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Biomonitoring of aquatic system is an important tool for the evaluation of aquatic life of fauna and flora as well as ecosystems. Biomonitoring help to reveal the current condition of environmental health, presence of any kind of stressors in aquatic system. Monitoring water quality in the 21st century is a growing challenge due to excessive utilization of chemicals in different forms in our daily life. Water quality plays a vital role as indicator of environmental pollution in aquatic bodies. Discharge of domestic and industrial waste and surface run-off containing various pollutants in water bodies are becoming major threat to the aquatic ecosystem as well as human being. Contamination of water can be accidental or intentional and the consequences are drastic unless the appropriate measures are adopted on the spot. Thus, it’s very important to quick detection of the possible contaminants and pollutants in aquatic bodies for maintaining the good environmental health and ecosystem. This review provides compiled information regarding the various tools and technologies for monitoring water quality including the biological and physico-chemical parameters which are very much essential in tailing the quality status of water bodies and beneficial in developing management strategies also. The real time monitoring techniques are the advanced methods to monitor the changes both qualitatively and quantitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Danish company Premium Porc Group is the second largest producer of pork on the local market, the production activity being carried out in the 12 pig farms in Vrancea, Brăila, Constanta, Olt, Sibiu, and Brasov and since 2013 also within the Negreni farm in Olt County. The two lagoons for the storage and biological treatment of the liquid dejections have the bottoms and the soles waterproofed with geotextile membrane, and, to prevent the distribution of odours in the village, the dejections stored in these two ponds are permanently covered with a waterproof membrane. The solid dejections storage platform is located at a distance of 35 m from the two liquid dejections storage lagoons. To highlight how the activity of rearing and production of swine within Premium Porc Negreni Company from Olt County affects the quality of environmental factors, samples of air, rain water and groundwater were collected during 2018-2020 and subjected to analysis. The following quality indicators were analysed and monitored: NH3 and H2S emission (longlasting 24 h and short-term 30-minute averages), pollutant emissions from combustion gases from the natural gas thermal power plant (particulate, CO, NO2 and SO2) and the noise in the air; pH, total suspended particulates (TSM) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (THP) from meteoric/pluvial water discharged into the Negriöara stream; pH, nitrites and nitrates species in groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NGWA-Supported Aquifer Recharge Loan Brings $224 Million to California The California Water Resources Board along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on October 26, 2021, a $224 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Los Angeles. EPA Announces Comprehensive National Strategy to Confront PFAS Pollution U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan announced on October 18 the agency's comprehensive PFAS Strategic Roadmap to confront PFAS contamination nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on November 22, 2021, against the state of Mississippi in its claim that Memphis, Tennessee, was stealing its groundwater from across state lines. To watch the hearing, visit www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/10/evaluating-the-federal-response-to-the-persistence-and-impacts-of-pfas-chemicals-on-our-environment EPA Announces $477 Million WIFIA Loan for Major Managed Aquifer Recharge Project The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on September 10, 2021, a $477 million WIFIA loan to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) in Washington, DC. [Extracted from the article]

Environmental pollution is a constant problem. Since vehicle emissions are the main cause of pollution, this approach can be a preventive measure. The purpose of the paper is to implement a vehicle pollution monitoring system based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Sensors connected to the Arduino Uno monitor the level of pollutants in the vehicle's exhaust gases. If the measured value exceeds the threshold value, the vehicle owner will be issued a warning message two or three times as a warning, and if the owner refuses to repair it, the message will be sent to the authorities. Finally, the data is stored in the cloud for further processing. The main goal is to create an innovative and time-saving method that will help solve the problem of environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruderal plants that remove toxic metals by accumulating in their tissues are called accumulators. Such accumulators can be used for phytoremediation or phytomining. The use of plants for biomonitoring environmental pollution by a non-invasive monitoring method correlates the effects of anthropogenic factors and living organisms. The advantage is the early detection of changes in the environment, thanks to the rapid response of bioindicators, responding to changes in the habitat, for example, by creating deformations. At present, biomonitoring is one of the indispensable parts of nature and environmental protection. The following species were selected for research - Aster amellus L., Rosa canina L. and Paraleucobryum longifolium; the area of interest was the post-mining area. The aim of the study was to verify the hyperaccumulation activity of ruderal plants on the thermally active dump pile Ema, in the district of Ostrava-Karviná, Czech Republic. The plant samples were taken in the places with the thermal activity and were compared as for the capacity of bioaccumulation of hazardous metals - Co, Mo, Cd, Pb, Cr, As, Ba, Sr in the plant tissues from different parts of the plants (root, stem, leaf, fruit). The results were compared with the collection of metals at sampling points. The highest ability to bioaccumulate was demonstrated by plants from the Bryophyta division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: In-Situ and Hybrid Machine Learning—Geostatistical Interpolation method for groundwater quality monitoring applications. This article discusses the assessment of groundwater quality using a hybrid technique that would aid in the convenience of groundwater (GW) quality monitoring. Twenty eight (28) GW samples representing 62 barangays in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines were analyzed for their physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal (HM) concentrations. The 28 GW samples were collected at suburban sites identified by the coordinates produced by Global Positioning System Montana 680. The analysis of heavy metal concentrations was conducted onsite using portable handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) Spectrometry. Hybrid machine learning—geostatistical interpolation (MLGI) method, specific to neural network particle swarm optimization with Empirical Bayesian Kriging (NN-PSO+EBK), was employed for data integration, GW quality spatial assessment and monitoring. Spatial map of metals concentration was produced using the NN-PSO-EBK. Another, spot map was created for observed metals concentration and was compared to the spatial maps. Results showed that the created maps recorded significant results based on its MSEs with values such as 1.404 × 10−4, 5.42 × 10−5, 6.26 × 10−4, 3.7 × 10−6, 4.141 × 10−4 for Ba, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, respectively. Also, cross-validation of the observed and predicted values resulted to R values range within 0.934–0.994 which means almost accurate. Based on these results, it can be stated that the technique is efficient for groundwater quality monitoring. Utilization of this technique could be useful in regular and efficient GW quality monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fecal enterococci are generally not virulent; however, multidrug-resistant strains have emerged as leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. Thus, periodic enterococci monitoring should be included in highly populated cities to control the dissemination of multidrug-resistant strains to the marine environment. This study aimed to quantify enterococci bacteria from water and intertidal sediment samples in a beach located near Rio de Janeiro touristic spots. We also intended to accomplish if enterococci should be included in touristic beaches sanitary monitoring. Toward this approach, we monitored from August to December 2014 fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) at a beach close to some touristic spots through multiple tube method. Although FIB quantification was within sanitary standards of Brazilian legislation, high enterococci densities (=30 MNP.100 mL-1) were detected in the water collected in August. Thus, enterococci monitoring should be included in touristic beaches to avoid the risk of multidrug-resistant bacteria dissemination among swimmers and beachgoers.

