Marine litter education: From awareness to action.

Marine litter is a global problem. Education has been acclaimed as a potential tool to tackle this issue, yet, integrative, student-centered, and over weeks studies to raise awareness on the theme that compares pre- with post-intervention results are limited in the literature. Furthermore, almost no studies rely on the basis of previous experience on the theme and local reality.

Induction of Somatic Embryogenesis in Tamarillo ( Cav.) Involves Increases in the Endogenous Auxin Indole-3-Acetic Acid.

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a complex biological process regulated by several factors, such as the action of plant growth regulators, namely auxins, of which the most physiologically relevant is indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). In tamarillo, an optimized system for induction of SE creates, after an induction process, embryogenic (EC) and non-embryogenic (NEC). In this work the endogenous levels of auxin along the induction phase and in the samples were investigated using chemical quantifications by colorimetric reactions and HPLC as well as immunohistochemistry approaches.

What Is the Relation between Circular Economy and Sustainability? Answers from Frontrunner Companies Engaged with Circular Economy Practices.

The circular economy (CE) concept has become a major interest for companies, promising new business opportunities and a decrease in environmental impacts. Though research on circular business models has recently increased, few scholars have investigated how companies engaged with CE view the connection between CE and sustainability. To address this gap, this paper uses a semi-quantitative survey and semi-structured interviews conducted with companies based in Italy and the Netherlands.

Marine litter: A review of educative interventions.

Marine litter is claimed to be one of the most meaningful environmental crises of the century. Education that supports behavior change is a tool to tackle this problem. However, there is a lack of research linking educational initiatives and marine litter issues.

COVID-19: the impact of a global crisis on sustainable development teaching.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global crisis, one which also influences the ways sustainability is being taught at universities. This paper undertakes an analysis of the extent to which COVID-19 as a whole and the lockdown it triggered in particular, which has led to the suspension of presence-based teaching in universities worldwide and influenced teaching on matters related to sustainable development. By means of a worldwide survey involving higher education institutions across all continents, the study has identified a number of patterns, trends and problems.

An epidemiological approach to characterise the human exposure pathways in a contaminated estuarine environment.

This study's aim was to develop and implement an integrative epidemiologic cross-sectional study that allows identifying and characterising exposure pathways of populations living and working on the shores of a contaminated estuarine environment. Population residing in Carrasqueira, located on the Sado estuary with known contaminated areas was compared to another population on a noncontaminated estuary (Vila Nova de Mil Fontes - VNMF), considered a nonexposed population. Simple random samples of individuals were selected in each study population from the National Health Service Lists: 140 individuals were selected in Carrasqueira and 219 in VNMF.

Exploring the potential interference of estuarine sediment contaminants with the DNA repair capacity of human hepatoma cells.

Estuaries may be reservoirs of a wide variety of pollutants, including mutagenic and carcinogenic substances that may impact on the ecosystem and human health. A previous study showed that exposure of human hepatoma (HepG2) cells to extracts from sediment samples collected in two areas (urban/industrial and riverine/agricultural) of an impacted estuary (Sado, Portugal), produced differential cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. Those effects were found to be consistent with levels and nature of sediment contamination.

An integrative assessment to determine the genotoxic hazard of estuarine sediments: combining cell and whole-organism responses.

The application of the Comet assay in environmental monitoring remains challenging in face of the complexity of environmental stressors, e.g., when dealing with estuarine sediments, that hampers the drawing of cause-effect relationships.

May sediment contamination be xenoestrogenic to benthic fish? A case study with Solea senegalensis.

Within an environmental risk assessment framework of a moderately contaminated estuary (the Sado, SW Portugal), the present work intended to detect endocrine disruption in a flatfish, Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858, and its potential relationship to organic toxicants. Animals were collected from two distinct areas in the estuary (industrial and rural) and from an external reference area. Hepatic vitellogenin (VTG) levels, cytochrome P450 (CYP1A) induction, ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity plus gonad histology were analysed.

Ecological risk assessment of impacted estuarine areas: integrating histological and biochemical endpoints in wild Senegalese sole.

The analysis of multiple biomarker responses is nowadays recognized as a valuable tool to circumvent potential confounding factors affecting biomonitoring studies and allows a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying exposure to natural mixtures of toxicants. For the purpose of an environmental risk assessment (ERA) in an impacted estuary in SW Europe (the Sado, Portugal), juvenile Solea senegalensis from commercial fishing areas were surveyed for histopathological liver alterations and biochemical biomarkers. Although the findings revealed moderate differences in the patterns of histopathological traits between urban/industrial- and agricultural-influenced areas within the same estuary, no significant distinction was found between the cumulative alterations in animals from the two sites.

