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Towards an understanding of the link between environmental emissions and human body burdens of PCBs using CoZMoMAN.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study aimed to assess the extent of the quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the link between environmental emissions and human body burdens for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the western part of the Baltic Sea drainage basin and to identify any remaining knowledge gaps. An integrated, non-steady state model calculating human body burden from environmental emissions (CoZMoMAN) was created by linking the multi-compartment environmental fate model CoZMo-POP 2 with the human food chain bioaccumulation model ACC-HUMAN. CoZMoMAN predicted concentrations of seven PCB congeners in 11 key model compartments to t...
Source: Environment International - November 12, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Breivik K, Czub G, McLachlan MS, Wania F Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Contamination of vineyard soils with fungicides: A review of environmental and toxicological aspects.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The contamination of agricultural soils with inorganic (Cu-based) and organic pesticides (including their residues) presents a major environmental and toxicological concern. This review summarizes available studies published on the contamination of vineyard soils throughout the world with Cu-based and synthetic organic fungicides. It focuses on the behavior of these contaminants in vineyard soils and the associated environmental and toxicological risks. The concentrations of Cu in soils exceed the legislative limits valid in the EU in the vast majority of the studied vineyards. Regarding the environmental and toxicolog...
Source: Environment International - November 12, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Komárek M, Cadková E, Chrastný V, Bordas F, Bollinger JC Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Drugs of abuse and their metabolites in the Ebro River basin: Occurrence in sewage and surface water, sewage treatment plants removal efficiency, and collective drug usage estimation.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Drugs of abuse and their metabolites have been recently recognized as environmental emerging organic contaminants. Assessment of their concentration in different environmental compartments is essential to evaluate their potential ecotoxicological effects. It also constitutes an indirect tool to estimate drug abuse by the population at the community level. The present work reports for the first time the occurrence of drugs of abuse and metabolites residues along the Ebro River basin (NE Spain) and also evaluates the contribution of sewage treatment plants (STPs) effluents to the presence of these chemicals in natural su...
Source: Environment International - November 12, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Postigo C, López de Alda MJ, Barceló D Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Determinants of brominated flame retardants in breast milk from a large scale Norwegian study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), particularly polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), are widely present in human populations. In order to investigate human exposure pathways and associations with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, 393 breast milk samples from mothers living in various regions throughout Norway were analyzed. Up to ten PBDE congeners were measured in all the samples, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and BDE-209 in subsets of 310 and 46, respectively. The median concentrations of the sum of the seven most prominent PBDEs (BDE-28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154 and 183), BDE-209 and HBCD were 2.1, 0.32 and 0.86...
Source: Environment International - November 2, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Thomsen C, Stigum H, Frøshaug M, Broadwell SL, Becher G, Eggesbø M Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Activity pattern and personal exposure to nitrogen dioxide in indoor and outdoor microenvironments.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
People are exposed to air pollution from a range of indoor and outdoor sources. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), which is hazardous to health, can be significant in both types of environments. This paper reports on the measurement and analysis of indoor and outdoor NO(2) concentrations and their comparison with measured personal exposure in various microenvironments during winter and summer seasons. Furthermore, the relationship between NO(2) personal exposure in various microenvironments and including activities patterns were also studied. Personal, indoor microenvironments and outdoor measurements of NO(2)...
Source: Environment International - October 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Kornartit C, Sokhi RS, Burton MA, Ravindra K Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Anthropogenic and naturally-produced organobrominated compounds in marine mammals from Brazil.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Liver samples from 51 cetaceans, comprising 10 species, stranded between 1994 and 2006 in a highly industrialized and urbanized region in Southeast Brazil, were analyzed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and methoxylated-PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs). A concentration range of PBDEs (3-5960ng/g lw) similar to that observed in Northern Hemisphere dolphins was found. MeO-PBDE concentrations in continental shelf (CS) dolphins from Brazil are among the highest detected to date in cetaceans (up to 250microg/g lw). Higher SigmaMeO-PBDE concentrations were measured in CS and oceanic dolphins than in estuarine dolphins. The SigmaP...
