Is in-situ burning an acceptable mitigation option after a major oil spill? Impact on marine plankton.

Major oil spills can impose a significant environmental hazard on the marine ecosystem, and a promising mitigation measure is in-situ oil burning (ISB). However, our knowledge of the impact of the burned residues and soot deposition on the marine ecosystem is still limited. We investigated the effects of burned oil residue and soot deposition on the marine plankton communities of the oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea with a mesocosm experiment.

Analysis of insecticide resistance and transcriptome assembly of resistance associated genes in the European grapevine moth, (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

The European grapevine moth (Denis & Shiffermüller 1776) is an economically important pest of the vine-growing areas worldwide. Chemical insecticides have been used for its control; however, its resistance status is largely unknown in many regions. We monitored the susceptibility of several populations from Greece and Turkey.

Fish farming, metals and antibiotics in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Is there a threat to sediment wildlife?

Chemical residues released from aquaculture farms may persist in the environment and may pose adverse ecological effects. The aim of this study was to assess the pollution status of marine sediments underneath or close to aquaculture farms in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the factors that affect the elemental distribution, and the exceedance of environmental quality standards and factors. To this end, surface sediment samples were collected (underneath fish cages, at 25 m distance and from a reference station) from 48 fish farms in Greece with variable environmental and geochemical characteristics.

Metals and elements in sardine and anchovy: Species specific differences and correlations with proximate composition and size.

Species - specific differences in the levels of 26 metals and elements in sardine and anchovy are investigated and the factors of proximate composition (proteins, lipids, ash) and body size (length, weight) that may affect the metal and elemental concentrations in fish are explored. Statistical analysis revealed that levels of metals and elements in fish seem to strongly depend on species. Significantly higher levels of most of the metals and elements studied have been observed in anchovy compared to sardine at each of six different sites.

The impact of silver nanoparticles on marine plankton dynamics: Dependence on coating, size and concentration.

During this study, three microcosm experiments were carried out with natural coastal seawater, collected in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, in order to assess the effect of silver nanoparticle (AgNP) exposure to natural plankton communities. The impact of coating (branched-polyethyleneimine: BPEI vs. poly-vinylpyrrolidone: PVP), size (40 vs.

Arsenic speciation in fish from Greek coastal areas.

Arsenic speciation analysis was conducted on fish samples (sardine and anchovy) collected from six areas along the Greek coastline, i.e. Artemisium Straits, Thermaikos Gulf, Amvrakikos Gulf, Strymonian Gulf, Thracian Sea, and Elefsina Gulf.

Silver nanoparticles in seawater: A dynamic mass balance at part per trillion silver concentrations.

This study investigates the dynamic processes affecting silver (Ag) nanoparticles that have been spiked into seawater at environmentally relevant concentrations (200 and 2000ngAgL). Seawater samples were taken at regular time intervals from multiple microcosm tanks and analysed rapidly, without any sample preparation, using a recently developed flow injection on-line dilution single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. Dissolution was found to be the predominant process of Ag nanoparticle transformation, with its rate being influenced by the type and thickness of the nanoparticle organic coating.