The contribution of ship emissions to air pollution in the North Sea regions

As a consequence of the global distribution of manufacturing sites and the increasing international division of labour, ship traffic is steadily increasing and is becoming more and more important as an origin of air pollution.This study investigates the impact of ship emissions in coastal areas of the North Sea under conditions of the year 2000 by means of a regional chemistry transport model which runs on a sufficiently high resolution to study air pollution in coastal regions. It was found that northern Germany and Denmark in summer suffer from more than 50% higher sulphate, nitrate and ammonium aerosol concentrations due to contributions from ships. The implementation of a sulphur emission control area (SECA) in the North Sea, as it was implemented at the end of 2007, directly results in reduced sulphur dioxide and sulphate aerosol concentrations while nitrate aerosol concentrations are slightly increased.     

Levels and distribution of Dechlorane Plus in coastal sediments of the Yellow Sea, North China

Dechlorane Plus (DP) has been determined in surface sediments from three Chinese coastal bays, e.g. Jiaozhou, Sishili and Taozi Bay in North China. DP concentrations ranged from <1.2 to 187 pg g⁻¹ dry weight (dw) (mean: 24.7 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Jiaozhou Bay, <1.2 to 135 pg g⁻¹ dw (mean 69.9 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Sishili Bay and <1.2 to 66.7 pg g⁻¹ dw (mean: 40.4 pg g⁻¹ dw) in Taozi Bay, respectively. Additionally, two dechlorinated species were quantified, which accounted for 0.6-5.1% of the ∑DP concentration.The f_syn values (syn-isomer/(syn- + anti-isomer)) in sediments from Jiaozhou Bay (mean 0.29) were close to the technical DP mixture (0.2-0.4), probably indicating local inputs of DP. In contrast, sediments in Sishili and Taozi Bay showed much lower f_syn values (mean 0.16). During transportation the DP isomers are subject to stereo selective degradation which partly resulted in the relative enrichment of anti-DP in coastal sediments.     

Pollutants and the health of green sea turtles resident to an urbanized estuary in San Diego, CA

Rapid expansion of coastal anthropogenic development means that critical foraging and developmental habitats often occur near highly polluted and urbanized environments. Although coastal contamination is widespread, the impact this has on long-lived vertebrates like the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is unclear because traditional experimental methods cannot be applied. We coupled minimally invasive sampling techniques with health assessments to quantify contaminant patterns in a population of green turtles resident to San Diego Bay, CA, a highly urbanized and contaminated estuary. Several chemicals were correlated with turtle size, suggesting possible differences in physiological processes or habitat utilization between life stages. With the exception of mercury, higher concentrations of carapace metals as well as 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and γ chlordane in blood plasma relative to other sea turtle studies raises important questions about the chemical risks to turtles resident to San Diego Bay. Mercury concentrations exceeded immune function no-effects thresholds and increased carapace metal loads were correlated with higher levels of multiple health markers. These results indicate immunological and physiological effects studies are needed in this population. Our results give insight into the potential conservation risk contaminants pose to sea turtles inhabiting this contaminated coastal habitat, and highlight the need to better manage and mitigate contaminant exposure in San Diego Bay.     

Reducing phosphorus flux from organic soils in surface flow treatment wetlands

Treatment wetlands have a finite period of effective nutrient removal after which treatment efficiency declines. This is due to the accumulation of organic matter which decreases the capacity and hydraulic retention time of the wetland. We investigated four potential solutions to improve the soluble reactive P (SRP) removal of a municipal wastewater treatment wetland soil including; dry down, surface additions of alum or calcium carbonate and physical removal of the accreted organic soil under both aerobic and anaerobic water column conditions. The flux of SRP from the soil to the water column under aerobic conditions was higher for the continuously flooded controls (1.1 ± 0.4 mg P m⁻² d⁻¹), dry down (1.5 ± 0.9 mg P m⁻² d⁻¹) and CaCO₃ (0.8 ± 0.7 mg P m⁻² d⁻¹) treatments while the soil removal and alum treatments were significantly lower at 0.02 ± 0.10 and −0.07 ± 0.02 mg P m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively. These results demonstrate that the two most effective management strategies at sequestering SRP were organic soil removal and alum additions. There are difficulties and costs associated with removal and disposal of soils from a treatment wetland. Therefore our findings suggest that alum addition may be the most cost effective and efficient means of increasing the sequestering of P in aging treatment wetlands experiencing reduced P removal rates. However, more research is needed to determine the longer term effects of alum buildup in the organic soil on the wetland biota, in particular, on the macrophytes and invertebrates. Since alum effectiveness is time limited, a longer term solution to P flux may favor the organic soil removal.     