Source: Environment International - October 26, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Dorneles PR, Lailson-Brito J, Dirtu AC, Weijs L, Azevedo AF, Torres JP, Malm O, Neels H, Blust R, Das K, Covaci A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Safe drinking water: Critical components of effective inter-agency relationships.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The paper supports the development of evidence-based emergency management frameworks of cooperation between agencies in the area of drinking water and public health, as part of developing the overall risk management culture within water utilities. We employed a qualitative research design to understand critical gaps in inter-agency relations that aggravated past drinking water and health incidents and from these identified determinants of effective relationships. We identified six critical institutional relationship components that were deficient in past incidents, namely proactivity, communication, training, sharing e...
Source: Environment International - October 23, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Jalba DI, Cromar NJ, Pollard SJ, Charrois JW, Bradshaw R, Hrudey SE Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Persistent organic pollutants in breast milk of mothers residing around an open dumping site in Kolkata, India: Specific dioxin-like PCB levels and fish as a potential source.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides were measured in human breast milk collected from mothers residing near an open dumping site and a reference site in Kolkata, India during 2004-2005. POPs were detected in all the human milk samples analyzed, suggesting that residents of Kolkata are widely exposed to these contaminants. Concentrations of dioxin-like PCBs in the samples from the dumping site were significantly higher than in the reference site sampl...
Source: Environment International - October 23, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Someya M, Ohtake M, Kunisue T, Subramanian A, Takahashi S, Chakraborty P, Ramachandran R, Tanabe S Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Occurrence of perfluorinated compounds in fish from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were found in fish muscle collected from high mountain lakes in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the highest and biggest plateau on Earth. In 96% of the total fifty-nine fish samples were found detectable perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as prominent PFCs, while only three for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA). The mean PFOS concentrations in fish muscle ranged 0.21ng/g-5.20ng/g based on dry weight, with the maximum in the Palgon Lake (1.30ng/g-7.54ng/g, dw) and the minimum in the Ni-yang River (<0.15ng/g-0.32ng/g, dw) among the seven sampling sites. Long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (C10, C11...
Source: Environment International - October 13, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Shi Y, Pan Y, Yang R, Wang Y, Cai Y Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Toxic emissions from crematories: A review.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In recent years, the cremation ratio of cadavers has increased dramatically in many countries. Crematories have been identified as sources of various environmental pollutants, being polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and mercury those raising most concern. In contrast to other incineration processes for which the number of studies on their toxic emissions is considerable, references related to PCDD/F and mercury emissions from crematories and their health risks are very limited. In this paper, the scientific information concerning these issues, using the databases PubMed, Scopus and Scirus, ...
Source: Environment International - October 9, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Mari M, Domingo JL Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Removal of pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment and environmental risk assessment using hazard indexes.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In a long term study, which covered 4 sampling periods over three years, a total number of 84 samples, specifically 28 influent, effluent, from seven WWTP located in the main cities along the Ebro river Basin (North East of Spain), as well as receiving river waters, were analyzed to assess the occurrence of 73 pharmaceuticals covering several medicinal classes. Results indicated that pharmaceuticals are widespread pollutants in the aquatic environmental. Linking the calculation of removal rates with half-lives, assuming that compound degradation followed pseudo-first order kinetics, suggested that conventional wastewat...
Source: Environment International - October 8, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Gros M, Petrović M, Ginebreda A, Barceló D Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Hexachlorobenzene sources, levels and human exposure in the environment of China.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article summarizes the published scientific data on sources, levels and human exposure of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in China. Potential sources of unintended HCB emission were assessed by production information, emission factors and environmental policies. HCB was observed in various environmental compartments in China. HCB levels increased from South China to North China in most of environmental compartments (air, soil and mussel). Some hotspots were identified near the factories producing and using HCB. In terms of spatial distribution, HCB concentrations in air and shellfish showed much variation, which indicated som...