Currently, air pollution is a critical public health problem, which means that the daily measurement of urban air quality can be enriched if measured in a personalized way. Personal environmental monitoring devices can guide the population to take action. They can track their daily activities, avoiding situations that could affect their health, allowing them to precisely know the air quality they breathe in real-time in various microenvironments. In this work, we present a review of cyclonic separation technology patents, such as pre-separators in monitoring devices. We focused on the state-of-the-art commercially available personal monitoring devices, the classification of kinds of patents, and a review of cyclone patents and gas–particle separation behaviors. The World Intellectual Property Organization IP’s portal and Google Patents search engine were used, using international patent classification plus mesh terms involving a cyclone in an air particulate monitor after predefining inclusion and exclusion criteria such as gas–air cyclones, high efficiency, and fine particle separation. Twenty-nine patents were analyzed according to the main characteristics (e.g., cut point, flow rate, and cyclone improvement) available in the patent document. The wide range of cyclones indicates a maximum flow rate of between 0.5 and 4.5 Lpm and a lower cyclone cut point of 0.8 μm. This review includes a discussion of the most relevant features of the patent documents (flow rate, particle cut point, some cyclone improvements, and technology detection). This paper aims to give an overview of the use of cyclones as pre-separators for personal air monitoring devices and to acknowledge the patented improvements of new inventors or developers.

The technological step towards sensors’ miniaturization, low-cost platforms, and evolved communication paradigms is rapidly moving the monitoring and computation tasks to the edge, causing the joint use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning (ML) to be massively employed. Edge devices are often composed of sensors and actuators, and their behavior depends on the relative rapid inference of specific conditions. Therefore, the computation and decision-making processes become obsolete and ineffective by communicating raw data and leaving them to a centralized system. This paper responds to this need by proposing an integrated architecture, able to host both the sensing part and the learning and classifying mechanisms, empowered by ML, directly on board and thus able to overcome some of the limitations presented by off-the-shelf solutions. The presented system is based on a proprietary platform named SENSIPLUS, a multi-sensor device especially devoted to performing electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) on a wide frequency interval. The measurement acquisition, data processing, and embedded classification techniques are supported by a system capable of generating and compiling code automatically, which uses a toolchain to run inference routines on the edge. As a case study, the system capabilities of such a platform in this work are exploited for water quality assessment. The joint system, composed of the measurement platform and the developed toolchain, is named SENSIPLUS-LM, standing for SENSIPLUS learning machine. The introduction of the toolchain empowers the SENSIPLUS platform moving the inference phase of the machine learning algorithm to the edge, thus limiting the needs of external computing platforms. The software part, i.e., the developed toolchain, is available for free download from GitLab, as reported in this paper.

Up-to-date data on the concentrations of priority PAHs in the sediments of Lake Baikal in 2019–2020 have been obtained by HPLC with fluorometric detection. The results of the monitoring of PAHs in the sediments in the areas subject to anthropogenic impact, including discharges of municipal sewage effluents from the city of Baikalsk [wastewater discharges of the former Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM)], landfills of the front delta of the Selenga River, and the northern part of the lake adjacent to the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM), are presented. The concentration of 15 PAHs in the BPPM region varied from 8.5 to 737.8 ng/g, in the Selenga region, from 23.6 to 218.9 ng/g, and in the BAM region, from 2.2 to 380.8 ng/g. Analysis of the sediment samples from the region of the Small Sea of Baikal was performed for the first time (total PAHs 3.2–121.3 ng/g). The minimum PAH concentrations were found in low organic matter consertal sands. The average concentration of benzo(a)pyrene, as well as other high-molecular-weight PAHs, was approximately 2–5 times higher in the sediments of the Baikalsk region compared to the BAM region and the front delta of the Selenga River. It was found that the PAH profiles in the sediments of the BAM and Selenga landfills were similar to each other and significantly differed from those of the Baikalsk landfill. The study of the origin of PAHs in the sediments showed that most of the samples were of pyrogenic nature. The pyrogenicity indices (∑ PAHs (4-6-nuclear)/total PAHs and ∑ PAHs (5-6-nuclear)/ ∑ PAHs (2–4-nuclear) were higher in the southern Baikal region compared to the delta of the Selenga River, Small Sea, and nothern Baikal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioaerosols, usually defined as aerosols derived from biological systems, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, play an important role in atmospheric physical and chemical processes, such as ice nucleation and cloud condensation. Thus their transport affects regional climate change and public health. Lidar is an effective technique for aerosol detection and pollution monitoring as well as profiling the vertical distribution of wind vectors. In this paper, a coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL) was deployed for wind and aerosol detection in Hefei, China, from 11 March to 20 March in 2020. A wideband integrated bioaerosol sensor (WIBS) was deployed to monitor the local fluorescent bioaerosol variation. During the observation, three aerosol transport event was captured. The WIBS data show that some types of fluorescent aerosol particles exhibit abnormal increases in concentration and fraction to total particles or whole fluorescent aerosols during the transport events. We attribute these increases to the transported external fluorescent bioaerosols instead of local bioaerosols. Based on the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) backward trajectory model and the characteristics of external aerosols in WIBS, their possible sources, transport paths, and components are given. This work proves the influence of external aerosol transport on local high particulate matter (PM) pollution and fluorescent aerosol particle composition and gives a possible method for real-time monitoring of fluorescent biological aerosol transport events. It contributes to the further understanding of bioaerosol transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fecal pollution monitoring using fecal indicator bacteria has many limitations. Alternatively, using 16S rRNA gene Bacteroides-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed promise because Bacteroides spp. are a major part of the gut microbiota. In the Philippines, duck backyard farming waste management is unmonitored. Hence, the objective of this study was to isolate Bacteroides DNA from duck feces and to establish genetic relatedness that can be used to develop new microbial source tracking markers. Fifty (50) duck fecal samples were collected. Of the 50, 20 were subjected to total DNA extraction and the remaining 30 were used for the isolation of Bacteroides. A total of 32 Bacteroides were isolated that included 6 B. nordii and 26 B. ovatus. A phylogenetic tree showing the host sources of Bacteroides generated five