Month: April 2012

Seafood: New threat to aquaculture of marine mussels … and cultural heritage of Europe

  New threat to aquaculture of marine mussels
This is about the bivalve mollusk, blue mussel Mytilus edulis.

Background

Marine mussels are a source of delicious and healthy food. Marine mussels are a staple of many seafood dishes in various cuisines including Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Belgian, and others …
They are cultivated as aquaculture.

The pictures of these mollusks, with the Latin name Mytilus edulis, are given below.
 
   
  

 

The life cycle of marine mussels is presented here:

 

The geographical range of this species is on the map:

 

Discovery, scientific innovation.

New research discovered a new threat to marine mussels. It was found [2-7] that the mussels decreased their water filtration rate under the effect of some synthetic chemicals that pollute seawater. The name of these organic chemicals is surfactants (surface active substances, surface active agents). The surfactants are the key foam-forming component of detergents and shampoos.

Additional scientific information.

More about the effects of surfactants see in the blogs [1], and in the scientific papers [2 – 7 ].
This post is the forth one, to continue the series of posts on environmental and ecological issues [1-3].

Mussels and cultural heritage: poetry

Marine mussels  were mentioned in the song – the song that tells the fictional tale of a beautiful fishmonger :

In Dublin’s fair city,
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive,
[“Molly Malone” (also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City“),
a popular song, set in Dublin, Ireland,
which has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City]

 

A legend grew up that there was a lady Molly, who lived in the 17th century.

In some books, she  is  represented as a hawker by day and part-time prostitute by night [8].

In 1988 the Dublin Millennium Commission endorsed claims concerning a Molly Malone who died on 13 June 1699, and proclaimed 13 June to be “Molly Malone day”  [8].

The Molly Malone statue:

The Molly Malone statue in Grafton Street (Dublin) was unveiled by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alderman Ben Briscoe during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations, declaring 13 June as Molly Malone Day.

This poem and song became really important.

Therefore, conservation and survival of this species of bivalve mollusks is important from various perspectives: not only for reasons of food but also for reasons of cultural heritage.

References (marine mussels Mytilus edulis were studied):
[1]

http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/15/will-wars-of-future-be-related-to-modern-science-and-theories-of-ecology-key-issues-water-quality-scientific-fundamentals-achievements-discoveries-bibliography/;

http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/14/discovery-of-the-key-role-of-organisms-that-filter-water-and-make-it-clear/;

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

**
[2] Inhibitory analysis of top-down control: new keys to studying eutrophication, algal blooms, and water self-purification. – Hydrobiologia, Vol. 469, No. 1. , pp. 117-129, [Improving water quality, sustainability, environment safety] http://www.scribd.com/doc/52598579/;

**

[3] An Amphiphilic Substance Inhibits the Mollusk Capacity to Filter out Phytoplankton Cells from Water. – Biology Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 1. , pp. 95-102, doi:10.1023/A:1026671024000

**

[4] Studying effects of some surfactants and detergents on filter-feeding bivalves. – Hydrobiologia, Vol. 500, No. 1. , pp. 341-344, doi:10.1023/A:1024604904065;
**
[5] О биотическом самоочищении водных экосистем. Элементы теории. – Доклады Академии Наук (ДАН, Doklady Akademii Nauk). Vol.396. No. 1. p.136-141 : http://www.scribd.com/doc/83048698/, http://www.scribd.com/ar55/d/48099028, http://www.scribd.com/doc/57774996;
**
[6] Some aspects of water filtering activity of filter-feeders; In: Aquatic Biodiversity II, (edited by: H. Segers, K. Martens) Vol. 180, pp. 275-286, doi:10.1007/1-4020-4111-X_26;

**
[7] Also see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59437439/;

[8] Siobhán Marie Kilfeather, Dublin: a cultural history, Oxford University Press US, 2005, p. 6.

Addition:

interesting posts on innovations in environmental science:

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x_03.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/environmental-science-key-bibliography.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/websites-on-scientific-activities-of.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/discovery-of-inhibitory-analysis-in.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/aquatic-macrophyte-ceratophyllum.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/well-cited-article-inhibitory-analysis.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/innovative-contribution-to-solution-to.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-scientific-terminology-integral.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/monetary-estimate-of-good-scientific.html;

A new way of mining gold from water? Environment, Nanomaterials, Water, Gold. Know-how using biological

Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography

Discoveries, innovations in environmental sciences, ecology

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted

On the author: http://famous-scientists.ru/3732/

ecological, discoveries, 2012, science, terminological,

key words: New threat, aquaculture, marine mussels, blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, staple food, seafood, dishes, cuisines, pollution, detergents, surfactants, water quality, environmental toxicology, аквакультура, мидии, детергенты,

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants.