Source: Environment International - October 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Wang G, Lu Y, Han J, Luo W, Shi Y, Wang T, Sun Y Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Resuspension of indoor aeroallergens and relationship to lung inflammation in asthmatic children.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, settled dust and airborne particulate matter samples were collected in the homes and school classrooms of asthmatic children of ages 9 to 16 and analyzed for endotoxin and allergens including dust mite and cockroach allergen, and dog and cat dander (Der p1, Der f1, Bla g1, Can f1, and Fel d1, respectively). Concentrations of cockroach allergen were below detection limit for all samples. Measurements of the settled dust samples show higher dust mite allergen in bedroom samples than in living room samples. Concentrations of airborne endotoxin and indoor allergens were generally higher in the homes than those m...
Source: Environment International - September 29, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Raja S, Xu Y, Ferro AR, Jaques PA, Hopke PK Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Re-shaping models of E. coli population dynamics in livestock faeces: Increased bacterial risk to humans?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Dung-pats excreted directly on pasture from grazing animals can contribute a significant burden of faecal microbes to agricultural land. The aim of this study was to use a combined field and modelling approach to determine the importance of Escherichia coli growth in dung-pats when predicting faecal bacteria accumulation on grazed grassland. To do this an empirical model was developed to predict the dynamics of an E. coli reservoir within 1ha plots each grazed by four beef steers for six months. Published first-order die-off coefficients were used within the model to describe the expected decline of E. coli in dung-pat...
Source: Environment International - September 24, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Oliver DM, Page T, Heathwaite AL, Haygarth PM Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Overview of ecotoxicological studies performed in the Venice Lagoon (Italy).Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This work reports on the state of the art of the bioindicators used to assess environmental quality (regarding chemical pollutant impacts) in the Venice lagoon. After a brief description of the roles, advantages and limitations of bioindicators in marine and transitional environments and a summary of the Venice lagoon characteristics, the ecotoxicological methods used during scientific studies and research projects in the Lagoon are reported. Since not all data are available and no database can be formulated, the main evidence from toxicity bioassays, biomarkers and bioaccumulation analyses since the end of the 1970s i...
Source: Environment International - September 22, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Losso C, Ghirardini AV Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Ricin as a weapon of mass terror - Separating fact from fiction.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In recent years there has been an increased concern regarding the potential use of chemical and biological weapons for mass urban terror. In particular, there are concerns that ricin could be employed as such an agent. This has been reinforced by recent high profile cases involving ricin, and its use during the cold war to assassinate a high profile communist dissident. Nevertheless, despite these events, does it deserve such a reputation? Ricin is clearly toxic, though its level of risk depends on the route of entry. By ingestion, the pathology of ricin is largely restricted to the gastrointestinal tract where it may ...
Source: Environment International - September 17, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Schep LJ, Temple WA, Butt GA, Beasley MD Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Farmworker children's residential non-dietary exposure estimates from micro-level activity time series.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Farmworkers' children may have increased pesticide exposure through dermal absorption and non-dietary ingestion, routes that are difficult to measure and model. The Cumulative Aggregate Simulation of Exposure (CASE) model, integrates the complexity of human behavior and variability of exposure processes by combining micro-level activity time series (MLATS) and mechanistic exposure equations. CASE was used to estimate residential non-dietary organophosphate pesticide exposure (i.e., inhalation, dermal, and non-dietary ingestion) to California farmworker children and evaluate the micro-activity approach. MLATS collected ...
Source: Environment International - September 7, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Beamer PI, Canales RA, Bradman A, Leckie JO Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Concentrations and determinants of outdoor, indoor and personal nitrogen dioxide in pregnant women from two Spanish birth cohorts.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Determinants of outdoor, indoor and personal concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) were assessed in a subset of pregnant women of the Spanish INMA (Environment and Childhood) Study. Home indoor and outdoor NO(2) concentrations were measured during 48h with passive samplers for 50 and 58 women from the INMA cohorts of Valencia and Sabadell, respectively. Women from Sabadell also carried personal NO(2) samplers during the same period. Data on time-activity patterns, socio-economic characteristics, and environmental exposures were obtained through questionnaires. Multiple linear regression models were developed to pr...