clusters. Four clusters came from this study, while the fifth cluster was composed of sequences from a study in Japan. This shows an intraspecies difference between Bacteroides species in the Philippines and Japan. This difference is a result of variations in the gut microbiome such as host species, diet, and geography. Results of this study will expand the present sequence database of Bacteroides from ducks that can be used in identifying sources of fecal pollution in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fixed site monitoring is the primary method of measuring surface ozone pollution for health advisories and pollutant reduction, but the spatial scale may not reflect the current population distribution or its future growth. Moreover, formal methods for the placement of ozone monitoring sites within populations regions omit important spatial criteria producing monitoring locations that could unintentionally bias the exposure burden. Because ozone pollution endangers human health, triggering shortness of breath, causing asthma attacks and mortality, a need exists for assessing the spatial representativeness and data gaps of existing pollution monitors and to evaluate future placement strategies of additional monitors. A new metric, the potency index, for assessing the placements of monitors in relation to population distribution was developed. This index was used to evaluate the configuration of the ozone pollution monitoring network in relation to the population distribution in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). Location-allocation models were used to optimize future sensor quantity and placement. Finally, we propose the development of a decision support system that uses evaluation and optimization methods to improve air pollution monitoring objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of big data technology, traditional monitoring methods for the scope of marine pollution can no longer meet the current needs of accuracy and timeliness. In light of the outstanding topic, this study proposed to use big data technology to monitor the scope of marine pollution. The intelligent digital remote sensing technology was used for multi-dimensional monitoring of ocean water quality and completed the calculation of data collected by water quality sensors through the improved big data comparative analysis method. Finally, the scope of pollution monitoring was realized. The results verified that the proposed monitoring method could achieve high-precision and time-sensitive monitoring of the range of marine pollutants, and could identify the basic information of pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical behavior is important because consumption of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs)-contaminated drinking water may induce several health problems for humans and animals. In the current study, we examined the potential groundwater contamination with various PTEs (arsenic, As; cadmium, Cd; copper, Cu; manganese; Mn) and the PTEs-induced health risk. Groundwater (n = 111) was characterized for total As, Cd, Cu, and Mn concentrations and other water quality attributes along the River Sutlej floodplain of Punjab, Pakistan. Results revealed that groundwater, which is used for drinking purpose, contained high concentrations of As and Cd (mean As: 33 µg/L, mean Cd: 3 µg/L), exceeding 100% and 32% than the World Health Organization's safe limits (10 and 3 µg/L, respectively) in drinking water. The other water quality attributes (i.e., EC, HCO3, Cl and SO4) were also found above their safe limits in most of the wells. Hydrogeochemical data showed that groundwater was dominated with Na–SO4, Na–Cl, Ca/Mg–CO3 type saline water. The hazard quotient and cancer risk indices values calculated for As and Cd indicated potential threat (carcinogenic risk > 0.0001 and non-carcinogenic risk > 1.0) of drinking groundwater in the study area. This study shows that the groundwater along River Sutlej floodplain poses a health threat to the communities relying on it for drinking and irrigation due to high concentrations of As and Cd in water. Moreover, it is important to monitor groundwater quality in the adjacent areas along River Sutlej floodplain and initiate suitable mitigation and remediation programs for the safety of people's health in Punjab, Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality pollution has become a primary environmental global concern as society is changing. The pollution of environmental resources is an issue of social concern worldwide, particularly the deterioration of water quality. Groundwater quality deterioration has been the focus in the water quality field. A precise predictive model is needed to obtain a clear understanding of the factors controlling groundwater quality conditions, to assess how to reduce risk and to optimize urban water quality management for the purpose of improving water quality in urban groundwater systems. Therefore, how to improve the accuracy of rating prediction calculated by the water quality systematic assessment model becomes the focus of this study. Combining back-propagation (BP) neural network with a genetic algorithm, this paper proposes the water quality, systematic assessment model, based on genetic algorithm optimized BP neural networks and its potential application to a typical urban groundwater quality system assessment in northwest China. In this study, nine main factors were used as indicators of qualifying water quality that encompasses pH, ammonia, chloride, nitrite, dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand and fluoride ions. The method is illustrated with water quality of 223 variables data from a surveillance system of fifteen groundwater water monitoring sites in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China during the 1996–2015 period. Firstly, using Shannon entropy (information gain) to classify the recorded data into five categories. Referring to (in terms of) the groundwater quality criterion in 2017 (GB/T14848-2017), following data pre-processing to provide more abundant information for recognition. Second, correlations were analyzed using the Spearman correlation. Water quality ratings were significantly highly correlated with statistical measures of the chloride, nitrite, dissolved solid and fluoride ions. Then principal component analysis methods are deployed for dimension reduction. On this basis, the evaluation index is refined; the basic structure of the back-propagation neural network (BPNN) is introduced, and a genetic algorithm is used to improve BP neural network. The results indicated that a genetic algorithm-back propagation neural network (GA-BPNN) model accounted for an accuracy of 90.91%, which was much higher than 63.64% on accuracy by BPNN. And thus, it is important to develop GA-BPNN modeling methods to enhance the evaluation accuracy of water quality parameters. This method can be used as a decision support tool to evaluate the impact of urban groundwater utilization on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing waterborne ammonia–nitrogen pollution requires monitoring distributed wastewater nitrogen discharges. In this study, we demonstrated and investigated a proof‐of‐concept sensor that combines selective electrochemical separation and sensitive capacitive detection for sensing total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). By varying TAN concentration in synthetic ammonia‐polluted water (up to 50 mg/L), we selectively separated ammonia nitrogen from feedwater into a sulfuric acid solution, in which capacitance decreased linearly with increasing TAN (R2 > 0.99). Experimental observations were supported by theoretical explanations for the decrease in capacitance as ammonia absorbs into the sulfuric acid solution and abstracts protons. Capacitive detection facilitated TAN sensing at higher acid concentrations (up to 0.5 M H2SO4) than