Environmental Monitoring Studies Research Articles

Can high- and low-temperature thermal stress modulate the antioxidant defense response of Astyanax lacustris brain?

Change in temperature of aquatic environment have impacts on the physiology of fish, especially in the brain, which is a vital organ and prone to oxidative damage. Astyanax lacustris is a freshwater fish that play an important role in the food market and has been increasingly used in fish farms, besides environmental monitoring studies. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the responses of antioxidant biomarkers and products of the oxidative process in the brains A. lacustris subjected to thermal shock. The specimens were obtained from artificial farming lakes and subjected to shock induced by exposure to high (31 °C ± 0.5) and low (15 °C ± 0.5) temperature for 2, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h; control group were maintained at 23 °C ± 0.5. At 31 °C, glutathione-related enzymes were more responsive, suggested by the change activity of GPx and G6PDH enzymes, in addition to GSH levels. At 15 °C, enzymes of the first line of defense were more active, evidenced by the change CAT activity. No significant changes were detected in the levels of ROS, LPO and PCO. These results indicate that the brains of A. lacustris have an efficient antioxidant defense system with the ability to acclimatize to the temperatures tested.

The Design and Implementation of an IoT Sensor-Based Indoor Air Quality Monitoring System Using Off-the-Shelf Devices

IAQ monitoring studies have gained renewed interest post COVID-19. Furthermore, accessibility to the corresponding enabling technologies has improved considerably in terms of cost and requisite knowledge. This paper aims to outline the key decisions involved for researchers and building managers alike to seek to implement their own environmental monitoring study using commercially available hardware and software. To do so, this paper first outlines the essential elements or building blocks of an IoT architecture, detailing the design criteria for selecting various hardware and software. Secondly, it outlines the process of integrating these different components and the flow of data from IoT device to databases and end-user applications. To demonstrate this process, an IAQ monitoring study was conducted at an open-plan office. Our results demonstrated the framework can be adapted to different worksites with minor modifications and provide the flexibility to interchange components. The data collected can be easily integrated into open-source analytic software for visualization and to make informed decisions to manage IAQ. It is through this process that we provide recommendations on how other users may adopt similar frameworks.

Trend, seasonality, and abrupt change detection method for land surface temperature time-series analysis: Evaluation and improvement

Long-term land surface temperature (LST) variation is vital for the study of climate change and environmental monitoring. Change detection methods provide access to recovery trajectories of trend and seasonality and detect abrupt changes in LST time series, but a comprehensive evaluation of the published methods is lacking. In this study, simulated LST data with a temporal resolution of 8 days under different scenarios were used to evaluate the performance of three commonly used methods: Detecting Breakpoints and Estimating Segments in Trend (DBEST), Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST), and Bayesian Estimator of Abrupt change, Seasonal change, and Trend (BEAST). The results obtained using the simulated data indicated that BEAST was the best method for decomposing LST time series into trend and seasonality (mean RMSEs were 0.28 K and 0.27 K, respectively) and for detecting abrupt changes in these two components (mean F1 scores were 0.83 and 0.95, respectively). BFAST was less robust to high-complexity data (F1: 0.56 and 0.52, RMSE: 1.34 K and 1.46 K). 0.91 K and 1.29 K). DBEST is recommended to capture component details because it yields the least generalized output (F1 for trend: 0.37, RMSE: 0.64 K and 1.37 K). Both BFAST and DBEST exhibited reduced accuracy when the time-series data has long-lasting continuous missing data. An application using the 20-year MODIS LST time series supports the results obtained using the simulated data. BEAST exhibited the highest detection accuracy for land cover change (13 correct detections among 15 true changes), followed by DBEST (9) and BFAST (7). All three methods were ineffective for detecting low-magnitude disturbances: wildfires, heatwaves, and cold spells due to their low intensity or short duration. To reduce the non-negligible commission error of BEAST, this study proposes an improved BEAST, which eliminates the false breakpoints in BEAST using a set of thresholds. Compared with BEAST, the user accuracy of the improved BEAST was significantly increased by 13.9% in the simulated data, resulting in an F1 increase of 0.04, and 15 false breakpoints were eliminated among 53 detected disturbances in the MODIS LST time series. This study outlines commonly used change detection methods and offers guidance for choosing the optimal method to detect changes in LST time series. Furthermore, suggestions on the determination of parameters and false breakpoints elimination in the improved BEAST enable it more practical.