 

 

Background.

In the previous parts of this series of the material posted, it was explained why it is so important to analyze the issues of aquatic environment, water quality, and related issues of how chemicals interact with aquatic organisms (see Part 1, [1]). Also, it was shown that aquatic organisms contribute a lot to improving water quality, as exemplified by the organisms that are filter-feeders (Part 2, [2]).

Goal.
In this material (which is item 3 to continue the series of previous posts on Environment, Water and Ecology [1, 2]), the goal is to consider additional eye-opening information on chemical pollutants of water, especially on the chemicals that until recently were considered as relatively safe, namely, synthetic surfactants.

Location in industrial products.

These chemicals – surfactants – are components of many industrial products of broad use: laundry detergents, shampoo, liquid soap, dish washing liquid detergents, cosmetics, car cosmetics, pipe washing mixtures (including pipes of various use, e.g., pipes for milk and pipes for gasoline), liquids for fire extinguishers, and even pesticide mixtures of broad use in agriculture, horticulture, and in making lawns and playing grounds for golf to look nice.

Variety of names.

These chemicals are known under various names: surfactants, detergents, tensides, surface-active substances, surface active agents.

Quantity. Discharge that pollutes the environment.

The daily discharge of surfactants to waste waters is more than 10 g per an average inhabitant of urbanized areas, which means a discharge of 10 thousand kilogram in a city of 1 million people, which is equal to 22 thousand pound every day or more than 6 million pound annually!

Safe or not?

Until recently the synthetic surfactants were considered as relatively safe chemicals. Their level of environmental hazard was considered far lower than the environmental hazards from the champions of pollution, the notorious ecotoxicants: heavy metals, chlororganic products, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), insecticides, herbicides, just to list a few …

Innovation and eye-opening discovery.

The point is that recent research [3 – 5] demonstrated that it was a wrong opinion. A key issue is the issue of criteria to use for assessment of  the environmental hazards of chemicals. Recently, a development of new criteria was made [3].
These criteria gave attention not only to easily visible lethal effects of chemicals (increase in mortality of the organisms tested in the experiments) but also to less noticeable sublethal effects (which decrease functional performance of the organisms and finally their health). Moreover, more attention was given to the ecosystem health.

New experiments showed a variety of negative effects of surfactants on bacteria and cyanobacteria, algae, higher plants and invertebrates, including mussels and oysters that are key organisms that are being grown in aquaculture [3-5].
The results on the new approach, and new experiments, were presented in a series of papers [4 ] and the book [5 ]. The results demonstrated that the synthetic surfactants pose a more serious hazard to environment, especially water environment [3 – 5], than it was previously thought.

This is the book [5], in which a large amount of innovative results of bioassay of synthetic surfactants and detergents is presented. As it was mentioned, the experiments discovered many negative effects of these chemicals on bacteria and cyanobacteria, algae, higher plants and aquatic invertebrates.

Bottom line.

As a matter of fact, the discovery is: a new hazard to environment, a new priority in preventing negative effects of chemical pollution, in prevention of deterioration of water quality.

Recognition: international scientific community.

The book mentioned and the related papers were cited by scientists of a number of countries as diverse as U.S.A., Germany, U.K., Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Turkey, China, Slovakia, and Argentina (in arbitrary order) [6].

Location of the laboratories.

This research was carried out at Moscow State University (Russia), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (U.K.), University of New York (U.S.A.), University of Maryland (U.S.A.), and the Institute of Biology of Southern Seas (Crimea, Ukraine). A concise summary was presented in [7].

Foam and surfactants: a contrasting variety of connotations, including Venus, or Aphrodite.

According to legends of the ancient Greek mythology, a foam produced by sea water was a place of birth of the goddess of love, Aphrodite (Venus in mythology of ancient Rome). Love (to Simonetta Vespucci, nicknamed la bella Simonetta) and the legend on Venus inspired a genius painter of Renaissance, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510), to create one of the most charming images of the cultural heritage of mankind: The Birth of Venus (in Italian: Nascita di Venere; 1486). However, the research project and the book that summarized its results and was mentioned above added some less charming connotations to another type of foam, namely the foam produced by synthetic surfactants.

Location of this post in the series of posts.

