Effects of an invasive polychaete on benthic phosphorus cycling at sea basin scale: An ecosystem disservice.

Macrofaunal activities in sediments modify nutrient fluxes in different ways including the expression of species-specific functional traits and density-dependent population processes. The invasive polychaete genus Marenzelleria was first observed in the Baltic Sea in the 1980s. It has caused changes in benthic processes and affected the functioning of ecosystem services such as nutrient regulation. The large-scale effects of these changes are not known. We estimated the current Marenzelleria spp. wet weight biomass in the Baltic Sea to be 60-87 kton (95% confidence interval). We assessed the potential impact of Marenzelleria spp. on phosphorus cycling using a spatially explicit model, comparing estimates of expected sediment to water phosphorus fluxes from a biophysical model to ecologically relevant experimental measurements of benthic phosphorus flux. The estimated yearly net increases (95% CI) in phosphorous flux due to Marenzelleria spp. were 4.2-6.1 kton based on the biophysical model and 6.3-9.1 kton based on experimental data. The current biomass densities of Marenzelleria spp. in the Baltic Sea enhance the phosphorus fluxes from sediment to water on a sea basin scale. Although high densities of Marenzelleria spp. can increase phosphorus retention locally, such biomass densities are uncommon. Thus, the major effect of Marenzelleria seems to be a large-scale net decrease in the self-cleaning capacity of the Baltic Sea that counteracts human efforts to mitigate eutrophication in the region.

Sustainable phosphorus loadings from effective and cost-effective phosphorus management around the Baltic Sea.

Nutrient over-enrichment of the Baltic Sea, accompanied by intensified algal blooms and decreasing water clarity, has aroused widespread concern in the surrounding countries during the last four decades. This work has used a well-tested dynamic mass-balance model to investigate which decrease in total phosphorus loading would be required to meet the environmental goal to restore the trophic state in the Baltic Sea to pre-1960s levels. Furthermore, the extent to which various abatement options may decrease the phosphorus loading in a cost-effective manner has been studied. Upgrading urban sewage treatment in the catchment could, alone or in combination with banning phosphates in detergents, be sufficient to meet the set environmental goal, at an estimated annual basin-wide cost of 0.21-0.43 billion euro. Such a plan would potentially decrease the total phosphorus loading to the Baltic Sea with 6,650-10,200 tons per year.

Classical syndromes in occupational medicine: Phosphorus necrosis--a classical occupational disease.

A disease nearly extinct in occupational health history is phosphorus necrosis, previously seen in near-epidemic proportions among workers making phosphorus-containing matches. Similar destructive lesions were encountered early in the 20th century among personnel fabricating fireworks. Through the diligent efforts of an economist and a supportive congressman, legislation was passed in 1912 placing a tax on phosphorus matches, and because of the fiscal burden resulting, a nontoxic substitute for elemental phosphorus was adopted by all manufacturers. Today phosphorus necrosis is extremely rare, but the former presence of the disease points up both apathy and courage in the identification and eradication of a remarkably disfiguring work-caused disease.