Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon sorption and bacterial community composition of biodegradable and conventional plastics incubated in coastal sediments.

Resistant to degradation, plastic litter poses a long-term threat to marine ecosystems. Biodegradable materials have been developed to replace conventional plastics, but little is known of their impacts and degradation in marine environments. A 14-week laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to conventional (polystyrene PS and polyamide PA) and bio-based, biodegradable plastic films (cellulose acetate CA and poly-L-lactic acid PLLA), and to examine the composition of bacterial communities colonizing these materials.

Do wastewater treatment plants act as a potential point source of microplastics? Preliminary study in the coastal Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea.

This study on the removal of microplastics during different wastewater treatment unit processes was carried out at Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The amount of microplastics in the influent was high, but it decreased significantly during the treatment process. The major part of the fibres were removed already in primary sedimentation whereas synthetic particles settled mostly in secondary sedimentation.

The mussel caging approach in assessing biological effects of wastewater treatment plant discharges in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea).

Biological effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents were investigated in Baltic mussels (Mytilus trossulus) caged for one month 800m and 1100m from the WWTP discharge site and at a reference site 4km away. Significant antioxidant, genotoxic and lysosomal responses were observed close to the point of the WWTP discharge. Passive samplers (POCIS) attached to the cages indicated markedly higher water concentrations of various pharmaceuticals at the two most impacted sites.

cyst viability and germling survival in light vs. dark at a constant low temperature.

Both observations and models suggest that large-scale coastal blooms of in the Gulf of Maine are seeded by deep-bottom cyst accumulation zones ("seed beds") where cysts germinate from the sediment surface or the overlying near-bottom nepheloid layers at water depths exceeding 100 m. The germling cells and their vegetative progeny are assumed to be subject to mortality while in complete darkness, as they swim to illuminated surface waters. To test the validity of this assumption we conducted laboratory investigations of cyst viability and the survival of the germling cells and their vegetative progeny during prolonged exposure to darkness at a temperature of 6 °C, simulating the conditions in deep Gulf of Maine waters.

Prothrombin activation fragment 1 + 2 as a marker of coagulation activation in cord blood collection for banking.

There have been efforts to increase the quality of cord blood (CB) collections aimed at banking and transplantation. Yet, the effect of CB collection techniques on haemostatic activation is scarcely studied, despite the unique nature of the neonatal haemostatic system. The aim of this study was to explore coagulation system and platelet (PLT) activation during CB collection at a national CB bank.