% of the total transits. Cargo ships, tankers, and cruise ships predominantly used the designated Boston Traffic Separation Scheme, while tug/tow traffic was concentrated in the western and northern portions of the sanctuary. We combined AIS data with low-frequency acoustic data from an array of nine autonomous recording units analyzed for 2 months in 2006. Analysis of received sound levels (10–1000 Hz, root-mean-square pressure re 1 μPa ± SE) averaged 119.5 ± 0.3 dB at high-traffic locations. High-traffic locations experienced double the acoustic power of less trafficked locations for the majority of the time period analyzed. Average source level estimates (71–141 Hz, root-mean-square pressure re 1 μPa ± SE) for individual vessels ranged from 158 ± 2 dB (research vessel) to 186 ± 2 dB (oil tanker). Tankers were estimated to contribute 2 times more acoustic power to the region than cargo ships, and more than 100 times more than research vessels. Our results indicate that noise produced by large commercial vessels was at levels and within frequencies that warrant concern among managers regarding the ability of endangered whales to maintain acoustic contact within greater sanctuary waters. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Water Footprint of the Palestinians in the West Bank1

Abstract: Water in the West Bank of Palestine is a key issue due to its limited availability. Water is used from own sources for domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes. Moreover, water is consumed in its virtual form through consumption of imported goods, such as crops and livestock, the production of which used water in the country of production. In addition, wastewater in many parts of the West Bank is disposed off without treatment into the wadis, deteriorating the quality of the water resources in the area and, therefore, further reducing the quantity of good quality water available. This paper calculates the water footprint for the West Bank. The consumption component of the water footprint of the West Bank was found to be 2,791 million m³/year. Approximately 52% of this is virtual water consumed through imported goods. The West Bank per capita consumption component of the water footprint was found to be 1,116 m³/cap/year, while the global average is 1,243 m³/cap/year. Out of this number 50 m³/cap/year was withdrawn from water resources available in the area. Only 16 m³/cap/year (1.4%) was used for domestic purposes. This number is extremely low and only 28% of the global average and 21% of the Israeli domestic water use. The contamination component of the water footprint was not quantified but was believed to be many times larger than the consumption component. According to the official definition of water scarcity, the West Bank is suffering from a severe water scarcity. Therefore, there is a need for a completely new approach towards water management in the West Bank, whereby return flows are viewed as a resource and that is geared towards a conservation oriented approach of “use, treat, and reuse.”     

Phytoextraction for clean-up of low-level uranium contaminated soil evaluated

Spills in the nuclear fuel cycle have led to soil contamination with uranium. In case of small contamination just above release levels, low-cost yet sufficiently efficient remedial measures are recommended. This study was executed to test if low-level U contaminated sandy soil from a nuclear fuel processing site could be phytoextracted in order to attain the required release limits. Two soils were tested: a control soil (317 Bq 238U kg(-1)) and the same soil washed with bicarbonate (69 Bq 238U kg(-1)). Ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Melvina) and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea cv. Vitasso) were used as test plants. The annual removal of soil activity by the biomass was less than 0.1%. The addition of citric acid (25 mmol kg(-1)) 1 week before the harvest increased U uptake up to 500-fold. With a ryegrass and mustard yield of 15,000 and 10,000 kg ha(-1), respectively, up to 3.5% and 4.6% of the soil activity could be removed annually by the biomass. With a desired activity reduction level of 1.5 and 5 for the bicarbonate-washed and control soil, respectively, it would take 10-50 years to attain the release limit. However, citric acid addition resulted in a decreased dry weight production.     

Reclamation of a bare industrial area contaminated by non-ferrous metals: physico-chemical and biological evaluation of the durability of soil treatment and revegetation

In 1990, 3 ha of a highly metal polluted acid sandy soil at the site of a former pyrometallurgical zinc smelter was treated with a combination of beringite and compost; beringite is a substance that has a strong metal immobilization capacity. After soil treatment and sowing of a mixture of metal-tolerant Agrostis capillaris and Festuca rubra, a healthy vegetation cover developed. Five years later, an evaluation was made of soil physico-chemical parameters, potential phytotoxicity, floristic and fungal diversity and mycorrhizal infection of the plant community. Phytotoxicity was shown to be maintained at the low level observed immediately after soil treatment. The water-extractable metal fraction of the treated soil was up to 70 times lower compared to the non-treated soil. The vegetation was still healthy and regenerating by vegetative means and by seed. Diversity of higher plant species and saprophytic fungi was extremely low in the untreated area due to the high soil toxicity and the absence of metal tolerant ecotypes of plants and fungi. On the treated soil, in contrast, the species richness of higher plants was much higher; several perennial forbs which are not noted as metal tolerant had colonized the revegetated area. Most of these species belong to mycotrophic families so that the presence of a mycorrhizal network in the soil promotes their establishment. The ubiquity of the mycorrhizal fungi in the roots showed that a functioning ecosystem was establishing. In non-treated soil, the mycorrhizal infection rates of the roots were consistently lower during the whole growing season.     