Source: Environment International - September 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Valero N, Aguilera I, Llop S, Esplugues A, de Nazelle A, Ballester F, Sunyer J Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Protective effects of selenium against DNA adduct formation in Inuit environmentally exposed to PCBs.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study suggests that increasing selenium has mitigating effect in reducing DNA adducts and therefore, possible negative effects of PCB were not seen. A protective effect of selenium is highlighted. PMID: 19735942 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - September 4, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Ravoori S, Srinivasan C, Pereg D, Robertson LW, Ayotte P, Gupta RC Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Investigation of volatile organic compounds and phthalates present in the cabin air of used private cars.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The presence of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including aromatic, aliphatic compounds and low molecular weight carbonyls, and a target set of phthalates were investigated in the interior of 23 used private cars during the summer and winter. VOC concentrations often exceeded levels typically found in residential indoor air, e.g. benzene concentrations reached values of up to 149.1microgm(-3). Overall concentrations were 40% higher in summer, with temperatures inside the cars reaching up to 70 degrees C. The most frequently detected phthalates were di-n-butyl-phthalate and bis-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in con...
Source: Environment International - August 31, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Geiss O, Tirendi S, Barrero-Moreno J, Kotzias D Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

The effects of individual PCB congeners on the soil bacterial community structure and the abundance of biphenyl dioxygenase genes.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic environmental contaminants that represent a class of 209 congeners characterized by different degrees of chlorination and substitution patterns. Most of experimental studies about microbial degradation of PCBs have been conducted on PCB mixtures, even though evidence accumulated in bacteria and other organisms shows that exposure to different congeners may have different biological effects. Microcosm experiments were conducted using aerobic agitated soil slurries individually exposed to PCB congeners with different degrees of chlorination: PCB-3, 15, 28, and 77, and the commer...
Source: Environment International - August 26, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Correa PA, Lin L, Just CL, Hu D, Hornbuckle KC, Schnoor JL, Van Aken B Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Effects of cadmium on forearm bone density after reduction of exposure for 10 years in a Chinese population.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study suggested that cadmium could play a long-term role on bone and more attention should be paid to cadmium effects on bone metabolism after reduction of exposure. PMID: 19716176 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - August 25, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Chen X, Zhu G, Jin T, Gu S Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

A quantitative integrated assessment of pollution prevention achieved by Integrated Pollution Prevention Control licensing.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This paper presents an innovative, quantitative assessment of pollution avoidance attributable to environmental regulation enforced through integrated licensing, using Ireland's pharmaceutical-manufacturing sector as a case study. Emissions data reported by pharmaceutical installations were aggregated into a pollution trend using an Environmental Emissions Index (EEI) based on Lifecycle Assessment methodologies. Complete sectoral emissions data from 2001 to 2007 were extrapolated back to 1995, based on available data. Production volume data were used to derive a sectoral production index, and determine 'no-improvement'...
Source: Environment International - August 23, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Styles D, O'Brien K, Jones MB Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Annoyance due to aircraft noise has increased over the years-Results of the HYENA study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the HYENA study (HYpertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) noise annoyances due to aircraft and road traffic noise were assessed in subjects that lived in the vicinity of 6 major European airports using the 11-point ICBEN scale (International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise). A distinction was made between the annoyance during the day and during the night. L(den) and L(night) were considered as indicators of noise exposure. Pooled data analyses showed clear exposure-response relationships between the noise level and the noise annoyance for both exposures. The exposure-response curves for road nois...
