Distribution patterns and transportation behavior of alkylphenol polyethoxylate degradation metabolites among river, port area, and coastal water bodies of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

In this study, we conducted a comprehensive study of the distribution, transportation behavior and potential ecological risk of alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APnEOs) in the aquatic environments of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan because little information is available regarding the fate of APnEOs in the water bodies of a total environment. At Love River, APnEOs concentrations were much higher at upstream of interception stations L15 (27.33 ± 1.22 µg/L) and L16 (6.31 ± 0.14 µg/L) than at downstream of interception stations L1-L14 (0.69-2.54 µg/L). Additionally, the average ethoxy (EO) chain lengths of APnEOs at L15 and L16 were longer than at L1-L14. These observations were attributed to the sluice between L14 and L15 that intercepts and accumulates untreated sewage from upstream areas and to the infrastructure of the sewage system that prevents domestic sewage from flowing downstream in the river and to the Kaohsiung Port Area. At Kaohsiung Port Area, APnEO concentrations ranging from 0.63 to 6.50 µg/L were measured. The concentration range and average EO chain length of these APnEOs were similar to those of the downstream stretch of the river, which was attributed to the mixing efficiency of the Kaohsiung Port Area and Love River through tidal exchange. At Cijin Coastal Area, APnEO concentrations ranged from 0.14 to 18.77 µg/L. Notably, the APnEO concentration of surface waters was much higher than that of bottom waters. This observation was attributed to the sewage discharged from the ocean outfall buoying up to the surface instead of mixing with surrounding bottom waters. In potential ecological risk, 19 of 39 sampling points exceeded toxic equivalency of 1 µg/L, and approximately 48.7% of the sampling points would exceed the threshold. The result provides insight into the environmental implications of APnEOs contamination in aquatic environments and useful information for environmental policy and ecological risk assessments.

An environmentally friendly strategy for determining organic ultraviolet filters in seawater using liquid-phase microextraction with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Benzophenone-3, benzophenone-8, and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor are used in sunscreens because they can protect the skin from UV radiation. The widespread use of organic UV filters may mean that they directly or indirectly enter seawater during recreational activities or through sewage discharge. In this study, a simple and efficient method using 1-octanol:isooctane (2:8, v/v) as an extraction solvent and liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry was developed to measure trace levels of organic UV filters in seawater samples. This proposed method proved to be a highly sensitive, low-cost, and green analytical tool that requires minimal sample preparation. The method was validated and it exhibited favorable performance as well as acceptable accuracy (67 to 115%), precision (2.1 to 7.3%), coefficients of determination (0.9952 < R2 < 0.9987), sensitivity (limits of quantification [3.3 to 5.7 ng L-1]), and an acceptable matrix effect (87 to 99%). This methodology was successfully applied to analyze seawater taken from Kenting National Park located in the Hengchun Peninsula of southern Taiwan. Benzophenone-3 was detected at all sampling sites and at a higher concentration than the other organic UV filters. The highest concentration of benzophenone-3 was 514.6 ng L-1 in a sample collected from Baisha Beach.

Intra-Colonial Functional Differentiation-Related Modulation of the Cellular Membrane in a Pocilloporid Coral Seriatopora caliendrum.

Scleractinian corals have displayed phenotypic gradients of polyps within a single genotypic colony, and this has profound implications for their biology. The intrinsic polymorphism of membrane lipids and the molecular interactions involved allow cells to dynamically organize their membranes to have physicochemical properties appropriate for their physiological requirements. To gain insight into the accommodation of the cellular membrane during ontogenetic shifts, intra-colony differences in the glycerophosphocholine profiling of a pocilloporid coral, Seriatopora caliendrum, were characterized using a previously validated method. Specifically, several major polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines showed higher levels in the distal tissue of coral branches. In contrast, the corresponding molecules with 1-2-degree less unsaturation and plasmanylcholines were expressed more highly in the proximal tissue. The lipid profiles of these two colonial positions also contrasted sharply with regard to the saturated, monounsaturated, and lyso-glycerophosphocholine ratios. Based on the biochemical and biophysical properties of these lipids, the associated modulation of cellular membrane properties could be related to the physiological requirements, including coral growth and aging, of the functionally differentiated polyps. In this study, the metabolic regulation of membrane lipids involved in the functional differentiation of polyps within a S. caliendrum colony was identified.