Use of Margarine for the Successful Removal of Polyisobutylene in an Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) and Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias).

Two great blue herons (Ardea herodias) and an anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) were presented to the Wildlife Center of Texas with extensive plumage soiling from polyisobutylene (PIB), a synthetic rubber polymer used in manufacturing. All animals were provided supportive care and sedated for evaluation for hematologic and plasma biochemical values; one of the great blue herons was critically ill, based on the diagnostic evaluations and died approximately 24 hours after admission. On postmortem examination, it was diagnosed with coelomic migration of Eustrongylides species resulting in verminous peritonitis that was likely the primary cause of its poor condition and death, rather than the PIB exposure. Standard decontamination efforts with commercial liquid dish soap were unsuccessful. Application of margarine was used to emulsify the PIB on the remaining 2 birds and was followed by standard wash protocols for successful removal. These animals were successfully released after decontamination. The use of margarine for decontamination of PIB is unreported and could prove useful in future decontamination events in birds and other wildlife when traditional methods to remove hydrocarbon compounds are unsuccessful.

Inhalation poisoning with palytoxin from aquarium coral: case description and safety advice.

Palythoa spp. corals and some other marine organisms contain one of the most poisonous substances ever known - palytoxin (PTX). Due to their modest life requirements and ease of breeding, these corals are popular in home aquariums. Here we refer to a case of PTX poisoning of a middle-aged woman who inhaled poisonous vapours while brushing the corals from live rock and compare it with the available literature. As the case revealed that the symptoms of PTX poisoning are not specific and neither is treatment, our aim was to give a brief tabulated review of the symptoms that may indicate such poisoning. Cases of palytoxin poisoning have been reported worldwide, and severe ones (mostly due to ingestion of contaminated sea food) can end in death. As it appears, most (if not all) poisonings result from unawareness of the risk and reckless handling by aquarists. This is one of the first articles which provides some practical advice about the use of personal protection equipment, including gloves, masks, eyewear, and other clothing during any coral manipulation to minimise the risk. We also draw attention to the lack of marketing/trading regulations for dangerous coral species and/or regulations or instructions dealing with their removal and health protection.

Acute animal and human poisonings from cyanotoxin exposure - A review of the literature.

Cyanobacterial blooms are a potential health hazard due to the ability of some species to produce toxins that are harmful to other living organisms. This review provides a comprehensive summary of anecdotal and case reports on acute poisonings in animals and humans attributable to cyanotoxin exposure in fresh- and brackish-waters. Approximately two-thirds of reported poisonings have occurred in Europe and the United States. Dogs and livestock account for the majority of reported cases involving animal exposure to cyanotoxins, while recreational activities are responsible for approximately half of reported incidents involving human exposure. Due to data limitations it is difficult to estimate the total number of animals and humans affected by cyanotoxins, however, some general observations regarding frequency and numbers affected are made. The review demonstrates that cyanotoxins have, and will likely to continue to have, potentially serious consequences for public health and animal welfare worldwide.

Eco-epidemiological and pathological features of wildlife mortality events related to cyanobacterial bio-intoxication in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Over the past decade, several clustered, multispecies, wildlife mortality events occurred in the vicinity of two man-made earthen dams in the southern and south central regions of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. On field investigation, heavy cyanobacterial blooms were visible in these impoundments and analysis of water samples showed the dominance of Microcystis spp. (probably Microcystis aeruginosa). Macroscopic lesions seen at necropsy and histopathological lesions were compatible with a diagnosis of cyanobacterial intoxication. Laboratory toxicity tests and assays also confirmed the presence of significant levels of microcystins in water from the two dams. These outbreaks occurred during the dry autumn and early winter seasons when water levels in these dams were dropping, and a common feature was that all the affected dams were supporting a large number of hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius). It is hypothesised that hippopotamus' urine and faeces, together with agitation of the sediments, significantly contributed to internal loading of phosphates and nitrogen - leading to eutrophication of the water in these impoundments and subsequent cyanobacterial blooms. A major cause for concern was that a number of white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) were amongst the victims of these bio-intoxication events. This publication discusses the eco-epidemiology and pathology of these clustered mortalities, as well as the management options considered and eventually used to address the problem.

Cyanobacteria and algae blooms: Review of health and environmental data from the Harmful Algal Bloom-Related Illness Surveillance System (HABISS) 2007-2011.