Cyanotoxins and water quality parameters as risk assessment indicators for aquatic life in reservoirs

We assessed the extent of pollution in an essential public water supply reservoir (southeastern Brazil). An environmental monitoring study was performed at the Billings Reservoir (at the water catchment site) to assess the water quality in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Physicochemical parameters were analyzed, quantifying the total cyanobacteria and the cyanotoxins microcystins (MCs) and saxitoxins (SXTs), as well as their possible ecological risk to the aquatic environment. We also determined metals and metalloids (As, Ba, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Sb) and fecal bacteria (Escherichia coli). Monthly samplings were performed for 2017, 2018, and 2019 (totaling 36 sampling campaigns). Metals, metalloids, and E. coli values were below the maximum limit allowed by the Brazilian legislation. High concentrations of total cyanobacteria (3.07 × 104 – 3.23 × 105 cells/mL), microcystin variants MC-LR (0.67–23.63 μg/L), MC-LA (0.03–8.66 μg/L), MC-RR (0.56–7.92 μg/L), and MC-YR (0.04–1.24 μg/L), as well as the saxitoxins GTX2 (0.18–5.37 μg/L), GTX3 (0.13–4.40 μg/L), and STX (0.12–2.92 μg/L) were detected. From an ecotoxicological point of view, the estimated values for the risk quotient (RQ) for microcystins and saxitoxins were largely greater than 1, indicating a high risk to aquatic life. Therefore, further efforts need to be made to delay the eutrophication of the reservoir.

Environmental monitoring and health assessment in an industrial town in central India: A cross-sectional study protocol.

Textile industry has been widely implicated in environmental pollution. The health effects of residing near manufacturing industries are not well documented in India, especially in central India. Hence, a cross-sectional environmental monitoring and health assessment study was initiated as per directions of the local authorities. Comprehensive exposure data about the concentrations of relevant pollutants in the ambient air and ground water samples in the study area will be collected over one year. Using stratified random sampling, 3003 apparently healthy adults will be selected from the study area. Sociodemographic and anthropometric information, relevant medical and family history, and investigations including spirometry, electrocardiogram, neurobehavioral tests, and laboratory investigations (complete blood count, lipid profile and random blood glucose) will be conducted. Finally Iodine azide test and heavy metal level detection in urine and blood samples respectively will be conducted in a subset of selected participants to assess individual pollution exposure. Ethics approval has been obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee of the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (No: NIREH/IEC-7-II/1027, dated 07/01/2021). This manuscript describes the protocol for a multi-disciplinary study that aims to conduct environmental monitoring and health assessment in residential areas near viscose rayon and associated chemical manufacturing industries. Although India is the second largest manufacturer of rayon, next only to China, and viscose rayon manufacturing has been documented to be a source of multiple toxic pollutants, there is a lack of comprehensive information about the health effects of residing near such manufacturing units in India. Therefore implementing this study protocol will aid in filling in this knowledge gap.

The utility of rapid throughput single-collector sector-field ICP-MS for soil Pb isotope studies

