Mercury and rare earth elements (REEs) show different spatial trends in feathers of Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) breeding along the Adriatic Sea coast, Italy.

Feather analysis is an ethical and effective method for assessing the exposure of wild birds to environmental contamination due to trace elements and organic pollutants. We used feather to monitor the exposure to three toxic and non-essential metals (Hg, Cd, and Pb) and rare earth elements (REEs) of Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) breeding in different coastal areas (Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, and Apulia) along the Italian coast of the Adriatic Sea. Feathers (n = 113) were collected from April to June.

Neonicotinoids and pharmaceuticals in hair of the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from the Cavallino-Treporti peninsula, Italy.

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) and active pharmaceuticals ingredients (API) are contaminants widely diffused worldwide, causing increasing concern for potential adverse effects on wildlife. However, research on these contaminants have focused on target and non-target invertebrates, while information on potential effects in terrestrial mammals is lacking. We performed preliminary non-invasive monitoring of NEOs and API in a suburban and agricultural area using hair of the Red fox.

Impacts of exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) discharge waters on planktonic biological indicators.

Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), operating in open-loop mode, continuously release acidic effluents (scrubber waters) to marine waters. Furthermore, scrubber waters contain high concentrations of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and alkylated PAHs, potentially affecting the plankton in the receiving waters. Toxicity tests evidenced significant impairments in planktonic indicators after acute, early-life stage, and long-term exposures to scrubber water produced by a vessel operating with high sulphur fuel.

Seabirds as Biomonitors of Mercury Bioavailability in the Venice Lagoon.

Seabirds accumulate mercury (Hg) due to their long-life span together with their high trophic position. A Hg monitoring in Venice's Lagoon using three seabird species occupying different trophic habitat (Thalasseus sandvicensis, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus, and Chroicocephalus ridibundus) confirmed that fledgelings might effectively be used as sentinels of Hg bioavailability. The significant differences in Hg residues in feathers observed among the species highlighted a possible differential exposure due to different diets, with C.

Inhibition of Larval Development of Marine Copepods by Neonicotinoids.

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) are neurotoxic pesticides widely used in agriculture due to their high effectiveness against pest insects. Despite their widespread use, very little is known about their toxicity towards marine organisms, including sensitive and ecologically relevant taxa such as copepods. Thus, we investigated the toxicity of five widely used NEOs, including acetamiprid (ACE), clothianidin (CLO), imidacloprid (IMI), thiacloprid (THI), and thiamethoxam (TMX), to assess their ability to inhibit the larval development of the copepod .

Spiking organic chemicals onto sediments for ecotoxicological analyses: an overview of methods and procedures.

Laboratory testing with spiked sediments with organic contaminants is a valuable tool for ecotoxicologists to study specific processes such as effects of known concentrations of toxicants, interactions of the toxicants with sediment and biota, and uptake kinetics. Since spiking of the sediment may be performed by using different strategies, a plethora of procedures was proposed in the literature for spiking organic chemicals onto sediments to perform ecotoxicological analyses. In this paper, we reviewed the scientific literature intending to characterise the kind of substrates that were used for spiking (i.

Assessing the exposure to human and veterinary pharmaceuticals in waterbirds: The use of feathers for monitoring antidepressants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from both human and veterinary sources is an increasing threat to wildlife welfare and conservation. Notwithstanding, tracking the exposure to pharmaceuticals in non-target and sensitive vertebrates, including birds, is seldom performed and relies almost exclusively on analysing internal organs retrieved from carcasses or from experimentally exposed and sacrificed birds. Clearly, this excludes the possibility of performing large-scale monitoring.

The ubiquity of neonicotinoid contamination: Residues in seabirds with different trophic habits.

Neonicotinoids are one of the most diffusely used classes of pesticides whose level of danger toward non-target invertebrate and vertebrate species has raised increasing concern in the last decades. Among vertebrates, birds are particularly susceptible to unintentional neonicotinoid poisoning since they can be exposed through different pathways, including ingestion of dressed seeds, sucking of contaminated pollen, ingestion of sprayed insects, predation on contaminated aquatic and terrestrial preys. In the present study, we investigated the possible exposure of seabirds by measuring the residues of five neonicotinoids (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam) in samples of pooled feathers collected from fledglings of the strictly piscivorous Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) and the mixotrophic species Mediterranean gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus).

Occurrence of rare earth elements in fledgelings of Thalasseus sandvicensis.

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are increasingly exploited for crucial new technologies, and their massive use in the past decades has significantly increased their environmental concentrations. Although their effects have been extensively studied in vitro and in vivo in model species, little is known of their accumulation and potential toxic effects in wildlife, including waterbirds. In the present work, we measured the concentrations of REEs in feathers of young Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) about 16-20 days old to assess whether the accumulation of these elements may be a concern in Venice's Lagoon, one of the most important wetlands of the Mediterranean area for breeding and migrating birds.

Guiding the development of sustainable nano-enabled products for the conservation of works of art: proposal for a framework implementing the Safe by Design concept.

Nanotechnology provides innovative and promising solutions for the conservation of cultural heritage, but the development and application of new nano-enabled products pose concerns regarding their human health and environmental risks. To address these issues, we propose a sustainability framework implementing the Safe by Design concept to support product developers in the early steps of product development, with the aim to provide safer nano-formulations for conservation, while retaining their functionality. In addition, this framework can support the assessment of sustainability of new products and their comparison to their conventional chemical counterparts if any.