Algae and cyanobacteria are present in all aquatic environments. We do not have a good sense of the extent of human and animal exposures to cyanobacteria or their toxins, nor do we understand the public health impacts from acute exposures associated with recreational activities or chronic exposures associated with drinking water. We describe the Harmful Algal Bloom-related Illness Surveillance System (HABISS) and summarize the collected reports describing bloom events and associated adverse human and animal health events. For the period of 2007-2011, Departments of Health and/or Environment from 11 states funded by the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed reports for 4534 events. For 2007, states contributed 173 reports from historical data. The states participating in the HABISS program built response capacity through targeted public outreach and prevention activities, including supporting routine cyanobacteria monitoring for public recreation waters. During 2007-2010, states used monitoring data to support196 public health advisories or beach closures. The information recorded in HABISS and the application of these data to develop a wide range of public health prevention and response activities indicate that cyanobacteria and algae blooms are an environmental public health issue that needs continuing attention.

Arsenic and fluoride: two major ground water pollutants.

Increasing human activities have modified the global cycle of heavy metals, non metals and metalloids. Both arsenic and fluoride are ubiquitous in the environment. Thousands of people are suffering from the toxic effects of arsenicals and fluorides in many countries all over the world. These two elements are recognized worldwide as the most serious inorganic contaminants in drinking water. Many studies have reported as regards to simple fluorosis and arsenicosis, but the knowledge of the joint action of these two elements is lacking and the results derived from previous studies were inconclusive. Contradictory results were reported in experimental studies in which different joint actions such as independent, synergistic and antagonistic effects were observed. This indicates that interaction mechanism of these two elements is considerable complicated and requires extensive studies. When two different types of toxicants are simultaneously going inside a human body they may function independently or can act as synergistic or antagonistic to one another. Thus there is an urge to resolve the question that how arsenic and fluoride act in condition of concomitant exposure. Although there have been reports in literature of individual toxicity of arsenic and fluoride however, there is very little known about the effects following the combined exposure to these toxicants. This review focused on recent developments in the research on the condition of individual exposure to arsenic and fluoride along with the recent updates of their combined exposure to better understand the joint action of these two toxicants.

Multiple isotope forensics of nitrate in a wild horse poisoning incident.

Multiple stable isotope analysis can be a powerful technique in forensic sciences. Oxygen and nitrogen isotopes were used to determine the source of nitrate that was responsible for the poisoning deaths of 71 wild horses in the Nevada desert. The nitrate was present in a water-filled hole known as 'the Main Lake depression.' Nitrate from the Main Lake depression had delta(18)O and delta(15)N values that were very positive (+32 per thousand, +37 per thousand), and Delta(17)O values of approximately +2 per thousand. The isotopic data suggested that the most probable source of the nitrate was nitrification of nitrogen from horse manure and urine that had leached into the pond. The delta(18)O signal suggested that extreme evaporative concentration had occurred, resulting in toxic levels of nitrate accumulating in the Main Lake depression. The study demonstrates the utility of the multiple stable isotope analysis approach for characterizing sources of nitrate.

Legionnaires' disease cluster linked to a metal product aqueous pre-treatment process, Staffordshire, England, May 2008.

In May 2008, a report of two workers from the same construction equipment manufacturing plant who were admitted to hospital with Legionnaires disease confirmed by urine antigen prompted an outbreak investigation. Both cases were middle aged men, smokers, and with no travel, leisure or other common community exposure to Legionella sources. There were no wet cooling towers at the plant or in the surrounding area. No increase in respiratory disease or worker absenteeism occurred at the plant during the preceding month. Wider case ascertainment including alerts to hospitals and medical practitioners yielded no further cases. The environmental investigation (and sampling of water systems for Legionella) identified a Legionella pneumophila serogroup1 (Mab 2b) count of >3.0x10(4)cfu/l in water samples from an aqueous metal pre-treatment tunnel, which generates profuse water aerosol. Drainage, cleaning and biocide treatment using thiazalone eliminated Legionella from the system.

Chronic Arsenic poisoning.

Chronic Arsenic Toxicity may have varied clinical presentations ranging from non-cancerous manifestations to malignancy of skin and different internal organs. Dermal lesions such as hyper pigmentation and hyperkeratosis, predominantly over palms and soles are diagnostic of Chronic Arsenicosis. We report two cases from a family living in Sukkur who presented with classical skin lesions described in Chronic Arsenicosis. The urine, nail and hair samples of these patients contained markedly elevated levels of arsenic. Also the water samples from their household and the neighbouring households were found to have alarming levels of inorganic Arsenic.