Lead (Pb) isotope tracing is widely used in environmental monitoring and public health studies, to determine the provenance of agricultural and archaeological materials, and in mineral exploration campaigns. Combined with elemental analyses, Pb isotope ratios are used to ‘fingerprint’ the sources and transport paths of Pb found in multiple targets including dust, metal filings, soil/regolith, plants, water and blood, to name a few. Low cost and high throughput are important factors in such studies - typically performed using solution-mode Inductively Coupled Plasma -Mass Spectrometers (ICP-MS) - but these undoubted advantages need to be balanced against data quality. Here we compare Pb isotopic compositions (including the low abundance 204Pb isotope) determined for unseparated soils measured by high-throughput single-collector sector-field inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (SC-SF-ICP-MS) and quadrupole ICP-MS (Q-ICP-MS) with results from more traditional high-precision multi-collector-ICP-MS (MC-ICP-MS) analysis following Pb separation chemistry. The soils, from outcrops of young basalts near Melbourne (Australia), have Pb isotope compositions similar to those of the underlying lava flows, with minor offsets possibly related to dust import from Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks which dominate the region. Except for one sample, contamination with industrial Pb appears to be absent to minor, a surprising finding given the proximity of the sample sites to a major metropolitan area. In these soils, comparison of data for fully digested and acid-leached soil, some from a range of sampling depths, allows small and variable contributions from anthropogenic Pb to be resolved. Despite their lower precision, isotopic compositions measured by SC-SF-ICP-MS and Q-ICP-MS largely reproduce the isotopic patterns established by MC-ICP-MS. However, analytical uncertainties are larger and performance is more variable for Q-ICP-MS. The results confirm SC-SF-ICP-MS as a viable high-throughput, intermediate precision tool for large-scale Pb isotope surveys.

Establishing the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health, India.

ProblemMultiple environmental health issues resulting from pollution and climate change threaten public health in India.ApproachThe Government of India recognized the need for a permanent environmental health research institute; the Indian Council of Medical Research therefore established the National Institute for Research in Environmental Health in Bhopal in 2010. Scientists at the institute assessed the multiple long-term health effects of exposure to methyl isocyanate, and are now conducting research on a wide array of locally relevant environmental health issues.Local settingThe Union Carbide India Limited pesticide factory in Bhopal was the site of a methyl isocyanate gas leak in 1984, which affected half a million people. The Indian Council of Medical Research set up a coordinating unit in the immediate aftermath, which was upgraded to the Bhopal Gas Disaster Research Centre in 1986 and then the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies in 1995.Relevant changesScientists at the institute undertake environmental monitoring and health risk assessment studies among communities located near polluted areas, such as industrial areas. They are also assessing the training needs of practising physicians, with the aim of developing a curated curriculum to meet the deficiencies in environmental health education in the country.Lessons learntEnvironmental legislation was introduced in the wake of the disaster and a research institute in environmental health was established. Researchers at the institute have recognized the importance of engaging communities in environmental health research, as well as knowledge dissemination to relevant stakeholders.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND REGULATORY ASPECT STUDY ON THE HARBOR EXTENSION DEVELOPMENT OF PETROLEUM AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