This post is No.3 in the series on Environment, Water and Ecology. The previous posts were:

[1] Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography


[2] on the discovery of the key role of organisms in making water clear http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/14/discovery-of-the-key-role-of-organisms-that-filter-water-and-make-it-clear/

**

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND KEY SITES:
[1] Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography


[2] on the discovery of the key role of organisms in making water clear http://sergostroumov.scienceblog.com/2012/04/14/discovery-of-the-key-role-of-organisms-that-filter-water-and-make-it-clear/
[3] new criteria for environmental hazards: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60891549; http://www.scribd.com/doc/49088234; www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12852181; http://www.scribd.com/doc/52636721/
[4] series of papers on ecotoxicology of surfactants and detergents: http://www.scribd.com/doc/49065593; http://www.scribd.com/doc/59417067/; http://www.scribd.com/doc/52634169/; http://www.springerlink.com/content/p7754h672w814m30/; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45914806; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45958156/; scribd.com/doc/59544597/;
[5] on the book Biological Effects of Surfactants : http://www.scribd.com/doc/64066178/;
[6] on citation: www.scribd.com/doc/54504932
[7] summary: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60757545;

Addition:

interesting posts on innovations in environmental science:

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x_03.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/environmental-science-key-bibliography.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/websites-on-scientific-activities-of.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/discovery-of-inhibitory-analysis-in.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/aquatic-macrophyte-ceratophyllum.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/well-cited-article-inhibitory-analysis.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/innovative-contribution-to-solution-to.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-scientific-terminology-integral.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/monetary-estimate-of-good-scientific.html;

A new way of mining gold from water? Environment, Nanomaterials, Water, Gold. Know-how using biological

Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography

Discoveries, innovations in environmental sciences, ecology

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted

On the author: http://famous-scientists.ru/3732/

ecological, discoveries, 2012, science, terminological,

Key words:
Venus, Aphrodite, love, goddess, environment, detergents, surfactants, tensides, surface active substances, pollutants, ecotoxicology, environmental, chemistry, water, sustainability; aquatic, ecosystem services, marine, resources, environmental safety, protection, hydrosphere, pollution, control, prevention, decontamination, book, biotesting, bioassay, phytotest, phytotoxicity, ecology, improving, water quality, environmental sciences, purification, self-purification, ecosystem health, freshwater, streams, water bodies, pollution control, sublethal, hazard assessment, aquaculture,

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents, paradigm shifted on bioassay to assess environmental hazards of chemicals / pollutants /xenobiotics / waste waters: new conceptualization
[Series of posts on fundamental legendary discoveries in environmental sciences. Item 2];

See also: http://www.scribd.com/doc/60757545/ ;

THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ANSWERED in the BOOK entitled ‘Biological Effects of Surfactants’:
1. Do detergents and synthetic surfactants pose any serious hazard to environment? the Answer given by the book: Yes, they do;
2. Do all types of detergents and washing mixtures pose that hazard – including, e.g. laundry detergents and shampoos? The Answer given by the book: Yes, they do;
3. How broad is the spectrum of negative biological effects produced by surfactants and detergents? The Answer given by the book: it is really broad and covers all the organisms that were used in author’s bioassays, without any exception: from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, from unicellular to multicellular organisms, from bacteria to plants and animals.
4. Do sublethal concentrations of surfactants and detergents pose a serious hazard to the biosphere? The Answer given by the book: Yes, they do. A good example is the author’s discovery of sublethal effects of surfactants on bivalve mollusks, which lead to a decrease in filtration rate, which in turn leads to a decrease in water self-purification, which pose a serious hazard of a decrease in water quality.
5. Is it possible to offer any new efficient methods or new modifications of the current methods for bioassay of chemicals? The Answer given by the book: Yes, it is not only possible but implemented. The book contains new methods/modifications of methods which increase the efficiency of bioassay with seedlings of plants and activity of filter-feeders (Chapter 2 in the book).
6. In which countries was the book cited and proved to be useful? Answer: Belgium, Denmark, Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Slovakia, and others. See the text below.
7. In which countries did some libraries acquire this book? Answer: USA (Harvard University, MIT, Library of Congress, and others), Canada, UK (Oxford, Cambridge University, and others.), Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and others: http://www.scribd.com/doc/77617474

** the sections of the material that follow:
Innovation / Discovery
Why it is useful
Who cited papers presenting various aspects of this innovation
Where this innovation / discovery was published

**

Innovation / Discovery:
New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents;
A series of new methods and facts on bioassay of surfactants, detergents, pesticides, using plant seedlings, freshwater and marine bivalve mollusks, leeches, algae, bacteria; [= Серия новых методик и фактов о биологическом и токсичном действии детергентов и поверхностно-активных веществ]
WHY IT IS USEFUL:
Previously, the hazards from detergents and synthetic surfactants were underestimated.
The new facts open our eyes to better see the new hazards to the environment and water quality.

