Measuring and monitoring persistent organic pollutants in the context of risk assessment

Due to growing concerns regarding persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment, extensive studies and monitoring programs have been carried out in the last two decades to determine their concentrations in water, sediment, and more recently, in biota. An extensive review and analysis of the existing literature shows that whilst the vast majority of these efforts either attempt to compare (a) spatial changes (to identify "hot spots"), or (b) temporal changes to detect deterioration/improvement occurring in the environment, most studies could not provide sufficient statistical power to estimate concentrations of POPs in the environment and detect spatial and temporal changes. Despite various national POPs standards having been established, there has been a surprising paucity of emphasis in establishing accurate threshold concentrations that indicate potential significant threats to ecosystems and public health. Although most monitoring programs attempt to check compliance through reference to certain "environmental quality objectives", it should be pointed out that many of these established standards are typically associated with a large degree of uncertainty and rely on a large number of assumptions, some of which may be arbitrary. Non-compliance should trigger concern, so that the problem can be tracked down and rectified, but non-compliance must not be interpreted in a simplistic and mechanical way. Contaminants occurring in the physical environment may not necessarily be biologically available, and even when they are bioavailable, they may not necessarily elicit adverse biological effects at the individual or population levels. As such, we here argue that routine monitoring and reporting of abiotic and biotic POPs concentrations could be of limited use, unless such data can be related directly to the assessment of public health and ecological risks. Risk can be inferred from the ratio of predicted environmental concentration (PEC) and the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC). Currently, the paucity of data does not allow accurate estimation of PNEC, and future endeavors should therefore, be devoted to determine the threshold concentrations of POPs that can cause undesirable biological effects on sensitive receivers and important biological components in the receiving environment (e.g. keystone species, populations with high energy flow values, etc.), to enable derivation of PNECs based on solid scientific evidence and reduce uncertainty. Using the threshold body burden of POPs required to elicit damages of lysosomal integrity in the green mussel (Perna virvidis) as an example, we illustrate how measurement of POPs in body tissue could be used in predicting environmental risk in a meaningful way.     

Assessing coral reef health across onshore to offshore stress gradients in the US Virgin Islands

Managing the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on coral reefs is highly dependant on effective strategies to assess degradation and recovery. We used five years of field data in the US Virgin Islands to investigate coral reef response to a potential gradient of stress. We found that the prevalence of old partial mortality, bleaching, and all forms of coral health impairment (a novel category) increased with nearshore anthropogenic processes, such as a five-fold higher rate of clay and silt sedimentation. Other patterns of coral health, such as recent partial mortality, other diseases, and benthic cover, did not respond to this potential gradient of stress or their response could not be resolved at the frequency or scale of monitoring. We suggest that persistent signs of disturbance are more useful to short-term, non-intensive (annual) coral reef assessments, but more intensive (semi-annual) assessments are necessary to resolve patterns of transient signs of coral health impairment.     

依法履行海岛监督检查权规范无居民海岛开发利用秩序

2010年3月,《中华人民共和国海岛保护法》（以下简称《海岛保护法》）正式实施。这部法律对中国海监队伍具有特殊的意义,中国海监机构首次经法律授权获得海岛监督检查权。《海岛保护法》第四十一条规定：“海洋主管部门应当依法对无居民海岛保护和合理利用情况进行监督检查。     

Residence time of pollutants discharged in the Gulf of Kachchh, northwestern Arabian Sea

A 2D Hydrodynamic-Particle Analysis model was applied to the Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) to estimate the residence time of pollutants. The tidal currents in the Gulf have a strong E-W component, which prevents the material in the north being transported towards south. In the regions situated very close to the open boundary, where the GoK waters exchange freely with the northern Arabian Sea, dilution takes place rapidly with the incoming waters and hence, the residence time is on the order of 1 day. Influence of eddies and a dynamic barrier across the Sikka-Mundra section on the residence time is apparent. Eastern GoK shows a relatively large residence time, on the order of 2-4 days, warranting caution while releasing industrial wastes in the northeastern Gulf. The region around location-5 behaves like a bay; the dissolved matter gets trapped in this bay and the residence time increases by 3-4 days.     

Thermohaline structure of an inverse estuary--The Gulf of Kachchh: measurements and model simulations

The Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) is situated in the northeastern Arabian Sea. The presence of several industries along its coastal belt makes GoK a highly sensitive coastal ecosystem. In the present study, an attempt is made for the first time to study GoK thermohaline structure and its variability, based on field measurements and model simulations. Though GoK is considered as a well-mixed system, the study reveals that only the central Gulf is well mixed. Vertical gradients in temperature and salinity fields are noticed in the eastern Gulf, where a cold and high saline tongue is observed in the subsurface layers. Salinity indicates the characteristic feature of an inverse estuary with low values (37.20 psu) near the mouth and high values (>40.0 psu) near the head of the Gulf. The model simulated temperature and salinity fields exhibit semidiurnal oscillations similar to that of field observations. Model results show cold, high saline waters advecting from the east during ebb forming a transition zone, which oscillates with tides. A high salinity tongue is seen in the bottom layer, indicating a westward flowing bottom current. The transient zone acts as an dynamic barrier, and plays a vital role in the pollutant transport.     

Intra- and inter-specific variability in total and methylmercury bioaccumulation by eight marine fish species from the Azores

We relate fish biological and ecological characteristics to total and organic mercury concentrations to determine whether accumulation is influenced by trophic level, Hg concentration in the diet, and vertical distribution. Levels of total mercury and methylmercury were determined in the muscle tissue of eight species of fish: Pagellus acarne, Trachurus picturatus, Phycis phycis, P. blennoides, Polyprion americanus, Conger conger, Lepidopus caudatus and Mora moro, caught in the Azores. All such fishes are commercially valuable and were selected to include species from a wide range of vertical distributions from epipelagic (<200 m) to mesopelagic (>300 m) environments. Methylmercury was the major form accumulated in all species, comprising an average of 88.1% of total mercury. Concentrations of mercury (total and methylmercury) increased with age, length and weight. Based on data from other studies, mercury concentrations in fish diet were estimated. Mercury levels in food ranged from 0.08 to 0.32 ppm, dry weight. Hg concentrations in the food and in muscle tissue from different species were positively correlated. Total Hg levels in the muscles were approximately nine times those estimated in food. Total mercury concentrations in muscle were positively correlated with both trophic level and median depth. Such enhanced mercury bioaccumulation in relation to depth appears to be determined primarily by concentrations in food and ultimately by water chemistry, which controls mercury speciation and uptake at the base of the food chain.