Petroleum and petrochemical industries are those industries involving huge amount of products that shall be transported across regional and even international boundaries. Accordingly, many of these industries have their own special harbor or port to accommodate ships that are in and out of the harbor for the purpose of transporting their products. Industries having their own harbor for example are, among others, Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (PKT) in East Kalimantan that produces Ammonia and Urea, and Pertamina Cilacap in Central Java that produces fuels.As general harbor facilities that need maintenance, this special port has also to be maintained and sometimes extended due to the needs for accommodating bigger ships. Maintenance dredging is one of a harbor maintenance programs for keeping the berth that is always suitable for the ships. When the production of the industries has to be expanded for example due to demand for export purposes, the harbor that supports this activity has also to be extended. Some harbors even need a new area for developing harbor extension, because the old one is not sufficient for accommodating bigger ships.The harbor extension development will involve several activities, namely (i) dredging of the coastal sediments, (ii) coastal reclamation with the use of some of the dredged materials, (iii) dumping of the dredged materials, and (iv) development of ship-waste reception facilities. Every phase in the harbor extension activity will undoubtedly impact in some extents to the environment surrounding the project. The potential impacts of the project to the environment will depend on the scale (area and volume) of each phase and the duration of the activities. The Ministerial Decree of Environment No. 17/20011 describes the scale limit of the project that has to be preceded by the environmental impact analysis (EIA), or AMDAL study in order to get governmental permit before the project can be implemented. This is certainly valid for a new project that its environmental area has not been studied yet.Generally, many of the petroleum and petrochemical industries have been established long before the No.17/ 2001 decree being put into effect. The area of the port extension project in which this study was conducted is located in the area that has been studied through Environmental Evaluation Study, SEL (Studi Evaluasi Lingkungan) 2 . Basically, this environmental study covers all over the sphere that has been intended for the industrial activity. There are questions that may arise concerning with the extension project in this area. Should EIA/AMDAL study be conducted for this extension project? Is UKL/UPL (Environmental Management Effort/Environmental Monitoring Effort) study sufficient for this purpose? Regarding that the project scale may exceed the scale limit as described in the No. 17/2001 decree, shall RKL/RPL (Rencana Pengelolaan Lingkungan/Rencana Pemantauan Lingkungan) – Environmental Management Plan/Environmental Monitoring Plan – be revised?For the purpose of harbor extension, beside the feasibility study which has been covered in the Master Plan Document, it is worthy to describe an environmental review and consideration regarding the activities that might result in an impact to the project surroundings. This environmental review that can be considered as an environmental rapid assessment is beneficial for the project management to have knowledge in making a decision concerning with the selection which the environmental studies (AMDAL, RKL/RPL, or UKL/UPL) that should be conducted prior the implementation of the project.This paper describes a study that has been conducted concerning the port extension of the petrochemical industry in East Kalimantan, where the SEL for that area has been established. The study emphasizes on the discussions on the environmental and regulatory aspects, in order to have background knowledge leading to the detail environmental management and monitoring study that shall be conducted prior the implementation of the project. The review is divided into two basic issues, namely dredging activity and ship-waste reception facilities. Due to related issues in dredging activities, review concerning dredging, coastal reclamation and dredged material dumping are grouped into one paragraph, while those of shipwaste reception facilities in other paragraph.

Quantitative evaluation of aerosol generation from upper airway suctioning assessed during tracheal intubation and extubation sequences in anaesthetized patients

SummaryBackgroundOpen respiratory suctioning is defined as an aerosol generating procedure (AGP). Laryngopharyngeal suctioning, used to clear secretions during anaesthesia, is widely managed as an AGP. However, it is uncertain whether upper airway suctioning should be designated as an AGP due to the lack of both aerosol and epidemiological evidence.AimTo assess the relative risk of aerosol generation by upper airway suctioning during tracheal intubation and extubation in anaesthetized patients.MethodsThis prospective environmental monitoring study was undertaken in an ultraclean operating theatre setting to assay aerosol concentrations during intubation and extubation sequences, including upper airway suctioning, for patients undergoing surgery (N=19). An optical particle sizer (particle size 0.3–10 μm) sampled aerosol 20 cm above the patient's mouth. Baseline recordings (background, tidal breathing and volitional coughs) were followed by intravenous induction of anaesthesia with neuromuscular blockade. Four periods of laryngopharyngeal suctioning were performed with a Yankauer sucker: pre-laryngoscopy, post-intubation, pre-extubation and post-extubation.FindingsAerosol was reliably detected {median 65 [interquartile range (IQR) 39–259] particles/L} above background [median 4.8 (IQR 1–7) particles/L, P<0.0001] when sampling in close proximity to the patient's mouth during tidal breathing. Upper airway suctioning was associated with a much lower average aerosol concentration than breathing [median 6.0 (IQR 0–12) particles/L, P=0.0007], and was indistinguishable from background (P>0.99). Peak aerosol concentrations recorded during suctioning [median 45 (IQR 30–75) particles/L] were much lower than during volitional coughs [median 1520 (IQR 600–4363) particles/L, P<0.0001] and tidal breathing [median 540 (IQR 300–1826) particles/L, P<0.0001].ConclusionUpper airway suctioning during airway management was not associated with a higher aerosol concentration compared with background, and was associated with a much lower aerosol concentration compared with breathing and coughing. Upper airway suctioning should not be designated as a high-risk AGP.

Risk-Based Prioritization of Organic Chemicals and Locations of Ecological Concern in Sediment From Great Lakes Tributaries.