New insight into hazards from low, sublethal concentrations of pollutants and mild, non-lethal effects of those low concentrations on organisms;

New priorities in monitoring, and environmental protection;
To provide better environmental protection;
To ensure water sustainability
WHO CITED PAPERS PRESENTING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THIS INNOVATION:
FAQ (Frequently asked questions) on the book:. Biological Effects of Surfactants: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52630072/FAQ-1-bookBiol-Effe-Surfactants;
Frequently asked questions, part 2. [About the book:. Biological Effects of Surfactant: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46270956;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/52630298/FAQ2-Book-Bioeff-Surf-Part-2-Eng; Mutagenesis, Volume22, Issue 6, p. 363-370.
Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and dimethyldioctadecyl-ammonium bromide (DDAB), two common quaternary ammonium compounds, cause genotoxic effects in mammalian and plant cells at environmentally relevant concentrations.
F. Ferk, M. Mišík1, C. Hoelzl, M. Uhl2, M. Fuerhacker3, B. Grillitsch4, W. Parzefall, A. Nersesyan, K. Mičieta1, T. Grummt5, V. Ehrlich and S. Knasmüller*;
– Author Affiliations:
Institute of Cancer Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria;
1Department of Botany, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia;
2Federal Environment Agency Austria, Vienna, Austria;
3University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria;
4University of Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, Vienna, Austria;
5German Environmental Protection Agency, Bad Elster, Germany;
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +43 1 427765142;
**
M.B. Yagci, S. Bolca, J.P.A. Heuts, W. Ming, G. de With. Self-stratifying antimicrobial polyurethane coatings. – Progress in Organic Coatings. 2011. In press; doi:10.1016/j.porgcoat.2011.04.021.
M.B. Yagci a, S. Bolca b, J.P.A. Heuts c, W. Ming a, G. de With a,
a Laboratory of Materials and Interface Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands;
b Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium;
c Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands;

**
J. Saudi Chem. Soc., Vol. 12, No. 4; pp. 489-514 (2008); SURFACTANTS PART 1: OVERVIEW ON THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Hamad A. Al-Lohedan* and Fawzia F. Al-Blewi Department of Chemistry, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh-11451, Saudi Arabia;
**
Nanosized Photocatalysts in Environmental Remediation.
Jess P. Wilcoxon, Billie L. Abrams; Published Online: 15 JUL 2010;
DOI: 10.1002/9783527628155.nanotech012;
Copyright © 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Wilcoxon, J. P. and Abrams, B. L. 2010. Nanosized Photocatalysts in Environmental Remediation. Nanotechnology. 51–124.
Author Information:
1 University of Birmingham, Nanophysics Research Laboratory, Birmingham, United Kingdom;
2 Danish Technical University, Department of Physics Nano DTU Center for Integrated Nanoparticle Functionality (CINF), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark;
**
The Biologist (Lima, Peru) 2010, 8:43-53. ISSN 1816-0719. EFECTO DE UN DETERGENTE BIODEGRADABLE EN AGUA EN LA REPRODUCCIÓN DE DAPHNIA MAGNA [=EFFECT OF A BIODEGRADABLE DETERGENT IN WATER ON DAPHNIA MAGNA REPRODUCTION] Castiglioni, M.1,2 & Collins, P.1,2; 1 Escuela Superior de Sanidad- FBCB- UNL. Cuidad Universitaria Pje El Pozo s/n, 3000 Santa Fe , Argentina. 2 Instituto Nacional de Limnología- CONICET-UNL. Cuidad Universitaria Pje El Pozo s/n, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina. Correo electrónico: marielacastiglioni@hotmail.com;
**
CITED OTHER RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS by the same author:
Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 27(2): 409-423. 2008;
doi: 10.1899/07-058.1;
http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1899/07-058.1;
Community and foodweb ecology of freshwater mussels;
Caryn C. Vaughn, S. Jerrine Nichols, Daniel E. Spooner.
And other publications;
WHERE THIS INNOVATION / DISCOVERY WAS PUBLISHED:

The book: S.A.Ostroumov. Biological Effects of Surfactants, Publisher: CRC Press, Taylor &Francis;
ISBN: 9780849325267; ISBN 10: 0849325269;
http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9780849325267

Which libraries and institutions worldwide have acquired this book?

Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT and other libraries worldwide which acquired the books by Dr. S. O.: Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, Africa: USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Japan, China, Korea, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, United Kingdom, Finland, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa: http://www.scribd.com/doc/77617474/;

On the book:
Understanding the role of aquatic biota in forming water quality, and the impact of pollution and chemical substances that enter aquatic ecosystems is crucial to the assessment, prevention, and remediation of damaged environments. The book “Biological Effects of Surfactants” SYNTHESIZES THE MOST IMPORTANT FINDINGS from hundreds of articles and the author’s current experiments. His articles were on the biological effects of synthetic surfactants and detergents on individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems. This book offers a new perspective of the hazards of pollution.

