scholarly journals Preliminary Assessment of Microplastic Pollution Index: A Case Study in Marmara Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (Special Issue) ◽  
Author(s):  
lbrahim Tan
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Marmara Sea ◽  
Sampling Area ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Crucial Problem ◽  
Preliminary Study

Marine litter is a crucial problem for marine environment, and this problem is generally based on anthropogenic activities. Even though human-induced activities that cause marine litter are well known, they have not been assessed for the microplastic pollution yet. Here, we present the Microplastic Pollution Index (MPI); a fast, convenient, inexpensive and semi-quantitative tool for assessing land- and marinebased pressures on the sampling area. In this preliminary study, MPI were determined for eight different locations in Marmara Sea. The Marmara Sea is under the effect of several pressures, which can be seen from MPI results. Furthermore, currents and coastline morphology affect the retention time of water at the coastal zone. The highest MPI values were obtained from the Izmit and Bandırma gulfs, whereas the lowest value was found at entrance of the Dardanelle Strait. MPI values and manta net abundance values for each station showed a good linear relation (R2 = 0.58; F = 7.113; DF =1, q = 0.045). No correlation was found between the water column and sediment abundance values. MPI is providing information on microplastic pollution, which is useful to create an effective monitoring strategy. Furthermore, environmental managers can use this information to combat, restore and protect coastal waters against the microplastic pollution.

scholarly journals Changes of Walking Activity During the First Cycle Phases of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Seoul, Korea

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672110265
Author(s):  
Youngjun Park ◽  
Haekwon Chung ◽  
Sohyun Park
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Inactivity ◽  
Voluntary Participation ◽  
Walking Activity ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Acceleration And Deceleration ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
The Government

Aim: This study explores the changes in regular walking activities during the phases of the pandemic. Background: With the spread of COVID-19 transmission, people are refraining from going out, reducing their physical activity. In South Korea, COVID-19 broke out in the 4th week of 2020 and experienced the first cycle phases of the pandemic, such as outbreak, widespread, and decline. In response to the pandemic, the government encouraged voluntary participation in social distancing campaigns, and people reduced their outside activities. Methods: This article examines the decrease and increase of the Prevalence of Regular Walking (≥30 min of moderate walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) by the COVID-19 phases. This study is based on weekly walking data for 15 weeks in 2020, via the smartphone healthcare app, which is managed by 25 public health offices of the Seoul government. Results: According to the findings, the level of prevalence of regular walking (PRW) has a significant difference before and after the outbreak, and every interval of the four-stage COVID-19 phases, that is, pre-pandemic, initiation, acceleration, and deceleration. The level of PRW sharply decreased during initiation and acceleration intervals. In the deceleration interval of COVID-19, the PRW kept increasing, but it has not yet reached the same level as the previous year when the COVID-19 did not exist. Conclusions: As a preliminary study, this study explains empirically how COVID-19 changed PRW in Seoul. It would be helpful to enhance our understanding of the changes in physical inactivity in the pandemic period.

scholarly journals A Dieldrin Case Study: Another Evidence of an Obsolete Substance in the European Soil Environment

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 314
Author(s):  
Petros Tsiantas ◽  
Evangelia N. Tzanetou ◽  
Helen Karasali ◽  
Konstantinos M. Kasiotis
Keyword(s):  
Active Substance ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Carcinogenic Risk ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Soil Environment ◽  
Single Application ◽  
Environmental Concentration ◽  
Tandem Mass Spectrometric ◽  
Potential Use

Soil constitutes a central environmental compartment that, due to natural and anthropogenic activities, is a recipient of several contaminants. Among them, organochlorine pesticides are of major concern, even though they have been banned decades ago in the European Union, due to their persistence and the health effects they can elicit. In the presented work, a gas chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (GC-MS/MS) developed method was applied to soil samples after the suspected and potential use of formulations containing organochlorine active substance. One soil sample was positive to dieldrin at 0.018 mg kg−1. Predicted environmental concentration in soil (PECsoil) considering a single application of this active substance potentially attributed the finding in its past use. The subsequent health risk assessment showed negligible non-carcinogenic risk and tolerable carcinogenic risk. The latter signifies that repetitive and prolonged sampling can unveil the pragmatic projection of persistent chemicals’ residues in the soil.

scholarly journals Preliminary Study on Fish Larvae at Selected Coastal Waters of Sarawak

