Cabreralomholt2015

The environment of the Bohai Sea is under enormous pressure because of rapid economic and urban development associated with increased population inhabiting the coastal zone. Environmental threats to the coastal ecosystem were analyzed using 2006-2017 statistical/monitoring data from the State Oceanic Administration, China. The results showed that harmful algal blooms occurred a total of 104 times during the period of 2006-2017, for a cumulative area of more than 21,275 km2. The main environmental threats came from offshore oil and gas production in the form of hydrocarbon pollution during extraction, as well as from urban wastewater and sewage. Oil pollution, mainly generated from spills, offshore oil platforms and large number of vessels/ports, was found to cause very severe negative impacts on the environment. Another threat is from excessive groundwater exploitation which has resulted in seawater intrusion and soil salinization occurrence in more than 90% of coastal areas around the Bohai Sea. The maximum distance of intrusion by seawater and soil salinization was more than 40 and 32 km inland, respectively. Contamination by terrestrial pollutants was identified as another threat affecting the environment quality of the Bohai Sea. Approximately 840,000 t of pollutants were carried into the sea by major rivers annually for 2010-2017. The standard discharge rate of terrestrial-source sewage outlets did not exceed 50%; however, only 13.12% of sea areas adjacent to sewage outlets (rivers) met the environmental quality requirements for functional marine areas. The results also showed the frequency of storm surges in the Bohai Sea which was 8.83 times per year and the resulting annual direct economic losses reached (RMB) 1.77 billion for 2006-2017. The results highlight the urgent need to implement an ecological management strategy to reduce the heavy ecological burdens in the coastal zone of the Bohai Sea.Wastewater-Based Epidemiology is a tool to face and mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks by evaluating conditions in a specific community. This study aimed to analyze the microbiome profiles using nanopore technology for full-length 16S rRNA sequencing in wastewater samples collected from a penitentiary (P), a residential care home (RCH), and a quarantine or health care facilities (HCF). During the study, the wastewater samples from the RCH and the P were negative for SARS-CoV-2 based on qPCRs, except during the fourth week when was detected. Unexpectedly, the wastewater microbiome from RCH and P prior to week four was correlated with the samples collected from the HCF, suggesting a core bacterial community is expelled from the digest tract of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. The microbiota of wastewater sample positives for SARS-CoV-2 was strongly associated with enteric bacteria previously reported in patients with risk factors for COVID-19. We provide novel evidence that the wastewater microbiome associated with gastrointestinal manifestations appears to precede the SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage. This finding suggests that the wastewaters microbiome can be applied as an indicator of community-wide SARS-CoV-2 surveillance.Previous assessments on rivers in SE China with highly developed economy and enormous population indicate diverse and relatively low particulate heavy metal pollution levels. However, the controlling mechanisms for heavy metal enrichment and transport remain enigmatic. Here, we target a mesoscale mountainous river, the Minjiang River, and obtain grain size, mineralogical and heavy metal concentration (Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn, Mo, Zn, V, Co, Ni, Cu) data from seasonal suspended particulate matter (SPM) near the river mouth, riverbed sediments and SPM samples from mainstream and major tributaries of the river. The results indicate that SPM samples have higher particulate heavy metal concentrations than riverbed sediments collected in pairs. Heavy metal concentrations of Cd, Zn, Cr, V, Co, Ni and Cu are higher in upstream SPM samples than those in downstream regions, whereas Pb, Mn and Mo concentrations don't show this spatial variation. Most heavy metals (e.g., Pb and Zn) show high concentrations in flood seasons and revy metal pollution levels and aquatic environmental conditions.Mediterranean mountain forests play a significant role in hydrological regulation. In this study, hydrological dynamics was examined at different temporal scales in a small mountain forest catchment in the Central Spanish Pyrenees (San Salvador), based on a 20-year dataset (1999-2019). Mean annual runoff coefficient is 0.21, and ranged from 0.02 to 0.58. The catchment has a bi-modal hydrological behavior with two hydrological periods a dry-period between July and December, and a wet-period between January and June. During the study period, only 108 floods were recorded, suggesting a low responsiveness of the catchment, with a high variable response. Selinexor concentration Spearman correlation analysis and stepwise multivariate regression suggest that the hydrological response in the San Salvador catchment is mainly depending on water table, with antecedent moisture conditions and rainfall depth as secondary factors. Seasonal differences were also observed during dry season, the response was mainly related to rainfall depth and rainfall intensity; in contrast in wet season, the response was mainly related to antecedent conditions (previous rainfall and base flow). Thus, the already challenging water resources management in the Mediterranean basin is magnified by the key function of forests as natural modulators of water cycle. Consequently, the study of natural forested catchments is needed and long-datasets have to be analysed to understand the role of natural Mediterranean forest in the hydrological dynamics and its evolution and adaptation in a context of Global Change.Domestic and global regulations on phthalates have led to the introduction of non-phthalate plasticizers (NPPs) in industrial markets as alternative plasticizers. In this study, phthalates and NPPs from surface and core sediment samples taken from industrialized bays in Korea were measured to determine their distribution, contamination sources, historical records, and the ecological risks they posed. Phthalates and alternative plasticizers were detected in all surface samples and sediment cores, indicating ubiquitous contamination. Predominant phthalates were di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DiNP), and diisodecyl phthalate (DiDP) and di(2-ethylhexyl)terephthalate (DEHT) and tris(2-ethylhexyl)trimellitate (TOTM) were the most common NPPs. The total concentrations of phthalates and NPPs ranged from 76.3 to 59,400 ng/g dry weight and 95%) exceeded quality guidelines for DEHP, implying a potential risk for benthic organisms. This is the first report on historical trends of phthalates and alternative plasticizers.