Trends in the analysis and monitoring of organotins in the aquatic environment

AbstractOrganotin compounds are toxic and have long-term persistence in the environment. Consequently very low environmental quality standards are set internationally for tributyltin, the major of substance of concern in water. The fulfilment of these regulatory demands has necessitated the development of highly sensitive and selective analytical techniques for the measurement of these compounds. These developments have been coupled with novel extraction and pre-concentration methods that have the potential to be used with automated on-line procedures. Quantification using isotopically enriched tin standards in mass spectrometric-based techniques have allowed for improvements in robustness and precision of analytical methods. In parallel to these laboratory techniques, there have also been enhancements in monitoring methods, particularly the use of passive samplers. This review gives an overview of organotin compounds in the aquatic environment and current trends for their analysis and monitoring within the context of meeting the statutory regulatory environmental standards for tributyltin

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 both show similarly reduced disease severity of COVID-19 compared to Delta, Germany, 2021 to 2022

German national surveillance data analysis shows that hospitalisation odds associated with Omicron lineage BA.1 or BA.2 infections are up to 80% lower than with Delta infection, primarily in ≥ 35-year-olds. Hospitalised vaccinated Omicron cases’ proportions (2.3% for both lineages) seemed lower than those of the unvaccinated (4.4% for both lineages). Independent of vaccination status, the hospitalisation frequency among cases with Delta seemed nearly threefold higher (8.3%) than with Omicron (3.0% for both lineages), suggesting that Omicron inherently causes less severe disease.Peer Reviewe

Assessment of carbon capture and storage in natural systems within the English North Sea (Including within Marine Protected Areas)

This report was commissioned by the North Sea Wildlife Trusts, Blue Marine Foundation, WWF and the RSPB to assess the extent, scale, distribution, and potential of the current blue carbon sinks in the English North Sea (i.e. seabed sediments, saltmarsh, kelp forests, seagrass beds and biogenic reefs). The focus was to i) review the current extent and distribution of each blue carbon habitat, ii) estimate the quantity of carbon currently stored within these habitats, iii) establish the average net sequestration rate (i.e. gC m-2 yr-1), and iv) estimate the potential net total sequestration (i.e. gC yr-1) of each blue carbon habitat. This analysis synthesises and reviews the most up-to-date scientific literature on fixation, processing, and storage of carbon in the English North Sea, including within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Carbon stock densities and rates of production and storage are combined with measures of habitat area to give estimates of total carbon stored in blue carbon habitats and their associated sediment stores. The results are intended to inform management decisions and identify opportunities to enhance the seabed and their carbon sequestration potential. Evidence of this nature will contribute to explore the potential of the English North Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) network to help mitigate against the effects of climate change. Extents of blue carbon habitats for the North Sea region were derived from available sources. These include the EUNIS level 3 combined map from JNCC, Natural England Marine Habitats and Species Open Data, and recently published estimates of organic carbon (OC) and inorganic carbon (IC) stocks in surface sediments (Smeaton et al., 2021). Where maps of coastal habitats based on surveys were not available, including kelp and seagrass, extents of these habitats were estimated from models. Limitations of the estimates produced here link primarily to poorly constrained spatial extents of blue carbon habitats at the scales required for this report. For some habitats (intertidal and subtidal sediments), confidence in observational understanding of long-term sequestration is very low, as is that for transport and fate of carbon from macroalgae. Kelp forests in the region, for example, have received little attention compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the science of understanding the effects of physical disturbance (including trawling) and climate change on these systems is very much in its infancy and new developments will allow a much better-informed outlook for the fate of these stocks and accumulation rates in a changing world and under varying management scenarios. Direct comparison between these North Sea carbon stores and those in terrestrial vegetation and soils are fraught with difficulty. Carbon stock sizes (MtC) and density per unit area (t/km2) are assessed differently, over different areas of habitats, and different timescales for storage of reported stocks. Carbon in living material may persist for years or decades, while that buried in soils and marine sediments may last for 100s to 1000s of years. Such lack of comparability renders straight numerical comparisons nearly meaningless. This is even more of a problem when comparing marine and terrestrial stocks, where soils and sediments and the nature of vegetated habitats are so radically different from each other. Depths of soils considered are a vital consideration. Here we consider marine sediments to a depth of only 10cm, while carbon in terrestrial soils is often reported to depths, typically 30cm to a metre or more. Given these caveats, conclusions that the total carbon reported for the area is 19% of that in UK forests (101 Mt vs 529 Mt) should be treated with extreme caution.Publisher PD