The book DRAWS UPON NEW CONCEPTS IN AQUATIC ECOLOGY, hydrobiology, biogeochemical cycling, and the assimilative capacity of water. The analysis is made beyond the self-purification capabilities of bacteria and nutrient cycling. The book presents and examines a lot of new effects of anionic, non-ionic, and cationic surfactants as well as detergent mixtures on a wide range of organisms. The list of the organisms includes bacteria, cyanobacteria, flagellates, algae, higher plants, and invertebrates. The author is a distinguished member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He establishes new quantitative characteristics of the effects and presents study results reflecting newly discovered phenomena. The author is proposing and substantiating new priorities and approaches for testing, assessing, and characterizing the biological activities and hazards of chemical substances. Moreover, he illustrates how the data obtained can be used to develop effective environmental remediation and protection measures to improve water quality.

The book ‘Biological Effects of Surfactants’ LAYS AN EXCELLENT FOUNDATION FOR SCIENTISTS TO EXPLORE HOW HAZARDOUS WASTES are absorbed in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The book determines what is required for remediation and restoring water quality in freshwater and marine water bodies and ecosystems. In addition, the book designs the best approach to counteract the toxic effects of manmade surfactants using biological methods, including phytoremediation (phytotechnology). The book is a useful contribution to water sustainability, to sustainable development.

In German, about the book: Biological Effects of Surfactants: http://www.scribd.com/doc/63191270/;

In French about the book : Ostroumov S.A. Biological Effects of Surfactants; http://www.scribd.com/doc/63194509/;

In Japanese on the book ‘Biological Effects Of Surfactants’, – comments – aquatic ecology, limnology, bio oceanography, ecotoxicology: http://bit.ly/n1K4kF;

Addition:

interesting posts on innovations in environmental science:

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x_03.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/environmental-science-key-bibliography.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/websites-on-scientific-activities-of.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/discovery-of-inhibitory-analysis-in.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/aquatic-macrophyte-ceratophyllum.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/well-cited-article-inhibitory-analysis.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/innovative-contribution-to-solution-to.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-scientific-terminology-integral.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/monetary-estimate-of-good-scientific.html;

A new way of mining gold from water? Environment, Nanomaterials, Water, Gold. Know-how using biological

Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography

Discoveries, innovations in environmental sciences, ecology

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted

On the author: http://famous-scientists.ru/3732/

ecological, discoveries, 2012, science, terminological,

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography


Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology?
Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.
About 400 billion gallons water is used worldwide each day. The goal of this material is to consider some publications in ecology and environmental science that are focused on aquatic ecosystems and their role in maintaining high level of water quality [see sites 1 – 4]. In pristine aquatic bodies – both marine and freshwater ecosystems – why is water pure, transparent, clear, of high water quality?
Until recently, the scientific fundamentals of this issue have not been completely understood. They were not understood until the recent series of papers authored by a scientist of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow University (see [2, 4]).
In this series of articles, what are the main ACHIEVEMENTS? The key achievements are making a new conceptualization and formulating a multi-aspect theory of how aquatic ecosystems and their biological communities with organisms of many biological species work towards improving water quality. These became the key achievements that were presented in the author’s publications [1-4, and therein].
To facilitate the innovative analysis and formulating a new theory, the author proposed some new scientific terminology [3] .
What are the relevant DISCOVERIES? They are some individual steps towards building this new conceptualization. They are 18 steps (discoveries) that were listed and described in [1].
Many experts think that the wars of future will perhaps be wars for water – in more precise terms, the wars for clear waters, for waters of good water quality. The theory mentioned above is perhaps an encouraging victory in another war – the eternal war of knowledge against ignorance.

 

***
Bibliography and Key sites:
1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/83168032/INNOVATIONS-DISCOVERIES-in-ecology-environmental-sciences-biology-18-Items-w-shrt-List-in-English-List-of-Sites-in-Other-Languages;
2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/82780861/Key-References-more-than-50-with-annotations-on-what-is-new-with-sites-of-free-texts-In-English-Dr-S-A-Ostroumov-Ecology-Environment-Water;
3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/82868065/BioMachinery-for-Maintaining-Water-Quality-and-Natural-Water-Self-purification-in-Marine-and-Estuarine-Systems-elements-of-a-qualitative-theory;
4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/79546542/Bibliography-in-English-Environmental-Science-Ecology-Biology-List-with-annotations-http-www-scribd-com-doc-79546542;

***

Key words:
Ecology, improving, water quality, fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography, environmental sciences, purification, self-purification, ecosystem health, ecosystem services, freshwater, marine, aquatic, resources, streams, water bodies, pollution control,

Will wars of future be linked to modern science of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography

Will wars of future be linked to modern science of ecology?