Source: Environment International - August 19, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Babisch W, Houthuijs D, Pershagen G, Cadum E, Katsouyanni K, Velonakis M, Dudley ML, Marohn HD, Swart W, Breugelmans O, Bluhm G, Selander J, Vigna-Taglianti F, Pisani S, Haralabidis A, Dimakopoulou K, Zachos I, Järup L, Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Bioaccumulation and biotransformation of brominated and chlorinated contaminants and their metabolites in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from East Greenland.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We report on the comparative bioaccumulation, biotransformation and/or biomagnification from East Greenland ringed seal (Pusa hispida) blubber to polar bear (Ursus maritimus) tissues (adipose, liver and brain) of various classes and congeners of persistent chlorinated and brominated contaminants and metabolic by-products: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordanes (CHLs), hydroxyl (OH-) and methylsulfonyl (MeSO(2)-) PCBs, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), OH-PBBs, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) flame retardants and OH- and methoxyl (MeO-) PBDEs, 2,2-dichloro-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethen...
Source: Environment International - August 12, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Letcher RJ, Gebbink WA, Sonne C, Born EW, McKinney MA, Dietz R Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Life cycle assessments of municipal solid waste management systems: A comparative analysis of selected peer-reviewed literature.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a popular tool used to evaluate the environmental performance of municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. Although reviews of LCAs of MSW have been undertaken to assess the validity of the 'waste hierarchy,' a recent review of the goal, scope and results of LCAs of mixed-material MSW management systems has yet to be performed. This paper is a comparative analysis of 20 process-based LCAs of MSW published between 2002 and 2008 in a total of 11 English-language peer-reviewed journals. It quantifies the methodological transparency of the studies and the frequency of use of particular ...
Source: Environment International - August 11, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Cleary J Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Symptoms prevalence among office workers of a sealed versus a non-sealed building: Associations to indoor air quality.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSIONS: Other disregarded factors, like undetected VOCs, mites, molds and endotoxin concentrations, may be associated to the greater prevalence of symptoms in the sealed building. PMID: 19665795 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - August 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Rios JL, Boechat JL, Gioda A, Santos CY, Aquino Neto FR, Lapa E Silva JR Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Biomagnification of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organobrominated compounds in a marine food web from Sydney Harbour, Australia.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and naturally-produced organobrominated compounds, such as methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs), have been scarcely studied in the Southern Hemisphere. Yet, sources of the latter group of compounds were found in Southern regions, specifically in Australia. The environmental distribution and biomagnification potential of organobrominated compounds were therefore investigated in a representative aquatic food chain (invertebrates and fish) from the Sydney Harbour, Australia. Mean PBDE concentrations ranged from 6.4ng/g lipid weight (lw) in squid to 115ng/g lw in flounder. BDE 47 was the do...
Source: Environment International - August 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Losada S, Roach A, Roosens L, Santos FJ, Galceran MT, Vetter W, Neels H, Covaci A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Genotoxic biomonitoring of agricultural workers exposed to pesticides in the north of Sinaloa State, Mexico.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study afforded valuable data to estimate the possible risk to health associated with pesticide exposure. PMID: 19665797 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - August 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Martínez-Valenzuela C, Gómez-Arroyo S, Villalobos-Pietrini R, Waliszewski S, Calderón-Segura ME, Félix-Gastélum R, Alvarez-Torres A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Stability of the conjugated species of environmental phenols and parabens in human serum.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In humans, the metabolism of environmental phenols may include the formation of conjugated species (e.g., glucuronides and sulfates), but the free species-not the conjugated forms-are considered biologically active. Therefore, information on the concentration of these free species in blood or urine could be helpful for risk assessment. Because conjugates could hydrolyze to their corresponding free forms during collection, handling, and storage of biological specimens, information on the temporal stability of the conjugates is of interest. Previously, we reported the temporal stability of urinary conjugates of several e...
