Industrial sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to a sewershed in Ontario, Canada.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment despite global regulatory action to restrict their use in industrial processes and products. The objective of this reconnaissance sampling was to understand current industrial use and ongoing sources of PFAS in Ontario. Fourteen PFAS were analyzed in effluents from four sectors: electroplaters, laundry and carpet cleaners, landfills, and circuit board manufacturers that discharge to sewersheds connected to wastewater treatment plants. Maximum concentrations were detected in carpet cleaning wastewater: 79,000 ng/L for perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), 26,000 ng/L perfluorooctane sulfate (PFOS), and 9400 ng/L perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Total summed PFAS (∑PFAS14) concentrations were highest in laundry and carpet cleaners > electroplaters > landfill leachate > circuit boarders. These results indicate that PFAS continue to be used in select manufacturing and processing facilities and that the elevated levels are associated with past and current uses in commercial products.

Assessment of seasonality and normalization techniques for wastewater-based surveillance in Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: Wastewater-based surveillance is at the forefront of monitoring for community prevalence of COVID-19, however, continued uncertainty exists regarding the use of fecal indicators for normalization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater. Using three communities in Ontario, sampled from 2021-2023, the seasonality of a viral fecal indicator (pepper mild mottle virus, PMMoV) and the utility of normalization of data to improve correlations with clinical cases was examined. Methods: Wastewater samples from Warden, the Humber Air Management Facility (AMF), and Kitchener were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, PMMoV, and crAssphage. The seasonality of PMMoV and flow rates were examined and compared by Season-Trend-Loess decomposition analysis. The effects of normalization using PMMoV, crAssphage, and flow rates were analyzed by comparing the correlations to clinical cases by episode date (CBED) during 2021. Results: Seasonal analysis demonstrated that PMMoV had similar trends at Humber AMF and Kitchener with peaks in January and April 2022 and low concentrations (troughs) in the summer months. Warden had similar trends but was more sporadic between the peaks and troughs for PMMoV concentrations. Flow demonstrated similar trends but was not correlated to PMMoV concentrations at Humber AMF and was very weak at Kitchener (r = 0.12). Despite the differences among the sewersheds, unnormalized SARS-CoV-2 (raw N1-N2) concentration in wastewater (n = 99-191) was strongly correlated to the CBED in the communities (r = 0.620-0.854) during 2021. Additionally, normalization with PMMoV did not improve the correlations at Warden and significantly reduced the correlations at Humber AMF and Kitchener. Flow normalization (n = 99-191) at Humber AMF and Kitchener and crAssphage normalization (n = 29-57) correlations at all three sites were not significantly different from raw N1-N2 correlations with CBED. Discussion: Differences in seasonal trends in viral biomarkers caused by differences in sewershed characteristics (flow, input, etc.) may play a role in determining how effective normalization may be for improving correlations (or not). This study highlights the importance of assessing the influence of viral fecal indicators on normalized SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses of concern. Fecal indicators used to normalize the target of interest may help or hinder establishing trends with clinical outcomes of interest in wastewater-based surveillance and needs to be considered carefully across seasons and sites.

Skilful decadal-scale prediction of fish habitat and distribution shifts.

Many fish and marine organisms are responding to our planet's changing climate by shifting their distribution. Such shifts can drive international conflicts and are highly problematic for the communities and businesses that depend on these living marine resources. Advances in climate prediction mean that in some regions the drivers of these shifts can be forecast up to a decade ahead, although forecasts of distribution shifts on this critical time-scale, while highly sought after by stakeholders, have yet to materialise. Here, we demonstrate the application of decadal-scale climate predictions to the habitat and distribution of marine fish species. We show statistically significant forecast skill of individual years that outperform baseline forecasts 3-10 years ahead; forecasts of multi-year averages perform even better, yielding correlation coefficients in excess of 0.90 in some cases. We also demonstrate that the habitat shifts underlying conflicts over Atlantic mackerel fishing rights could have been foreseen. Our results show that climate predictions can provide information of direct relevance to stakeholders on the decadal-scale. This tool will be critical in foreseeing, adapting to and coping with the challenges of a changing future climate, particularly in the most ocean-dependent nations and communities.

Get up early: Revealing behavioral responses of sandeel to ocean warming using commercial catch data.