Contaminants in the coastal karst aquifer system along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Intensive land development as a result of the rapidly growing tourism industry in the “Riviera Maya” region of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico may result in contamination of groundwater resources that eventually discharge into Caribbean coastal ecosystems. We deployed two types of passive sampling devices into groundwater flowing through cave systems below two communities to evaluate concentrations of contaminants and to indicate the possible sources. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products accumulated in the samplers could only have originated from domestic sewage. PAHs indicated contamination by runoff from highways and other impermeable surfaces and chlorophenoxy herbicides accumulated in samplers deployed near a golf course indicated that pesticide applications to turf are a source of contamination. Prevention and mitigation measures are needed to ensure that expanding development does not impact the marine environment and human health, thus damaging the tourism-based economy of the region.     

DOC removal paradigms in highly humic aquatic ecosystems

Background, aim, and scope  Dissolved humic substances (HS) usually comprise 50–80% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aquatic ecosystems. From a trophic and biogeochemical perspective, HS has been considered to be highly refractory and is supposed to accumulate in the water. The upsurge of the microbial loop paradigm and the studies on HS photo-degradation into labile DOC gave rise to the belief that microbial processing of DOC should sustain aquatic food webs in humic waters. However, this has not been extensively supported by the literature, since most HS and their photo-products are often oxidized by microbes through respiration in most nutrient-poor humic waters. Here, we review basic concepts, classical studies, and recent data on bacterial and photo-degradation of DOC, comparing the rates of these processes in highly humic ecosystems and other aquatic ecosystems. Materials and methods  We based our review on classical and recent findings from the fields of biogeochemistry and microbial ecology, highlighting some odd results from highly humic Brazilian tropical lagoons, which can reach up to 160 mg C L⁻¹. Results and discussion  Highly humic tropical lagoons showed proportionally lower bacterial production rates and higher bacterial respiration rates (i.e., lower bacterial growth efficiency) than other lakes. Zooplankton showed similar δ¹³C to microalgae but not to humic DOC in these highly humic lagoons. Thus, the data reviewed here do not support the microbial loop as an efficient matter transfer pathway in highly humic ecosystems, where it is supposed to play its major role. In addition, we found that some tropical humic ecosystems presented the highest potential DOC photo-chemical mineralization (PM) rates reported in the literature, exceeding up to threefold the rates reported for temperate humic ecosystems. We propose that these atypically high PM rates are the result of a joint effect of the seasonal dynamics of allochthonous humic DOC input to these ecosystems and the high sunlight incidence throughout the year. The sunlight action on DOC is positive to microbial consumption in these highly humic lagoons, but little support is given to the enhancement of bacterial growth efficiency, since the labile photo-chemical products are mostly respired by microbes in the nutrient-poor humic waters. Conclusions  HS may be an important source of energy for aquatic bacteria in humic waters, but it is probably not as important as a substrate to bacterial growth and to aquatic food webs, since HS consumption is mostly channeled through microbial respiration. This especially seems to be the case of humic-rich, nutrient-poor ecosystems, where the microbial loop was supposed to play its major role. Highly humic ecosystems also present the highest PM rates reported in the literature. Finally, light and bacteria can cooperate in order to enhance total carbon degradation in highly humic aquatic ecosystems but with limited effects on aquatic food webs. Recommendations and perspectives  More detailed studies using C- and N-stable isotope techniques and modeling approaches are needed to better understand the actual importance of HS to carbon cycling in highly humic waters.     