conductivity detection (up to 0.01 M H2SO4), which enables sensitive sensors with larger TAN detection ranges, longer deployment, and less complexity. Results from this study provide evidence of the use of selective separations and their transport mechanisms for environmental sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A radon monitoring system capable of continuous real-time monitoring of well gas radon was devised and tested in a climate change observation network. It comprised a radon detector and could help observe the groundwater in a well, blocking the inflow of outside air. The water temperature, electrical conductivity, and water level were also monitored in the groundwater well. The temperature and electrical conductivity were almost constant within a 1% error range in both the 5-day preliminary and the 7-month long-term tests. The groundwater level appeared to be related to radon concentration, and tidal forces may have influenced both radon concentration and groundwater levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The municipality of Santa Ignacia in the Province of Tarlac is highly dependent on groundwater as its major water supply for various purposes, but there is inconsistency in monitoring groundwater quality in the area which may impact the health of consumers. This study presented the preliminary assessment of groundwater quality through the application of spatial mapping. Out of 6,815 wells in the municipality, groundwater samples were collected from 274 hand pump wells. The measurements of selected groundwater quality parameters such as pH, conductivity, nitrate, nitrite, and iron of groundwater samples were determined on-site. The geographical coordinates of sampled wells and measurements of groundwater quality parameters were used in Geographic Information System software, QGIS, to construct the spatial distribution and spatial variation maps. The values of measured parameters were interpolated using the inverse distance weighted technique to predict the parameters at other sites in Santa Ignacia. Spatial variation maps revealed that the groundwater quality parameters varied in the municipality. All measured parameters, except the nitrite content, were within the acceptable limits set by the World Health Organization for drinking water. The high level of nitrite content in groundwater may be attributed to the application of fertilizers during agricultural activities. The nitrite content of groundwater, which exceeded the permissible limit, may cause long-term public health problems. Hence, an upscale evaluation and monitoring of groundwater quality and existing anthropological activities in the municipality are highly recommended. The identification of other possible source(s) of nitrite is necessary to lessen possible contamination risk and to protect the groundwater sources in the municipality. The results of this preliminary study would be useful in prospect studies of groundwater quality in the study area and in other provinces in the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrologic sciences and water resources management have long depended on a combination of in situ measurements and remotely sensed data for research and regulatory purposes. In situ measurements are constrained in their spatial distribution by both logistics and costs. Satellite‐ and manned aircraft‐based remote sensing provide spatially broad data, but often of a coarse resolution. Furthermore, all these data collection methods are often limited in their ability to respond to specific short‐term events when the data and imagery could inform real‐time assessment and decision‐making, especially during and immediately after natural disasters. Researchers and regulators are increasingly using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to fill these gaps in both spatial and temporal data resolution. UAVs are often more cost‐effective than traditional remote sensing or in situ data collection methodologies and the availability of new advancements in UAV design, power supply, payload capacity, and sensors has been driving rapid innovations in their use in the hydrological sciences. This in‐depth review explores these UAV technologies and how they are being employed for on‐demand and cost‐effective characterization, monitoring, assessment, and modeling of soil and water resources. Our discussion addresses both key opportunities and challenges in surface water and groundwater studies, land‐atmosphere interaction studies, water management in agriculture and forestry, ecosystem monitoring, and hydrological modeling. Key Points: Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for on‐demand and cost‐effective characterization, monitoring, assessment, and modeling of water resources introducedUAV platforms and sensors, and their application in hydrology reviewed, and key challenges, opportunities, and prospects discussedNeed for global collaboration, training support, technology transfer, and data sharing and archiving highlighted [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the use of enzymes and histology as potential biomarkers in Sand and Blood Rivers in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Physico-chemical parameters were analyzed at sites S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 of the Sand River and sites B1 and B2 of the Blood River. Sites S1 and B1 were selected as the reference sites and located upstream of the Polokwane and Seshego wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) effluent discharge points, respectively. Water quality parameters assessed were water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorus, and pH. Sites downstream the WWTPs recorded elevated levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and ammonia. DO, ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorus were above the targeted water quality range (TWQR) for aquatic ecosystems. The Canadian council of ministers of the environment water quality index (CCME WQI) showed that the reference sites had good water condition while sites downstream (S2, B2, S3, and S4) had poor water condition. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme activity in the brain of Clarias gariepinus from sites downstream was lower than those from sites upstream of the effluent discharge points. The liver of Clarias gariepinus from sites downstream showed higher lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity compared to fish caught at the reference sites. Furthermore, Clarias gariepinus from sites downstream showed a number of histological alterations in gills and liver than fish from upstream. Histological alterations observed in gills included fusion of the secondary lamellae, hyperplasia of the interlamellar, epithelial lifting of secondary lamellae, and hyperplasia of the secondary lamellae. In the liver, histological alterations observed included melanomacrophage centers (MMCs), macrovesicular steatosis, sinusoid congested with kupffer cells, nuclei pleomorphism, and vacuolation. The gill and liver indices were significantly lower at the reference sites compared to sites downstream. Evidently, AChE, LDH, and gill and liver histology can be used as early warning signs of aquatic degradation in rivers that are recipients of poorly treated sewage effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates for the first time the spatial distribution of a wide group of organic (phthalates, nitro, aliphatic, halogen, aromatic, phenol and amino compounds) and inorganic pollutants along the Liffey river in Dublin city. The work takes into account the effect of short-term weather conditions on the occurrence of these contaminants. The results showed that rainfall conditions affect the levels of pollutants along the river in the days following a rainfall event. In addition, the tributaries entering the river Liffey were not found to impact its water quality. In relation to organic