Warming of the oceans and shifts in the timing of annual key events are likely to cause behavioral changes in species showing a high degree of site fidelity. While this is well studied in terrestrial systems, there are fewer examples from the marine environment. Sandeel (Ammodytes marinus) is a small eel-shaped teleost fish with strong behavioral attachment to sandy habitats in which they are buried from late summer through winter. When spring arrives, the sandeel emerge to feed during the day for several of months before returning to the sand for overwintering refuge.Using fisheries data from the North Sea, we investigated whether catch rates reflect the timing of emergence and if seasonal patterns are related to temperature and primary production.Catch per unit effort (CPUE) was used to describe sandeel emergence. We developed indicators of the relative timing of the emergence from the winter sand refuge and the subsequent growth period. Different modeling approaches were used to investigate the relationship with bottom temperature and primary production.Variation in emergence behavior was correlated with variation in sea bottom temperature. Warmer years were characterized by earlier emergence. Significant warming over the last three decades was evident in all sandeel habitats in the North Sea throughout most of their adult life history, though no net shift in the phenology of emergence was detected. Minimum temperature during spring was a better predictor of emergence behavior than, for example, degree days.This study emphasizes how temperature-induced changes in behavior may have implications for predators and fisheries of sandeel. The method can be applied to other species for which the timing of exploitation (i.e., fisheries) and species life history are well matched.

Climate risk to European fisheries and coastal communities.

With the majority of the global human population living in coastal regions, correctly characterizing the climate risk that ocean-dependent communities and businesses are exposed to is key to prioritizing the finite resources available to support adaptation. We apply a climate risk analysis across the European fisheries sector to identify the most at-risk fishing fleets and coastal regions and then link the two analyses together. We employ an approach combining biological traits with physiological metrics to differentiate climate hazards between 556 populations of fish and use these to assess the relative climate risk for 380 fishing fleets and 105 coastal regions in Europe. Countries in southeast Europe as well as the United Kingdom have the highest risks to both fishing fleets and coastal regions overall, while in other countries, the risk-profile is greater at either the fleet level or at the regional level. European fisheries face a diversity of challenges posed by climate change; climate adaptation, therefore, needs to be tailored to each country, region, and fleet's specific situation. Our analysis supports this process by highlighting where and what adaptation measures might be needed and informing where policy and business responses could have the greatest impact.

Attuning to a changing ocean.

The ocean is a lifeline for human existence, but current practices risk severely undermining ocean sustainability. Present and future social-ecological challenges necessitate the maintenance and development of knowledge and action by stimulating collaboration among scientists and between science, policy, and practice. Here we explore not only how such collaborations have developed in the Nordic countries and adjacent seas but also how knowledge from these regions contributes to an understanding of how to obtain a sustainable ocean. Our collective experience may be summarized in three points: 1) In the absence of long-term observations, decision-making is subject to high risk arising from natural variability; 2) in the absence of established scientific organizations, advice to stakeholders often relies on a few advisors, making them prone to biased perceptions; and 3) in the absence of trust between policy makers and the science community, attuning to a changing ocean will be subject to arbitrary decision-making with unforeseen and negative ramifications. Underpinning these observations, we show that collaboration across scientific disciplines and stakeholders and between nations is a necessary condition for appropriate actions.

A Holistic Multi-Scale Approach to Using 3D Scanning Technology in Accident Reconstruction.

Three-dimensional scanning and documentation methods are becoming increasingly employed by law enforcement personnel for crime scene and accident scene recording. Three-dimensional documentation of the victim's body in such cases is also increasingly used as the field of forensic radiology and imaging is expanding rapidly. These scanning technologies enable a more complete and detailed documentation than standard autopsy. This was used to examine a fatal pedestrian-vehicle collision where the pedestrian was killed by a van while crossing the road. Two competing scenarios were considered for the vehicle speed calculation: the pedestrian being projected forward by the impact or the pedestrian being carried on the vehicle's bonnet. In order to assist with this, the impact area of the accident vehicle was scanned using laser surface scanning, the victim was scanned using postmortem CT and micro-CT and the data sets were combined to virtually match features of the vehicle to injuries on the victim. Micro-CT revealed additional injuries not previously detected, lending support to the pedestrian-carry theory.

Using micro-computed tomography to examine the larynx in cases of suspected strangulation-a comparison of case findings and control images.

The examination of strangulation is one of the most challenging causes of death diagnoses encountered in forensic pathology. The injuries are often subtle and difficult to detect, especially in cases that lack superficial marks. Fractures of the laryngeal skeleton are commonly regarded as evidence of strangulation but these can be too subtle to be detected during autopsy. Micro-CT is a novel imaging technique that achieves a spatial resolution 1 µm or less which lends itself to the examination of small and delicate structures such as the larynx. However, there is little information to date regarding the appearance of the larynx at this scale, thus complicating the interpretation of the micro-CT images. This study therefore uses micro-CT to examine ten larynges from strangulation deaths and to compare them to nineteen samples from donor individuals in order to distinguish between naturally occurring features and actual trauma. It was found that there are several features which mimic damage in the donor group. Using associated case information, initial trends and patterns of different strangulation methods were established.

Spatial synchrony in the response of a long range migratory species (Salmo salar) to climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean.

