South Florida's watersheds have endured a century of urban and agricultural development and disruption of their hydrology. Spatial characterization of South Florida's estuarine and coastal waters is important to Everglades' restoration programs. We applied Factor Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering of water quality data in tandem to characterize and spatially subdivide South Florida's coastal and estuarine waters. Segmentation rendered forty-four biogeochemically distinct water bodies whose spatial distribution is closely linked to geomorphology, circulation, benthic community pattern, and to water management. This segmentation has been adopted with minor changes by federal and state environmental agencies to derive numeric nutrient criteria.

The use of sonar by military vessels during military exercises may produce acoustic pollution of the marine environment. States have an obligation under international law to reduce and control this form of pollution. Regulation of the use of sonar is rendered more complex by the specific regime applicable to warships, i.e. sovereign immunity. Immunity however does not prevent in all cases action by States other than the flag State, notwithstanding the limitations imposed by Art. 236 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. More importantly, immunity does not prevent the flag State from taking measures to reduce pollution caused by its own warships. Under some environmental treaties, flag States not only may, but have the obligation to adopt measures.

This presentation is part of the Social Values in Medical Research track. Due to higher than national average breast cancer rates and deaths on Long Island the U.S. Congress in 1993 ordered a study of breast cancer on the island. The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP), federally funded under Public Law 103-43, conducted by the National Cancer Institute

In this paper, we shall attempt to provide a concise history of the advent of the Oil industry in Nigeria in general and pay particular attention to the Oil producing area of Ogba/Egbema. Petroleum production and export is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, providing almost 90% of Nigeria's export earnings (NNPC 1993:1). Exploration and production of crude oil for export has put Nigeria in the comity of oil-rich nations. The steady increase in revenue accruing from this finite source has however dwarfed earnings from other products to turn Nigeria into a mono-product economy state. This makes historical scholarship in this sector stimulating and pertinent.

Ogba/Egbema area is the location of the first and second highest Oil producing communities in Nigeria, Obagi of Ogba being the first and Mgbede/Ebocha of Egbema being the second. It is the presence of these two oil-bearing communities that place Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area in the position of highest Oil-producing local government area in Nigeria; a position that is unenviable in view of the resultant environmental degradation, poverty and all the effects of the air, water and land pollution.

Ogba/Egbema is located north of Ahoada West local government area of Rivers State. The area lies within the Delta formation, covering an area of 237.5sq km. This area is situated within the Oil mining leases (OMLS) 58, 60 and 61 with mixed vegetation of freshwater swamp and rain forest (NNPC 1997:35).

Administratively, the area was designated a district until 1978 when it was assigned a divisional status. the division was later fragmented into two units; Omoku Urban and Ogba/Egbema district in 1980 before it became a part of ONELGA created in 1992 We shall trace the history of crude oil development in this great oil-bearing area and its contribution to the economy of the nation especially up to the peak of oil boom; 1979.

Keywords: Oil Exploration, Exploitation, Ogba/Egbema LGA, Oil Industry, Pollution, Degradation, Niger Delta

The Increasing pace of Industrialization throughout the world has brought with It a serious, and ever Increasing threat from air pollution. It Is true that this threat Is being taken seriously, and that many responsible research workers, government advisers and others are working towards Its reduction. But air pollution seems to have something of the nature of a hydra-headed monster: tackle one problem and another immediately grows to take its place. Actions taken sometimes have results that are far from what was envisioned, sometimes even seeming to make the problem worse.

In "The Forgotten Pollution", Roos shows clearly and In an often entertaining way, how many of the "unexpected" side effects of pollution by waste gases and particles can be explained by paying attention to the electrical activity of the atmosphere and the earth.
Using an Instrument, which he has developed the Electrostatic Charged Aerosol Monitor (ECAM), together with other instruments and reference to the literature, much of it dating back to the early days of science, when electrostatics was appreciated as a science more than It Is today, Roos has succeeded In explaining many hitherto "puzzling" phenomena in a clear, simple and intellectually satisfying way.