With improved analytical techniques, environmental monitoring studies are increasingly able to report the occurrence of tens or hundreds of chemicals per site, making it difficult to identify the most relevant chemicals from a biological standpoint. For the present study, organic chemical occurrence was examined, individually and as mixtures, in the context of potential biological effects. Sediment was collected at 71 Great Lakes (USA/Canada) tributary sites and analyzed for 87 chemicals. Multiple risk‐based lines of evidence were used to prioritize chemicals and locations, including comparing sediment concentrations and estimated porewater concentrations with established whole‐organism benchmarks (i.e., sediment and water quality criteria and screening values) and with high‐throughput toxicity screening data from the US Environmental Protection Agency's ToxCast database, estimating additive effects of chemical mixtures on common ToxCast endpoints, and estimating toxic equivalencies for mixtures of alkylphenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This multiple‐lines‐of‐evidence approach enabled the screening of more chemicals, mitigated the uncertainties of individual approaches, and strengthened common conclusions. Collectively, at least one benchmark/screening value was exceeded for 54 of the 87 chemicals, with exceedances observed at all 71 of the monitoring sites. Chemicals with the greatest potential for biological effects, both individually and as mixture components, were bisphenol A, 4‐nonylphenol, indole, carbazole, and several PAHs. Potential adverse outcomes based on ToxCast gene targets and putative adverse outcome pathways relevant to individual chemicals and chemical mixtures included tumors, skewed sex ratios, reproductive dysfunction, hepatic steatosis, and early mortality, among others. The results provide a screening‐level prioritization of chemicals with the greatest potential for adverse biological effects and an indication of sites where they are most likely to occur. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1016–1041. Published 2022. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Application of a novel prioritisation strategy using non-target screening for evaluation of temporal trends (1969–2017) of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in archived lynx muscle tissue samples

Most environmental monitoring studies of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) focus on aquatic species and target specific classes of CECs. Even with wide-scope target screening methods, relevant CECs may be missed. In this study, non-target screening (NTS) was used for tentative identification of potential CECs in muscle tissue of the terrestrial top predator Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Temporal trend analysis was applied as a prioritisation tool for archived samples, using univariate statistical tests (Mann-Kendall and Spearman rank). Pooled lynx muscle tissue collected from 1969 to 2017 was analysed with an eight-point time series using a previously validated screening workflow. Following peak detection, peak alignment, and blank subtraction, 12,941 features were considered for statistical analysis. Prioritisation by time-trend analysis detected 104 and 61 features with statistically significant increasing and decreasing trends, respectively. Following probable molecular formula assignment and elucidation with MetFrag, two compounds with increasing trends, and one with a decreasing trend, were tentatively identified. These results show that, despite low expected concentration levels and high matrix effects in terrestrial species, it is possible to prioritise CECs in archived lynx samples using NTS and univariate statistical approaches.

Global Shallow Groundwater Patterns From Soil Moisture Satellite Retrievals

Groundwater is the most significant freshwater source and plays a critical role in the earth's water and energy balance. The lack of groundwater observations with a high spatiotemporal resolution at a global scale hinders our ability to study and model the environment when shallow groundwater has a direct impact on surface soil moisture. This study aims to estimate the spatial and temporal distributions of shallow groundwater-influenced areas at a global scale. We trained an ensemble machine learning algorithm, using outputs from a variably saturated soil moisture flux model, to identify the shallow groundwater occurrence. Model simulations spanned various climate zones and soil types across the globe. The overall accuracy of the algorithm in reproducing the soil moisture flux model results was 95.5%. We applied the algorithm to spaceborne soil moisture observations retrieved by NASA's SMAP satellite and present a global-scale shallow groundwater map derived from the SMAP observations. The derived global distribution of shallow groundwater identifies wetlands, large riparian corridors, and seasonally inundated lowlands. The results showed that 19% of terrestrial land cover had been influenced by shallow groundwater at some point in time during the period of interest (2015–2018). Temporally, shallow groundwater follows an annual cyclic pattern with 2% to 6% of the land surface being influenced globally. This study shows that SMAP observations could be used in estimating shallow groundwater in high spatiotemporal resolution at a global scale, potentially providing invaluable inputs for modeling and environmental monitoring studies.