A major challenge in understanding the response of populations to climate change is to separate the effects of local drivers acting independently on specific populations, from the effects of global drivers that impact multiple populations simultaneously and thereby synchronize their dynamics. We investigated the environmental drivers and the demographic mechanisms of the widespread decline in marine survival rates of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) over the last four decades. We developed a hierarchical Bayesian life cycle model to quantify the spatial synchrony in the marine survival of 13 large groups of populations (called stock units, SU) from two continental stock groups (CSG) in North America (NA) and Southern Europe (SE) over the period 1971-2014. We found strong coherence in the temporal variation in postsmolt marine survival among the 13 SU of NA and SE. A common North Atlantic trend explains 37% of the temporal variability of the survivals for the 13 SU and declines by a factor of 1.8 over the 1971-2014 time series. Synchrony in survival trends is stronger between SU within each CSG. The common trends at the scale of NA and SE capture 60% and 42% of the total variance of temporal variations, respectively. Temporal variations of the postsmolt survival are best explained by the temporal variations of sea surface temperature (SST, negative correlation) and net primary production indices (PP, positive correlation) encountered by salmon in common domains during their marine migration. Specifically, in the Labrador Sea/Grand Banks for populations from NA, 26% and 24% of variance is captured by SST and PP, respectively and in the Norwegian Sea for populations from SE, 21% and 12% of variance is captured by SST and PP, respectively. The findings support the hypothesis of a response of salmon populations to large climate-induced changes in the North Atlantic simultaneously impacting populations from distant continental habitats.

The final discharge: Quantifying contaminants in embalming process effluents discharged to sewers in ontario, Canada.

The process of embalming human remains as part of the funeral home industry, entails replacing blood with embalming fluid. Typically the unused/excess fluids are disposed of directly to the sewershed or septic system. The presence of select contaminants in sewer discharges from 8 funeral homes (facilities) in York Region, Ontario during active embalming processes was studied. A wide range of contaminants including embalming fluids (formaldehyde and triclosan); metals, conventional parameters, persistent organic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, and polychlorinated byphenyls), nonyl phenols and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) were measured in the final embalming effluent and compared to regulatory sewer limits where available. Two main constituents of embalming fluids-formaldehyde and triclosan-were detected at maximum concentrations of 561,000 µg/L and 505 µg/L respectively. Other persistent organic pollutants detected in embalming effluent included banned pesticides lindane (83 ng/L) and metabolites of DDT (DDE; 2,300 ng/L). Elevated APIs found in over-the-counter drugs and products were also frequently detected at elevated concentrations (oxybenzone, hydrocortisone, lidocaine, naproxen, ibuprofen, ciprofloxacin and DEET). Most contaminants did not exceed regulatory sewer limits where available, however others including biochemical oxygen demand (cBOD5) and conventional parameters were consistently above regulatory limits. Large amounts of formaldehyde and triclosan may pose a risk to receiving sewersheds and receiving sewage treatment plants due to their antimicrobial activities.

Using histology to evaluate micro-CT findings of trauma in three post-mortem samples - First steps towards method validation.

Forensic imaging technology has rapidly advanced over the past several decades and is gaining increasing significance in medico-legal death investigations. Medical-grade computed tomography (CT) is now routinely used in post-mortem examinations at numerous institutions across the globe. However, the resolution of medical-grade CT is limited and unsuitable when used to depict some smaller anatomical structures or micro-trauma. High-resolution micro-CT offers up to 100× the resolution to overcome this problem but is a very recent addition to the field of forensic radiology. Few studies so far have attempted to validate the results which is an essential prerequisite for it to be used in the criminal justice process as demanded by regulatory bodies. This study directly compares micro-CT images with histology, the current gold standard. Three cases were examined: two larynges from suspected strangulations and one ribcage of a case of fatal child abuse. A strong correlation was observed between histology and micro-CT as the majority of skeletal injuries were identified correctly. This paper discusses the forensic implications of the results and how micro-CT is complementary to histology.

Climate change has altered zooplankton-fuelled carbon export in the North Atlantic.

Marine plankton have been conspicuously affected by recent climate change, responding with profound spatial relocations and shifts in the timing of their seasonal occurrence. These changes directly affect the global carbon cycle by altering the transport of organic material from the surface ocean to depth, with consequences that remain poorly understood. We investigated how distributional and abundance changes of copepods, the dominant group of zooplankton, have affected biogenic carbon cycling. We used trait-based, mechanistic models to estimate the magnitude of carbon transported downward through sinking faecal pellets, daily vertical migration and seasonal hibernation at depth. From such estimates for over 200,000 community observations in the northern North Atlantic we found carbon flux increased along the northwestern boundary of the study area and decreased in the open northern North Atlantic during the past 55 years. These changes in export were primarily associated with changes in copepod biomass, driven by shifting distributions of abundant, large-bodied species. Our findings highlight how recent climate change has affected downward carbon transport by altering copepod community structure and demonstrate how carbon fluxes through plankton communities can be mechanistically implemented in next-generation biogeochemical models with size-structured representations of zooplankton communities.

