Nucella lapillus L. imposex levels after legislation prohibiting TBT antifoulants: temporal trends from 2003 to 2008 along the Portuguese coast

Nucella lapillus (dog whelk) imposex levels were assessed along the mainland Portuguese coast in 2006 and 2008 and were compared with available data from 2003 for the same area. Given that specimen size has been described as a factor inducing variation in some of the imposex assessment indices, and thus resulting in less reliable results, new monitoring and data analysis procedures are described and applied to study change of imposex levels from 2003 to 2008. A significant decline in imposex intensity was observed in the study area during the study period, and the Portuguese coast ecological status (under the terms defined by the OSPAR Commission) notably improved after 2003, confirming the effectiveness of the Regulation (EC) No. 782/2003 in reducing TBT pollution. Nevertheless, N. lapillus populations are still extensively affected by imposex, and fresh TBT inputs were detected in seawater throughout the coast in 2006. These recent inputs are attributed to vessels still carrying TBT antifoulants applied before 2003, as their presence in vessels was only forbidden in 2008. Considering that Regulation (EC) No. 782/2003 is an anticipation of the IMO global ban entered into force in September 2008, a worldwide-scale decrease in TBT pollution can be expected in the near future

Oil pollution in the North Sea: the impact of governance measures on oil pollution over several decades

Oil pollution entering the marine environment has been an issue of concern for many decades. It can come from riverine or land-based sources, accidental and intentional discharges from ships, or as a by-product of offshore oil extraction. Growing awareness of the impact of oil pollution on the marine environment has led, since the late 1960s, to the introduction of measures to reduce or eliminate pollution from shipping and the offshore oil industry. A framework for environmental protection of the North Sea has developed over many decades through international agreements, regional cooperation, and national measures, while education has also played an important role with modern-day sailors being given due training to understand that dumping waste at sea is illegal in many areas, and is harmful to the marine environment. This paper presents data on trends in pollution from ships and oil installations. While significant reductions in oil pollution have been identified over more than two decades, there remain some areas where action is needed to reduce inputs still further, especially from oil and gas platforms

Assessing the ecological coherence of a marine protected area network in the Celtic Seas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a management tool used to respond to human-derived threats in marine ecosystems. Historically, MPAs have been established on an individual ad hoc basis, rather than through a systematic, planned process. However, high levels of functional and spatial connectivity within marine ecosystems have led to the suggestion that networks of MPAs provide greater ecological benefits than individual MPAs. Consequently, international policy has developed to consider broader spatial requirements for marine conservation, resulting in a number of international and regional agreements that require the establishment of ecologically coherent MPA networks. Existing MPAs are now being considered, retrospectively, alongside new designations, as networks of MPAs across regions, both nationally and internationally. Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), France, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK (including Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man) are required to work together to ensure coordinated development of marine strategies for the Celtic Seas subregion. Accordingly, MPAs have been identified as crucial components of the programme of measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) under the MSFD. Here, we provide the first ecological coherence assessment of an MPA network spanning an MSFD subregion. A network of 533 MPAs, or parts thereof, across the Celtic Seas subregion was assessed using five criteria and two methodologies, with a focus on broadscale habitats. While the Celtic Seas MPA network as a whole is not ecologically coherent (according to accepted thresholds), progress toward a number of global targets has been achieved, for example, protection of 10% of marine and coastal areas under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Further, all MSFD predominant habitat types assessed are adequately represented and replicated within the network. However, a number of gaps were identified, including a lack of MPAs in offshore and deeper areas, and inadequate proportions of predominant habitat types within MPAs. Addressing these gaps to enable the MPA network to fulfill its critical role in the delivery of GES under the MSFD will require both national progress toward designation of adequate and viable MPAs and transboundary agreements and coordination of MPA designation processes at the European level

A GIS model-based assessment of the environmental distribution of g-hexachlorocyclohexane in European soils and waters

The MAPPE GIS based multimedia model is used to produce a quantitative description of the behaviour of γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) in Europe, with emphasis on continental surface waters. The model is found to reasonably reproduce γ-HCH distributions and variations along the years in atmosphere and soil; for continental surface waters, concentrations were reasonably well predicted for year 1995, when lindane was still used in agriculture, while for 2005, assuming severe restrictions in use, yields to substantial underestimation. Much better results were yielded when same mode of release as in 1995 was considered, supporting the conjecture that for γ-HCH, emission data rather that model structure and parameterization can be responsible for wrong estimation of concentrations. Future research should be directed to improve the quality of emission data. Joint interpretation of monitoring and modelling results, highlights that lindane emissions in Europe, despite the marked decreasing trend, persist beyond the provisions of existing legislation. An spatially-explicit multimedia modelling strategy was applied to describe the historical distribution of γ-HCH in European soils and surface waters

Multimodal freight transportation: sustainability challenges

Due to globalization in trade, the development of multimodal cargo shipments and the related transport needs have created a range of challenges. Interestingly, sustainability of multimodal freight transportation is still subject to minor consideration, on the grounds that economic interests are frequently positioned much higher than social or environmental objectives. This proposed research plan is needed to assess whether and to what extent the multimodal freight system is achieving the results in the sustainability dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Thus, it will carry out a critical appraisal of the multimodal freight transportation sector to provide an up-to-date knowledge on the sustainability challenges and the potential solutions through doctoral research. This paper structured to present a review of existing literature on freight transportation and multimodal freight transport highlighting the sustainability concerns with multimodal freight transport systems. It also highlights the gaps in knowledge with a justification on the need to address these gaps for the system to function optimally. It also covers the methodology that would be applied and the sources of data that would be reviewed to ensure the aim and objectives are clearly addressed. The paper concludes by discussing the significance of the expected findings in the light of sustainability in multimodal freight transport to the academia, policy makers and the freight transportation industry