Evaluation of environmental feasibility of steel pipe sheet pile cutoff wall at coastal landfill sites

An evaluation method that can express the local leakage of leachate from joint sections in steel pipe sheet pile (SPSP) cutoff walls is discussed in this study. In particular, the evaluation of environmental feasibility (containment of leachates containing toxic substances) considering a three-dimensional arrangement and hydraulic conductivity distribution of the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall is compared with an evaluation that uses the equivalent hydraulic conductivity. This equivalent hydraulic conductivity assumes that the joint section and the steel pipe are integrated; therefore, the hydraulic conductivity is substituted with a uniform permeable layer. However, in an evaluation that employs the equivalent hydraulic conductivity, it is difficult to consider the local leakage of leachate containing toxic substances from the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall. It was established that evaluations of the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls with joint sections must take into account the local leakage of leachates containing toxic substances from the joint sections. Also, it was clarified that technologies that lower the hydraulic conductivities of joint sections in SPSP cutoff walls and also facilitate the use of sparser joint arrangements contribute significantly to increasing the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls at landfill sites.     

Modeling Nutrient Transports and Exchanges of Nutrients Between Shallow Regions and the Open Baltic Sea in Present and Future Climate

We quantified horizontal transport patterns and the net exchange of nutrients between shallow regions and the open sea in the Baltic proper. A coupled biogeochemical-physical circulation model was used for transient simulations 1961-2100. The model was driven by regional downscaling of the IPCC climate change scenario A1B from two global General Circulation Models in combination with two nutrient load scenarios. Modeled nutrient transports followed mainly the large-scale internal water circulation and showed only small circulation changes in the future projections. The internal nutrient cycling and exchanges between shallow and deeper waters became intensified, and the internal removal of phosphorus became weaker in the warmer future climate. These effects counteracted the impact from nutrient load reductions according to the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The net effect of climate change and nutrient reductions was an increased net import of dissolved inorganic phosphorus to shallow areas in the Baltic proper.     

Desorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from field-contaminated soil to a two-dimensional hydrophobic surface before and after bioremediation

This study investigated environmental distributions and production mechanisms of chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Cl-PAHs) in the sediments from some tidal flats located in Asia. Cl-PAHs were found in sediments taken from Arao tidal flat, Kikuchigawa River and Shirakawa River. The range of ∑Cl-PAHs was from 25.5 to 483 pg g⁻¹ for Kikuchigawa River and Arao tidal flat, respectively.Concentrations of PAHs and Cl-PAHs showed no significant correlations (r = 0.134). This result suggests that the origins of these compounds differ. In the identified Cl-PAH isomers, the most abundant Cl-PAH isomer was 9,10-dichloroanthracene (9,10-di-Cl-ANT) in the three sites. In general, concentrations of Cl-ANTs in the coastal environment are about 3-5 orders of magnitude lower than those of anthracene (ANT). However, concentration ratios between Cl-ANTs and ANT (Cl-ANTs/ANT) in the sediments ranged from 4.1% to 24.6%. This result indicated that Cl-PAHs were not generated under industrial processes but the high concentration ratios have resulted from the contribution of photochemical production of Cl-ANTs in the sediments because ANT is known to have high photochemical reactivity.For examining this phenomenon, ANT adsorbed onto glass beads was irradiated with UV under the mimicked field conditions of tidal flats. As a result, it was noticed that, while chlorinated derivatives were negligible in a light-controlled group, production of 2-Cl-ANT, 9-Cl-ANT and 9,10-diCl-ANT on the irradiated surface were found in this study. These results suggest that photochemical reaction of PAHs can be a potential source of the occurrence of Cl-PAHs in the coastal environment.     

基于多中心理论的辽宁沿海经济带环境治理模式研究

辽宁沿海经济带是我国沿海地区生态环境较为脆弱的地区之一,环境污染和破坏问题较突出。而环境治理直接关系到经济与社会的持续发展,环境治理模式则是决定环境治理绩效的重要因素之一。运用多中心模式分析辽宁沿海经济带环境治理存在的问题及其原因,构建该区域的多中心治理模式,并在此基础上提出相应的策略措施,为辽宁省沿海经济带发展规划的实施提供参考。