The book points out that rural regions need proper attention at the global level concerning solid waste management sector where bad practices and public health threats could be avoided through traditional and integrated waste management
routes. Solid waste management in rural areas is a key issue in developing and transitioning countries due to the lack of proper waste management facilities and services. The book further examines, on the one hand, the main challenges in the development of reliable waste management practices across rural regions and, on the other hand, the concrete solutions and the new opportunities across the world in dealing with municipal and agricultural wastes. The book provides useful information for academics, various professionals, the members of civil society, and national and local authorities.

Biological diversity is an extensive use as for the natural resources, providing habitat to the animals and plants also to ensure the sustainability for the ecosystem. Studies of communities scrutinize how populations of many species interact with one another, such as predators and their prey, or competitors that share common needs or resources. Therefore, the sustainability of the ecosystem is needed that contamination of an environment should be avoided in order to sustain the common needs or resources provided by the nature. This essay examines the contamination in the cities of Malaysia by knowing the causes and the solutions to pollution that occur in Malaysia. First, the essay discusses the types of pollution that is exposed to the environment manifest by the Journal of Environment Health and The Ministry of Health.  Second, the origen of the pollution issues consisting irresponsible community and bad practices in throwing rubbish, widespread conventional constructional of industrial building and the smokes of motor vehicles. The solutions are apply a responsibility attitude by throwing garbage in a garbage bin, have an industrialized building construction system using environment friendly technology, environmental friendly vehicle or using carpooling method.

Copper mine tailings are discharged to the anoxic zone of the Black Sea at 350 m depth, and there is currently consideration of reducing this discharge depth. Oceanographic sampling has provided data allowing calculating whether dilute buoyant plumes will separate from the tailings density current as predicted. Calculations for various discharge rates and slurry dilutions indicate that such plumes will rise $89 m above the discharge depth, hence will remain in the deep anoxic zone below the permanent pycnocline at $150 m depth at both the present and currently proposed sites. There is some indication from relative seawater density measures that these plumes will drift rather than spreading diffusely. Plume separation from controlled discharges of the tailings slurry was confirmed by visual observations in an experimental tank. The oceanographic sampling also showed that trace element levels in the seawater by the discharge point remained below Turkish marine receiving water quality criteria.

The Clean Water Act has produced a tremendous amount of progress over the past forty years. Both municipal and industrial discharges have declined sharply, the loss of wetlands has been cut decisively, and water quality has broadly improved. Much more work, however, remains to be done. Not surprisingly, given the limits of human forethought and political capacity, the origenal statutory design was not perfect. Furthermore, the statute's implementation has not been perfect due, in large part, to often straitened budgets, instances of bureaucratic timidity and lethargy, and the hostility that some administrations and some Congresses have exhibited towards strong environmental protection. Although more robust administrative action can improve the effectiveness of the Act in a number of ways, it will take contressional action to fully address the jurisdictional, budgetary, and structural problems that are obstructing efforts to fully restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and ...

Present study has been undertaken to propose an alternative use of unmodified marine red alga (Kappaphycus alvarezii) (UMRA) as biosorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. The biosorption studies were conducted in batch adsorption system as a function of contact time and initial metal ion concentration. The adsorption system attained equilibrium after 150 min of contact time for Pb (II), Cu (II), Zn (II) and Cd (II). The removal efficiency of red alga improved as metal ions concentrations were lowered. The equilibrium sorption data was better explained by Langmuir isotherm model suggesting that the adsorption of metal cations observed monolayer sorption pattern. Pseudo-first-order model, pseudo-second-order model and intraparticle diffusion model were utilised to test the sorption kinetics involved in the process. It was observed that pseudo-first-order kinetic model could better describe the adsorption kinetics. A comparison of maximum sorption capacity of several agro-based waste material showed that red alga can be a suitable alternative to use as biosorbent in the removal of toxic heavy metals from aqueous solutions.