pollutants, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol and phthalate compounds were found in many water samples between concentrations of 0.21 and 2.17 μg L−1. On the other hand, dimethyl phthalate was present in certain samples at levels around 100 μg L−1. The levels of these contaminants in the river were lower than the toxicity values reported in the literature. Regarding inorganic pollutants, nitrates were detected from 0.59 to 6.81 mg L−1 increasing from upstream to downstream. Based on the chemical nature and applications of detected pollutants, the river contamination can be mainly related to agricultural, industrial activities as well as diffuse urban contributions. These vary with location within a short distance and have the potential to impact aquatic biodiversity as the chemical composition changes with rainfall events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of groundwater pollution caused by illegal waste dumping and methods for predicting and remediating it are still poorly understood. Serious 1,4-dioxane groundwater pollution—which has multiple sources—has been occurring at an illegal waste dumping site in the Tohoku region of Japan. So far, anti-pollution countermeasures have been taken including the installation of an impermeable wall and the excavation of soils and waste as well as the monitoring of contamination concentrations. The objective of this numerical study was to clarify the possibility of predicting pollutant transport in such dynamic and complex hydrologic environments, and to investigate the characteristics of pollutant transport under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flow (i.e., pumping for remediation). We first tried to reproduce the changes in 1,4-dioxane concentrations in groundwater observed in monitoring wells using a quasi-3D flow and transport simulation considering the multiple sources and spatiotemporal changes in hydrologic conditions. Consequently, we were able to reproduce the long-term trends of concentration changes in each monitoring well. With the predicted pollutant distribution, we conducted simulations for remediation such as pollutant removal using pumping wells. The results of the prediction and remediation simulations revealed the highly complex nature of 1,4-dioxane transport in the dumping site under both naturally occurring and artificially induced groundwater flows. The present study suggests possibilities for the prediction and remediation of pollution at illegal waste dumping sites, but further extensive studies are encouraged for better prediction and remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective environmental policies have to be based on robust information taking into consideration the existing trends. The objective of this paper is to facilitate data-driven decisions. Specifically we aim at policies that are built on officially reported emissions data making use of intuitive tools and interfaces to guide European air quality strategies with completeness and consistency. Transboundary (or cross-border) air pollution is a two-sided problem involving a polluter and a pollutee. The visualizations we have created allow a user to conceive the transboundary air pollution scheme from either the polluters' or pollutees' perspective. Based on the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) source-receptor matrices from 2003 to 2014, we develop comprehensive pollution monitoring systems. Our systems are created in visualization software in order to bring out the status, attributes and dynamics of transboundary air pollution. Our monitoring applications consist of different visualization modules. All of these modules carry their own information, which can be used separately or together to serve specific visualization tasks: either the polluters' responsibility or the pollutees' vulnerability. Several interactive interventions are integrated into each module to achieve particular visualization goals. Controls are added for the number of polluters, year of study, pollution level and geographical region within the extended EMEP area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In southern South America, Brazil, in the state of Santa Catarina, the neglect and lack of environmental supervision during coal mining caused the contamination of surface and groundwater by acid mine drainage (AMD). By the force of the local law, environmental reclamation actions in these abandoned areas have been carried. A scientific work of monitoring and assessment of the water resources within these areas has never been developed, as the efficacy of the reclamation strategies has never been discussed. This work aims to fill this gap by presenting and analyzing the environmental reclamation strategy of a former degraded coal mining area and its impacts on local water resources. The water monitoring plan in Area IV's was carried out in groundwater, and in lentic (ponds) and lotic (rivers) environments of surface waters, fourteen monitoring campaigns were conducted. The results showed that upstream and downstream river points have different water qualities, with the downstream points having poorer water quality, still affected by past mining activities. From the surface water perspective, the reclaiming method adopted was effective in three of the four ponds, presenting problems only in the downstream one. Two hypotheses were proposed; the first hypothesis is that contamination happens due to leaching of the material that still remains on the ponds' banks into the water. Another hypothesis is that the contamination comes from the upstream groundwater inflow into the pond, which runs through the entire area before reaching the pond. Those results serve to further access the actual monitoring perspectives as well as to better develop future reclaiming strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited direct empirical evidence to evaluate the efficacy of using opportunistically found bird carcasses as proxies for estimating pollutant exposure in populations of live birds for avian ecotoxicology studies. In this study, we analyzed total mercury concentrations in feathers collected from live Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) chicks and from Gentoo Penguin chick carcasses found at the same breeding colonies. Distributions of mercury concentrations for feathers from live-caught chicks and from found-dead chicks broadly overlap and, for our study, feathers from found-dead penguin chicks provide similar information about exposure to mercury as do feathers from live penguin chicks from the same locations. Our results suggest that, when mercury is estimated to be below adverse effect levels, the common practice of sampling from opportunistically found chick carcasses is a suitable and less-invasive alternative method of specimen collection in penguin colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) plays important roles in cholinergic neurotransmission and has been widely recognized as a biomarker for monitoring pollution by organophosphate (OP) and carbamate pesticides. Dioxin is an emerging environmental AChE disruptor and is a typical persistent organic pollutant with multiple toxic effects on the nervous system. Growing evidence has shown that there is a significant link between dioxin exposure and neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders, most of which involve AChE and cholinergic dysfunctions. Therefore, an in‐depth understanding of the effects of dioxin on AChE and the related mechanisms of action might help to shed light on the molecular bases of dioxin impacts on the nervous system. In the past decade, the effects of dioxins on AChE have been revealed in cultured cells of different origins and in rodent animal models. Unlike OP and carbamate pesticides, dioxin‐induced AChE disturbance is not due to direct inhibition of enzymatic activity; instead, dioxin causes alterations of AChE