Environmental effects on arsenosugars and arsenolipids in Ectocarpus (Phaeophyta)

We thank Gillian Milne, of the Aberdeen Microscopy Facility, University of Aberdeen, for help in preparing and viewing the samples through TEM and Ingo Maier, from the Universita¨t Konstanz, for kindly providing us with an optimised processing schedule for the fixation of Ectocarpus for TEM. We also express our gratitude to Dawn Shewring for her help with algal culturing. A´ . H. Petursdo´ttir thanks the Icelandic research fund (grant reference 130542–051), the SORSAS award and The College of Physical Sciences at Aberdeen University for financial support. F. C. Ku¨pper also received funding from the MASTS (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) pooling initiative and their support is gratefully acknowledged. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mineral concentrations in bovine milk from farms with contrasting grazing management

Thirty conventional and 24 organic dairy farms were divided into equal-number within system groups: high-pasture, standard-pasture and low-pasture groups. Milk samples were collected monthly for 12 consecutive months. Milk from high-pasture organic farms contained less fat and protein than standard- and low-pasture organic farms, but more lactose than low-pasture organic farms. Pasture, concentrate feeds intakes and the contribution of non-Holstein breeds were the key drivers for these changes. Milk Ca and P concentrations were lower in standard-pasture conven-tional farms than the other conventional groups. Milk from low-pasture organic farms contained less Ca than high- and standard-pasture organic farms, while high-pasture organic farms produced milk with the highest Sn concentration. Differences in mineral concentrations were driven by the contribution of non-Holstein breeds, feeding practices, and grazing activity; due to relatively low numerical differences the subsequent impact on consumers’ mineral intakes would be minor

Temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants in Arctic marine and freshwater biota

More than 1000 time-series of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Arctic biota from marine and freshwater ecosystems some extending back to the beginning of 1980s were analyzed using a robust statistical method. The Arctic area encompassed extended from Alaska, USA in the west to northern Scandinavian in the east, with data gaps for Arctic Russia and Arctic Finland. The aim was to investigate whether temporal trends for different animal groups and matrices were consistent across a larger geographical area. In general, legacy POPs showed decreasing concentrations over the last two to three decades, which were most pronounced for α-HCH and least pronounced for HCB and β-HCH. Few time-series of legacy POPs showed increasing trends and only at sites suspected to be influenced by local source. The brominated flame retardant congener B