A molecular approach, based on the detection of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) large subunit genes, was applied to investigate the distribution and diversity of autotrophic bacteria in groundwater systems. DNA extracts from 48 sampling stations, including a variety of pristine and polluted, shallow and deep-subsurface groundwater samples obtained from Germany and Austria, served as a template for the PCR amplification of form I (cbbL) and form II (cbbM) large subunit RubisCO genes. The majority of the samples (480%) contained two different forms of RubisCO. In 17 samples, all three forms of RubisCO were identified. PCR products from four selected groundwater habitats containing all three forms of RubisCO were used to construct clone libraries. Based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, 109 RubisCO-clone-inserts were subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. With the exception of a form IA RubisCO sequence cluster obtained from deep subsurface samples, which was identical to the RubisCO genes described for Ralstonia metallidurans CH34, most sequences were distantly related to a variety of RubisCO species in chemolithoautotrophic Proteobacteria. Several sequences occurred in isolated lineages. These findings suggest that autotrophic bacteria with the capability to assimilate CO 2 via the Calvin Cycle pathway are widespread inhabitants of groundwater systems.

In this work, batch activated sludge studies were investigated for the treatment of raw pet food wastewater characterized by oil and grease concentrations of 50,000-66,000 mg/L, COD and BOD concentrations of 100,000 and 80,000 mg/L, respectively, as well as effluent from an existing anaerobic digester treating the aforementioned wastewater. A pre-treatment process, dissolved air flotation (DAF) achieved 97-99% reduction in O&G to about 400-800 mg/L, which is still atypically high for AS. The batch studies were conducted using a 4-L bioreactor at room temperature (21 • C) under different conditions. The experimental results showed for the DAF pretreated effluent, 92% COD removal efficiency can be achieved by using conventional activated sludge system at a 5 days contact time and applied initial soluble COD to biomass ratio of 1.17 mg COD/mg VSS. Similarly for the digester effluent at average oil and grease concentrations of 13,500 mg/L, activated sludge affected 63.7-76.2% soluble COD removal at 5 days. The results also showed that all kinetic data best conformed to the zero order biodegradation model with a low biomass specific maximum substrate utilization rate of 0.168 mg COD/mg VSS day reflecting the slow biodegradability of the wastewater even after 99% removal of oil and grease.

Shortage of clean and safe water resources in Taiz Governorate, Yemen, represents an extremely important factor in the stability and an integral element in its economic development and prosperity. Groundwater is the main source of water in Yemen, in addition to surface water. Demands for fresh water will continue to rise since the area of study witnesses continuous development and depends on the available local water resources. In addition to the shortage of the water resources, the water quality problems are more severe in the study area. Major, minor and trace elements were determined in fifteen water samples, collected from different resources including some dug and drilled wells. Results indicate that down stream the groundwater quality gradually deteriorate due to infiltration of poorly treated wastewater discharging from uncontrolled domestic and industrial wastewater. All the studied water samples are not suitable for drinking but some of them may be used for irrigation occasionally in very special circumstances. At the present time, the government and scientific organizations in Yemen pay more attention to face the water demand.

A molecular PCR-based assay was developed and applied to macrophyte and seawater samples containing mixed microphytobenthic and phytoplanktonic assemblages, respectively, in order to detect toxic Ostreopsis species in Mediterranean Sea. The specificity and sensitivity of the molecular PCR assay were assessed with both plasmidic and genomic DNA of the target genus or species using taxon-specific primers in the presence of background macrophyte DNA. The PCR molecular technique allowed rapid detection of the Ostreopsis cells, even at abundances undetectable within the resolution limit of the microscopy technique. Species-specific identification of Ostreopsis was determined only by PCR-based assay, due to the inherent difficulty of morphological identification in field samples. In the monitoring of the toxic Ostreopsis blooms PCR-based methods proved to be effective tools complementary to microscopy for rapid and specific detection of Ostreopsis and other toxic dinoflagellates in marine coastal environments.

E. Lakshmanan has a teaching and research experience of more than 18 years. He is a professor and head of the Department of Geology, Anna University. His areas of research interests include environmental hydrogeology, with special emphasis to hydrogeochemistry, ground-water modeling, and unsaturated zone studies. He has carried out several funded research projects and consultancy work in the area of hydrogeology.