A Hybrid Phase I-Phase II Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) for the Simultaneous Characterization and Identification of Toxicants of Concern in Coastal and Estuarine Environments.

A sequential TIE procedure combining in a single framework Phase I manipulations and Phase II methods, including chemical analyses and complementary Phase I treatments, was proposed for characterization and identification of toxicants of concern in estuarine environments. Interstitial water was chosen as test matrix and embryo-larval development with the bivalve Crassostrea gigas as toxicity endpoint. TIE treatments included addition of Ulva rigida and elution through zeolite column for addressing effects due to ammonia, addition of EDTA and elution through a Cation-Exchange Solid-Phase Extraction column for characterize metals, and elution through two different type of polymers (XAD and DPA) with different affinity for polar and nonpolar organic pollutants.

Accumulation of trace elements in feathers of the Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus.

A non-invasive study of trace element accumulation in tail feathers of the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) was performed along the coastline of the northern littoral strip of the Venice Lagoon, with the aim to verify whether contamination may be a factor affecting conservation status of Kentish plover populations. Body burdens in feathers of 11 trace elements including toxic metals/metalloids and essential elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn) were quantified by ICP-MS, then concentrations were normalized to feather's age calculated using ptilochronology in order to obtain daily deposition rates. Mercury emerged as a major threat to the conservation of the species, since average feather concentration was clearly above the adverse-effect threshold associated with impairment in the reproductive success in a number of bird species.

Assessment of whole-sediment chronic toxicity using sub-lethal endpoints with Monocorophium insidiosum.

A whole-sediment test with the infaunal amphipod Monocorophium insidiosum has been developed to assess the long-term effects exerted by sediment contamination on survival, growth rates and attainment of sexual maturity. Juvenile amphipods were exposed for 28 days to a control sediment (native sediment) and three sediment samples collected in sites of the Venice Lagoon, characterized by contamination levels ranging from low to moderate, and absence of acute toxicity toward amphipods. Growth rate was estimated as daily length (μm d) and weight increments (μg d).

Combined effects of arsenic, salinity and temperature on Crassostrea gigas embryotoxicity.

The combined effects of different salinity and temperature levels on the toxicity of Arsenic (As) were studied on the embryonic development of the oyster Crassostrea gigas. A standardized embryotoxicity test was performed to assess the interactive effects of these stressors, in a full factorial design experiment including a range of salinities (15, 19, 24, 28 and 32), temperatures (16, 20, 24, 28 and 32°C) and As concentrations (100, 300, 600, 1200, 2400µgL). The embryotoxicity endpoint was about the determination of normal larvae development rates at various conditions, and median effect concentration (EC) determination for each As exposure condition.

Photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic chloramphenicol and effluent toxicity effects.

Chloramphenicol sodium succinate (CAP, C15H15Cl2N2 Na2O8) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic exhibiting activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as other groups of microorganisms only partially removed by conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Thus, CAP and its metabolites can be found in effluents. The present work deals with the photocatalytic degradation of CAP using TiO2 as photocatalyst.

Effects of alginate on stability and ecotoxicity of nano-TiO2 in artificial seawater.

The large-scale use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) in consumer and industrial applications raised environmental health and safety concerns. Potentially impacted ecosystems include estuarine and coastal organisms. Results from ecotoxicological studies with nano-TiO₂ dispersed in salt exposure media are difficult to interpret due to fast flocculation and sedimentation phenomena affecting the dispersion stability.

Embryotoxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles to Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lmk).

Few data exist on the ecotoxicological effects of nanosized titanium dioxide (nTiO2) towards marine species with specific reference to bivalve molluscs and their relative life stages. Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck was selected to assess the potential adverse effects of nTiO2 (0-64 mg/L) on its early larval development stages (pre-D shell stage, malformed D-shell stage and normal D-shell stage larvae) considering two exposure scenarios characterised by total darkness (ASTM protocol) and natural photoperiod (light/dark). This approach was considered to check the presence of potential effects associated to the photocatalytic properties of nTiO2.

To centralise or to decentralise: an overview of the most recent trends in wastewater treatment management.

An overview of recent trends in wastewater management is proposed concerning the role of centralisation and decentralisation in wastewater treatment. The main advantages, criticisms and limitations considering social, economic and environmental issues have been summarised. It resulted that none of the approaches could be excluded a priori, but were generally shown to integrate one another on the basis of the specific required situation.

Lignin and tannin toxicity to Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bohlin).

Lignin and tannin are widespread natural compounds traditionally used in tannery industries. Their presence is commonly detected in textile wastewater showing potential toxicity effects within various endpoints onto sea water organisms that generally represent the ultimate target of discharged effluents. Most data are available only as nominal concentrations or percentage volume of wastewater having an unknown lignin and tannin content.

Toxicity removal efficiency of decentralised sequencing batch reactor and ultra-filtration membrane bioreactors.

As a consequence of the Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, there is now more focus on discharges from wastewater treatment plants both to transitional and marine-coastal waters. The constraint to encourage sustainable water policy to prevent water deterioration and reduce or stop discharges has entailed new requirements for existing wastewater treatment plants in the form of advanced wastewater treatment technologies as further suggested by the Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control Bureau. A whole toolbox of physico-chemical and ecotoxicological parameters to investigate commercial and mixed domestic and industrial discharges was considered to check the efficiency of an Activated-Sludge Sequencing Batch Reactor (AS-SBR) and two Ultra-Filtration Membrane Biological Reactors (UF-MBRs) on a small scale decentralised basis.