Generating environmental sampling and testing data for micro- and nanoplastics for use in life cycle impact assessment

Ongoing efforts focus on quantifying plastic pollution and describing and estimating the related magnitude of exposure and impacts on human and environmental health. Data gathered during such work usually follows a receptor perspective. However, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) represents an emitter perspective. This study examines existing data gathering and reporting approaches for field and laboratory studies on micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) exposure and effects relevant to LCA data inputs. The outcomes indicate that receptor perspective approaches do not typically provide suitable or sufficiently harmonised data. Improved design is needed in the sampling, testing and recording of results using harmonised, validated and comparable methods, with more comprehensive reporting of relevant data. We propose a three-level set of requirements for data recording and reporting to increase the potential for LCA studies and models to utilise data gathered in receptor-oriented studies. We show for which purpose such data can be used as inputs to LCA, particularly in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. Implementing these requirements will facilitate proper integration of the potential environmental impacts of plastic losses from human activity (e.g. litter) into LCA. Then, the impacts of plastic emissions can eventually be connected and compared with other environmental issues related to anthropogenic activities.Environmental Biolog

Soil pH effects on the interactions between dissolved zinc, non-nano- and nano-ZnO with soil bacterial communities

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are used in an array of products and processes, ranging from personal care products to antifouling paints, textiles, food additives, antibacterial agents and environmental remediation processes. Soils are an environment likely to be exposed to manmade nanoparticles due to the practice of applying sewage sludge as a fertiliser or as an organic soil improver. However, understanding on the interactions between soil properties, nanoparticles and the organisms that live within soil is lacking, especially with regards to soil bacterial communities. We studied the effects of nanoparticulate, non-nanoparticulate and ionic zinc (in the form of zinc chloride) on the composition of bacterial communities in soil with a modified pH range (from pH 4.5 to pH 7.2). We observed strong pH dependent effects on the interaction between bacterial communities and all forms of zinc, with the largest changes in bacterial community composition occurring in soils with low and medium pH levels (pH 4.8 and 5.9). The high pH soil (pH 7.2) was less susceptible to the effects of zinc exposure. At the highest doses of zinc (2500 mg/kg dw soil) both nano and non-nano particulate zinc applications elicited a similar response in the soil bacterial community, and this differed significantly to the ionic zinc salt treatment. The results highlight the importance of considering soil pH in nanotoxicology studies, although further work is needed to determine the exact mechanisms controlling the toxicity and fate and interactions of nanoparticles with soil microbial communities

EUREC⁴A

The science guiding the EUREC⁴A campaign and its measurements is presented. EUREC⁴A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. Through its ability to characterize processes operating across a wide range of scales, EUREC⁴A marked a turning point in our ability to observationally study factors influencing clouds in the trades, how they will respond to warming, and their link to other components of the earth system, such as upper-ocean processes or the life cycle of particulate matter. This characterization was made possible by thousands (2500) of sondes distributed to measure circulations on meso- (200 km) and larger (500 km) scales, roughly 400 h of flight time by four heavily instrumented research aircraft; four global-class research vessels; an advanced ground-based cloud observatory; scores of autonomous observing platforms operating in the upper ocean (nearly 10 000 profiles), lower atmosphere (continuous profiling), and along the air–sea interface; a network of water stable isotopologue measurements; targeted tasking of satellite remote sensing; and modeling with a new generation of weather and climate models. In addition to providing an outline of the novel measurements and their composition into a unified and coordinated campaign, the six distinct scientific facets that EUREC⁴A explored – from North Brazil Current rings to turbulence-induced clustering of cloud droplets and its influence on warm-rain formation – are presented along with an overview of EUREC⁴A's outreach activities, environmental impact, and guidelines for scientific practice. Track data for all platforms are standardized and accessible at https://doi.org/10.25326/165 (Stevens, 2021), and a film documenting the campaign is provided as a video supplement