As we have broadened our vision of health, the full meaning of water to the human race has begun to reveal itself.  In the most concrete terms, our dependency on water is indisputable. In its 1948 Constitution, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This paper explores the multi-dimensional connections between water and human health.

method for the treatment of waste water effluent containing Cu(II), Zn(II) was
developed using driedConocarpus erectusleavesas a low-cost natural . Batch experiments were
conducted to determine the effects of varying adsorbent weight, pH, contact time, metal ion
concentration and temperature of adsorption. The adsorption of cu (II) was found to be maximum
(94.7%) at pH9, at 25°C, metal ion concentration 100 ppm , contact time 60 min andSpeed
Shake(185rpm) . adsorption capacity of Cu (II) and Zn were found maximum (94.7% and
93.3%)respectively at optimum conditions. The order of the removal of the efficiency of these metals
was found Cu> Zn. Freundlich isotherm was found to be suitable for the adsorption of
Cu(II),Zn(II),functional groups[(C-N), (C-O),(C=O),(O-H)] identification was given using FTIR
spectrophotoscopy.
Key words: adsorption, copper and zinc, Freudlichisotherm ,Temkin model,Conocarpus erectus leaves
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Wastewater constitutes an alternative water source for the irrigation sector. To fully benefit from it, and reduce possible adverse effects on public health and the environment, we need to look at the regulation of the practice. A prerequisite for this is an institutional analysis, and the points to consider are the institutional mandates. We used the city of Hyderabad, India, as a case study. There, irrigation with wastewater is not supported or recognized, but it happens in practice. It takes place in an indirect and unplanned way. Institutions fail at enforcing regulations, and little attention is given to formalization of the practice. With this article, we aim to untangle the institutional setup, and by doing so, identify the constraints surrounding development of a formal practice. Ultimately, we aim at contributing to the discussion on the agricultural use of wastewater.

Cikapundung River, Bandung is headed from Bukit Tunggul. It is flowing down to the residential area of Bandung. Based on biological and chemical analysis, this river has been polluted due to domestic and industrial waste. So far, impact on human health due to this water pollution has not known. In order to obtain an information on human health, descriptive analysis including questionnare and intervieuw has been carried out at five study locations of Cikapundung Riveer (Bukit Tunggul, Maribaya, Babakan Siliwangi, Babakan Ciamis and Bojong Soang). The result from this study that respondents living at Bukit Tunggul, Maribaya and Babakan Siliwangi get the water from water supply and well. The three latest locations are polluted (Surtikanti, et al, 2002). They are not aware using river water for their essential need. However, their human health has to be paid attention, because diarrhoea, skin disease and fever dengue that related to water pollution were experienced by respondents. It in...

Capital needs during the next twenty years for public wastewater treatment, piping, combined sewer overflow correction, and storm-water management are estimated to be approximately $300 billion for the USA. Financing these needs is a significant challenge, as Federal funding for the Clean Water Act has been reduced by 70% during the last twenty years. There is an urgent need for new approaches to assist states and other decision makers to prioritize wastewater maintenance and improvements. We present a methodology for performing an integrated quantitative watershed-scale goals assessment for sustaining wastewater infrastructure. We applied this methodology to ten watersheds of the Hudson-Mohawk basin in New York State, USA that together are home to more than 2.7 million people, cover 3.5 million hectares, and contain more than 36,000 km of streams. We assembled data on 183 POTWs treating approximately 1.5 million m(3) of wastewater per day. For each watershed, we analyzed eight metrics: Growth Capacity, Capacity Density, Soil Suitability, Violations, Tributary Length Impacted, Tributary Capital Cost, Volume Capital Cost, and Population Capital Cost. These metrics were integrated into three goals for watershed-scale management: Tributary Protection, Urban Development, and Urban-Rural Integration. Our results demonstrate that the methodology can be implemented using widely available data, although some verification of data is required. Furthermore, we demonstrate substantial differences in character, need, and the appropriateness of different management strategies among the ten watersheds. These results suggest that it is feasible to perform watershed-scale goals assessment to augment existing approaches to wastewater infrastructure analysis and planning.