Seafood arsenic: implications for human risk assessment.

Concerns about the adverse effects of chronic arsenic exposure have focused on contaminated drinking water and airborne workplace exposures; the risks of naturally occurring arsenic in foods have received less attention. About 90% of the arsenic in US diets comes from seafood, of which only a small proportion occurs in inorganic forms; the great majority consists of complex organic compounds that generally have been regarded as non-toxic. However, recent studies of seafood have documented formation of metabolites carcinogenic in some rodents. To calculate the risks of ingested seafood arsenic, therefore, it is necessary to identify the nature and quantity of arsenic species present and the metabolites formed by expected metabolic activities. We review the nature and quantities of the various arsenical compounds found in dietary seafood and discuss their metabolic processing and fate. Based on conservative dose estimates and the likelihood that arsenic's carcinogenic mechanisms follow sub-linear dose-response curves, we estimate a margin of exposure of at least 10(3)-10(4) between carcinogenic doses used in rodent studies and those expected after human consumption of large quantities of seafood.

Influence of non-point source pollution on riverine fish assemblages in South West France.

The relationship between non-point source pollution (NSP) and fish assemblages in the Garonne basin, SW France was studied. Two independent data sets were coupled, one containing 20 physico-chemical variables and another containing 40 fish species in 84 study sites. Species were classified in guilds according to their feeding habitat and their diet composition. The physico-chemical variables were log-transformed and standardized for a factor analysis in which they were grouped into four factors which accounted for 80% of the total variability. These were named according to factor loadings (i.e. a measure of the variance of a given variable) whose absolute values were larger than 0.5. Hence, the first factor (F1) was formed by variables linked to NSP, most notably by sodium, chloride, potassium, orthophosphates, nitrites and chemical oxygen demand. The second factor (F2) was related to alkalinity (i.e. bicarbonates, calcium, conductivity and pH). The third factor (F3) included oxygen saturation rate and dissolved oxygen, and F4 combined both temperature and flow. Factor scores (i.e. weighted sums of the original variables) were then introduced in stepwise multiple regression models as explanatory variables of log-transformed fish species richness of trophic guilds. The NSP factor was significant (p < 0.05) for the following models: benthic omnivores (r2 = 0.66), all species (r2 = 0.65), total benthic species (r2 = 0.63), total water-column species (r2 = 0.57), benthic invertivores (r2 = 0.32) and water-column invertivores (r2 = 0.16). The guilds for which NSP was not significant were water-column omnivores, water-column piscivores and benthic detritivores. Thus, there was evidence of an inversely proportional association, though not causation, of NSP with species richness of riverine fish trophic guilds on a large spatio-temporal scale. Fish assemblages may respond in different ways to NSP depending on their species composition, on the region and on the scale, and not only to physico-chemical properties of water.

Improving the TMDL process using watershed risk assessment principles.

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) evaluates potential causal relationships between multiple sources and stressors and impacts on valued ecosystem components. ERAs applied at the watershed scale have many similarities to the place-based analyses that are undertaken to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), in which linkages are established between stressors, sources, and water quality standards, including support of designated uses. TMDLs focus on achieving water quality standards associated with attainment of designated uses. In attempting to attain the water quality standard, many TMDLs focus on the stressor of concern rather than the ecological endpoint or indicators of the designated use that the standard is meant to protect. A watershed ecological risk assessment (WERA), at least in theory, examines effects of most likely stressors, as well as their probable sources in the watershed, to prioritize management options that will most likely result in meeting environmental goals or uses. Useful WERA principles that can be applied to TMDL development include: development and use of comprehensive conceptual models in the Problem Identification step of TMDLs; use of a transparent process for selecting Numeric Targets for TMDLs based on assessment endpoints derived from the management goal or designated use under consideration; analysis of co-occurring stressors likely to cause beneficial use impairment based on the conceptual model; use of explicit uncertainty analyses in the Linkage Analysis step of TMDL development; and frequent stakeholder interactions throughout the process. WERA principles are currently most applicable to those TMDLs in which there is no numeric standard and, therefore, indicators and targets need to be developed, such as many nutrient or sediment TMDLs. WERA methods can also be useful in determining TMDL targets in situations where simply targeting the water quality standard may re-attain the numeric criterion but not the broader designated use. Better incorporation of problem formulation principles from WERA into the TMDL development process would be helpful in improving the scientific rigor of TMDLs.

Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in dab (Limanda limanda) as biomarker for marine monitoring.

GOAL, SCOPE AND BACKGROUND: Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) is a well-accepted marker for biological effects in fish and is, therefore, part of numerous monitoring programmes. EROD activity was measured in livers of dab (Limanda limanda) from the German Bight (North Sea) from 1995 to 2003. The aim of the present long-term study was (a) time trend monitoring of EROD activity of dab from the German Bight and (b) to elucidate the needs for a successful application of EROD activity as an early warning system. METHODS: EROD activities were determined fluorimetrically in dab liver microsomes, using resorufin as an external standard. The limit of detection (LD) and the limit of quantification (LQ) were calculated. Results were referred to protein concentrations. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: EROD activities of 610 female dab caught in different seasons between January 1995 and August 2003 were analyzed individually. Activities varied from < LD to 1768 pmol/(min mg protein) and showed an annual cycle as well as significant differences between the years. Highest EROD activities were observed in early summer and lowest activities during the winter period. In autumn 2002, significantly elevated EROD activities were detected, possibly related to effects of the River Elbe flood event. Two scenarios with different EROD baseline data are presented to discuss the prerequisites for the use of EROD as a monitoring tool. The comparison of these scenarios underlines the importance of appropriate season-specific baseline data. CONCLUSION: The use of EROD as an early warning tool for contaminant effects in dab in the German Bight has different prospects during the year, because, due to the high background variability, elevated EROD activities are less easy to detect in spring/ summer than during the remaining times of the year. RECOMMENDATION AND OUTLOOK: The availability of site-specific data on the EROD baseline level, its random variation and its annual cycle is a necessary prerequisite for monitoring. If monitoring is to be carried out only for a limited time period of the year, a season with low background variability in EROD activity (autumn) should be chosen to avoid the need for a compensation of the temperature-triggered shift in sexual cycles and the resulting changes in EROD activity.

Phytoplankton community and chlorophyll a as trophic state indices of Lake Skadar (Montenegro, Balkan).

BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE: Phytoplankton, as a first step in trophic cascades of lakes, can be a good indicator of trophic states, considering that every environmental change affects this community and many species of this community are sensitive to changes, and that they response very quickly. In this study, we tried to assess and predict the trophic state of Lake Skadar according to phytoplankton data. METHODS: Water samples were collected using Ruttner sampling bottle. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, ph, conductivity and transparence were measured in situ using portable equipment. Nutrients and chlorophyll a were measured using standard spectrophotometric methods. A determination of phytoplankton species was performed using relevant keys and the counting of cells was performed using sedimentation methods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The species composition of Lake Skadar revealed 95 taxa, with Chlorophyceae and Bacillariophyceae being represented best. According to an average chlorophyll a concentration of 5.9 pg/l, Lake Skadar belongs to the mesotrophic level of the trophic scale. Developed prediction equation for chlorophyll a revealed a good prediction (R2 = 0.71) and the parameter Secchi depth was primarily correlated with chlorophyll a concentration. Trophic state indices derived from chlorophyll a and transparency, were close together, but both were below the phosphorous index. Values of trophic state indices rank the Lake Skadar as being mesotrophic. This study also showed that indices of diversity based on phytoplankton are weak indicators of trophic status and that they can well characterize only differences between assemblages and associations. According to calculated saprobic indices (ranging from 1.5 to 2.15), Lake Skadar is on betamesosaprobic level of saprobity, which means that it is moderately polluted with organic compounds. CONCLUSIONS: Total phosphorus is not the main limiting factor for the phytoplankton community in Lake Skadar. Disagreements between chlorophyll and the transparency index, on the one hand, and the total phosphorus index, on the other, suggest that the phytoplankton in Lake Skadar is probably limited by other factors than phosphorus, such as nitrogen, toxic substances or intense zooplankton grazing. According to the majority of investigated parameters and indices derived from phytoplankton data, Lake Skadar is mesotrophic, with tendencies toward eutrophic levels during the summer period. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OUTLOOK: Long-term monitoring is required for a better estimation of state and the conditions of Lake Skadar. Further studies on factors influencing the phytoplankton community, especially zooplankton grazing and toxic substances, which were not included in this study, should be continued in the future to improve the efficiency of phytoplankton usage in estimating the ecological and trophic conditions of Lake Skadar.

Effects of industrial metals on wild fish populations along a metal contamination gradient.