EUREC⁴A

The science guiding the EUREC⁴A campaign and its measurements is presented. EUREC⁴A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. Through its ability to characterize processes operating across a wide range of scales, EUREC⁴A marked a turning point in our ability to observationally study factors influencing clouds in the trades, how they will respond to warming, and their link to other components of the earth system, such as upper-ocean processes or the life cycle of particulate matter. This characterization was made possible by thousands (2500) of sondes distributed to measure circulations on meso- (200 km) and larger (500 km) scales, roughly 400 h of flight time by four heavily instrumented research aircraft; four global-class research vessels; an advanced ground-based cloud observatory; scores of autonomous observing platforms operating in the upper ocean (nearly 10 000 profiles), lower atmosphere (continuous profiling), and along the air–sea interface; a network of water stable isotopologue measurements; targeted tasking of satellite remote sensing; and modeling with a new generation of weather and climate models. In addition to providing an outline of the novel measurements and their composition into a unified and coordinated campaign, the six distinct scientific facets that EUREC⁴A explored – from North Brazil Current rings to turbulence-induced clustering of cloud droplets and its influence on warm-rain formation – are presented along with an overview of EUREC⁴A's outreach activities, environmental impact, and guidelines for scientific practice. Track data for all platforms are standardized and accessible at https://doi.org/10.25326/165 (Stevens, 2021), and a film documenting the campaign is provided as a video supplement

Plants in aquatic ecosystems: current trends and future directions

Aquatic plants fulfil a wide range of ecological roles, and make a substantial contribution to the structure, function and service provision of aquatic ecosystems. Given their well-documented importance in aquatic ecosystems, research into aquatic plants continues to blossom. The 14th International Symposium on Aquatic Plants, held in Edinburgh in September 2015, brought together 120 delegates from 28 countries and six continents. This special issue of Hydrobiologia includes a select number of papers on aspects of aquatic plants, covering a wide range of species, systems and issues. In this paper we present an overview of current trends and future directions in aquatic plant research in the early 21st century. Our understanding of aquatic plant biology, the range of scientific issues being addressed and the range of techniques available to researchers have all arguably never been greater; however, substantial challenges exist to the conservation and management of both aquatic plants and the ecosystems in which they are found. The range of countries and continents represented by conference delegates and authors of papers in the special issue illustrate the global relevance of aquatic plant research in the early 21st century but also the many challenges that this burgeoning scientific discipline must address

Evaluation d'une chaine de detection automatique adaptee a un systeme de veille infrarouge bispectral

Après une description succincte du senseur infrarouge bispectral "VAMPIR" et de la chaîne d'acquisition numérique temps réel associée, on donne les principaux résultats d'une évaluation des algorithmes de détection, Une analyse statistique du signal représentatif de la cible recherchée et des fonds de rayonnement a permis de définir les caractéristiques du filtrage spatiotemporel adapté à la détection de la cible d'une part et à l'évaluation des fonds de rayonnement d'autre part. On peut ainsi générer une carte bispectrale des fonds remise à jour tour d'antenne après tour d'antenne, normaliser les signaux infrarouges dans les deux bandes passantes spectrales et assurer une prédetection à taux constant de fausses alarmes avec des paramètres optimisés en fonction du fond de rayonnement considéré. Les caractéristiques d'émissivité dans les deux bandes passantes spectrales permettent de réduire d'une manière très significative le taux final de fausses alarmes et de ne transmettre via un Préprocesseur de Signal (PPS) qu'un nombre limité de pistes au système d'Armes

Modification de la survie et de la réceptivité chez le Mollusque, hôte intermédiaire de

La survie et la réceptivité des Biomphalaria glabrata parasités par Schistosoma mansoni, ont été appréciées après inoculation d’hémolymphe saine ou sensibilisée à S. m. L’inoculation d’hémolymphe saine entraîne une réceptivité élevée tandis que l’hémolymphe prélevée chez des B. g. parasités entraine une protection relative qui suggère un transfert d’immunité

Schistosomose expérimentale III

L’infestation de 380 B. glabrata par 1 miracidium de S. mansoni a donné 87 positifs (22,9 %) dont 38 émettant des cercaires mâles et 49 des cercaires femelles. Les planorbes faisaient partie de 3 séries maintenues à 27, 22 et 24° C, sous éclairage continu, pendant 15 semaines. Leur étude nous a montré que s’il n’y avait pas de différences entre les proportions de mollusques émetteurs de cercaires mâles ou femelles, la survie des planorbes positifs était influencée par le sexe des formes larvaires hébergées, et favorisée par le sexe mâle. D’autre part, la production des cercaires femelles s’est révélée supérieure à celle des cercaires mâles, et les émissions cercariennes ont présenté des variations importantes, et d’allure périodique dans les deux sexes.Il semble exister une certaine corrélation entre le sexe des cercaires, l’abondance des émissions cercariennes, leur fréquence et la longévité des planorbes parasités. Ces facteurs pourraient jouer un rôle dans l’épidémiologie de la schistosomose à S. mansoni