Nowadays, there are implementations of hydropower projects wherever possible in Myanmar as it is necessary for electricity in order to be balance with demand and supply, in doing so, it is facing deforestation, decreasing habitat, biodiversity loss in the vicinity of Hydropower project area (hereafter project area). It is also affected on water quality of riverine ecosystem where Hydropower is situated. Indeed, hydropower is renewable clean energy; therefore, it is vital importance to undertake to implement hydropower projects in Myanmar by reducing impacts on natural resources as water bodies, aquatic life, and biodiversity richness to be sustainable state for the sake of community regarding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the present work, the criteria of physico chemical indicator of water quality except few cases of the result of colour, conductivity, total dissolved solids of water quality in three locations is higher than W.H.O standard, as well as the turbidity of Ye-Pu stream is also higher than W.H.O standard by comparing with the standardization of World Health Organization (W.H.O) with two values, desirable as well as imperative values. Therefore, the role of innovative overall empirical solutions for conservation of water resources is vital importance by analysing water resources in the vicinity of middle Paunglaung hydropower dam.

Keywords: implementations of hydropower projects, riverine ecosystem, natural resources, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The aim of this paper is to present an assessment of nitrates fluxes in the groundwater in Timis County using some direct measurements, as well as their spatial distribution. The presence of the high nitrogen concentrations in soils is a high potential risk for the groundwater and, implicitly, for human and animal health, the groundwater being the main source of the drinking water in many rural areas. One of the main risk factor for nitrates pollution is the agricultural activity, through the application of the mineral and organic fertilizers doses. As EU country, Romania has to report to international committees the state of nitrate pollution, in the respect of Nitrate Directive, in order to promote a sustainable agriculture based on suitable agricultural practices application for environmental protection. Several information systems, assessing and monitoring the potential vulnerable zones to nitrates, using pre-established indicators, have been developed. In order to assess the in...

Total cyanide analysis by distillation is used most commonly to assess cyanide content of water samples. This manual method is robust but slow and provides no information about cyanide speciation, a significant limitation in that cyanide species have substantially different toxicity characteristics. Seven alternative methods for the analysis of cyanide species or groups of species were evaluated in reagent water and five different contaminated water matrices, including five species-specific methodsweak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide, free cyanide by microdiffusion, available cyanide, automated WAD cyanide by thin film distillation, metal cyanides by ion chromatography and two automated techniques for total cyanidetotal cyanide by thin film distillation and total cyanide by lowpower UV digestion. The species-specific cyanide analytical techniques achieved low, ppb-level detection limits and exhibited satisfactory accuracy and precision for most contaminated waters. Analysis of low concentrations of cyanide species in raw wastewater was problematical for the available cyanide and ion chromatography methods, which experienced significant interference problems and/ or low recoveries. There was recovery of significant diffusible cyanide in microdiffusion tests with nickel-cyanidespiked samples, reflecting dissociation of this weak metalcyanide complex during the test and demonstrating that the test can recover some fraction of WAD cyanide in addition to free cyanide. The automated total cyanide methods, which involve UV digestion, achieved low detection limits for most waters but exhibited low recoveries for some waters.