Pico-molar electrochemical detection of ciprofloxacin at composite electrodes.

Rapid determination of antibiotic residues is crucial for both environmental monitoring and the ecosystem. The presented study explores the development of a sensitive, selective, and highly reproducible chemical sensor to detect the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cip) in 0.1 M NaNO3 and in tap water. The designed sensor was constructed using oxygen functionalized carbon nanotubes (OCNTs), a layer of conductive polymer (polydopamine; PDA), and electro-deposited silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) at a glassy carbon electrode. Double-pulse electro-deposition was employed, as it offers numerous advantages including quick analysis time (s, ms), high reproducibility, and does not require expensive complexing agents, even at room temperature. The fabricated chemical sensor was fully optimized and characterized using physiochemical and electrochemical techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and voltammetry. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate high applicability of the chemical sensor towards the detection of Cip in the pico-molar concentration range. Detection and quantification levels were determined and the stability of the sensor was assessed. The obtained results demonstrate the potential of the OCNTs-PDA-Ag sensor to detect Cip in environmental samples.

Environmental security issues in mining areas

In today's economy, it is necessary to explore the environmental impact of mining. Coal mining greatly affects all environmental parameters of the environment: home, production, hydrodynamics. The environmental situation in the area of the mining company can be changed if environmental contamination is monitored and environmental protection plans and measures are developed. The purpose of this work is the analysis of systems and models of these processes in the ecosystem. The main systemic hypothesis of the research is that the variety of criteria and methods of risk assessment is a necessary condition of order in the system. The main results of the work are the following: 1) a systematic analysis of the problems of environmental security, geodynamics of the mining areas, aspects of the balance of the sustainable process and the cause of the increase in danger was carried out; 2) Proposed approaches (models) for the assessment of evolutionary ecological potential and health risks, as well as adaptive situational modeling of the ecosystem. It is important to note, the study results do not suggest complex environmental monitoring studies.

Quantitative - Spatial Analysis of Soil Loss by Laminar Erosion and Comparison with NDVI Method of the Municipalities of Mandaguaçu and Presidente Castelo Branco / PR

Environmental monitoring is essential for society to maintain balance with the environment, given this fact, several methods from the science of geoprocessing and remote sensing were created to assist in the task. The present work used the Universal Soil Loss Equation to verify the spatiality of laminar erosions in the municipalities of Mandaguaçu and Presidente Castelo Branco, both in Paraná, in addition to comparing their results with data from the Digital Vegetation Index (NDVI) to obtain relationships between the loss of soils and the development or lack of vegetation. The results identified several foci of laminar erosion in the study area, as a possible cause, soils from the highly erodible Caiuá Sandstone can be considered, as well as topographic factors of the EUPS LS factor. It should be noted that the use of digital tools, satellite images and map algebra is not essential for environmental monitoring studies.

Distribution of pesticides and some of their transformation products in a small lentic waterbody: Fish, water, and sediment contamination in an agricultural watershed

More than 20 years after the Water Framework Directive was adopted, there are still major gaps in the sanitary status of small rivers and waterbodies at the head of basins. These small streams supply water to a large number of wetlands that support a rich biodiversity. Many of these waterbodies are fishponds whose production is destined for human consumption or for the restocking of other aquatic environments. However, these ecosystems are exposed to contaminants, including pesticides and their transformation products. This work aims to provide information on the distribution, diversity, and concentrations of agricultural contaminants in abiotic and biotic compartments from a fishpond located at the head of watersheds. A total of 20 pesticides and 20 transformation products were analyzed by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS in water and sediment sampled monthly throughout a fish production cycle, and in three fish species at the beginning and end of the cycle.The highest mean concentrations were found for metazachlor-OXA (519.48 ± 56.52 ng.L−1) in water and benzamide (4.23 ± 0.17 ng g−1 dry wt.) in sediment. Up to 20 contaminants were detected per water sample and 26 per sediment sample. The transformation products of atrazine (banned in Europe since 2003 but still widely used in other parts of the world), flufenacet, imidacloprid (banned in France since 2018), metazachlor, and metolachlor were more concentrated than their parent compounds. Fewer contaminants were detected in fish and principally prosulfocarb accumulated in organisms during the cycle.Our work brings innovative data on the contamination of small waterbodies located at the head of a basin. The transformation products with the highest frequency of occurrence and concentrations should be prioritized for further environmental monitoring studies, and specific toxicity thresholds should be defined. Few contaminants were found in fish, but the results challenge the widely use of prosulfocarb.

