Paraffin waxes in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: A comprehensive assessment in the Pelagos Sanctuary, a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance.

Paraffin waxes are widely recognized as emerging marine pollutants, even their classification by the recent monitoring programs and the knowledge of their occurrence, and sources of contamination in marine ecosystems are poorly defined and reported. Wax presence and distribution have been evaluated in different environmental compartments in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Mediterranean Sea) floating on the sea surface and stranded on beaches, focussing on their characterization, accumulation areas and pollution inputs. More than 2500 yellow paraffin residues were detected and analysed in the study area showing a prevailing dimension smaller than 5 mm. The Genoa Canyon and the waters facing Gorgona Island resulted in the more polluted areas representing two distinct hotspots of wax accumulation potentially related to the high density of tanker vessels sailing to and from the harbour of Genova and Livorno. Higher concentrations of beached particles were found along the Tuscan coast (11 items/100 m) and on Pianosa Island (110 items/m2). This study gives valuable insights into paraffin wax pollution in the Pelagos Sanctuary, emphasizing the need for harmonized monitoring and detection methods to elucidate the potential impacts on marine organisms. Moreover, mitigating actions are crucial to prevent and curb the waxes pollution of marine ecosystems.

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas: The PERSEUS experience.

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES.

Assessment of the environmental quality of French continental Mediterranean lagoons with oyster embryo bioassay.

In order to better understand environmental disturbances in the French coastal Mediterranean lagoons, we used an ecotoxicological approach based on the measurement of the toxicity of the sediments using oyster embryo bioassay that provides a basis for assessing the effects on the fauna of contaminants adsorbed on the sedimentary particles. The study covers all of the main lagoons of the French Mediterranean coasts of Languedoc Roussillon, Camargue, and Provence (Berre and Bolmon lagoons), where 188 stations were sampled. The toxicity tests provide evidence of variable levels of toxicity in sediments. Contaminated lagoons such as La peyrade, Le canet, and Ingrill and locally affected lagoons such as Bages-Sigean, Vaccares, Bolmon, and Berre have sampling stations with 100% of larval abnormalities during 24-h development. In all of the lagoons, the toxicity was mainly located close to local harbors and rivers. Salses Leucate (Languedoc roussillon) lagoon was found very clean, with no important toxicity. The results are discussed in terms of environmental disturbances of the coastal lagoons and with regard to the long-term monitoring of the impact of contaminants on the coastal environment.

Assessment of environmental pollution at Balearic Islands applying oxidative stress biomarkers in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis.

The antioxidant enzyme response of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis to different degree of pollution was investigated. Antioxidant enzyme activities - catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), glutathione reductase (GR), superoxide dismutase (SOD) - and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were measured in gills and digestive glands of mussels. Mussels from the same origin were transplanted along the Balearic coastal waters in eight stations characterized by a different degree of contamination and human impacts. Antioxidant enzyme activities showed an adaptive response to increase the activities in the more polluted areas. CAT, GR and SOD in gills and CAT and GR in digestive gland presented significant differences between polluted and non-polluted stations. No significant differences were observed in MDA concentration indicating that the antioxidant response is capable to avoid the lipid peroxidation. The use of biomarkers such as CAT and GR in gills and digestive glands of the mussel M. galloprovincialis is a good tool to categorize differences between polluted and non-polluted areas.

Evaluación de la situación de ácidos grasos esenciales y derivados de cadena larga en la dieta de lactantes menores de un año en Chile / Assessment of the status for essential fatty acids and long-chain derivatives in the diet of children younger than 1 year old from Chile

Los ácidos grasos esenciales (AGE) son precursores de ácidos grasos de muy larga cadena. Se concentran en el tejido nervioso, habiéndose sugerido que tienen un rol crítico en el desarrollo cerebral y visual. Se desconoce si la conversión de AGE a estos ácidos grasos es suficiente para sustentar una función óptima, por lo tanto es prioritario definir los requerimientos de AGE y sus derivados. Algunos autores sugieren incorporar estos ácidos grasos derivados en las fórmulas lácteas. Este artículo revisa y evalúa la ingesta aparente de ácidos grasos esenciales y derivados a partir de la fórmula láctea consumida por los lactantes beneficiarios del Programa Nacional de Alimentación Complementaria durante el primer año de vida, comparándola con las recomendaciones de lípidos recientemente propuestas. Se observó una ingesta deficitaria de ácido docosahexaenoico en lactantes alimentados con fórmulas lácteas no modificadas o sin adición de derivados de cadena larga.

Evaluación nutricional de adolescentes mediante índice de masa corporal para etapa puberal / Nutritional assessment of adolescents through body mass index for puberal stage

Se propone el empleo del índice de masa corporal (IMC, kg/m²) según desarrollo puberal de acuerdo a las etapas de Tanner, como un método de evaluación nutricional de adolescentes, sobre la base de un estudio previo de 2976 niños y 3735 niñas, entre 7 y 17 años de edad de 4 regiones de Chile. El índice mencionado aumenta significativamente con cada etapa del desarrollo puberal, entre 0,5 y 1,3 kg/m² en mujeres. Se desarrolló una gráfica para clasificar el estado nutricional según este indicador, utilizando los p10 y p90 del indicador propuesto como punto de corte para déficit y exceso, respectivamente. De este modo, se clasifica como sobrepeso-obesidad a hombres en etapas II-III con valores de IMC >21 kg/m², en etapa IV >22 kg/m² y en etapa V >23 kg/m². Para mujeres con desarrollo puberal en etapa II el valor límite fue >21 kg/m², que incrementó en 1 kg/m² con cada etapa de desarrollo, hasta completar >24 kg/m² en la etapa V. Paralelamente, a partir de estudios realizados en Chile, Suecia y Guatemala, se comparó el indicador propuesto, encontrándose una gran similitud en los valores promedio por estadio puberal, lo que sugiere su generalización