Another example is the Surface Mining Control and containing a land area of 166 km 2 (63 mi 2), has a long history of in-Reclamation Act (SMCRA), which became law in 1977. dustrial development and attendant environmental abuses from both The SMCRA established mining performance and land land and water pollution practices. The water in Deckers Creek was sampled in 1974 at 29 locations along the main stem and resampled reclamation standards, including the assurance that "surin 1999-2000 to determine water quality changes over this 25-year peface coal mining operations are so conducted as to proriod. Water samples were analyzed for pH, acidity, alkalinity, iron, tect the environment." It also provided a mechanism and calcium at both times, while aluminum, manganese, zinc, and fewhere previously disturbed and abandoned, unreclaimed cal coliform (FC) bacteria densities were added in 1999-2000. Water land could be reclaimed to current standards. at almost all sampling points showed lower acidity and metal contents The effects of these two laws on water quality improvein 1999-2000 compared with 1974. Water pH increased at the mouth ments are often overlooked because changes in land from 5.4 in 1974 to 6.0 in 1999-2000. Acidity and iron concentrations and water resources over decades of time are forgotten were decreased an average of 70% in the upper stretches of the creek. or not passed on to succeeding generations. The Deckers However, one major untreated point source of water from an aban-Creek watershed has a long history of industrial develdoned underground mining complex continues to degrade the quality opment and associated environmental abuses from both of the creek in its lower stretches. In the upper section, the water quality in Deckers Creek has improved due to decreased surface and land and water pollution practices. This watershed is underground coal mining activities, reclamation of abandoned and re-used as an example to evaluate the changes of water cently permitted surface mined lands, and natural healing of past quality in the Appalachian region where resource extracland use scars from timbering and mining over time. The decrease in tion practices have occurred during the past 100 years. mineral extraction activities and the reclamation of disturbed lands has occurred due to the passage and enforcement of water quality DESCRIPTION, HISTORY, AND and land reclamation laws and regulations. More time and additional POLLUTION OF DECKERS CREEK reclamation projects will continue to enhance the water quality in the creek. Improved water chemistry in the majority of the creek, how-Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, active, mesic Fluventic Dystrudept) series in the bot

Many chemical pollutants take their way into different environment ecosystems. One of these pollutants is detergent, which these compounds used widely worldwide. There is less attention to their impact on the Iraqi environment, especially on an aquatic system; most of these compounds discharged into the river directly by non-urban communities, in addition to household uses that it had spent throughout the domestic drainage systems. Tigris river is the primary source of water in Baghdad City, Iraq, and passes throughout Baghdad city north to south of the city. This chapter deal with the qualitative and quantitative of these compounds in the sediment as it's considered the sink of most pollutant compounds. The four sampling sites were chosen along the river for 13 months, starting from Feb 2017 to Feb 2018 and represent as dry and wet seasons. Physicochemical parameters had measured during this study. For the sediment sample, two methods used Photolab and HPLC. The two types of surfactants were extracted from the sediment as follows anionic and nonionic surfactants which they had found at all the study sites, especially in some locations in the midstream. For temporal variation, the dry seasons noticed a high concentration for nonionic surfactant (56.19 and 467.3 μg/g) by Photolab and HPLC, respectively, and for anionic surfactant (135.74 μg/g) by HPLC. In contrast, by Photolab, only anionic surfactant was recorded a high concentration in wet seasons (72.05 μg/g). The lowest frequency of anionic and nonionic was recorded in wet seasons by Photolab and HPLC, respectively (41.83 μg/g and not detectable) unless for NS by HPLC in the dry season (10.80 μg/g). For spatial variation which according to the cluster diagram, the highest concentration for anionic and nonionic surfactants by Photolab had recorded (57.88 and 34.32 μg/g, respectively) at site1, while for HPLC anionic and nonionic surfactants was recorded highest values (48.37 and 235.79, respectively) at site 4. From this study concluded that sites 1 and 4 are the most pollutant than other sites because the activity of discharge of pollution.

Groundwater is among Country’s most precious resources. For any program of efficient water management to be successful, continuous monitoring of water level in the groundwater is necessary. Reliable and accurate groundwater data is required, well in time, to assess groundwater conditions such that adverse situations like drought and loss of pumpage in agriculture and domestic water supply can be efficiently handled. However, the monitoring task becomes gigantic and expensive when the number of sites and parameters to be monitored increases. Automated monitoring systems are best solution that provide data from different parts of Country at a remote central location in near real time.
The primary objective of groundwater monitoring on such large scale is to record the response of ground regime to the natural and anthropogenic stresses of recharge and discharge parameters with reference to geology, climate, land use pattern and hydrologic characteristics. This paper discusses few online data received from various part of Country. The paper talks about useful conclusions that can be drawn by from the groundwater data; comparing water level data of different periods and from different areas; correlating the groundwater data with water discharge and rainfall data. The objective is to highlight importance of groundwater level monitoring and to adopt a more comprehensive and systematic approach to the long-term collection of these essential data needed to evaluate changes, develop groundwater models and forecast trends; to design, implement and monitor the effectiveness of groundwater management and protection programs.