expression in certain models. As a widely accepted mechanism for most dioxin effects, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)‐dependent pathway has become a research focus in studies on the mechanism of action of dioxin‐induced AChE dysregulation. In this mini‐review, the effects of dioxin on AChE and the diverse roles of the AhR pathway in AChE regulation are summarized. Additionally, the involvement of AhR in AChE regulation during different neurodevelopmental processes is discussed. These AhR‐related findings might also provide new insight into AChE regulation triggered by diverse xenobiotics capable of interacting with AhR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulations of different intensities may have different impacts on polluting enterprises. The purpose of this article is to analyze how different environmental regulations affect the pollution discharge strategies of papermaking enterprises. By establishing an evolutionary game model between the government environmental regulation intensities and the pollutant emissions from papermaking enterprises, this thesis further solves the model and performs stability analysis and finally uses MATLAB to conduct simulation studies. And the researching results show that papermaking enterprises will take risks to choose the illegal pollutant discharge strategies when the illegal profits are large. Further analysis shows that the increase in the successful probability of the strong environmental regulations does not necessarily force papermaking enterprises to choose to comply with pollution discharge regulations. However, papermaking enterprises may choose to comply with discharge pollution regulations not only by increasing the successful probability of strong environmental regulations but also by increasing the rewards and punishments for papermaking enterprises as well as by increasing the probability of reporting violations of pollutants. Based on the above results, the author proposes several countermeasures, such as establishing a specialized pollution monitoring agency, encouraging third-party supervision, reporting pollution behaviors, and increasing penalties for polluting companies for violations. China is in a critical period of transition from rapid development to high-quality development. It will provide some reliable references for the construction of a green economy and an ecological economy that the characteristics and relationships between the intensity of government environmental regulations and corporate pollution emissions revealed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In an underwater environment, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have more potential applications such as homeland safety, naval surveillance, and pollution & exploration monitoring. Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) help in decreasing the rate of causalities and provide efficient ways for monitoring the underwater activities of the other countries. UWSNs can be efficiently used by the navy to monitor suspicious activities and also to counter‐attack any terrorist or enemy attacks. As usual, deploying wireless sensor networks underwater is not only challenging due to environment and constrained resources but also is vulnerable to security attacks. Thus, security is an unexplored and crucial aspect of UWSNs. Here, we define a node authentication mechanism for UWSNs for securing frontier lines, maritime territory, and naval surveillance. The proposed authentication protocol is based on symmetric‐key cryptography and secures against impersonation, masquerade, Sybil, and many more other attacks. We have analyzed the proposed protocol both formally and automatedly and were unable to find any possible security attack on the proposed protocol. The experimental analysis of the mechanism proved that the proposed mechanism consumes less energy compared to the existing mechanisms. Hence, the proposed mechanism can be easily adopted for maintaining the security of maritime territory and reduce the causalities in naval operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workshop participants shared their perspectives on the anticipated benefits of TEMPO for air quality and health applications, reviewed in-development versions of proxy data products, and discussed data latency, format, and resolution needs from TEMPO data. Keywords: Satellite observations; Air pollution; Aerosols/particulates; Air quality and health; Ozone; Trace gases EN Satellite observations Air pollution Aerosols/particulates Air quality and health Ozone Trace gases E1735 E1741 7 10/07/21 20210901 NES 210901 2020 NASA TEMPO Early Adopters Workshop B I What: i b Stakeholders and end users with diverse backgrounds in the fundamental and applied research communities gathered to learn and discuss the game-changing capabilities of the TEMPO instrument for enhancing health and air quality applications after launch in 2022. Satellite observations, Air pollution, Aerosols/particulates, Air quality and health, Ozone, Trace gases Last, end users discussed the potential of integrating TEMPO data and patient-generated health data in an app that can track the air quality effects on human health. [Extracted from the article]

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Southeast Asia (SEA) is a hotspot region for atmospheric pollution and haze conditions, due to extensive forest, agricultural and peat fires. This study aims to estimate the PM2.5 concentrations across Malaysia using machine-learning (ML) models like Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Regression (SVR), based on satellite AOD (aerosol optical depth) observations, ground measured air pollutants (NO2, SO2, CO, O3) and meteorological parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction). The estimated PM2.5 concentrations for a two-year period (2018–2019) are evaluated against measurements performed at 65 air-quality monitoring stations located at urban, industrial, suburban and rural sites. PM2.5 concentrations varied widely between the stations, with higher values (mean of 24.2 ± 21.6 µg m−3) at urban/industrial stations and lower (mean of 21.3 ± 18.4 µg m−3) at suburban/rural sites. Furthermore, pronounced seasonal variability in PM2.5 is recorded across Malaysia, with highest concentrations during the dry season (June–September). Seven models were developed for PM2.5 predictions, i.e., separately for urban/industrial and suburban/rural sites, for the four dominant seasons (dry, wet and two inter-monsoon), and an overall model, which displayed accuracies in the order of R2 = 0.46–0.76. The validation analysis reveals that the RF model (R2 = 0.53–0.76) exhibits slightly better performance than SVR, except for the overall model. This is the first study conducted in Malaysia for PM2.5 estimations at a national scale combining satellite aerosol retrievals with ground-based pollutants, meteorological factors and ML techniques. The satisfactory prediction of PM2.5 concentrations across Malaysia allows a continuous monitoring of the pollution levels at remote areas with absence of measurement networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study evaluates irrigation water quality in the Danube-Tisa-Danube hydrosystem area (Vojvodina, northern Serbia). The area is dominantly a plain with about 75% arable land, suitable for agricultural production and irrigation. Use of water of inadequate quality can have long-term effects on irrigated land and affect the yield of cultivated crops. The analyses included data from 40 surface water and 23 groundwater quality monitoring locations, observed during the period 2013–2018. The average annual values of the concentrations of major cations and anions and of electrical conductivity in surface and groundwater were comparatively analyzed. These values were statistically significantly higher (by p < 0.05) in groundwater bodies with most of the analyzed