Key issues,  water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography.

About 400 billion gallons water is used worldwide each day. The goal of this material is to consider some publications in ecology and environmental science that are focused on aquatic ecosystems and their role in maintaining high level of water quality [see sites 1 – 4].  In pristine aquatic bodies  – both marine and freshwater ecosystems –  why is water pure, transparent, clear, of high water quality?

Until recently, the scientific fundamentals of this issue have not been completely understood. They were not understood until the recent series of papers authored by a scientist of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow University (see  [2, 4]).

In this series of articles, what are the main ACHIEVEMENTS? Key achievements are making a new conceptualization and formulating a multi-aspect theory of how aquatic ecosystems and their biological communities with organisms of many biological species work towards improving water quality. These became the key achievements that were presented in the author’s publications [1-4, and therein].

To facilitate the innovative analysis and formulating a new theory, the author proposed some new scientific terminology [3] .

What are the relevant DISCOVERIES? They are some individual steps towards building this new conceptualization. They are 18 steps (discoveries) that were listed and described in [1].

Many experts think that the wars of future will perhaps be  wars for water – in more precise terms, the wars for clear waters, for waters of good water quality. The theory mentioned above is perhaps an encouraging victory in another war – the eternal war of knowledge against ignorance.

Bibliography and Key sites:

1 http://www.scribd.com/doc/83168032/INNOVATIONS-DISCOVERIES-in-ecology-environmental-sciences-biology-18-Items-w-shrt-List-in-English-List-of-Sites-in-Other-Languages;

2 http://www.scribd.com/doc/82780861/Key-References-more-than-50-with-annotations-on-what-is-new-with-sites-of-free-texts-In-English-Dr-S-A-Ostroumov-Ecology-Environment-Water;

3 http://www.scribd.com/doc/82868065/BioMachinery-for-Maintaining-Water-Quality-and-Natural-Water-Self-purification-in-Marine-and-Estuarine-Systems-elements-of-a-qualitative-theory;

4 http://www.scribd.com/doc/79546542/Bibliography-in-English-Environmental-Science-Ecology-Biology-List-with-annotations-http-www-scribd-com-doc-79546542;

Key words:

Ecology, improving, water quality, fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography, environmental sciences, purification, self-purification, ecosystem health, ecosystem services, freshwater, marine, aquatic, resources, S.A.Ostroumov, streams, water bodies, pollution control,

Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear

 

  Recent data demonstrated a gigantic role of aquatic organisms in making water clean and clear. It was shown in the long-term international project that was carried out recently. The amazing results were presented in this paper, which is a review of the multi-year studies of aquatic organisms, mainly marine and freshwater invertebrates that are filter-feeders – freshwater mussels, marine mussels, oysters. They play a key role as biological filters – as an important part of the biosphere and hydrosphere. The studies were conducted in laboratories of four countries, including U.K. (England), Russia, Ukraine.

Publication:
Ostroumov S.A. Biological filters are an important part of the biosphere – Science in Russia. 2009. No. 2. P. 30-36, in English. [The journal ‘Science in Russia’ is published by the Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences, both in English and in Russian; Nauka Publishers, Moscow; ISSN 0869-7078. www.ras.ru, ©Russian Academy of Sciences Presidium.] Full text of the paper see:
http://b23.ru/n4v7;

Additional in-depth analysis of the role of aquatic organisms that filter water was given also in the papers:
Ostroumov S.A. Some aspects of water filtering activity of filter-feeders // Hydrobiologia. 2005. Vol. 542, No. 1. P. 275 – 286. text: www.scribd.com/doc/44105992/
Also:


http://b23.ru/n1d2;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45914806 [planktonic filter-feeders];


see also Chapter entitled: “Suspension-feeders as factors influencing water quality in aquatic ecosystems”
in the book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2248557

 

Addition:

interesting posts on innovations in environmental science:

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/normal-0-false-false-false-ru-x-none-x_03.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/environmental-science-key-bibliography.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/websites-on-scientific-activities-of.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/discovery-of-inhibitory-analysis-in.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/aquatic-macrophyte-ceratophyllum.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/04/well-cited-article-inhibitory-analysis.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/innovative-contribution-to-solution-to.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-scientific-terminology-integral.html;

http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2012/05/monetary-estimate-of-good-scientific.html;

A new way of mining gold from water? Environment, Nanomaterials, Water, Gold. Know-how using biological

Discovery of the key role of organisms that filter water and make it clear

Venus, or Aphrodite, goddess of love, Environment, Water and Ecology. Environmental role of synthetic surfactants