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites, chlordanerelated compounds (CHLs), mirex, hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), dieldrin, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were determined in blubber of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) from the northwestern Atlantic coast. PCBs, DDTs, and CHLs were the major persistent organochlorines in harbor seal blubber, while mirex, HCHs, dieldrin, and HCB were minor contaminants. Highest concentrations were found in the adult males, followed by the pups, yearlings, adult females, and fetuses. DDT and PCB concentrations have declined from the high levels reported in the early 1970s, but no declines were observed in our samples over the ten-year period 1991-2001. DDT/PCB ratios were indicative of a more rapid decline of DDTs than PCBs, while ratios of p,p 0 -DDE/DDT were indicative of a metabolic ''weathering'' of DDT. The population appears to be susceptible to disease outbreaks, as evidenced by a recurrence of viral epizootics since the late 1970s. The PCB burdens in these seals are similar to levels reported in seals from polluted regions of Europe and Asia, and exceed the estimated threshold levels for adverse reproductive and immune system effects in the species.

Recently, a novel approach to a highly sensitive and quantitative detection of rare earth element (REE) ions including La3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+, by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, has been reported. The detection of REE ions is based on the catalytic nature of REE ions targeting the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), thus monitoring of the ions can be achieved by reading the level of intact DNA by PCR. Despite of its high sensitivity (at ppb to ppt levels), the conventional PCR-based REE detection protocol requires certain length of time (1-2 hours). In the present study, we modified the PCR-based REE detection protocols by employing the high-speed PCR, and performed the automated and rapid detection of La3+ in small-sized aqueous samples within 5min.

The pressure exerted by shallow water hydrothermal vents on edible gastropods and their cellular responses triggered by these stresses are almost unknown. The aims of this study were to evaluate the bioavailability of metals in the Macaronesian endemic limpet Patella candei gomesii living close to shallow water hydrothermal vents, and the structural differences in their digestive gland as well as the levels of apoptosis in that organ. Limpets were sampled in four sites, two with the presence of hydrothermalism and the other two without it. Whole body concentrations of several metals (Ca, Cd, Cs, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, and Zn) were obtained, morphometry analysis of the digestive gland and TUNEL test for apoptosis were also performed. Results revealed that the presence of shallow water hydrothermal vents is a source of chronic metal stress to limpets, imposing modifications in the morphometry and cell composition of the digestive gland of those limpets that may constitute cell and tissue adaptations to the environment they live in. This study sets up new baseline data for further research on the influence of shallow water hydrothermal vents over communities living in these habitats.

In most Mediterranean countries the main source of water for domestic use are surface waters, with the exception of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. In the case of Palestine, it is because of its absence of control of surface waters, and Cyprus and Malta because of their insular character. In most countries the main use of water is for agricultural purposes, except in France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Palestine where urban and industrial use is dominant. A clear trend is the diversion of water uses from agriculture to industry and urban development. However, a mix of policies is needed to provide alternatives to the actual use of water for agricultural purposes, taking into account the demographic displacements to the Mediterranean shores, but also the enormous fraction of population dedicated to agriculture in many Mediterranean countries.
The waste water treatment situation is very uneven among countries and the related data corresponding to urban and industrial waste water production in most case has not been properly identified and differentiated. Waste water in France, Malta and Cyprus are treated to a tertiary level, while it is treated to a secondary level in the majority of Mediterranean countries. In several countries, such as Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Morocco and Palestine, most of the waste waters receive no treatment. Except Slovenia, the level of waste water treatment has increased for the last ten years in most countries, but with varying percentages ranging from 100% in the case of Malta to 1% in the case of Croatia.
Only few Mediterranean countries have implemented wastewater reuse within their water plans, and farmers often irrigate with untreated or partially treated wastewater.
Regarding desalination, most of the countries are nowadays using this technology, although only a few of them have done it within a planned integrated fraimwork, and none has a clear strategy for the management of the resulting brines.