Assessment of carbon capture and storage in natural systems within the English North Sea (Including within Marine Protected Areas)

This report was commissioned by the North Sea Wildlife Trusts, Blue Marine Foundation, WWF and the RSPB to assess the extent, scale, distribution, and potential of the current blue carbon sinks in the English North Sea (i.e. seabed sediments, saltmarsh, kelp forests, seagrass beds and biogenic reefs). The focus was to i) review the current extent and distribution of each blue carbon habitat, ii) estimate the quantity of carbon currently stored within these habitats, iii) establish the average net sequestration rate (i.e. gC m-2 yr-1), and iv) estimate the potential net total sequestration (i.e. gC yr-1) of each blue carbon habitat. This analysis synthesises and reviews the most up-to-date scientific literature on fixation, processing, and storage of carbon in the English North Sea, including within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Carbon stock densities and rates of production and storage are combined with measures of habitat area to give estimates of total carbon stored in blue carbon habitats and their associated sediment stores. The results are intended to inform management decisions and identify opportunities to enhance the seabed and their carbon sequestration potential. Evidence of this nature will contribute to explore the potential of the English North Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA) network to help mitigate against the effects of climate change. Extents of blue carbon habitats for the North Sea region were derived from available sources. These include the EUNIS level 3 combined map from JNCC, Natural England Marine Habitats and Species Open Data, and recently published estimates of organic carbon (OC) and inorganic carbon (IC) stocks in surface sediments (Smeaton et al., 2021). Where maps of coastal habitats based on surveys were not available, including kelp and seagrass, extents of these habitats were estimated from models. Limitations of the estimates produced here link primarily to poorly constrained spatial extents of blue carbon habitats at the scales required for this report. For some habitats (intertidal and subtidal sediments), confidence in observational understanding of long-term sequestration is very low, as is that for transport and fate of carbon from macroalgae. Kelp forests in the region, for example, have received little attention compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the science of understanding the effects of physical disturbance (including trawling) and climate change on these systems is very much in its infancy and new developments will allow a much better-informed outlook for the fate of these stocks and accumulation rates in a changing world and under varying management scenarios. Direct comparison between these North Sea carbon stores and those in terrestrial vegetation and soils are fraught with difficulty. Carbon stock sizes (MtC) and density per unit area (t/km2) are assessed differently, over different areas of habitats, and different timescales for storage of reported stocks. Carbon in living material may persist for years or decades, while that buried in soils and marine sediments may last for 100s to 1000s of years. Such lack of comparability renders straight numerical comparisons nearly meaningless. This is even more of a problem when comparing marine and terrestrial stocks, where soils and sediments and the nature of vegetated habitats are so radically different from each other. Depths of soils considered are a vital consideration. Here we consider marine sediments to a depth of only 10cm, while carbon in terrestrial soils is often reported to depths, typically 30cm to a metre or more. Given these caveats, conclusions that the total carbon reported for the area is 19% of that in UK forests (101 Mt vs 529 Mt) should be treated with extreme caution.Publisher PD

Comparison of mechanical disturbance in soft sediments due to tickler-chain SumWing trawl versus electro-fitted PulseWing trawl

This study was part-funded by the EU FP 7 project BENTHIS (grant no. 312088). It does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission and does not anticipate the Commission’s future policy in this area. We are grateful for the logistic support of VLIZ, the fishermen of TX43 and TX29 and crew members of RV ISIS and RV Simon Stevin during the sea trials and NIOZ for the use of their box corer. ADR and LRT were partly supported by the project “Impact assessment pulsvisserij”. We are indebted to the skippers and Eddy Buyvoets for drawing the net plans of the trawls. We thank John Aldridge for his insights in sediment transport in relation to natural dynamics; Bavo De Witte for conducting the particle size analysis; Daniel Benden for assisting SPI analyses; Miriam Levenson for English-language editing and Julie Bremner and Stefan Bolam for their critical review. We also wish to thank 3 anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Quantifying and valuing carbon flows and stores in coastal and shelf ecosystems in the UK