Lead pollution of coastal sediments by ceramic waste

© 2018 Ceramic fragments and fractionated (<2 mm) sediment have been sampled from two beaches in southwest England, along with sediment from a control beach where ceramic waste was lacking. Analysis of the glazed ceramic surfaces by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry returned concentrations of Pb up to 729,000 mg kg−1, while XRF analysis of sediment samples revealed high but heterogeneous concentrations of Pb at the two sites impacted by ceramic waste (median = 292 and 737 mg kg−1) compared with the control beach (median ~ 20 mg kg−1). These observations are attributed to the disposal of contemporary and historical ceramic products, and the subsequent attrition of material and contamination of local sediment. Extraction of a milled ceramic composite (Pb = 2780 mg kg−1) by 1 M HCl, revealed a high (34%) environmental mobility and availability of Pb; extraction in a solution of protein, however, suggested a low (0.1%) bioaccessibility to sediment-ingesting invertebrates

Potential impacts of offshore oil and gas activities on deep-sea sponges and the habitats they form

Sponges form an important component of benthic ecosystems from shallow littoral to hadal depths. In the deep ocean, beyond the continental shelf, sponges can form high-density fields, constituting important habitats supporting rich benthic communities. Yet these habitats remain relatively unexplored. The oil and gas industry has played an important role in advancing our knowledge of deep-sea environments. Since its inception in the 1960s, offshore oil and gas industry has moved into deeper waters. However, the impacts of these activities on deep-sea sponges and other ecosystems are only starting to become the subject of active research. Throughout the development, operation and closure of an oil or gas field many activities take place, ranging from the seismic exploration of subseafloor geological features to the installation of infrastructure at the seabed to the drilling process itself. These routine activities and accidental releases of hydrocarbons during spills can significantly impact the local marine environment. Each phase of a field development or an accidental oil spill will therefore have different impacts on sponges at community, individual and cellular levels. Legacy issues regarding the future decommissioning of infrastructure and the abandonment of wells are also important environmental management considerations. This chapter reviews our understanding of impacts from hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities on deep-sea sponges and the habitats they form. These impacts include those (1) at community level, decreasing the diversity and density of benthic communities associated with deep-sea sponges owing to physical disturbance of the seabed; (2) at individual level, interrupting filtration owing to exposure to increased sedimentation; and (3) at cellular level, decreasing cellular membrane stability owing to exposure to drill muds. However, many potential effects not yet tested in deep-sea sponges but observed in shallow-water sponges or other model organisms should also be taken into account. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have shown impact of oil or dispersed oil on deep-sea sponges. To highlight these significant knowledge gaps, a summary table of potential and known impacts of hydrocarbon extraction and production activities combined with a simple “traffic light” scheme is also provided

Simple, policy friendly, ecological interaction models from uncertain data and expert opinion

In the marine environment, humans exploit natural ecosystems for food and economic benefit. Challenging policy goals have been set to protect resources, species, communities and habitats, yet ecologists often have sparse data on interactions occurring in the system to assess policy outcomes. This paper presents a technique, loosely based on Bayesian Belief Networks, to create simple models which 1) predict whether individual species within a community will decline or increase in population size, 2) encapsulate uncertainty in the predictions in an intuitive manner and 3) require limited knowledge of the ecosystem and functional parameters required to model it. We develop our model for a UK rocky shore community, to utilise existing knowledge of species interactions for model validation purposes. However, we also test the role of expert opinion, without full scientific knowledge of species interactions, by asking non-UK based marine scientists to derive parameters for the model (non-UK scientists are not familiar with the exact communities being described and will need to extrapolate from existing knowledge in a similar manner to model a poorly studied system). We find these differ little from the parameters derived by ourselves and make little difference to the final model predictions. We also test our model against simple experimental manipulations, and find that the most important changes in community structure as a result of manipulations correspond well to the model predictions with both our, and non-UK expert parameterisation. The simplicity of the model, nature of the outputs, and the user-friendly interface makes it potentially suitable for policy, conservation and management work on multispecies interactions in a wide range of marine ecosystems

Effects of mineral amendments on trace elements leaching from pre-treated marine sediment after simulated rainfall events

Bauxite extraction by-products (red mud) were used to evaluate their potential ability to stabilize trace elements from dredged and aerated/humidified marine sediment. The investigated by-products were: bauxaline®(BX) that is a press-filtered red mud; bauxsol™(BS) that is a press-filtered red mud previously washed with excess of seawater, and gypsum neutralized bauxaline® (GBX). These materials were separately mixed to dredged composted sediment sample considering 5% and 20% sediment: stabilizer ratios. For pilot experiments, rainfall events were regularly simulated for 3 months. Concentrations of As, Mo, Cd, Cr, Zn, Cu, and Ni were analyzed in collected leachates as well as toxicity. Results showed that Cd, Mo, Zn, and Cu were efficiently stabilized in the solid matrix when 20% of BX, BS, and GBX was applied. Consequently, toxicity of leachates was lower than for the untreated sediment, meaning that contaminants mobility was reduced. A 5% GBX was also efficient for Mo, Zn and Cu stabilization. In all scenarios, As stabilization was not improved. Compared to all other monitored elements, Mo mobility seemed to depend upon temperature-humidity conditions during pilot experiments suggesting the need of further investigations