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among water, sediment, and fish tissue metal concentrations as they relate to fish diversity, tissue metal accumulation, and fish morphometric and reproductive condition. Fish were captured in 12 lakes near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, that ranged in their degree of metal contamination. In general, metal concentrations in water and sediment decreased with increasing distance from industrial operations. However, only Cu and Ni demonstrated this trend in sediments. Although 20 fish species were identified in the 12 lakes, only one species, yellow perch (Perca flavescens), was common to all 12 lakes. Fish diversity was only associated with sediment metals, suggesting that short-term processes are much less important than long-term processes for fish community recovery in metal-contaminated lakes. Multivariate characterization of water metal concentrations resulted in three lake clusters: Group 1 consisted of reference lakes; Group 2 lakes had high alkalinity, conductivity, hardness, pH, waterborne metals (especially Se), and sediment Cu and Ni concentrations; Group 3 lakes had high pH, waterborne and sediment Cu, and sediment Ni, intermediate alkalinity, conductivity, and waterborne metals (except Al and Fe), and low hardness and waterborne Al and Fe. Liver Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, muscle Zn, and intestinal Cd and Zn were highest, and muscle Cu and male gonadosomatic index (GSI) were lowest, in Group 3 fish. Liver, muscle, and intestinal Se concentrations, and Fulton's condition factor (FCF), hepatosomatic index (HSI), and male GSI were highest in Group 2 fish. Group 1 fish had the highest muscle Hg concentrations and female GSI. Muscle Se appeared to have an antagonistic effect on muscle Hg accumulation as a function of distance from smelting operations. Neither Cu nor Ni, both metals of concern in the Sudbury area, was useful for predicting fish condition, probably because of homeostatic regulatory control. Liver Cd accumulation, which was negatively related to FCF (r = -0.16; P < 0.05), exhibited strong, nonlinear inhibition (r2 = 0.99; P < 0.0001) as a function of water hardness. Because Cd was not detected in water samples in this study, we suspect that branchial Ca2+ uptake may play some role in reducing dietary Cd uptake in hard water lakes. Selenium has received relatively little attention in the contaminated systems around Sudbury, yet our results demonstrated that tissue Se was related to all condition metrics studied. Moreover, evidence was provided that suggests that there is a gender-specific interaction between dietary Se and Cu uptake that may contribute to decreased female reproductive condition in wild yellow perch.

Estimating the economic burden from illnesses associated with recreational coastal water pollution--a case study in Orange County, California.

A cost-of-illness framework was applied to health and income data to quantify the health burden from illnesses associated with exposure to polluted recreational marine waters. Using data on illness severity due to exposure to polluted coastal water and estimates of mean annual salaries and medical costs (adjusted to 2001 values) for residents of Orange County, California, we estimated that the economic burden per gastrointestinal illness (GI) amounts to 36.58 dollars, the burden per acute respiratory disease is 76.76 dollars, the burden per ear ailment is 37.86 dollars, and the burden per eye ailment is 27.31 dollars. These costs can become a substantial public health burden when millions of exposures per year to polluted coastal waters result in hundreds of thousands of illnesses. For example, exposures to polluted waters at Orange County's Newport and Huntington Beaches were estimated to generate an average of 36,778 GI episodes per year. At this GI illness rate, one can also expect that approximately 38,000 more illness episodes occurred per year of other types, including respiratory, eye, and ear infections. The combination of excess illnesses associated with coastal water pollution resulted in a cumulative public health burden of 3.3 million dollars per year for these two beaches. This paper introduces a public health cost variable that can be applied in cost-benefit analyses when evaluating pollution abatement strategies.

A new approach for calculating the relative risk level of pesticides.

The following paper describes a new, easier to use approach to the calculation of relative risk levels of alternative pesticides. An insect, a plant disease, and a weed were selected for describing the application procedure of a new ranking method that is based on the intrinsic properties of pesticides rather than on the processes that occur both on land and in water after they are applied to soil. The approach is based on the Toxicity-Human health-Persistency (THP) Hazard Rating System, and a consumption factor is added to the method in order to calculate the environmental risk of pesticides. The available substitute pesticides are ranked in terms of their relative risk levels from lowest to highest in order of magnitude difference. Such a ranking method may be used as a practical quantitative tool to generate significant findings aiding in the selection of the most environmentally friendly substitute against a certain pest, especially in developing countries that still face the misuse and/or unconscious use of pesticides.