Source: Environment International - August 6, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Ye X, Wong LY, Jia LT, Needham LL, Calafat AM Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Secondary arsenic minerals in the environment: A review.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Information on arsenic (As) speciation in solid materials is critical for many environmental studies concerned with As stability and/or mobility in natural As-impacted soils and mining or industrial sites contaminated by As. The investigation of these systems has provided evidence for a number of secondary As minerals that have often played a significant role in As mobility in the solid phase-water system. This paper presents a list of environmentally important secondary As minerals in contaminated soil and waste systems, summarizes the information about their origin, occurrence, environmental stability and thermodynam...
Source: Environment International - August 5, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Drahota P, Filippi M Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Human exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), as evidenced by data from a duplicate diet study, indoor air, house dust, and biomonitoring in Germany.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are used as flame retardants in a wide variety of products. As part of the Integrated Exposure Assessment Survey (INES), this study aimed to characterize the exposure of an adult German population using duplicate diet samples, which were collected daily over seven consecutive days, and indoor air and house dust measurements. Our study population consisted of 27 female and 23 male healthy subjects, aged 14-60years, all of whom resided in 34 homes in southern Bavaria. In these 34 residences the air was sampled using glass fiber filters and polyurethane foams and the dust was collecte...
Source: Environment International - August 4, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fromme H, Körner W, Shahin N, Wanner A, Albrecht M, Boehmer S, Parlar H, Mayer R, Liebl B, Bolte G Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Using air quality modeling to study source-receptor relationships between nitrogen oxides emissions and ozone exposures over the United States.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study combines detailed emission inventory, air quality modeling, and census data to investigate the source-receptor relationships between nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) emissions and population exposure to ambient O(3) in 48 states over the continental United States. By removing NO(x) emissions from each state one at a time, we calculate the change in O(3) exposures by examining the difference between the base and the sensitivity simulations. Based on the 49 simulations, we construct state-level and census region-level source-receptor matrices describing the relationships among these states/regions. We find that, for 43 rec...
Source: Environment International - August 2, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tong DQ, Muller NZ, Kan H, Mendelsohn RO Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Radiofrequency exposure in the French general population: Band, time, location and activity variability.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Information on the exposure of individual persons to radiofrequency (RF) fields is scarce, although such data are crucial in order to develop a suitable exposure assessment method, and frame the hypothesis and design of future epidemiological studies. The main goal of this survey is to assess individual RF exposure on a population basis, while clarifying the relative contribution of different sources to the total exposure. A total of 377 randomly selected people were analyzed. Each participant was supplied with a personal exposure meter for 24-hour measurements (weekday), and kept a time-location-activity diary. Electr...
Source: Environment International - August 2, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Viel JF, Cardis E, Moissonnier M, de Seze R, Hours M Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Acid sulfate soils and human health-A Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Acid sulfate soils have been described as the "nastiest soils on earth" because of their strong acidity, increased mobility of potentially toxic elements and limited bioavailability of nutrients. They only cover a small area of the world's total problem soils, but often have significant adverse effects on agriculture, aquaculture and the environment on a local scale. Their location often coincides with high population density areas along the coasts of many developing countries. As a result, their negative impacts on ecosystems can have serious implications to those least equipped for coping with the low crop yields and...