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Norhakimi Muhamad ◽  
Siti Akmar Khadijah Ab Rahim
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Intertidal Zone ◽  
Larval Dispersal ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Subtidal Zone ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Study Sites

A survey were carried out from April to November 2012 at five study sites namely Teluk Pandan beach, Rambungan beach, Puteri beach, Sampadi Island and Satang Besar Island, Sarawak. This survey was carried out in order to obtain early documentation of fish larvae at selected coastal waters of Sarawak. Seine net (1 mm mesh size) which was pulled by two persons at intertidal zone; and bridle net (0.5 mm mesh size) that was towed by boat at subtidal zone (Sampadi Island only) were used to collect the samples. A total of 2,562 fish larvae which comprise 25 families were obtained from both sampling methods. A total of 16 families of fish larvae were caught by seine net from the intertidal zone. The same number of families was collected at the subtidal zone of Sampadi Island by bridle net. Ambassidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae and Gerreidae found to be dominant families in the study sites. Clupeidae and Gerreidae shown a wide larval dispersal area because they were collected at all study sites. These findings seem to indicate that the subtidal zone of Sampadi support more species of fish larvae.

scholarly journals Achieving sustainable coastal environment in Langkawi, Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazlin Mokhtar ◽  
Minhaz Farid Ahmed ◽  
Khai Ern Lee ◽  
Lubna Alam ◽  
Choo Ta Goh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Sediment Quality ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Quality Standard ◽  
Coastal Environment ◽  
Coastal Pollution ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Spanish Mackerel ◽  
Coastal Marine

Despite many good policies and institutions, the coastal environment of Langkawi continues to deteriorate. This could be due to lack of effective governance as well as unregulated waste discharge. Evidences collected from the literature during 1996 to 2013 also revealed a significant increase in the concentrations of Zn (R2 = 0.78) and Pb (R2 = 0.12) in the sediment. This appears to be the result of large volume of terrestrial runoff that brings these metals originating from extensive anthropogenic activities. It is a vital indicator of coastal pollution. It is a matter of concern that in many cases Pb concentration in the sediment exceeded the world average value 20 μg/g as well as Canadian Interim Sediment Quality Standard of 35 μg/g for the coastal areas. Similarly, the metal pollution index (MPI) measured over a period of 2007 to 2009 in fish also indicated an increasing trend of pollution in Langkawi. The maximum MPI value (4.87) was recorded in Spanish mackerel. Since pollution of coastal environment has serious implications for marine biodiversity and health of seafood consumers, measures are required to address this problem. Use of constructed wetland might be effective in reducing the coastal pollution as this will filter the effluent and waste before their mixing with the coastal water. Furthermore, enabling the stakeholders to play the environmental stewardship role will ensure better governance of coastal ecosystem and effective implementation of policies, envisaging an improved monitoring of waste/effluent discharge into the coastal marine environment. These measures are among the actions necessary for achieving a sustainable coastal environment of Langkawi.

scholarly journals Microplastics Determination in the Rivers with Different Urbanisation Variances: A Case Study in Kuching City, Sarawak, Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-125
Author(s):  
Georgina Johnson ◽  
Wen San Hii ◽  
Samuel Lihan ◽  
Meng Guan Tay
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
River System ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Domestic Waste ◽  
Shape Identification ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
Sampling Locations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Main Factor

The presence of microplastics in aquatic systems is mainly due to the anthropogenic activities such as domestic waste dumping. Undeniably, rivers either in urban or suburban areas are always a waste dumpling sites from the surrounding residences. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between microplastic abundance and different degree of urbanization across Kuching in Sarawak. Three sampling locations with different degrees of urbanisation had been studied across Kuching. A total of 137 pieces of microplastics were collected along the study and analysed using stereoscopic microscope for the shape identification and FTIR spectrophotometer for functional groups present in the microplastics. Filament was the most abundant microplastics shape found, whereas the IR results showed that ethylenevinylacetate (9%), polyamides or nylon (15%), polypropylene (42%), poly(methylmethacrylate) (16%) and polystyrene (18%) were found in the study. The most abundant microplastics in the water samples was polypropylene (42%), whereas ethylenevinylacetate (9%) was the least. The degree of urbanisation does not directly relate to the microplastic present in the river system in Kuching City, but the anthropogenic activity is the main factor that affecting the microplastic abundance in the river.   Keywords: anthropologenic activity, FTIR, microplastics, polymer identification, urban, sub-urban

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