A preliminary study of environmental monitoring using embedded sensors in the soil

A preliminary study of environmental monitoring using embedded sensors in the soil

In search for potential biomarkers of copper stress in aquatic plants.

Over the last few decades, the use of pesticides and discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater on water surfaces have increased. Especially, Copper (Cu) pollution in aquatic ecosystems could constitute a major health problem, not only for flora and fauna but also for humans. To cope with this challenge, environmental monitoring studies have sought to find Cu-specific biomarkers in terrestrial and aquatic flora and/or fauna. This review discusses the toxic effects caused by Cu on the growth and development of plants, with a special focus on aquatic plants. While copper is considered as an essential metal involved in vital mechanisms for plants, when in excess it becomes toxic and causes alterations on biomarkers: biochemical (oxidative stress, pigment content, phytochelatins, polyamines), physiological (photosynthesis, respiration, osmotic potential), and morphological. In addition, Cu has a detrimental effect on DNA and hormonal balance. An overview of Cu toxicity and detoxification in plants is provided, along with information regarding Cu bioaccumulation and transport. Awareness of the potential use of these reactions as specific biomarkers for copper contamination has indeed become essential.

Pyrenocarpous lichens in Goa with five new records to India

The pyrenocarpous lichens are the one which produces perithecial ascocarps. They are one of the prominent groups of lichens in tropical forests. Frequent incidence of pyrenocarpous taxa in lichen biota of Goa prompted us to take up the exclusive study of this group in the State. The study revealed the occurrence of 79 species belonging to 15 genera and seven families. The family Pyrenulaceae had the maximum number of 23 species, while 20 belonged to the family Porinaceae. In comparison to North Goa, South Goa is fairly well explored for lichens representing 71 species from 11 localities. The following five species are reported as new to India — Porina exserta, P. siamensis, Pyrenula dissimulans, P. pyrenastrospora and P. rinodinospora. With the addition of five new records, the Goa State now represents 165 species of lichens, out of which 48% is represented by pyrenocarpous lichens. The present study will be useful for monographic studies on pyrenocarpous lichens and for environmental monitoring studies in the area, as this can be considered as a key indicator species.

Novel prioritisation strategies for evaluation of temporal trends in archived white-tailed sea eagle muscle tissue in non-target screening

Environmental monitoring studies based on target analysis capture only a small fraction of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and miss pollutants potentially harmful to wildlife. Environmental specimen banks, with their archived samples, provide opportunities to identify new CECs by temporal trend analysis and non-target screening. In this study, archived white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) muscle tissue was analysed by non-targeted high-resolution mass spectrometry. Univariate statistical tests (Mann-Kendall and Spearman rank) for temporal trend analysis were applied as prioritisation methods. A workflow for non-target data was developed and validated using an artificial time series spiked at five levels with gradient concentrations of selected CECs (n = 243). Pooled eagle muscle tissues collected 1965–2017 were then investigated with an eight-point time series using the validated screening workflow. Following peak detection, peak alignment, and blank subtraction, 14 409 features were considered for statistical analysis. Prioritisation by time-trend analysis detected 207 features with increasing trends. Following unequivocal molecular formula assignment to prioritised features and further elucidation with MetFrag and EU Massbank, 13 compounds were tentatively identified, of which four were of anthropogenic origin. These results show that it is possible to prioritise new CECs in archived biological samples using univariate statistical approaches.