Accumulation, tissue-specific distribution and debromination of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 209) in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

In this study we investigated the accumulation, tissue-specific distribution and possible debromination of BDE 209 in a terrestrial songbird species, the European starling, using silastic implants as a method of exposure. BDE 209 accumulated in the blood of the exposed starlings to a mean peak concentration of 16+/-4.1 ng/ml on day 10. After this peak, there was a decline to 3.3+/-0.4 ng/ml blood at the end of the exposure period of 76 days, which suggests elimination of BDE 209. In the exposed group, the muscle concentrations (461 ng/g lipid weight [lw], 430 ng/g lw) were about twofold those in liver (269 ng/g lw, 237 ng/g lw). In addition to BDE 209, other PBDE congeners, particularly octa- and nonaBDEs, were also present in the muscle and liver, suggesting bioformation from BDE 209. To our knowledge, these results are the first indications for the debromination of BDE 209 in birds.     

The contribution of particles washed from rooftops to contaminant loading to urban streams

Rooftops are both a source of and a pathway for contaminated runoff in urban environments. To investigate the importance of particle-associated contamination in rooftop runoff, particles washed from asphalt shingle and galvanized metal roofs at sites 12 and 102 m from a major expressway were analyzed for major and trace elements and PAHs. Concentrations and yields from rooftops were compared among locations and roofing material types and to loads monitored during runoff events in the receiving urban stream to evaluate rooftop sources and their potential contribution to stream loading. Concentrations of zinc, lead, pyrene, and chrysene on a mass per mass basis in a majority of rooftop samples exceeded established sediment quality guidelines for probable toxicity of bed sediments to benthic biota. Fallout near the expressway was greater than farther away, as indicated by larger yields of all contaminants investigated, although some concentrations were lower. Metal roofing was a source of cadmium and zinc and asphalt shingles a source of lead. The contribution of rooftop washoff to watershed loading was estimated to range from 6 percent for chromium and arsenic to 55 percent for zinc. Estimated contributions from roofing material to total watershed load were greatest for zinc and lead, contributing about 20 and 18 percent, respectively. The contribution from atmospheric deposition of particles onto rooftops to total watershed loads in stormwater was estimated to be greatest for mercury, contributing about 46 percent.     

Abatement and degradation pathways of toluene in indoor air by positive corona discharge

Indoor air concentrations of volatile organic compounds often exceed outdoor levels by a factor of 5. There is much interest in developing new technologies in order to improve indoor air quality. In this work non-thermal plasma (DC positive corona discharge) is explored as an innovative technology for indoor air purification. An inlet gas stream of 10 l min(-1) containing 0.50+/-0.02 ppm toluene was treated by the plasma reactor in atmospheric conditions. Toluene removal proved to be achievable with a characteristic energy density epsilon(0) of 50 J l(-1). Removal efficiencies were higher for 26% relative humidity (epsilon(0)=35 J l(-1)), compared with those at increased humidities (50% relative humidity, epsilon(0)=49 J l(-1)). Reaction products such as formic acid, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol, 4-methyl-2-nitrophenol, 4-methyl-2-propyl furan, 5-methyl-2-nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol are identified by means of mass spectrometry. Based on these by-products a toluene degradation mechanism is proposed.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in food and associated human daily intake assessment considering bioaccessibility measured by simulated gastrointestinal digestion

The concentrations of PBDEs in 299 vegetable and animal-based food samples of 31 species, collected in Shanghai, China, and the bioaccessibility of PBDEs in part of the samples were determined. The PBDE concentrations ranged from 0 to 1245.4 pg g⁻¹ with animal-based food containing more PBDEs than vegetables. The bioaccessibility of PBDEs, determined by a method simulating human gastrointestinal digestion process, were from 2.6% to 39.9% in vegetables, and from 5.2% to 105.3% in animal-based food. For animal-based food, good correlations were observed between the bioaccessibility of PBDEs and the fat content, thus the fat content in animal-based food was able to be used to estimate the bioaccessibility of PBDEs. The total daily intake of PBDEs via ingestion of vegetables and animal-based food for an average Shanghai resident was estimated as 13 235.7 and 13 668.0 pg d⁻¹, respectively, but the amounts available for human absorption were reduced to 2674.4 and 4316.6 pg d⁻¹ after the PBDE bioaccessibility was considered. Finally, the contributions of different food groups to the total daily intake of PBDEs were evaluated. The results revealed that, when not considering the bioaccessibility of PBDEs, vegetables were the leading contributor (49.2%), followed by fish (34.0%). However, the sequence was reversed after the PBDE bioaccessibility was taken into account. The results indicated that human exposure to PBDEs via food ingestion might have been significantly overestimated and the exposure assessment could be misleading if the bioaccessibility of PBDEs was not considered.     

Photoelectrocatalytic systems for simultaneous energy recovery and wastewater treatment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The rising energy conflicts and environmental pollution are calling for the rapid development of advanced techniques such as photoelectrocatalysis to...     

Environmental,climate and social leadership of small enterprises: Fairphone’s step-by-step approach

ABSTRACT

Achieving sustainable consumption and production requires a break with current practices in many sectors, including the smartphone sector. Leaders are central actors in catalysing such change by developing, implementing and promoting innovative ideas, products and practices. Not only large but also small enterprises can aspire to assume leadership for sustainability. This contribution explores the environmental, climate and social leadership of the social enterprise Fairphone that seeks to start a movement towards a more sustainable smartphone sector. Endowed with barely any structural power, it relies on other leadership types, especially entrepreneurial leadership, which is based on dialogue, persuasion and coalition-building. Small enterprises can be leaders, but pursuing a goal such as transforming the smartphone sector takes a step-by-step approach targeting different follower groups from suppliers, competitors and consumers to end-of-life processors and policymakers. Those different follower groups are susceptible to different (combinations of) leadership types.