Assessing and managing sediment contamination in transitional waters.

Sediment contamination remains a global problem, particularly in transitional waters such as estuaries and coastal lagoons, which are the recipients of chemicals from multiple near- and far-field sources. Although transitional waters are highly productive ecosystems, approaches for assessing and managing their sediment contamination are not as well developed as in marine and fresh waters. Further, although transitional waters remain defined by their variable and unique natural water quality characteristics, particularly salinity, the biota inhabiting such ecosystems, once thought to be defined by Remane's "paradox of brackish water", are being redefined.

Development of histopathological indices in a commercial marine bivalve (Ruditapes decussatus) to determine environmental quality.

Bivalve histopathology is an acknowledged tool in environmental toxicology studies, however geographically restricted, limited to a few species and still lacking the degree of detail needed to develop effective (semi)quantitative approaches. A first-time detailed histopathological screening was performed on grooved carpet shell clams collected from commercial shellfish beds in distinct coastal ecosystems of the Southern Portuguese coast: two parted sites within an impacted estuary (S(1) and S(2)), an inlet channel of a fish farm at a considered pristine estuary (site M) and a site allocated in a clean coastal lagoon (A). A total of thirty histopathological lesions and alterations were analysed in the gills and digestive glands following a weighted condition indices approach, including inflammation-related responses, necrosis, neoplastic diseases and parasites.

Hepatic proteome changes in Solea senegalensis exposed to contaminated estuarine sediments: a laboratory and in situ survey.

Assessing toxicity of contaminated estuarine sediments poses a challenge to ecotoxicologists due to the complex geochemical nature of sediments and to the combination of multiple classes of toxicants. Juvenile Senegalese soles were exposed for 14 days in the laboratory and in situ (field) to sediments from three sites (a reference plus two contaminated) of a Portuguese estuary. Sediment characterization confirmed the combination of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorines in the two contaminated sediments.

Can the integration of multiple biomarkers and sediment geochemistry aid solving the complexity of sediment risk assessment? A case study with a benthic fish.

Surveying toxicity of complex geochemical media as aquatic sediments often yields results that are either difficult to interpret or even contradictory to acknowledged theory. Multi-level biomarkers were investigated in a benthic fish exposed to estuarine sediments through laboratory and in situ bioassays, to evaluate their employment either in ecological risk assessment or in more mechanistic approaches to assess sediment-bound toxicity. Biomarkers reflecting lesions (such as genotoxicity or histopathology), regardless of their low or absent specificity to contaminants, are efficient in segregating exposure to contaminated from uncontaminated sediments even when classical biomarkers like CYP1A and metallothionein induction are inconclusive.

Transcriptomic analyses in a benthic fish exposed to contaminated estuarine sediments through laboratory and in situ bioassays.

The transcription of contaminant response-related genes was investigated in juvenile Senegalese soles exposed to sediments from three distinct sites (a reference plus two contaminated) of a Portuguese estuary (the Sado, W Portugal) through simultaneous 28-day laboratory and in situ bioassays. Transcription of cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A), metallothionein 1 (MT1), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), caspase 3 (CASP3) and 90 kDa heat-shock protein alpha (HSP90AA) was surveyed in the liver by real-time PCR. CASP3 transcription analysis was complemented by surveying apoptosis through the TUNEL reaction.

Assessment of the genotoxic potential of contaminated estuarine sediments in fish peripheral blood: laboratory versus in situ studies.

Juvenile Senegalese soles (Solea senegalensis) were exposed to estuarine sediments through 28-day laboratory and in situ (field) bioassays. The sediments, collected from three distinct sites (a reference plus two contaminated) of the Sado Estuary (W Portugal) were characterized for total organic matter, redox potential, fine fraction and for the levels of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorines, namely polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichloro diphenyl tricholoethane plus its main metabolites (DDTs). Genotoxicity was determined in whole peripheral blood by the single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE or "comet") assay and by scoring erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENA).

Estuarine ecological risk based on hepatic histopathological indices from laboratory and in situ tested fish.

Juvenile Senegalese soles were exposed through 28-day laboratory and field (in situ) bioassays to sediments from three sites of the Sado estuary (W Portugal): a reference and two contaminated by metallic and organic contaminants. Fish were surveyed for ten hepatic histopathological alterations divided by four distinct reaction patterns and integrated through the estimation of individual histopathological condition indices. Fish exposed to contaminated sediments sustained more damage, with especial respect to regressive changes like necrosis.

