Optimisation of processing routes for a marine biorefinery

13 páginas, 5 figurasCurrent fishing practices result in the waste of 20 million tonnes of valuable resources every year. However, from now on, vessels must keep on board and land both target and those non-target species subject to quota regulations, as regulated by recent EU legislation, in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Therefore, an important quantity of low-value marine biomass has to be managed in an efficient manner to avoid its waste. Several added value products apart from fishmeal and oil (like enzymes or nutraceuticals) can be obtained from the wide variety of discarded species trough different valorisation processes. The challenge arises when these species can be handled by more than one processing route. The selection of the best alternatives has to fulfil often-opposite sustainability criteria, considering also the constraints associated to each resource and process. This was achieved by a multiobjective framework using a suitable and efficient optimization approach based on scatter-search. The results from the obtained Pareto fronts show that, in general, the valorisation of specific fish parts rather than the use of the whole specimen is more optimal from both points of view. It is also demonstrated that the most suitable products to be obtained are biopeptides, chondroitin sulphate and fish enzymes, due to their high sales price and relative low environmental impact. On the other hand, alternative technologies to present state-of-the-art ones should be considered for the production of chitin, gelatine and fishmeal due to their high environmental cost. Furthermore, a high number of the most optimal valorisation pathways leave biomass unprocessed and therefore, its treatment as solid waste must be included in the economic and environmental costsThe authors acknowledge the financial support received from the European Union through the LIFE Environment Program of the European Union (LIFE05 ENV/E000267-BE FAIR,LIFE08 ENV/E/000119-FAROS and LIFE13 ENV/ES/000131-LIFE iSEAS). Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación for the support provided by the “Ramón y Cajal” SubprogramPeer reviewe

Fish discards management in selected Spanish and Portuguese métiers: Identification and potential valorisation

15 páginas, 4 tablasWith the aim of promoting the responsible and sustainable management of marine resources, the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have established a set of international guidelines on by-catch management and reduction of discards. In this framework, the minimisation of discards and the optimal valorisation of inevitable unwanted biomass are the main objectives of the optimal and efficient discards management network that has been developed in FAROS LIFE + Project. According to FAO, in 2008, around 27 million tonnes of marine biomass were used for non-food purposes, these including fish meal, fish oil, bait or high-added value compounds production by pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries. In this work, the most important discarded species by the selected métiers of interest for FAROS project have been analysed regarding possible valorisation options in a wide variety of sectors, including food products for human consumption. A protocol to easily determine the most suitable valorisation strategies for each of them has been also established. In order to carry out this approach, several factors as the status of stocks in the environment, the valorisation potential of each species or by-product and the amounts discarded by métier have been taken into accountLIFE + Program of the European Union (FAROS Project – LIFE08 ENV/E/000119)Peer reviewe

Mortality of emergency abdominal surgery in high-, middle- and low-income countries

Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low- or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI). Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression. Results: Data were obtained for 10 745 patients from 357 centres in 58 countries; 6538 were from high-, 2889 from middle- and 1318 from low-HDI settings. The overall mortality rate was 1⋅6 per cent at 24 h (high 1⋅1 per cent, middle 1⋅9 per cent, low 3⋅4 per cent; P < 0⋅001), increasing to 5⋅4 per cent by 30 days (high 4⋅5 per cent, middle 6⋅0 per cent, low 8⋅6 per cent; P < 0⋅001). Of the 578 patients who died, 404 (69⋅9 per cent) did so between 24 h and 30 days following surgery (high 74⋅2 per cent, middle 68⋅8 per cent, low 60⋅5 per cent). After adjustment, 30-day mortality remained higher in middle-income (odds ratio (OR) 2⋅78, 95 per cent c.i. 1⋅84 to 4⋅20) and low-income (OR 2⋅97, 1⋅84 to 4⋅81) countries. Surgical safety checklist use was less frequent in low- and middle-income countries, but when used was associated with reduced mortality at 30 days. Conclusion: Mortality is three times higher in low- compared with high-HDI countries even when adjusted for prognostic factors. Patient safety factors may have an important role. Registration number: NCT02179112 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

Inventory of heavy metal content in organic waste applied as fertilizer in agriculture: evaluating the risk of transfer into the food chain

22 páginas, 2 figuras, 5 tablas.-- The final publication is available at www.springerlink.comBackground, aim, and scope In this work, an environmental risk assessment of reusing organic waste of differing origins and raw materials as agricultural fertilizers was carried out. An inventory of the heavy metal content in different organic wastes (i.e., compost, sludge, or manure) from more than 80 studies at different locations worldwide is presented. Materials and methods The risk analysis was developed by considering the heavy metal (primarily Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentrations in different organic residues to assess their potential environmental accumulation and biotransfer to the food chain and humans. A multi-compartment model was used to estimate the fate and distribution of metals in different environmental compartments, and a multi-pathway model was used to predict human exposure. Results The obtained hazard index for each waste was concerning in many cases, especially in the sludge samples that yielded an average value of 0.64. Among the metals, Zn was the main contributor to total risk in all organic wastes due to its high concentration in the residues and high biotransfer potential. Other more toxic metals, like Cd or Pb, represented a negligible contribution.This work was supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893). Marta Herva wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the “Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