Will wars of future be related to modern science and theories of ecology? Key issues, water quality: scientific fundamentals, achievements, discoveries, bibliography

Discoveries, innovations in environmental sciences, ecology

New facts on hazardous biological and toxic effects of surfactants and detergents: paradigm shifted

http://famous-scientists.ru/3732/

ecological, discoveries, 2012, science, terminological,

 

Cone snail venom controls pain

Hidden in the mud, the cone snail Conus purpurascens lies in wait for its victims. It attracts its prey, fish, with its proboscis, which can move like a worm, protruding from the mud. Once a fish approaches out of curiosity, the snail will rapidly shoot a harpoon at it, which consists of an evolutionarily modified tooth. The paralyzed victim then becomes an easy meal. It takes the venomous cone snail about two weeks to digest a fish. During this time, its venomous harpoon is also replaced.

Prof. Dr. Diana Imhof from the Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of Bonn, who is the project’s PI, explained, “We are interested in the cone snail’s neurotoxins, called conotoxins.” They can be effective in minute quantities, interrupt the transmission of signals in nerve paths in a highly selective manner, and are thus able to block the transmission of pain very well. Consequently, these toxins are of great interest for developing analgesics for chronically ill or terminal cancer patients for whom other medications can no longer be used. “The advantage of these conotoxins is that they do not cause dependency,” Imhof, a pharmaceutical chemist, explained. “Since the peptide we studied decomposes rather quickly in the body, we do, however, need more stable forms that we can administer.”

Scientists replicate the rare venom in vitro

The Bonn researchers worked with Prof. Dr. Stefan H. Heinemann from the Biophysics Department of the University of Jena, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Age Research Jena and the Technical University of Darmstadt. “The µ-PIIIA conotoxin, which was of interest in this study, occurs only in extremely minute quantities in marine cone snails,” said Dr. Alesia A. Tietze, the lead author, who received her doctoral degree on Prof. Imhof’s team. However, the scientists were able to produce the specific venom chemically in vitro for use in additional analyses. Tietze added, “We succeeded in identifying the structure of different µ-PIIIA conotoxin variants and their different effects using nuclear magnetic resonance.”

The venom in question is a substance whose different amino acids are strung together like pearls. “This string can form clusters in different ways, forming divers 3D structures,” explained Prof. Imhof. Until now it had been thought that only one of these forms is biologically effective. “It was exactly this dogma that we were able to disprove,” the Bonn scientist added. “We identified three active types of peptide folding with a similar effect – there are probably even more.” These variants do, however, differ slightly with regard to their biological efficacy, representing valuable starting structures for further development into analgesics.

Consequently, the scientists want to conduct additional studies in order to find out more these different fold variants of the µ-PIIIA conotoxin. But it will take years until patients may be able to profit from this. “We are still in the basic research stadium,” said Prof. Imhof.

Satellite observes rapid ice shelf disintegration in Antarctic

As ESA’s Envisat satellite marks ten years in orbit, it continues to observe the rapid retreat of one of Antarctica’s ice shelves due to climate warming.

One of the satellite’s first observations following its launch on 1 March 2002 was of break-up of a main section of the B in Antarctica – when 3200 sq km of ice disintegrated within a few days due to mechanical instabilities of the ice masses triggered by climate warming.

Now, with ten years of observations using its Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR), Envisat has mapped an additional loss in Larsen B’s area of 1790 sq km over the past decade.

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a series of three shelves – A (the smallest), B and C (the largest) – that extend from north to south along the eastern side of the Peninsula.

Larsen A disintegrated in January 1995. Larsen C so far has been stable in area, but satellite observations have shown thinning and an increasing duration of melt events in summer.

“Ice shelves are sensitive to atmospheric warming and to changes in ocean currents and temperatures,” said Prof. Helmut Rott from the University of Innsbruck.

“The northern Antarctic Peninsula has been subject to atmospheric warming of about 2.5°C over the last 50 years – a much stronger warming trend than on global average, causing retreat and disintegration of ice shelves.”

Larsen B decreased in area from 11512 sq km in early January 1995 to 6664 sq km in February 2002 due to several calving events. The disintegration in March 2002 left behind only 3463 sq km. Today, Envisat shows that only 1670 sq km remain.

Envisat has already doubled its planned lifetime, but is scheduled to continue observations of Earth’s ice caps, land, oceans and atmosphere for at least another two years.

This ensures the continuity of crucial Earth-observation data until the next generation of satellites – the Sentinels – begin operations in 2013.

“Long-term systematic observations are of particular importance for understanding and modelling cryospheric processes in order to advance the predictive capabilities on the response of snow and ice to ,” said Prof. Rott.

