Fant 10002 publikasjoner. Viser side 77 av 401:
Understanding the drivers and effects of exposure to contaminants such as mercury (Hg) and organochlorine compounds (OCs) in Antarctic wildlife is still limited. Yet, Hg and OCs have known physiological and fitness effects in animals, with consequences on their populations. Here we measured total Hg (a proxy of methyl-Hg) in blood cells and feathers, and 12 OCs (seven polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, and five organochlorine pesticides, OCPs) in plasma of 30 breeding female Antarctic petrels Thalassoica antarctica from one of the largest colonies in Antarctica (Svarthamaren, Dronning Maud Land). This colony is declining and there is poor documentation on the potential role played by contaminants on individual physiology and fitness. Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope values measured in the females' blood cells and feathers served as proxies of their feeding ecology during the pre-laying (austral spring) and moulting (winter) periods, respectively. We document feather Hg concentrations (mean ± SD, 2.41 ± 0.83 μg g−1 dry weight, dw) for the first time in this species. Blood cell Hg concentrations (1.38 ± 0.43 μg g−1 dw) were almost twice as high as those reported in a recent study, and increased with pre-laying trophic position (blood cell δ15N). Moulting trophic ecology did not predict blood Hg concentrations. PCB concentrations were very low (Σ7PCBs, 0.35 ± 0.31 ng g−1 wet weight, ww). Among OCPs, HCB (1.02 ± 0.36 ng g−1 ww) and p, p’-DDE (1.02 ± 1.49 ng g−1 ww) residues were comparable to those of ecologically-similar polar seabirds, while Mirex residues (0.72 ± 0.35 ng g−1 ww) were higher. PCB and OCP concentrations showed no clear relationship with pre-laying or moulting feeding ecology, indicating that other factors overcome dietary drivers. OC residues were inversely related to body condition, suggesting stronger release of OCs into the circulation of egg-laying females upon depletion of their lipid reserves. Egg volume, hatching success, chick body condition and survival were not related to maternal Hg or OC concentrations. Legacy contaminant exposure does not seem to represent a threat for the breeding fraction of this population over the short term. Yet, exposure to contaminants, especially Mirex, and other concurring environmental stressors should be monitored over the long-term in this declining population.
2020
Apex predators are characterized by high levels of biomagnifying organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs) which have been found to induce detrimental health effects in wildlife, such as immune system impairment. The leukocyte coping capacity (LCC) assay is a functional real-time measure of an innate immune response essential in pathogen resistance, known as the respiratory burst. The current study suggests the novel use of this tool to test whether OHCs impair the innate immune system of a sentinel top predator, the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla; WTE). The LCC analysis was performed in the field on WTE nestlings (n = 84) from northern Norway over two breeding seasons. Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) dominated the total OHC load, surpassing the levels of legacy organochlorines. In addition, we detected significant negative correlations between concentrations of all polychlorinated biphenyls, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids and the LCC of WTE nestlings. Based on our current findings reflecting a potential negative effect of both emerging and legacy OHCs on innate immune capacity, we suggest LCC to be a relevant and accessible test expanding the ecotoxicological toolbox to assess sub-lethal effects of OHCs in apex avian wildlife.
2020
Even though production and open use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been phased out in Western industrialised countries since the 1980s, PCBs were still present in waste collected from different waste handling facilities in Norway in 2013. Sums of seven indicator-PCBs (I-PCB7: PCB-28, -52, -101, -118, -138, -153 and -180) were highest in plastic waste (3700 ±1800 μg/kg, n=15), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (1300 ± 400 μg/kg, n=12) and fine vehicle fluff (1800 ± 1400 μg/kg, n=4) and lowest in glass waste, combustibles, bottom ash and fly ash (0.3 to 65 μg/kg). Concentrations in leachate water varied from 1.7 to 2900 ng/L, with higher concentrations found at vehicle and WEEE handling facilities. Particles in leachate water exhibited similar PCB sorption properties as solid waste collected on site, with waste-water partitioning coefficients ranging from 105 to 107. I-PCB7 in air samples collected at the sites were mostly in the gas phase (100–24000 pg/m3), compared to those associated with particles (9–1900 pg/m3). In contrast brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in the same samples were predominantly found associated with particles (e.g. sum of 10 brominated diethyl ethers, ΣBDE10, associated with particles 77–194,000 pg/m3) compared to the gas phase (ΣBDE10 6–473 pg/m3). Measured gas-phase I-PCB7 concentrations are less than predicted, assuming waste-air partitioning in equilibrium with predominant waste on site. However, the gas-particle partitioning behavior of PCBs and BFRs could be predicted using an established partitioning model for ambient aerosols. PCB emissions from Norwegian waste handling facilities occurred primarily in the form of atmospheric vapor or leachate particles.
