Determining Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Case study for descriptor 8 (chemical contaminants).

The European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires individual member states to develop a robust set of tools for defining eleven qualitative descriptors of Good Environmental Status (GES), such as demonstrating that "Concentrations of contaminants are at levels not giving rise to pollution effects" (GES descriptor 8). Adopting the recommendations of the ICES/OSPAR Study Group for the Integrated Monitoring of Contaminants and Biological Effects (SGIMC), we present a case study demonstrating how the proposed approach, using chemical contaminant (metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls) and biological effects (EROD, bile metabolites and pathology) data in different matrices (sediment and biota), could be used to contribute to the determination of GES in a region of the North Sea region off the east coast of the UK.

Baseline survey of marine sediments collected from the State of Kuwait: PAHs, PCBs, brominated flame retardants and metal contamination.

A geographically extensive baseline survey of sediment contamination was undertaken at twenty nine locations around Kuwait. Samples were assessed in relation to a wide range of industrial pollutants, including metals, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs and HBCDs. The data generated indicated that levels of pollutants were generally low and below commonly applied sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). However, naturally high background concentrations of certain metals present in sediment from the region may prohibit the direct assessment against some of the routinely applied SQGs. Hot spots of contamination were identified for PAHs, PCBs and PBDEs, that were mainly associated with the Shuaiba Industrial Area, located south of the city, and known to contain a diverse mix of both light and heavy industry.

Impacts of maintenance dredged material disposal on macrobenthic structure and secondary productivity.

The results of a monitoring programme to assess the spatial impacts associated with ongoing dredged material disposal activity at a dispersive, coastal disposal site (southwest UK) are described. Benthic impacts were assessed using benthic community structure and secondary productivity estimates. Analyses of univariate indices (including secondary production) and multivariate community structure revealed differences between stations inside and those outside the disposal site were minimal. Generally, stations within and outside the disposal site were characterised by the same species. Regression models indicated that the variability in biological structure and secondary production was predominantly accounted for by natural variables (e.g., depth, sediment granulometry) with only a small amount of residual variability being due to contaminant variables. Thus, the elevated levels of certain contaminants in the vicinity of the disposal area were not sufficient to result in significant ecological or ecotoxicological changes. We ascribe such findings partly to the dispersive nature of the disposal site.

The human alimentary tract transfer and body retention of environmental polonium-210.

This paper presents the results of a 4 year study to investigate the human alimentary tract transfer factor (f(A) value) and body retention of 210 Po in shellfish. In the first 3 years, mussels (Mytilus edulis L.), cockles (Cerastoderma edule L.) and brown meat from crab (Cancer pagurus L.) were successively studied. In each year five volunteers (from a pool of seven) ate a suitable portion of the shellfish and provided 24 h samples of excreta usually for 3 days before and for at least 7 days during and after eating. Subsamples of shellfish were analysed to determine the intakes of 210 Po. Faeces were analysed and the data used to assess apparent fA values. Urine samples were analysed in the mussel and crab studies to provide urinary excretion parameters. Pb-210 was also analysed during the mussel study; the levels were low, leading to large uncertainties, but confirming the negligible effect of radioactive decay to its granddaughter 210 Po in the main study. In the fourth year, larger samples of brown crab meat were eaten by five volunteers and faecal samples were taken at suitable times over periods of up to 43 days to study body retention of 210 Po. The first approximately 7 days provided additional data on fA values. Pooled results for the apparent fA for the whole study lay in the range 0.15-0.65 with a mean of 0.46; corrections for endogenous excretion suggest a true fA value of approximately 0.51, supporting the value of 0.5 currently used by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The retention data suggest a biological half-time of about 40 days, in broad consistency with the 50 days currently used by the ICRP. Thus there is no strong evidence from this study suggesting a change in dose coefficient for 210 Po. Full experimental data are provided to allow independent further interpretation.