parameters. Hydrochemical classification of water types shows that 95% of surface and 87% of groundwater locations belong to the Ca·Mg–HCO3 water type. Water suitability for irrigation was assessed using specific parameters and indices (sodium adsorption ratio, Na%, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard, permeability index, and Kelly's index). The results showed that surface and groundwater resources are generally of good quality and suitable for irrigation, with sporadic deviations at several locations. The principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the most important variables affecting the chemical composition of the analyzed waters and group the monitoring locations by their chemical characteristics. The spatial variation of the analyzed water quality indices was shown on thematic maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the process of urbanization has brought economic benefits in the Yangtze River Delta of China, environmental pollution becomes increasingly prominent. In order to achieve integrated sustainable green development and reduce the gap in environmental governance performance between regions, this study analyzed the environmental issues of provincial cities in Anhui Province from 2013 to 2017 in the urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta. Governance performance is analyzed and the evaluation index system framework is determined using the "pressure-state-response" model with the panel and spatial data. Based on the global principal component analysis method and spatial autocorrelation analysis, the environmental governance performance of Anhui Province has generally increased steadily from 2013 to 2017. The situation in northern Anhui is still developing in a good state. Southern Anhui is in a trend of rising first and then stabilizing, whereas central Anhui has a downward trend after a rapid rise; in terms of the spatial pattern, the overall situation is central Anhui > northern Anhui > southern Anhui. The urban spatial distribution pattern of the region shows a positive spatial correlation. Particularly, the performance levels of Maanshan City and Huainan City have been at a poor level for a long time, whereas Hefei and Huangshan have strong comprehensive environmental governance capabilities with average efficiency values of 0.55 and 0.47, respectively. Corresponding countermeasures have been proposed to rectify polluting enterprises and optimize structure of industries, increase scientific and technological investment and infrastructure construction, strengthen the radiation driving effects, and establish a pollution monitoring system. Based on all the analyses and resulted findings, we concluded the study with corresponding policy implications/suggestions and recommended countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standing at the cusp of an augmented age facilitates a glance into the future of a cybernetic world aligned with planetary wellbeing. The era of exponential technological revolutions has brought with it a plethora of opportunities expanding in a multi-faceted dimension with an added emphasis towards nurturing a mutual synergy of nature with a daily dose of digitalization. The paper is written with an intent to lay out an accumulated comprehensive review of different literary works which lay the grounds for how different Smart Earth Technologies aid in monitoring and tackling the degradation of air and water resources. If an intertwined state-of-the-art centralized research source could be created, it would become a boon for seasoned researchers and neophytes succeeding portion of the article expands itself to a wide variety of research literature complimented with real-time models, case, and empirical studies which help heighten the previous limit to the research done on these Technologies tinkering the present monitoring systems. The primary aim of this work is to fuel the need of theoretical, practical, and empirical evolution in the ways the intelligent technologies help blossom a pollution-free environment. The secondary intention was to ensure that in-depth study of Smart Environmental Pollution the Monitoring Systems provisioned a multitude of prospects for upgrading one's knowledge on environmental management through current world technologies. By looking at these trends of the past, the enthusiast of technology could collaborate with the researchers of Environmental Pollution to assist in proliferation of diverse 'smart' solutions creating a Smarter, Greener, and Brighter future for research and developments in Sustainable Technologies devising a pollution-free environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method has been developed for calculating the standard indicators of the reliability of elements of restored gas analytical systems for monitoring chemical pollution of the environment according to experimental reference data which differ in the simultaneous use of different results of processing experimental information obtained by the standard method, the interval method, and the Kaplan–Meier method, making it possible to test the reliability of small (cost-effective) samples of products under the conditions of their possible elimination from observation for reasons not related to failure. This methodology makes it possible to reduce the cost of development work and reduce the degree of uncertainty in the development of a maintenance and repair strategy not only for the specialized gas analytical systems under consideration, but also to solve the problems of optimal control of the operational reliability of a wide class of refurbished complex chemical and technical systems at the design stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the electrochemical monitoring of phenol (Ph) in water by using a nanostructured MnO2-modified screen-printed carbon electrode (MnO2-SPCE) is reported. MnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the redox-precipitation method. Morphological, textural, and microstructural characteristics were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, Raman, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, and pore volume analyses. Electrochemical properties of the modified MnO2-SPCE electrode have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The detection of Ph in water by the developed sensor was exploited using square wave voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The sensor showed good characteristics, such as simple fabrication, low cost, good sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, and selectivity, against inorganic analytes and other phenolic compounds. The reported results demonstrated the great potential of nanostructured MnO2 in developing high performances electrochemical sensors to be utilized in the field of environmental pollution monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous growing population and a rise in living standards are creating widespread use of vehicles. Motor vehicle emissions contribute significantly to air pollution and other adverse environmental and health effects. The primary contaminants from internal combustion (IC) engines are NOx, CO, CO2, unburnt hydrocarbons (HC), and PM. Their control strategies were considered seriously throughout the discussion. This analysis summarises emissions from both compression ignition (CI) and spark ignition (SI) engines with government-setting emission regulatory standards. This article also gives detailed insight into pollution monitoring methods and their control policy for both CI and SI engines. Emissions from SI engines are more harmful to human health, with more CO and HC emissions in comparison with CI engines. CO emissions are insignificant in CI engines due to lean-burn nature. High temperatures and significant oxygen supply in the combustion chamber make CI engines prone to NOx emissions. This analysis will help researchers to obtain