Lysosomal And Microsomal Responses To Environmental-Factors In Littorina-Littorea From Sullom-Voe

The marine gastropod Littorina littorea from four sites in the vicinity of the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal was found to display reduced cytochemically determined latency of lysosomal arylsulphatase, β-glucuronidase and acid phosphatase in comparison with snails from a nearby ‘clean’ site. This is interpreted as indicating lysosomal destabilization by environmental factors. Elevated total activities of particular lysosomal hydrolases were recorded at three of the sites in Sullom Voe. Animals from a fourth site (Swarta Taing) showed significant depression of arylsulphatase and β-glucuronidase. Cytochemically determined activity of blood cell NADPH-neotetrazolium reductase, which is a component of microsomal detoxication systems, was stimulated in these same sites in comparison with the ‘clean’ reference site. This stimulation or induction is interpreted as a response to the presence of oil-derived polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. These results are discussed in the light of previous work on the effects of hydrocarbons on lysosomes and in terms of the possible physiological consequences for the animals.

Cr-39 A New Alpha-Particle Sensitive Polymeric Detector Applied To Investigations Of Environmental-Radioactivity

Some advantages of a new dielectric detector, CR-39, are described in relation to the analysis of concentrations and distributions of α-particle emitters from a variety of materials. The detector provides an economic and versatile approach to many problems and complements conventional methods of analysis.

A Marine Environmental Recorder

An inexpensive Marine Environmental Recorder is described. The instrument system is small, lightweight and of low-power consumption. It is flexible, simple to operate and economical. It can be used remotely in a moored, buoyed or towed instrument system, recording measurements continuously for up to 24 h, or intermittently for 1 min every hour, for a period of up to 60 d. It has been used extensively in the Continuous Plankton Recorder and the Undulating Oceanographic Recorder to measure temperature, depth and occasionally chlorophyll and radiant energy; as a temperature recorder, it has a resolution of 0.1 Co, an uncertainty of measurement of ±0.1 Co and a stability of calibration within ±0.1 Co over a period of several months. With optional additional sensors for pitch, roll, vibration, acceleration and water-flow, the instrument system has been used to measure the performance of underwater towed vehicles and plankton samplers. The Marine Environmental Recorder is being incorporated into an instrument system in a data buoy, for automatically monitoring the marine environment in estuaries around the British Isles.