Article
Environmental Sciences
N. Indiketi, E. Lhoste, M. C. Grenon, M. Gagnon, E. Veilleux, G. Triffault-Bouchet, P. Couture
Summary: Diluted bitumen (dilbit), an unconventional oil produced by the oil sands industry in Canada, has unknown effects on benthic organisms despite existing knowledge on hydrocarbon toxicity. The current provisional threshold values in Quebec for chronic and acute effects have not been tested for heavy unconventional oils like dilbit, indicating a need for further research.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Water Resources
Rimon Thomas, Francisco Pinero-Garcia, Eva Forssell-Aronsson, Juan Mantero, Mats Isaksson
Summary: This study aimed to identify patterns in water quality data of pit lakes through principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, revealing differences among different types of pit lakes. While surface water parameters could separate elements into clusters based on chemical groups in most cases, the clustering of pit lake data did not clearly differentiate between types. Principal component analysis showed that three components for both water and sediment data explained a significant portion of the variance.
MINE WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Fatima Jesus, Joana L. Pereira, Isabel Campos, Martha Santos, Ana Re, Jacob Keizer, Antonio Nogueira, Fernando J. M. Goncalves, Nelson Abrantes, Dalila Serpa
Summary: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous pollutants that are widely present in the environment and can accumulate in sediment, posing a threat to benthic communities in freshwater environments. This review provides an overview of the distribution of PAHs in freshwater environments and their toxicity to benthic fauna, and highlights the need for further research on the environmental toxicity of PAHs in combination with other stressors.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jacques Bezuidenhout
Summary: This article introduces an environmentally friendly technique for tracing and modeling sediment by using naturally occurring radionuclides to fingerprint sediment. The radioactive fingerprint of river sediment was determined by correlating it with the geology of the river's catchment basin. The geology of the catchment basins of major rivers in South Africa was analyzed using GIS techniques to estimate average nuclide concentrations. The estimated values were compared with experimentally measured values, showing good agreement and unique tendencies. The research proves that sediment can be fingerprinted and identified based on their radionuclide characteristics.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED GEOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sohei Kobayashi, Yusuke Otsubo, Tetsuya Sumi, Yasuhiro Takemon
Summary: A sediment bypass tunnel (SBT) is utilized to reduce reservoir sedimentation and restore river ecosystems by transporting sediment downstream. In this study, the benthic invertebrate community downstream of the Asahi Dam in Japan was analyzed to investigate long-term changes after the installation of the SBT. The study revealed that the SBT installation led to a significant increase in community similarity between upstream and downstream sites, indicating rapid recovery of the invertebrate community. However, the study also highlighted the need for additional measures to maintain habitat diversity and biodiversity in the long term, such as cobble augmentation and flow guiding structures.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jian-Yu Dong, Xuefeng Wang, Xiumei Zhang, Gorka Bidegain, LinLin Zhao
Summary: This study proposed and tested a framework for integrating heavy metal pollution-related indices and macrobenthos-based indices to assess the benthic ecological quality status of Laoshan Bay. The results showed that the benthic ecological quality status was acceptable across most of the bay, although there were high levels of heavy metal pollution. The agreement between different indices was low, suggesting that the composite index used in this study may be more reliable for assessing the ecological quality of benthic habitats.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nedzad Gradascevic, Alisa Selovic, Nedim Mujic, Narcisa Smjecanin, Nejra Karaman, Mirza Nuhanovic
Summary: This study investigated the activity concentrations of natural and artificial radionuclides as well as the concentrations of six heavy metals in soil samples from three selected sites in Hadzici. The results showed correlations between the distribution of radionuclides and their activity concentrations through depths at one of the sites. The presence of depleted uranium was established at another site using activity ratios. The determined heavy metal concentrations indicated that all three sites were unpolluted to moderately polluted, with lead concentrations decreasing with increasing soil depth.
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ruben Jacova, Christopher Kennedy
Summary: This study investigated the toxic effects of chemicals used in salmonid aquaculture on benthic fauna and their relationship with sediment organic carbon content and chemical residence time. The results showed that sediment organic carbon content and chemical residence time significantly influenced the toxicity of the chemicals, indicating the importance of considering these environmental factors in regulatory decisions.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alice Peiying Wang, Jason Conder, Bart Chadwick, Gunther Rosen
Summary: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of activated carbon-based amendments in reducing the availability of sediment-associated organic compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The long-term monitoring results show a significant reduction in PCB availability and no negative impacts on the benthic community. The study also explores the use of carbon petrography and black carbon chemical oxidation methods for quantifying activated carbon content.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Olivier Simon, Frederic Coppin, Nadine Micozzi, Karine Beaugelin-Seiller, Laureline Fevrier, Pascale Henner, Claire Della-Vedova, Virginie Camilleri, Rodolphe Gilbin
Summary: This study aimed to contribute to the determination of a Quality Standard for sediment (QS(sediment)) according to European recommendations by enriching existing toxicity data for uranium. Results showed high toxicity of uranium to benthic organisms and lower toxicity to plants, suggesting a conservative preliminary QS(sediment) value of 4 mgU kg(-1), dry mass.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiangxiang Xiao, Yujun Tong, Dali Wang, Yongting Gong, Zhimin Zhou, Yuan Liu, Hongjie Huang, Baixin Zhang, Huizhen Li, Jing You
Summary: The present study evaluated the toxicological effects of sediments collected from Guangzhou waterways and analyzed the influence of land-use configuration on sediment toxicity and heavy metal and arsenic pollution. The results showed that toxicity and chemical composition varied spatially and were related to different land use types. Agricultural and aquacultural activities were found to have the greatest influence on sediment toxicity, while urban land areas were the main source of metal and arsenic pollution. These findings provide essential knowledge for reducing chemical pollution and ecotoxicological risk in sediments.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Wawan Budianta
Summary: This study revealed significant heavy metal pollution in the stream sediment of the Tajum River, primarily due to artisanal mining activities. The distribution and mobility of heavy metals are influenced by mining activities, with Zn and Cd showing lower mobility in sediment.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Paula de la Barra, Geert Aarts, Allert Bijleveld
Summary: Land subsidence in the Dutch Wadden Sea affects sediment composition and macrozoobenthic community. Defining relevant variables, implementing proper monitoring, and determining acceptable thresholds are necessary for successful management actions.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yu Wang, Luyu Liang, Xinyi Chen, Yi Zhang, Fubin Zhang, Fei Xu, Tuo Zhang
Summary: Due to fast-paced urbanization, industrial sand mining activities have put immense pressure on the environment, particularly leading to severe environmental problems in aquatic ecosystems. However, there is still incomplete understanding of the impact of sand mining on the remobilization of heavy metals in river sediments. This study extensively investigated this effect in the Jialing River using various techniques and found that sand mining activities resulted in the accumulation and remobilization of lead and cadmium.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lihui Xiang, Shenghui Jiang, Haiyang Cheng, Yanfen Wang, Qiang Liu, Yanjun Yin, Xing Leng
Summary: This study investigated the concentration profiles of various heavy metals in a sediment core in the offshore Jiangsu area of China. The results showed similar profiles for most metals except Cd, with high average concentrations during Marine Isotope Stage 2-4. The concentrations of trace metals in the sediment were mainly influenced by grain size and sediment sources, and almost all heavy metals, except Cd, were positively correlated. Enrichment factors, geoaccumulation indices, and principal component analysis indicated no elemental enrichment or contamination. The high EF and Igeo values of As, Hg, and Li were likely related to their background values.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2023)