Evaluation of the potential of the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule L.) for the ecological risk assessment of estuarine sediments: bioaccumulation and biomarkers.

Common cockles (Cerastoderma edule, L. 1758, Bivalvia: Cardiidae) were subjected to a laboratory assay with sediments collected from distinct sites of the Sado Estuary (Portugal). Cockles were obtained from a mariculture site of the Sado Estuary and exposed through 28-day, semi-static, assays to sediments collected from three sites of the estuary.

Biochemical endpoints on juvenile Solea senegalensis exposed to estuarine sediments: the effect of contaminant mixtures on metallothionein and CYP1A induction.

Juvenile Solea senegalensis were exposed to fresh sediments from three stations of the Sado estuary (Portugal) in 28-day laboratory assays. Sediments revealed distinct levels of total organic matter, fine fraction, redox potential, trace elements (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc) and organic contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and a pesticide: dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane). Organisms were surveyed for contaminant bioaccumulation and induction of two hepatic biochemical biomarkers: metallothionein (MT) and cytochrome P450 (CYP1A), as potential indicators of exposure to metallic and organic contaminants, respectively.

Ecological risk assessment of sediment management areas: application to Sado Estuary, Portugal.

The purpose of this work was to integrate different methodologies to assess the potential ecological risk of estuarine sedimentary management areas, using the Sado Estuary in Portugal as case study. To evaluate the environmental risk of sediment contamination, an integrative and innovative approach was used involving assessment of sediment chemistry, sediment toxicity, benthic community structure, human driving forces and pressures and management areas organic load levels. The basis for decision-making for overall assessment was a statistical multivariate analysis appended into a score matrix tables, using a best expert judgment.

Histological biomarkers in liver and gills of juvenile Solea senegalensis exposed to contaminated estuarine sediments: a weighted indices approach.

Young juvenile Solea senegalensis were exposed to three sediments with distinct contamination profiles collected from a Portuguese estuary subjected to anthropogenic sources of contamination (the Sado estuary, western Portugal). Sediments were surveyed for metals (cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc), a metalloid (arsenic) and organic contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and a pesticide, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane plus its metabolites), as well as total organic matter, redox potential and particle fine fraction. The fish were exposed to freshly collected sediments in a 28-day laboratorial assay and collected for histological analyses at days 0 (T(0)), 14 (T(14)) and 28 (T(28)).

Genotoxic damage in Solea senegalensis exposed to sediments from the Sado Estuary (Portugal): effects of metallic and organic contaminants.

Juvenile Solea senegalensis (Senegalese sole) were exposed to freshly collected sediments from three sites of the Sado Estuary (West-Portuguese coast) in 28-day laboratory assays in order to assess the ecological risk from sediment contaminants, by measuring two genotoxicity biomarkers in peripheral blood: the percentage of Erythrocyte Nuclear Abnormalities (ENA) by use of an adaptation of the micronucleus test, and the percentage of DNA strand-breakage (DNA-SB) with the Comet assay. Sediments were surveyed for metallic (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) and organic (PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDTs (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)) contaminants. Sediments from site A (farthest from hotspots of contamination) were found to be the least contaminated and weaker inducers of genotoxic damage, whereas sediments from sites B (urban influence) and C (affected by industrial effluents and agricultural runoffs) were responsible for a very significant increase in both ENA and DNA-SB, site B being most contaminated with metals and site C mainly with organic pollutants, especially PAHs and PCBs .

Toxicity ranking of estuarine sediments on the basis of Sparus aurata biomarkers.

Sparus aurata biomarkers were used to rank sediments from the Sado River estuary (Portugal) according to their toxicity. Initially, the activities of liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, liver and gill glutathione S-transferases, muscle lactate dehydrogenase, and brain acetylcholinesterase were tested in a laboratory bioassay with the reference compound benzo[a]pyrene. Enzymatic activities were determined in different tissues of fish exposed for 48, 96, or 240 h to three concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene (25, 50, and 100 microg/L).

Delineation of estuarine management areas using multivariate geostatistics: the case of Sado Estuary.

The Sado Estuary is a coastal zone located in the south of Portugal where conflicts between conservation and development exist because of its location near industrialized urban zones and its designation as a natural reserve. The aim of this paper is to evaluate a set of multivariate geostatistical approaches to delineate spatially contiguous regions of sediment structure for Sado Estuary. These areas will be the supporting infrastructure of an environmental management system for this estuary.