Environmental loadings of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients from manufacturing facilities in Canada.

Recent evidence has revealed that cities with pharmaceutical manufacturers have elevated concentrations of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in their receiving water bodies. The purpose of this study was to gather information on direct sewer discharges of APIs during their manufacturing and processing from five pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Canada. Drug classes and maximum reported concentrations (ng/L) for which APIs were directly discharged included: antidepressants (paroxetine - 3380 and sertraline - 5100); mood stabilizer (carbamazepine - 575,000); antibiotics (penicillin - 14,300); analgesics (acetaminophen - 461,000; codeine - 49,200; ibuprofen - 344,000; naproxen - 253,000 and oxycodone 21,000); cardiovascular drugs (atorvastatin - 893 and metoprolol - 7,333,600) and those drugs used for blood pressure control (amlodipine - 22,900; diltiazem - 1,160,000; furosemide - 1,200,000 and verapamil - 7340). Based on flow and water usage data from the individual facilities, the maximum concentrations for acetaminophen, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, diltiazem and metoprolol correlate to approximately 200, 220, 390, 420 and 14,200 g respectively, of lost product being directly discharged to the sewers daily during active manufacturing. This survey demonstrates that direct point source discharges from pharmaceutical manufacturers represent a key source of pharmaceutical pollution to receiving sewersheds. Onsite recovery of product or treatment at pharmaceutical manufacturing or processing facilities to reduce the sewage loadings to receiving treatment plants, product loss and potential environmental loadings is strongly recommended.

DNA damage-induced dynamic changes in abundance and cytosol-nuclear translocation of proteins involved in translational processes, metabolism, and autophagy.

Ionizing radiation (IR) causes DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and activates a versatile cellular response regulating DNA repair, cell-cycle progression, transcription, DNA replication and other processes. In recent years proteomics has emerged as a powerful tool deepening our understanding of this multifaceted response. In this study we use SILAC-based proteomics to specifically investigate dynamic changes in cytoplasmic protein abundance after ionizing radiation; we present in-depth bioinformatics analysis and show that levels of proteins involved in autophagy (cathepsins and other lysosomal proteins), proteasomal degradation (Ubiquitin-related proteins), energy metabolism (mitochondrial proteins) and particularly translation (ribosomal proteins and translation factors) are regulated after cellular exposure to ionizing radiation. Downregulation of no less than 68 ribosomal proteins shows rapid changes in the translation pattern after IR. Additionally, we provide evidence of compartmental cytosol-nuclear translocation of numerous DNA damage related proteins using protein correlation profiling. In conclusion, these results highlight unexpected cytoplasmic processes actively orchestrated after genotoxic insults and protein translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus as a fundamental regulatory mechanism employed to aid cell survival and preservation of genome integrity.

Temperature-dependent adaptation allows fish to meet their food across their species' range.

In seasonal environments, timing is everything: Ecosystem dynamics are controlled by how well predators can match their prey in space and time. This match of predator and prey is thought to be particularly critical for the vulnerable larval life stages of many fish, where limited parental investment means that population survival can depend on how well larvae match the timing of their food. We develop and apply novel metrics of thermal time to estimate the timing of unobserved stages of fish larvae and their prey across the north Atlantic. The result shows that previously identified life-history strategies are adaptive in that they allow parents to "predict" a beneficial environment for their offspring and meet larval fish food timing that varies by 99 days across a species' range.

A generic framework for individual-based modelling and physical-biological interaction.

The increased availability of high-resolution ocean data globally has enabled more detailed analyses of physical-biological interactions and their consequences to the ecosystem. We present IBMlib, which is a versatile, portable and computationally effective framework for conducting Lagrangian simulations in the marine environment. The purpose of the framework is to handle complex individual-level biological models of organisms, combined with realistic 3D oceanographic model of physics and biogeochemistry describing the environment of the organisms without assumptions about spatial or temporal scales. The open-source framework features a minimal robust interface to facilitate the coupling between individual-level biological models and oceanographic models, and we provide application examples including forward/backward simulations, habitat connectivity calculations, assessing ocean conditions, comparison of physical circulation models, model ensemble runs and recently posterior Eulerian simulations using the IBMlib framework. We present the code design ideas behind the longevity of the code, our implementation experiences, as well as code performance benchmarking. The framework may contribute substantially to progresses in representing, understanding, predicting and eventually managing marine ecosystems.