Recovery of acidified lakes in Finland and subsequent responses of perch and roach populations

Finnish-lake and fish-status surveys indicated that 4900 small headwater lakes suffered from acidic deposition and 1600–3200 roach (Rutilus rutilus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) populations were affected or extinct by the end of 1980s. Since the late 1980s, successful sulphur emission reductions in Europe have induced a chemical recovery of acidified lakes. This resulted in decreases in sulphate and labile aluminium concentrations and increases in pH and alkalinity during the 1990s. The first signs of recovery in affected perch populations were observed in the early 1990s. New strong year-classes appeared and the population structure returned to normal. Little if any recovery of the affected populations of the more acid-sensitive species, roach, was recorded. This may have been due to still critical water quality conditions for successful reproduction of sensitive roach and/or organic acid episodes in the 2000s, suppressing the recovery of buffering capacity.Peer reviewe

Ammattikuljettajan työhyvinvointi - turvallinen ja ergonominen työpäivä : Opettajan opas

Opettajan opas pyrkii edistämään tavaraliikenteen ammattikuljettajien työterveyttä, työturvallisuutta ja työn ergonomiaa. Opettajan opas tuotettiin Koulutus- ja tiedotusmateriaali jakeluautonkuljettajien ammattipätevyyskoulutukseen

Opettajan opas. Koulutus- ja tiedotusmateriaali kuljettajien ammattipätevyyskoulutukseen.

Opettajan opas pyrkii edistämään tavaraliikenteen ammattikuljettajien työterveyttä, työturvallisuutta ja työn ergonomiaa

High Mercury Concentrations of European Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in Boreal Headwater Lakes with Variable History of Acidification and Recovery

High dissolved organic carbon and low pH are often associated with elevated mercury content of fish in boreal lakes, but less is known about the fish mercury dynamics in lakes recovering from acidification stress. We measured total mercury concentration (THg) in muscle of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) and evaluated the overall correlation with environmental and growth variables in 24 boreal headwater lakes in the 2010s. We found negative correlations of length-corrected perch THg with lake pH and perch growth, but no correlation with dissolved organic carbon. The main emphasis in the present study was focused to a subset of ten lakes in southern Finland with known perch THg during severe acidification in the 1980-1990s. The comparison of perch THg concentrations in the 2010s with values determined in the 1980-1990s showed a sharp increase in most acidic lakes where the perch populations suffered from severe acid stress in the 1980s. This increase was attributed to growth condensation caused by sharp decrease in perch growth during recovery of reproduction capacity and the consequent increases in population densities of perch. Our results highlight the importance of perch growth rate and population density for understanding the variability of fish Hg in boreal headwater lakes, where recovery from acidification can lead to higher mercury concentration of fish in certain cases.Peer reviewe

Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.

The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD

GeoERA Raw Materials Monograph : the past and the future

ABSTRACT: GeoERA Minerals projects have produced data aimed at supporting Europe’s minerals sector and to assist the European Commission to realise its goals for raw materials. Data has been compiled on mineral occurrences and mineral provinces across Europe, in particular, areas with potential to host Critical Raw Materials. Anecdotal evidence from the minerals sector provides an indication of the likelihood of exploration leading to mine development. For every 1,000 mineral showings examined, only 100 may receive further exploration work and of those 100, only 10 may warrant more detailed sampling either through trenching, drilling or other means and of those 10 only 1 may proceed to an evaluation through a full feasibility study which itself has only 50% chance of being positive. Following this, any project for which a mine proposal is made must undergo a full evaluation and permitting by authorities including full public consultation. The proposal may or may not pass this scrutiny. In terms of a schedule, the generally accepted minimum time frame from discovery to production is 10 years and usually much more, up to 20 years.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Report of the Working Group of Biological Effects

The Working Group on Biological Effects of Contaminants (WGBEC) investigates the biological effects of contaminants in the marine environment. The group provides research and increases the understanding of contaminant interactions and effects, including the development of inte-grated biological effects monitoring strategies, which are used to support international research and monitoring. The WGBEC has contributed significantly to the implementation and harmonization of tech-niques that can be used to evaluate the biological effects of pollutants in national monitoring programmes. An overview of national effect-based monitoring programmes of Member States is provided with the aim to support European countries and Regional Seas Conventions on their implementation. A summary of the national effects-based monitoring programmes has been pro-vided by twelve European countries represented at the WGBEC meetings. The adoption of bio-logical effects monitoring can differ widely and comparisons between approaches and the choice of biological effects methods used acts as an important tool. A summary of the main findings is presented. Furthermore, OSPAR's Hazardous Substances and Eutrophication Committee (HASEC) has en-couraged contracting parties to perform targeted biological effects monitoring to enhance the assessment of contaminants in sediment and biota towards the OSPAR QSR2023. WGBEC mem-bers contributed to the integrated biological effects approach assessment by providing data from their national monitoring activities to produce maps and figures to enable interpretations. Revision of the biological effects methods, including new techniques and developments, and the quality assurance of existing methods are core activities for the WGBEC, which require continu-ous discussion and evaluation by the group. Activities include the production of new ICES TIMES documents as well as intercalibration exercises to ensure Member States are providing comparable data for national monitoring. To this end, intercalibration exercises were performed under the BEQUALM programme for two of the more commonly used biological effects meth-ods, including micronucleus formation in mussel haemocytes and PAH metabolites in fish bile. These intercalibrations were successful despite identifying some variation in reported values be-tween laboratories. Further intercalibration exercises are planned and the WGBEC strongly sup-port the need for such quality assurance. In addition to the national monitoring activities and the different methods and approaches for determining the effects of contaminants on biological systems, the WGBEC was interested in discussing some key questions related to the potential impacts of contaminants to marine life. These questions included: the direct and indirect effects of natural and synthetic particles; how climate change and acidification parameters can interact with contaminants and influence bioa-vailability and effect; whether the structure of marine communities can be used to indicate con-taminant exposure; to provide guidance on performing risk assessments for contaminants of emerging concern; and to evaluate the effects of contaminants in marine sediments and whether current sediment toxicity tests are adequate. In addition, and as a wider concept, the linkages between contaminants in the marine environment and human health were also described.S