Toxic Algae and Early Warning Management in Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea of China

The research status of toxic algae in Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea are reviewed from the aspects of toxicity characteristics,toxic mechanism and early warning management,and the existing toxic algae and their toxicity in Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea are analyzed in the paper. The early warning level of toxic algae in Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea of China is put forward,and the research direction of shellfish poisoning in future is summarized.

Application of Neomysis awatschensis as a standard marine toxicity test organism in China

The small mysid crustacean Neomysis awatschensis was collected in the west coast of Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China in 1992 and acclimated and cultured in laboratory conditions since then. Standard acute toxicity tests using 4—6 d juvenile mysids of this species were conducted and the results were compared with Mysidopsis bahia, a standard toxicity test organism used in the US in terms of their sensitivities to reference toxins, as well as their taxonomy, morphology and geographic distributions. Because of its wide distribution along the Chinese coast, similar sensitivity to pollutants as M. bahia, short life history, small size and the ease of handling, this study intended to use N. awatschensis as one of the standard marine organisms for toxicity testing in China. The species were applied to acute toxicity evaluations of drilling fluid and its additives, organotin TPT and toxic algae, and to chronic(life cycle) toxicity assays of organotin TPT and a toxic dinofalgellate Alexandrium tamarense, respectively. Using N. awatschensis as a standard toxicity testing organism in marine pollution assessment in China is suggested.

Preventing the Deluge: Climate Change, the Four Spheres, Interactions, and Causalities

Climate change means water change, and the impacts of climate change cause not only global sea levels to rise, but also elicit dangerous levels of coastal and mainland flooding. This study relates the effects of climate-change-induced sea level risings to several harmful, and sometimes preventable, factors causing floods. One topic discussed here will be the ocean’s current (more specifically, “The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current”) as it continues to warm with increasing temperatures. In addition to discussing the effects of the AMOC, it also relates the increasing causes that are contributing to flooding, plus the proliferation of melt from ice sheets, ice caps, and glaciers, which inevitably contributes to the devastating effects of flooding on coastal communities, destroying habitats and contributing to the extinction of both aquatic and land animals, and even impacting human infrastructure and livelihoods. This examination additionally presents the serious implications that climate change and flooding have had on the planet’s freshwater resources and reserves, which are being further destroyed by the added influx of salt water, causing water to then be treated with aquifers, an energy-intensive and highly expensive process. Lastly, this paper provides several suggested possibilities for curbing some of the harmful effects humans have already had on contributing to climate change, as well as the environmental factors that have further caused dangerous levels of flooding.

Application of magnesium and biosurfactant functionalized biochar composite in treating cyanobacteria in phosphorus and crude oil contaminated water

Various human activities have led to multiple contamination of natural water systems.The present study investigated the effect of a novel multifunctional biochar to treat nutrients,oil,and harmful algae in water.Specifically,magnesium(Mg)and biosurfactant rhamnolipid(RL)were incorporated into biochar,including Mg-biochar,RL-biochar,and Mg-RL-biochar.Their adsorption efficiency on phosphate and total petroleum hydrocarbons(TPH)was evaluated in separate batch studies.Also,the inhibition effect of RL-modified biochars on cyanobacteria was investigated.The results showed that Mg-impregnated biochar showed high adsorption capacity on phosphate(118 mg g^(−1)),while RLmodified biochar significantly reduced TPH(especially aromatic and light aliphatic fraction)with adsorption capacity of 44.4 mg g^(−1).The inhibition effects of biochar composites on algae in water without contaminants were in order of Mg-RL-biochar>RL-biochar>biochar with biomass reduction ranging 61-64%.Overall,Mg-RL-biochar was suggested based on this study due to its ability to remove PO_(4)^(3)−and TPH,and inhibit the growth of toxic algae.

The role of phosphorus in the metabolism of arsenate by a freshwater green alga, Chlorella vulgaris

A freshwater microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, was grown in the presence of varying phosphate concentrations（〈 10–500 μg/L P） and environmentally realistic concentrations of arsenate（As（Ⅴ））（5–50 μg/L As）. Arsenic speciation in the culture medium and total cellular arsenic were measured using AEC-ICP-MS and ICP-DRC-MS, respectively, to determine arsenic biotransformation and uptake in the various phosphorus scenarios. At high phosphate concentration in the culture medium, 〉 100 μg/L P, the uptake and biotransformation of As（Ⅴ） was minimal and dimethylarsonate（DMAs（Ⅴ）） was the dominant metabolite excreted by C. vulgaris, albeit at relatively low concentrations. At common environmental P concentrations, 0–50 μg/L P, the uptake and biotransformation of As（Ⅴ） increased. At these higher As-uptake levels, arsenite（As（Ⅲ）） was the predominant metabolite excreted from the cell. The concentrations of As（Ⅲ） in these low P conditions were much higher than the concentrations of methylated arsenicals observed at the various P concentrations studied. The switchover threshold between the（small） methylation and（large） reduction of As（Ⅴ） occurred around a cellular As concentration of 1 fg/cell. The observed nearly quantitative conversion of As（Ⅴ） to As（Ⅲ） under low phosphate conditions indicates the importance of As（Ⅴ） bio-reduction at common freshwater P concentrations. These findings on the influence of phosphorus on arsenic uptake, accumulation and excretion are discussed in relation to previously published research. The impact that the two scenarios of As（Ⅴ） metabolism, As（Ⅲ） excretion at high As（Ⅴ）-uptake and methylarsenical excretion at low As（Ⅴ）-uptake, have on freshwater arsenic speciation is discussed.