Evidence shows that habitats with potential to mitigate against greenhouse gases emissions, by taking up and storing CO2, are being lost due to the effects of on-going human activities and climate change. The carbon storage by terrestrial habitats (e.g. tropical forests) and the role of coastal habitats (‘Blue Carbon’) as carbon storage sinks is well recognised. Offshore shelf sediments are also a manageable carbon store, covering ∼9% of global marine area, but not currently protected by international agreements to enable their conservation. Through a scenario analysis, we explore the economic value of the damage of human activities and climate change can inflict on UK marine habitats, including shelf sea sediments. In a scenario of increased human and climate pressures over a 25-year period, we estimate damage costs up to US$12.5 billion from carbon release linked to disturbance of coastal and shelf sea sediment carbon stores. It may be possible to manage socio-economic pressure to maintain sedimentary carbon storage, but the trade-offs with other global social welfare benefits such as food security will have to be taken into account. To develop effective incentive mechanisms to preserve these valuable coastal and marine ecosystems within a sustainability governance framework, robust evidence is required

Sedimentary carbon on the continental shelf : emerging capabilities and research priorities for Blue Carbon.

This work was supported by Cefas internal Seedcorn self-investment funding under the project DP440: Blue carbon within climate mitigation and ecosystem service approaches to natural asset assessments, and by Cefas’ Ecosystem Theme science theme.Continental shelf sediments store large amounts of organic carbon. Protecting this carbon from release back into the marine system and managing the marine environment to maximize its rate of accumulation could both play a role in mitigating against climate change. For these reasons, in the context of an expanding ‘Blue Carbon’ concept, research interest in the quantity and vulnerability of carbon stored in continental shelf, slope, and deep ocean sediments is increasing. In these systems, carbon storage is physically distant from carbon sources, altered between source and sink, and disturbed by anthropogenic activities. The methodological approaches needed to obtain the evidence to assess shelf sea sediment carbon manageability and vulnerability within an evolving blue carbon framework cannot be transferred directly from those applied in coastal vegetated ‘traditional’ blue carbon habitats. We present a ‘toolbox’ of methods which can be applied in marine sediments to provide the evidence needed to establish where and when marine carbon in offshore sediments can contribute to climate mitigation, focusing on continental shelf sediments. These methods are discussed in the context of the marine carbon cycle and how they provide evidence on: (i) stock: how much carbon is there and how is it distributed? (ii) accumulation: how rapidly is carbon being added or removed? and (iii) anthropogenic pressures: is carbon stock and/or accumulation vulnerable to manageable human activities? Our toolbox provides a starting point to inform choice of techniques for future studies alongside consideration of their specific research questions and available resources. Where possible a stepwise approach to analyses should be applied in which initial parameters are analysed to inform which samples, if any, will provide information of interest from more resource-intensive analyses. As studies increasingly address the knowledge gaps around continental shelf carbon stocks and accumulation – through both sampling and modelling – the management of this carbon with respect to human pressures will become the key question for understanding where it fits within the blue carbon framework and within the climate mitigation discourse.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Carbon on the Northwest European Shelf: Contemporary Budget and Future Influences

A carbon budget for the northwest European continental shelf seas (NWES) was synthesized using available estimates for coastal, pelagic and benthic carbon stocks and flows. Key uncertainties were identified and the effect of future impacts on the carbon budget were assessed. The water of the shelf seas contains between 210 and 230 Tmol of carbon and absorbs between 1.3 and 3.3 Tmol from the atmosphere annually. Off-shelf transport and burial in the sediments account for 60–100 and 0–40% of carbon outputs from the NWES, respectively. Both of these fluxes remain poorly constrained by observations and resolving their magnitudes and relative importance is a key research priority. Pelagic and benthic carbon stocks are dominated by inorganic carbon. Shelf sediments contain the largest stock of carbon, with between 520 and 1600 Tmol stored in the top 0.1 m of the sea bed. Coastal habitats such as salt marshes and mud flats contain large amounts of carbon per unit area but their total carbon stocks are small compared to pelagic and benthic stocks due to their smaller spatial extent. The large pelagic stock of carbon will continue to increase due to the rising concentration of atmospheric CO2, with associated pH decrease. Pelagic carbon stocks and flows are also likely to be significantly affected by increasing acidity and temperature, and circulation changes but the net impact is uncertain. Benthic carbon stocks will be affected by increasing temperature and acidity, and decreasing oxygen concentrations, although the net impact of these interrelated changes on carbon stocks is uncertain and a major knowledge gap. The impact of bottom trawling on benthic carbon stocks is unique amongst the impacts we consider in that it is widespread and also directly manageable, although its net effect on the carbon budget is uncertain. Coastal habitats are vulnerable to sea level rise and are strongly impacted by management decisions. Local, national and regional actions have the potential to protect or enhance carbon storage, but ultimately global governance, via controls on emissions, has the greatest potential to influence the long-term fate of carbon stocks in the northwestern European continental shelf