2020
2020
This report presents VOC (volatile organic compound) measurements carried out during 2018 at EMEP monitoring sites. In total, 20 sites reported VOC-data from EMEP VOC sites this year. Some of the data-sets are considered preliminary and are not included in the report.
The monitoring of NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons) has become more diverse with time in terms of instrumentation. Starting in the early 1990s with standardized methods based on manual sampling in steel canisters with subsequent analyses at the lab, the methods now consist of a variety of instruments and measurement principles, including automated continuous monitors and manual flask samples. For oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), sampling in DNPH-tubes with subsequent lab-analyses is still the only method in use at EMEP sites.
Within the EU infrastructure project ACTRIS-2, data quality issues related to measurements of VOC have been an important topic. Many of the institutions providing VOC-data to EMEP have participated in the ACTRIS-2 project, either as formal partners or on a voluntary basis. Participation in ACTRIS-2 has meant an extensive effort with data-checking including detailed discussions between the ACTRIS community and individual participants. There is no doubt that this extensive effort has benefited the EMEP-program and has led to improved data quality in general.
Comparison between median levels in 2018 and the medians of the previous 10-years period, revealed a similar north-to-south pattern for several species.
Changes in instrumentation, procedures, station network etc. during the last two decades make it difficult to provide a rigorous and pan-European assessment of long-term trends of the observed VOCs. In this report, we have estimated the long-term trends in NMHC over the 2000-2018 period at six sites by two independent statistical methods. These estimates indicate marked differences in the trends for the individual species. Small or non-significant trends were found for ethane over this period followed by propane which also showed fairly small reductions. On the other hand, components linked to road traffic (ethene, ethyne and benzene) showed the strongest drop in mean concentrations, up to 60-80% at some stations.
The persistent heatwave in summer 2018 in northern and central Europe lead to higher isoprene-levels than normal. The data indicate a clear relationship between isoprene and afternoon temperature at the sites. An exponential fit is seen to be well suited for the relationship between isoprene and temperature.
NILU
2020
2020
2020
Author Correction: Global and regional trends of atmospheric sulfur
Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37304-0, published online 30 January 2019
2020
Equinor Mongstad. Spredningsberegninger av utslipp til luft.
NILU har vurdert spredning av utslipp til luft fra Mongstad raffineri. Bakgrunnen er krav fra Miljødirektoratet i forbindelse med ny virksomhetstillatelse. Fokus i studien er på NOx, SOx og støv/partikler. Timemiddelkonsentrasjoner er beregnet ved hjelp av modellen CONCX. Regionale beregninger av konsentrasjoner og avsetning er utført med WRF-EMEP modellsystem. CONCX-beregningene viser at maksimalt beregnet timemiddel er langt lavere enn norske grenseverdier. WRF-EMEP-beregningene viser lave maksimumsverdier av NOx/NO2, SO2 og svevestøv/PM10 i nærområdet til Mongstad raffineri. Alle beregnede maksimumsverdier er lavere enn norske grenseverdier. Av utslippene fra Mongstad avsettes 12 % av nitrogen, 17 % av svovel og 18 % av PM10 innenfor det innerste gridet (105 x 105 km2). Som et tillegg er det gjort vurderinger av de prioriterte stoffene bly, kvikksølv, krom, PCB7, kadmium og arsen. Bidraget fra Mongstad raffineri er lite.
NILU
2020
Målinger av SO2 i omgivelsene til Elkem Carbon og REC Solar. September 2019 – august 2020.