“Climate models are predicting drastic warming for high latitudes. The Envisat observations of the Larsen Ice Shelf confirm the vulnerability of ice shelves to climatic warming and demonstrate the importance of ice shelves for the stability of glaciers upstream.

“These observations are very relevant for estimating the future behaviour of the much larger ice masses of West Antarctica if warming spreads further south.”

Radars on Earth observation satellites, such as Envisat’s ASAR, are particularly useful for monitoring polar regions because they can acquire images through clouds and darkness.

The Sentinel missions – being developed as part of Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme – will continue the legacy of radar observations.

Researchers find evidence of banned antibiotics in poultry products

In a joint study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University found evidence suggesting that a class of previously banned by the U.S. government for production is still in use. Results of the study were published March 21 in Environmental Science & Technology.

The study, conducted by the Bloomberg School’s Center for a Livable Future and Arizona State’s Biodesign Institute, looked for drugs and other residues in feather meal, a common additive to chicken, swine, cattle and fish feed. The most important drugs found in the study were fluoroquinolones—broad spectrum antibiotics used to treat serious bac-terial infections in people, particularly those infections that have become resistant to old-er antibiotic classes. The banned drugs were found in 8 of 12 samples of feather meal in a multstate study. The findings were a surprise to scientists because fluoroquinolone use in U.S. poultry production was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005.

This is the first time investigators have examined feather meal, a byproduct of poultry production made from poultry feathers, to determine what drugs poultry may have received prior to their slaughter and sale.

The annual per capita human consumption of poultry products is approximately 100 lbs, greater than that of any other animal- or vegetable-derived protein source in the U.S. To satisfy this demand, each year, the U.S. poultry industry raises nearly 9 billion broiler chickens and 80 million turkeys, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A large percentage of the fresh weight of these animals is inedible—an estimated 33 percent for chickens, for example—and is recycled for other uses, including feather meal.

The rendering industry, which converts animal byproducts into a wide range of materials, processes poultry feathers into feather meal, which is often added as a supplement to poultry, pig, ruminant, and fish feeds or sold as an “organic” fertilizer. In a companion study, researchers found inorganic arsenic in feather meal used in retail fertilizers.

“The discovery of certain antibiotics in feather meal strongly suggests the continued use of these drugs, despite the ban put in place in 2005 by the FDA,” said David Love, PhD, lead author of the report. “The public health community has long been frustrated with the unwillingness of FDA to effectively address what antibiotics are fed to food animals.”

A primary reason for the 2005 FDA ban on the use of fluoroquinolones in poultry production was an alarming increase in the rate of the fluoroquinolone resistance among Campylobacter bacteria. “In recent years, we’ve seen the rate of fluoroquinolone re-sistance slow, but not drop,” noted study co-author Keeve Nachman, PhD, Farming for the Future Program Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. “With such a ban, you would expect a decline in resistance to these drugs. The continued use of fluoroquinolones and unintended antibiotic contamination of poultry feed may help ex-plain why high rates of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter continue to be found on commercial poultry meat products over half a decade after the ban.”

In the U.S., antibiotics are introduced into the feed and water of industrially raised poutry, primarily to make them grow faster, rather than to treat disease. An estimated 13.2 million kg of antibiotics were sold in 2009 to the U.S. poultry and livestock industries, which represented nearly 80 percent of all antibiotic sales for use in humans and animals in the U.S. that year.

In conducting the study, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University analyzed commercially available feather meal samples, acquired from six U.S. states and China, for a suite of 59 pharmaceuticals and personal care products. All 12 samples tested had between 2 and 10 antibiotic residues. In addition to antimicrobials, 7 other personal care products, including the pain reliever ac-etaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol), the antihistamine diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl) and the antidepressant fluoxetine (the active ingredient in Prozac), were detected.

Researchers also found caffeine in 10 of 12 feather meal samples. “This study reveals yet another pathway of unwanted human exposure to a surprisingly broad spectrum of prescription and over the counter drugs,” noted study co-author Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, Co-Director of the Center for Health Information & Research, and Associate Director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at Arizona State University.

When researchers exposed several strains of E. coli bacteria to the concentrations of antibiotics found in the feather meal samples, they also discovered the drug residues could select for resistant bacteria. “A high enough concentration was found in one of the samples to select for bacteria that are resistant to drugs important to treat infections in humans,” noted Nachman.

“We strongly believe that the FDA should monitor what drugs are going into animal feed,” urged Nachman. “Based on what we’ve learned, I’m concerned that the new FDA guidance documents, which call for voluntary action from industry, will be ineffectual. By looking into feather meal, and uncovering a drug banned nearly 6 years ago, we have very little confidence that the food animal production industry can be left to regulate it-self.”