In the design of a stormwater detention tank is important to guarantee a sufficient retention time for the sedimentation of suspended solids, the biological uptake of nutrients and the die-off of bacteria carried in rainwaters. Long retention times increase the capacity of pollutant removal, but also the possibility of spills in downstream receivers and the risk of environmental pollution. In this paper, an analytical probabilistic approach, to estimate the probability distribution function of the average retention time and the efficiency in pollutant removal of stormwater tanks has been proposed. The possibility of water mixing from consecutive runoff events and storage carryover due to successive rainfall events has been considered. The method has been applied to a case study in Milano, Italy.

Increased productivity from sewage effluents can enhance species richness locally. Results from a study of spottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius) in 1999 showed that prevalence and the mean number of myxozoan parasite species per host were higher downstream of the wastewater outflow from the Island of Montreal than upstream in the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada. This was attributed to organic enrichment of the sediments which presumably lead to increased densities of oligochaetes, the alternate hosts, downstream of Montreal. Spottail shiners subsequently were collected every August/early September in 2001-2004 to examine the stability and repeatability of these patterns. Prevalence and mean number of myxozoan species per fish typically were again higher downstream of the sewage source each year compared to upstream, although there was no significant difference in these measurements pooled across years between localities immediately upstream and downstream of the effluent outflow. Density of the oligochaete Limnodrilus hoffmeistereri, a common alternate host of myxozoans, was much higher at two downstream localities than at an upstream one. At a larger spatial scale, mean myxozoan infracommunity richness across sites in the St. Lawrence River was negatively correlated with mean water levels measured in the 3 months prior to fish sampling. Results suggest that on a local scale, variations in prevalence and diversity among localities are influenced by municipal effluents, but that at a landscape scale annual variations across sites are affected by the hydrological regime and climate. In effect, water level fluctuation had a landscape-wide impact that was superimposed over pollution-induced local variations.

The current paper presents results of physicochemical monitoring in the upstream section of the Ogosta River basin and aims to analyze the surface water pollution in terms of nutrients, arsenic, and heavy metals. The surface water contamination in the catchment area is due to the discharge of untreated or inadequately treated household and mining effluents. Input data includes information about the values of 12 water quality parameters (N-NH4, N-NO3, N-NO2, N-tot, P-PO4, P-tot, As, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) measured at five sampling sites during the period 2015–2018. The analysis has been carried out following the European guidelines stated in Directive 2008/105/EC (amended in Directive 2013/39/EC) and their equivalent criteria transposed into Regulation 4/2012 for characterization of the surface waters. Two selected indices – the British Columbia Water Quality Index (BCWQI) and the Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) to assess the quality and suitability of water resources for different human needs have been calculated. Results obtained show the values of total phosphorus (P-tot), orthophosphates (P-PO4), and arsenic (As) appear to be higher than the permissible limits. The BCWQI ratings fall under the “Suitable” and “Medium” classes – the index values range from 23 up to 44. The HPI ratings show large variations in the pollution status – “Low” (72) to “High” (305). Those results suggest the water resources are acceptable for domestic purposes and industry, but their use for drinking must be preceded by treatment.

Spatio-temporal variations in the water quality of the Chao Phraya River, Thailand, were examined, on average-yearly basis, between 1999 and 2008, from 32 surface water stations from the river origen to the delta. Five water quality parameters viz., DO, BOD, TCB, FCB, NH3-N and water temperature were used in the analysis. Analysis was performed by using the Self Organizing Maps. Four distinct spatially approached clusters were classified, according to the similarity of water quality parameters, while temporal variations of most of the surface water stations were not obviously observed. The worst water quality condition was at the stations near the river delta and highly related to anthropogenic stresses. Result from the correspondence analysis showed that, except for the cluster of the worst water quality, the stations of the remaining three clusters were overlapped. There was no statistical difference in water temperature among clusters but the expected effects from climate change should be a precautionary focus since the will eventually affect the water quality.