På oppdrag fra Elkem Carbon AS har NILU utført målinger av SO2 i omgivelsene til Elkem Carbon og REC Solar i Vågsbygd
(Kristiansand kommune). Bedriftene ble pålagt av Miljødirektoratet å gjennomføre SO2-målinger i omgivelsesluft. Målingene ble utført med SO2-monitor i boligområdet på Fiskåtangen (Konsul Wilds vei) og med passive SO2-prøvetakere ved 6 steder rundt bedriftene. Rapporten dekker målinger i perioden 1. september 2019 – 31. august 2020. Norske grenseverdier for luftkvalitet (SO2) ble overholdt ved Konsul Wilds Vei for alle midlingsperioder krevet i forurensningsforskriften (årsmiddel, vintermiddel, døgnmiddel og timemiddel). De mest belastede stedene i måleperioden var Konsul Wilds vei og Fiskåveien rett sør for bedriftene.
NILU
2020
Validation practices for satellite soil moisture retrievals: What are (the) errors?
This paper presents a community effort to develop good practice guidelines for the validation of global coarse-scale satellite soil moisture products. We provide theoretical background, a review of state-of-the-art methodologies for estimating errors in soil moisture data sets, practical recommendations on data pre-processing and presentation of statistical results, and a recommended validation protocol that is supplemented with an example validation exercise focused on microwave-based surface soil moisture products. We conclude by identifying research gaps that should be addressed in the near future.
2020
EEA-33 Industrial Emissions Country Profiles. Methodology report. Updated July 2020.
The industrial emissions country profiles summarise key data related to industry: its relevance with respect to economic contributions, energy and water consumption, as well as air and water emissions and waste generation. The country profiles are developed for the EEA-33 countries which includes the 28 EU Member States together with Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.
The present revision (v. 3.0) of this report includes data available at date of release. This year, a new reporting, the so-called EU-Registry and thematic data reporting, is introduced in order to gather the former E-PRTR, LCP and IED reportings and finally replace them. The 2018 data are not yet readily available. Nevertheless, more quality checks have been performed on the latest E-PRTR database in order to have the cleanest final E-PRTR dataset possible. Hence, the industrial emissions country profiles are enriched with the most up-to-date data sources while still only covering the years up to 2017.
This report describes the underlying methodology to the industrial emissions country profiles that are presented as a Tableau story on the EEA webpages ([1]).
The scope of industry in this respect includes in short all industrial activities reported under the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) excluding agriculture (activity code 7.(a) and 7.(b)). The data sources include Eurostat, the E-PRTR, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reported under the Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (MMR) and air pollutant emission inventories reported under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), each of which have their own data categories. A recently developed EEA-mapping which align these different categories is used ([2]). The data sources and industry scope is presented in full detail in the Annexes following this report.
The water and air pollutants including greenhouse gases are selected based on criteria related to their relative impact. Emissions of heavy metals to air and water have been combined by weighted averages using both eco toxicology and human toxicology characterisation factors ([3]). The amounts of hazardous and non-hazardous waste reported under Eurostat is presented, but excluding the major mineral waste that dominates the mining and construction sectors.
The data quality is evaluated and gap filling of Eurostat data is performed when needed. A method for E-PRTR outlier handling is proposed and applied where appropriate.
The significance of industry, given by gross value added (GVA), energy consumption and water use, as well as generation of waste are presented in the Tableau story as a sector percentage of EEA-33 gross total as well as percentage of country total. The trend in air and water pollution is presented as totals per pollutants relative to the latest year (2017). For the latest year the emissions are also given as percentage per sector relative to country total. The details on how the presented data is processed and aggregated is described in Annex 2.
The report is to a large extent based on previous methodology reports for “Industrial pollution country profiles”, but is also further developed to reflect feedback received through Eionet review and general requests from EEA and the European Commission.
ETC/ATNI
2020
Revidert tiltaksutredning for lokal luftkvalitet i Stavanger
Tiltaksutredningen for lokal luftkvalitet i Stavanger, med handlingsplan og tiltak, skal bidra til at forurensningsnivået holder seg innenfor kravene i forurensningsforskriften. I tillegg belyser denne utredningen tiltak som vil være med på å redusere nivåene sammenlignet med helsemyndighetenes anbefaling til luftkvalitet. Tiltaksutredningen omfatter en kartlegging av luftkvaliteten i Stavanger ved trafikkberegninger og utslipps- og spredningsberegninger for PM10, PM2,5 og NO2 for Dagens situasjon 2018 og Framtidig situasjon 2024 med og uten tiltak. Basert på resultatene fra beregningene og i samarbeid med oppdragsgiver, er det foreslått en revidert handlings- og beredskapsplan som skal behandles politisk.
NILU
2020