Persistent Pollutants In Marine Ecosystems

This new volume from the SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) Special Publications Series examines the phenomenon of persistent pollutants in the seas and oceans. Unlike the highly visible and obvious effects caused by oil, certain chemicals have unseen but long-term and far-reaching effects on the marine ecosystem. They often have long half-lives, are carried great distances and pass easily through the food chain from prey to predator. The behaviour and effects of these persistent pollutants on each type of marine animal (invertebrates, vertebrates, fish, mammals and fish-eating birds) are described. A final overview draws the observations and conclusions together presenting a work that provides a foundation for understanding the behaviour of persistent pollutants in the marine environment.

While oceans are vast, they represent a fragile resource that must be protected if we want to protect our livelihoods and our planet. Marine pollution has been a topic of concern for a long time, and it has recently attracted the attention of scientists, environmentalists, economists, politicians and journalists in mainstream media. Besides providing food, transportation routes and other resources, the oceans serve as a heat absorbing sink which offsets the extreme heating effects of climate change, but only to a limited degree. Pollution in marine environments such as the oceans, poses a threat to coastal communities by affecting the fauna and flora in the environment and the health of the nearby population. This has a disruptive effect on the health and economy of these communities. Marine Pollution: Current Status, Impacts and Remedies emphasizes the limitations of marine resources that relevant environments provide. Readers will find chapters on methods to assess pollution as well as important information for identifying, measuring, and remediating various pollutants. The book also covers some known pollutants (heavy metals, organic pollutants, microplastics) and ways to manage these substances. Other issues covered in the book include problems caused by invasive species, and the ecological problems caused by pollutants which affect local fauna and flora. This book will prove to be a useful resource for students, researchers, and policymakers, who are working in environmental science, marine conservation and allied fields. [Series Intro] Marine Ecology: Current and Future Developments brings forth contemporary issues in the study of marine environments. The scope of the series includes ecological, toxicological and biological aspects of the topic. Each volume of the series focuses on a broad theme, with reviews contributed by several experts in the field. The series is essential reading for environmental scientists, ecologists, conservationists and marine biologists.

Despite the fact that water covers two-thirds of the Earth's surface, it is surprisingly vulnerable to human influence and activity. Marine ecosystems receive large amounts of a variety of pollutants from either treated or untreated wastewater. The extensive use of chemicals and their introduction into the environment has resulted in increased public concern for the potential threats to ecosystems, human health and safety. Persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and pesticides, as well as heavy metals, surfactants; endocrine disrupting chemicals or personal care products and pharmaceuticals are pollutants usually present in marine environments. This book focuses on discussing the types of marine pollutants. It provides topics on the environmental significance and management strategies available.

This book provides an in-depth understanding of the classification, toxicity, fate, degradation, and future orientation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in aquatic systems. It presents a concise but comprehensive coverage of the biochemical and toxicologic effects of POPs in marine environments to address how to curb their negative impacts on a global scale. The impacts of climate change on emissions and the fate of POPs are highlighted, as are collection protocols and exposure mechanisms. The key processes that controlled POP's fate, including air-sea exchange, ocean currents, phase distribution, and degradation, are reported. A literature review of polluted aquatic sites is illustrated to accurately measure POP fate, bioaccumulation, remediation, and future preventative measures for improved human and environmental safety. To account for the environmental fate and predict the annual contribution rate of POPs, a "Dynamic Multiple Box Multimedia Fate Model" and a "Temporal-Dynamic Model" were illustrated. A "bibliometric analysis," which reported the trends in the Dirty Dozen in Africa (1949–2021), is highlighted. Many protocols that limit POP emissions are addressed. This included creating or updating national laws and regulations pertaining to POPs and their waste. The book will be useful for students and researchers interested in POPs and pollution in marine environments, as well as agencies engaged in aquatic pollution remediation at local and global scales.

Persistent organic contaminants, which are bioaccumulative and toxic are a concern for the ecosystems and human health and are regulated under international law (global and regional conventions, besides other). If semivolatile, they cycle in different environmental compartments and follow complex transport pathways. The ocean is believed to play a key role in the cycling by accumulating and storing the contaminant and providing a transport medium. But substance fate in the marine environment is not fully understood yet. Here, the global multicompartment chemistry-transport model MPI-MCTM is used to study the fate of organic pollutants in the marine and total environment. For the first time historical emission data are used in spatially-resolved long-term simulations of an insecticide, DDT, and an industrial chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The model results give new insights into the cycling of these substances as different spatial and process resolutions were tested. E.g. for DDT the model results show saturation and reversal of air-sea exchange, which was not indicated by any other study before.

This report provides an overview of the current state of the coastal and marine environment in relation to the nine categories of threats outlined by the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA). The report indicates that legal and institutional arrangements have been strengthened and now cover most regions of the world, but that despite these heightened efforts globally, coastal and marine ecosystems continue to deteriorate mainly because of pressures by human development. Publishing Agency: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

This book presents a broad overview of pollution issues facing climatic, economic, and legal globalization. Topics include changes in oceans from ancient times to the present, the importance of marine currents and changing climates, marine pollution linked to climate change (fossil fuels, global carbon dioxide, heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, emerging pollutants, and marine debris), global shipping and species invasion, global climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic environments, and regulatory responses to mitigate pollution and climate change in oceans.

This book provides examples of pollutants, such as accidental oil spills and non-degradable plastic debris, which affect marine organisms of all taxa. Terrestrial runoff washes large amounts of dissolved organic materials from agriculture and industry, toxic heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and persistent organic pollutants which end up into rivers, coastal habitats, and open waters. While this book is not intended to encyclopaedically list all kinds of pollution, it rather exemplifies the problems by concentrating on a number of serious and prominent recent developments. The chapters in this book also discuss measures to decrease and remove aquatic pollution to mitigate the stress on aquatic organisms. Aquatic ecosystems provide a wide range of ecological and economical services. In addition to providing a large share of the staple diet for a fast growing human population, oceans absorb most of the anthropogenically emitted carbon dioxide and mitigate climate change. As well as rising temperatures and ocean acidification, pollution poses increasing problems for aquatic ecosystems and organisms reducing its functioning and services which are exposed to a plethora of stress factors.