Fish discards management: pollution levels and best available removal techniques

14 páginas, 3 tablasFish discards and by-catch issues are highly topical subjects that are permanently under a social focus. Two main approaches are being considered to address this discard problem: reducing the by-catch and increasing by-catch utilization. Interest in increased by-catch valorization may arise from a greater demand for fish products, such as the development of new markets for previously discarded species, the use of low-value specimens for aquaculture or the creation of value-added fish products for the food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries. However, contaminants present in fish discards may be transferred to their valorized products, leading to possible long-term bioaccumulation and subsequent adverse health effects. In this valorization framework, the aim is to promote responsible and sustainable management of marine resources. The pollutant levels in catches from European fisheries and the best available decontamination techniques for marine valorized discards/by-products are compiled and analyzed in this work.The authors acknowledge the financial support received from the LIFE + Program of the European Union (FAROS Project – LIFE08 ENV/E/000119).Peer reviewe

Review of corporate environmental indicators

13 páginas, 1 apéndice, 3 tablas, 1 figuraThis paper reviews a series of environmental indicators developed in the last years that were found suitable to be applied at corporate level for the evaluation of production processes and products. The indicators reviewed in this paper were classified into four main groups: 1) Indicators of Energy and Material Flows; 2) Indicators with a Territorial Dimension; 3) Indicators of Life-Cycle Assessment; 4) Indicators of Environmental Risk Assessment. Integrative and single index indicators such as the ecological footprint or carbon footprint were found as the most appealing for enterprises, although there is a need to advance in the field to combine the simplicity required at corporate level for tracking and reporting environmental data, and the scientific rigor and transparency necessary to make the scores reliable. Hence, for each of the indicators revised it was stated what they do and do not measure so that misleading information was not used for decision making at corporate level.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893), ERDF included. M. Herva also wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the ‘‘Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

Sustainability of port activities within the framework of the fisheries sector: Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

7 páginas, 3 figuras, 2 tablasSustainability of the fisheries sector is nowadays a key issue due to the significant impact that this activity may have on the environment. Besides fishing activity itself, other indirect impacts, like those originated from related activities and services also need to be addressed. For assessing the environmental burden of this sector, the Ecological Footprint (EF) indicator can be used. The application of EF to the fisheries sector is still uncommon and studies of associated activities (such as ports) even more. In this work, classical EF methodology was applied in order to evaluate the environmental impact of the fisheries sector, taking as a representative sample the global activity (fishing and transportation) of the Port of Vigo (Spain), one of the biggest fishing ports in the world. A high value of total EF for both port and fishing activities was obtained. However, relative EF is much higher in the case of fishing, due to the low natural productivity associated to fish resources. Energy-land and sea area were the most affected land-components within the footprint, while among the different categories, resources consumption was the main contributor to the EF value in all the assessed scenarios.European Union through the LIFE Environment Program of the European Union (LIFE05 ENV/E000267-BE FAIR and LIFE08 ENV/E/000119-FAROS)Peer reviewe

Multicorrelation models and uptake factors to estimate extractable metal concentrations from soil and metal in plants in pasturelands fertilized with manure

6 páginas, 1 figura, 3 tablasEnvironmental risk assessment (ERA) is a useful methodology to estimate the possible adverse effects to human health due to contaminants exposure. In the case of agricultural scenarios, this method requires knowing the concentrations of contaminants in soil solution and vegetation, among other parameters. This study aimed to develop multicorrelation models to estimate metal extractable from soil as a function of total metal concentration in soil and soil properties in a cattle manure application scenario. It also aimed to estimate metal concentrations in plant by soil–plant uptake factors (UF). All the multicorrelation models obtained were significant, ranging R2 values from 0.44 for Cd to 0.92 for Cu. Soil–plant UF were an adequate method for the estimation of metal concentration in plant, since the relationship between the soil–plant UF and the extractable metal concentration from soil was significantly described by a power model, for all the heavy metals.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government (Science and Innovation Ministry) through the Project INDIE (CTM2010-18893) ERDF included. Marta Herva wishes to thank the University of Santiago de Compostela for her pre-doctoral contract. Dr. Amaya Franco-Uría would like to thank MICINN for the support provided by the ‘‘Juan de la Cierva” Subprogram.Peer reviewe

EcoDesign through a Multi-criteria Environmental Decision Tool based on Fuzzy Logic

10th International Chemical and Biological Engineering Conference, Braga (Portugal), 4-6 September 2008N