Pharmaceuticals in Marine and Coastal Environments: Occurrence, Effects, and Challenges in a Changing World is divided into three sections that address a) coastal areas as the main entrance of pharmaceuticals into the ocean, b) the occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in the environmental compartments of the ocean media, and c) the effects that such pollutants may cause to the exposed marine organisms. With its comprehensive discussions, the book provides a wide depiction of the current state-of-the-art on these topics in an effort to open new sources of investigation and find suitable solutions. Includes maps edited by the Water Information Network System of the International Hydrological Program (IHP-WINS) Provides a compilation of information regarding the occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in the marine environment which will help establish new and more efficient monitoring programs and new research lines Depicts the most important results of environmental risk assessments that can be used as a first step for further toxicological studies

This book is the first of its kind on the emerging topic of source-to-sea management. It showcases different applications of the concept to improve the environmental health of freshwater, land and coastal and marine systems, drawing upon research performed across Europe, Africa and Asia. Improved management of land, freshwater, coasts and oceans is a key environmental challenge of our time. It is needed to prevent the millions of tons of plastic and other pollutants that enter the ocean from land-based sources each year. It is essential to reduce highly polluted, oxygen-depleted “dead zones” in our coastal and marine waters. Extensive diversions of the flows of rivers need to be avoided to ensure that little or no water reaches the sea. Source-to-sea (S2S) is an emerging concept to improve understanding of how to effectively manage freshwater, land, coastal and marine systems. The collected works in this book explore experiences with S2S management in diverse regions across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, addressing sedimentation, nutrient and pharmaceutical pollution in freshwater and marine aquatic environments, and marine debris on the coasts and in the seas. It provides key insights into a few areas that should be of interest to those who want to learn from the lessons from case studies of applied S2S interventions. This book will be of great value to scholars, students and researchers interested in global freshwater, coastal zone, ocean management, sustainable development and environmental governance. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Water International.

This report calls for a better understanding of the effects of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns. Laboratory and field tests show traces of oral contraceptives causing the feminisation of fish and amphibians, and residues of psychiatric drugs altering fish behaviour. Antimicrobial resistance, linked to the overuse of antibiotics, has rapidly escalated into a global health crisis. Unless adequate measures are taken to manage the risks, pharmaceutical residues will increasingly be released into the environment as ageing populations, advances in healthcare, and intensification of meat and fish production spur the demand for pharmaceuticals worldwide. The report outlines a collective, life‑cycle approach to managing pharmaceuticals in the environment. A policy mix of source‑directed, use‑orientated and end‑of‑pipe measures, involving several policy sectors, can help to improve health and protect the environment.

Contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment: current challenges in marine pollution reviews the available data in relation to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the marine environment: main sources, transport pathways, distribution in seawater and sediments, bioaccumulation, and biological effects. Each chapter recaps the most relevant information about the main groups of CECs, describing the particularities and specificities of each group and focusing on the most relevant individual contaminants. CECs are not regulated substances, and therefore not considered in national and international monitoring programs, even though they may have a potential impact on the environment due to their continuous input, relative persistence, and/or toxicity. CECs are relevant not only in continental and coastal areas close to their main sources, but also in the open sea, because some of them are likely to be transported long distances through air deposition or absorbed into particulate material. The persistence of many degradable substances in the marine environment increases when they are absorbed into particulate material/sediments and/or when they are subjected to anaerobic conditions that slow down the degradation kinetic of many contaminants. Bioaccumulation of several CECs has been confirmed in different coastal organisms; however, in general, the information available (species and trophic levels considered) is very limited because most studies are mainly focused on specific coastal areas. This book offers useful information about not regulated contaminants that are not considered in international monitoring programs but have potential impacts in coastal and open-sea areas. Therefore reading the book will allow them to improve their view about the real impact of current-use contaminants in the marine environment. Presents a comprehensive view of the most relevant groups of CECs Includes an overview of each group of CECs, including uses, properties, analysis, distribution, bioaccumulation, and effects Provides information on all environmental compartments and marine areas (coast, continental shelf, and open sea)

This volume presents a reconstruction of the formation of the environmental conditions and biota in the present-day Baltic Sea area during the last glacial cycle and thereafter under the influence of extra-terrestrial, climatic and geological factors. Abiotic conditions in the contemporary Baltic Sea (water salinity, temperature, oxygen and light conditions, currents and other water movements) are characterized and in this background the natural regional system of the sea has been generated. Important issues are considered such as life forms in the Baltic and their dependence on the natural environment (both in the conditions of the relative stable environment and during the regime shifts), as well as anthropogenic influences and the basic differences between the areas of the World Ocean and the brackish Baltic Sea. This book also equips readers with basic principles of assessments and management of ecosystems and fish resources (including the long-term assessment and forecast on ecosystems and fish resources) and provides information on the structures of international collaboration developed in the Baltic Sea.

This book offers a comprehensive review of how plastic pollution is affecting fresh and marine waters, and what the current challenges in plastic waste assessment and management in the aquatic environment are. Plastic waste comprises particles with heterogeneous physicochemical properties such as large size-range, different shapes and polymer types with various additives determining their environmental fate and risk. This complexity raises several open research questions which are explored in this book. Examples are the plastic uptake by aquatic organisms, degradation processes as well as sources and sinks in the environment. Readers will discover real case studies of plastic pollution detection and management in different parts of the world, including Asia, America and Europe, which provide an integrated overview of the global scope of this issue. This book and the companion volume Plastics in the Aquatic Environment - Part II: Stakeholders' Role Against Pollution are valuable resources to students, researchers, policymakers and environmental managers interested in plastic pollution and working towards its reduction.