Impact of the NK Cell Receptor LIR-1 (ILT-2/CD85j/LILRB1) on Cytotoxicity against Multiple Myeloma

The role of different receptors in natural-killer- (NK-) cell-mediated cytotoxicity against multiple myeloma (MM) cells is unknown. We investigated if an enhancement of NK-cell-mediated cytotoxicity against MM could be reached by blocking of the inhibitory leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor 1 (LIR-1). Our investigations revealed high levels of LIR-1 expression not only on the NK cell line NK-92, but also on myeloma cells (MOLP-8, RPMI8226) as well as on a lymphoblastoid cell line (LBCL; IM-9). Subsequent cytotoxicity assays were designed to show the isolated effects of LIR-1 blocking on either the effector or the tumor side to rule out receptor-receptor interactions. Although NK-92 was shown to be capable of myeloma cell lysis, inhibition of LIR-1 on NK-92 did not enhance cytotoxicity. Targeting the receptor on MM and LBCL did not also alter NK-92-mediated lysis. We come to the conclusion that LIR-1 alone does not directly influence NK-cell-mediated cytotoxicity against myeloma. To our knowledge, this work provides the first investigation of the inhibitory capability of LIR-1 in NK-92-mediated cytotoxicity against MM and the first functional evaluation of LIR-1 on MM and LBCL

Carbon on the Northwest European Shelf: Contemporary Budget and Future Influences

© Copyright © 2020 Legge, Johnson, Hicks, Jickells, Diesing, Aldridge, Andrews, Artioli, Bakker, Burrows, Carr, Cripps, Felgate, Fernand, Greenwood, Hartman, Kröger, Lessin, Mahaffey, Mayor, Parker, Queirós, Shutler, Silva, Stahl, Tinker, Underwood, Van Der Molen, Wakelin, Weston and Williamson. A carbon budget for the northwest European continental shelf seas (NWES) was synthesized using available estimates for coastal, pelagic and benthic carbon stocks and flows. Key uncertainties were identified and the effect of future impacts on the carbon budget were assessed. The water of the shelf seas contains between 210 and 230 Tmol of carbon and absorbs between 1.3 and 3.3 Tmol from the atmosphere annually. Off-shelf transport and burial in the sediments account for 60–100 and 0–40% of carbon outputs from the NWES, respectively. Both of these fluxes remain poorly constrained by observations and resolving their magnitudes and relative importance is a key research priority. Pelagic and benthic carbon stocks are dominated by inorganic carbon. Shelf sediments contain the largest stock of carbon, with between 520 and 1600 Tmol stored in the top 0.1 m of the sea bed. Coastal habitats such as salt marshes and mud flats contain large amounts of carbon per unit area but their total carbon stocks are small compared to pelagic and benthic stocks due to their smaller spatial extent. The large pelagic stock of carbon will continue to increase due to the rising concentration of atmospheric CO2, with associated pH decrease. Pelagic carbon stocks and flows are also likely to be significantly affected by increasing acidity and temperature, and circulation changes but the net impact is uncertain. Benthic carbon stocks will be affected by increasing temperature and acidity, and decreasing oxygen concentrations, although the net impact of these interrelated changes on carbon stocks is uncertain and a major knowledge gap. The impact of bottom trawling on benthic carbon stocks is unique amongst the impacts we consider in that it is widespread and also directly manageable, although its net effect on the carbon budget is uncertain. Coastal habitats are vulnerable to sea level rise and are strongly impacted by management decisions. Local, national and regional actions have the potential to protect or enhance carbon storage, but ultimately global governance, via controls on emissions, has the greatest potential to influence the long-term fate of carbon stocks in the northwestern European continental shelf