comprehensive emission and their reduction methodologies information for IC engines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fires in natural ecosystems cause catastrophic consequences on a global scale. These fires are caused by landscape-transforming factors, which include dust and gas pollution of the atmosphere, destruction of forests and living organisms, pollution of ecosystems with dangerous toxic compounds and heavy metals. The aim of the presented research is to investigate the influence of ground forest fires on the concentration of mobile forms of heavy metals in different soil horizons. Sampling of soils of pyrogenic origin was carried out from 4 plots according to operating standards on the territory of Rava-Rusky forestry near the village of Lavrykiv, Zhovkva district, Lviv region (Ukraine). Soil sampling for investigation of migration of heavy metals was carried out taking into account the number of years spent after burning of meadow vegetation and forest litter. The most contaminated with heavy metals is site #2 (completely burned out 2 years before the experiment). There is a significant accumulation of cadmium in edaphic horizons (0.31 – 0.66 mg/kg), the value is close to the maximum allowable concentrations for soils (0.7 mg/kg). Also in this area the highest content of mobile forms of nickel (1.52 – 2.80 mg/kg) was detected, while the maximum allowable concentrations for soils is 4 mg/kg. The lowest content of heavy metals is in the site #1, which was exposed to fire long before the start of monitoring – 3.5 years. Here the values of mobile forms of heavy metals are close to the background. Vegetation in burnt areas at the first year of post-pyrogenic development is characterized by spontaneous single species. In 2–3 years it is characterized by a group arrangement. Complete natural overgrowth of the burnt area (natural vegetative reclamation) occurs 4–5 years after combustion. Monitoring the impact of ground forest fires on the concentration of heavy metals in edaphic horizons is important in terms of environmental renaturalization and the development of preventive measures for forest fires and fires in natural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermittent monitoring of environmental standards may induce strategic changes in polluting activities. This paper documents local strategic responses to a cyclical, once-every-six-day air quality monitoring schedule under the federal Clean Air Act. Using satellite data of monitored areas, I show that air quality is significantly worse on unmonitored days. This effect is explained by short-term suppression of pollution on monitored days, especially during high-pollution periods when the city's noncompliance risk is high. Cities' use of air quality warnings increases on monitored days, which suggests local governments' role in coordinating emission reductions. (JEL K32, Q35, Q58, R11) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research deals with assessment of groundwater quality of Beri block, Jhajjar district, Haryana, India and its nearby villages. Multivariate statistics is an efficient technique to display relationship between different limiting factors. Around 24 groundwater samples were collected. A total of 16 variables were analysed: pH, potassium, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness (calcium, magnesium and total), sulphate, sodium, electrical conductivity and phosphate, chloride (Cl−) and heavy metals, namely iron, chromium, lead and zinc. Principal component analysis is one of the commonly used tools in water quality assessment because it effectively reduces number of variables. Multivariate statistical tools "principal component analysis (PCA)" and "cluster analysis" were used to set up relationship among the studied parameters. PCA showed the existence of up to five significant PCs which account for 80.35% of the variance. Few parameters such as pH, sodium, potassium, sulphate, phosphate and zinc were found to be well within limits as approved by WHO and BIS, whereas parameters such as chloride, alkalinity, hardness, total dissolved solids and metals (Pb, Cr and Fe) were found to go beyond the prescribed limits. High levels of hardness, total dissolved solids and chlorides are responsible for saline behaviour of water. The correlation matrices for 16 parameters were executed. EC, TDS, chloride and total hardness were significantly and positively correlated with each other. pH and phosphate (PO42−) were negatively correlated with majority of the physicochemical variables. After studying the physiochemical properties of groundwater samples, it is recommended that water quality parameters should be analysed periodically to conserve the water resources and emphasis should be laid on water quality management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which widely presents in marine environment, may produce some adverse effects to aquatic organism. Mytilus edulis are popular due to their high protein and low fat content in China. However, few studies have investigated the effects of PFOA on the quality of aquatic products. Here, PFOA effects on basic nutritional indices in M. edulis were measured, and possible mechanisms were explored. PFOA caused clear variation in physiological and biochemical indices of M. edulis. The contents of some important proteins, nutrients, and amino acids etc. dropped. Integrating metabolomics data, we speculate PFOA exposure triggered inflammation and oxidative stress in mussels, interfered with the metabolic pathways related to the quality and the transport and absorption pathways of metal ions, and affected the levels of some important elements and metabolites, thus decreasing the nutritional quality of M. edulis. The study provides new insights into PFOA adverse effects to marine organism, and may offer some references for some researchers to assess food quality and ecological risk to pollutants. • PFOA exposure changes significantly the levels of some elements and metabolites related to quality in M. edulis. • PFOA exposure interfered with the metabolic pathways, transport and uptake pathways for metal ions in mussels. • PFOA exposure reduces nutritional quality in M. edulis. • Ecological risk assessments emphasize need for monitoring PFOA pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the southeast and east coasts of the Republic of Korea, it is essential to monitor mercury accumulation in coastal organisms in view of the higher mercury distribution in sediments and human samples. However, mercury pollution monitoring in organisms, especially higher trophic-level organisms that can exhibit high mercury accumulation, is limited. Here, we examined the applicability of the eggs of the black-tailed gull (Larus crassirostris), which belongs to a high trophic level, for mercury monitoring in coastal areas. Breeding sites were selected in West, Southeast, and East Seas with different mercury concentrations in other matrices (sediment and biological samples of residents). The 5-year mean total mercury concentration in eggs collected during the breeding seasons from 2016 to 2020 was lower in Baengnyeongdo (705 ± 81 ng/g dry weight (dry), West Sea) than in Hongdo (1,207 ± 214 ng/g dry, Southeast Sea) and Ulleungdo (1,095 ± 95 ng/g dry, East Sea). The different patterns of mercury concentration in gull eggs among the breeding sites was consistent with those in the other matrices among the coastal areas. These results support the applicability of the black-tailed gull egg as an indicator for establishing a monitoring framework in the coastal areas of the Republic of Korea. [Display omitted] • Black-tailed gull eggs are used as an indicator sample for monitoring Hg pollution. • Different patterns of Hg concentrations were observed in three breeding sites. • Sea birds with high trophic levels can biomagnify environmental Hg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]