Source: Environment International - July 31, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Ljung K, Maley F, Cook A, Weinstein P Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Low molecular weight cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in cosmetic products sold in Canada: implication for dermal exposure.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Low molecular weight cyclic volatile methylsiloxane (cVMS) compounds have been used in a variety of cosmetics and personal care products and many other consumer products. The study provides information on the levels of cVMSs in cosmetics and personal care products sold in Canada with an attempt to estimate the consumer dermal exposure to cVMSs from these products. The levels of four cVMS compounds, hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) were determined in 252 cosmetics and personal care products collected from retail ...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Wang R, Moody RP, Koniecki D, Zhu J Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

The toxicology of climate change: environmental contaminants in a warming world.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Climate change induced by anthropogenic warming of the earth's atmosphere is a daunting problem. This review examines one of the consequences of climate change that has only recently attracted attention: namely, the effects of climate change on the environmental distribution and toxicity of chemical pollutants. A review was undertaken of the scientific literature (original research articles, reviews, government and intergovernmental reports) focusing on the interactions of toxicants with the environmental parameters, temperature, precipitation, and salinity, as altered by climate change. Three broad classes of chemical...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Noyes PD, McElwee MK, Miller HD, Clark BW, Van Tiem LA, Walcott KC, Erwin KN, Levin ED Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Biomagnification of naturally-produced methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) in harbour seals and harbour porpoises from the Southern North Sea.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Harbour seals and harbour porpoises are top predator species from the North Sea, have long life spans and hence, are known to accumulate high levels of anthropogenic contaminants. To gain knowledge about the behaviour of naturally-produced compounds in these marine mammals, the biomagnification of naturally-produced methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) was assessed. The biomagnification of MeO-PBDEs (2'-MeO-BDE 68 and 6-MeO-BDE 47) was lower in harbour seals (all biomagnification factors (BMFs)<1) compared to the same age-gender groups of the harbour porpoises (all BMFs>1). This may indicate a ...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Weijs L, Losada S, Das K, Roosens L, Reijnders PJ, Santos JF, Neels H, Blust R, Covaci A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Mitigation of arsenic contamination in irrigated paddy soils in South and South-east Asia.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It has recently become apparent that arsenic-contaminated groundwater used for irrigation in several countries of South and South-east Asia is adding arsenic to soils and rice, thus posing a serious threat to sustainable agricultural production and to the health and livelihoods of affected people in those countries. This paper describes the many environmental, agricultural and social factors that determine practical mitigation strategies and research needs, and describes possible mitigation measures that need to be tested. These measures include providing alternative irrigation sources, various agronomic measures, use ...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Brammer H Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Early wheezing phenotypes and severity of respiratory illness in very early childhood: study on intrauterine exposure to fine particle matter.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The main goal of the paper was to assess the pattern of risk factors having an impact on the onset of early wheezing phenotypes in the birth cohort of 468 two-year olds and to investigate the severity of respiratory illness in the two-year olds in relation to both wheezing phenotypes, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and personal PM(2.5) exposure over pregnancy period (fine particulate matter). The secondary goal of the paper was to assess possible association of early persistent wheezing with the length of the baby at birth. Pregnant women were recruited from ambulatory prenatal clinics in the first and second trimes...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Jedrychowski W, Perera FP, Maugeri U, Mrozek-Budzyn D, Mroz E, Flak E, Edwards S, Spengler JD, Jacek R, Sowa A, Musiał A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Extending the environmental risk assessment for oseltamivir (Tamiflu) under pandemic use conditions to the coastal marine compartment.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In conclusion, even a high pandemic use of oseltamivir would not lead to a significant risk for the marine compartment, in confirmation of the risk assessment for sewage works and freshwaters. PMID: 19395032 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Hutchinson TH, Beesley A, Frickers PE, Readman JW, Shaw JP, Straub JO Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Influence of environment on insulin sensitivity.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Genetic and environmental factors influence insulin sensitivity (IS) during one's lifetime. Actually, uterine environment may affect IS at birth and later in life. In particular, various exogenous toxic substances, coupled to a genetic predisposition, may remarkably influence the regulation of the hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal gland axis, and the production or the activity of insulin, cerebral incretins, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and placental hormones. Owing to this reaction against environmental injuries, fetal growth and endocrine system development may be impaired, leading to low or large birth weight, or prema...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Latini G, Marcovecchio ML, Del Vecchio A, Gallo F, Bertino E, Chiarelli F Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Human milk biomonitoring of phthalates: expanding our understanding of infant exposure is compatible with supporting breastfeeding.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19395085 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: LaKind JS, Fenton SE, Dórea JG Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Beyond contaminated land assessment: on costs and benefits of bioaccessibility prediction.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study presents a comprehensive appraisal of both emerging non-exhaustive extraction techniques (subcritical water extraction and Brij 700 extraction) developed to reflect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bioaccessibility to microorganisms as well as formerly demonstrated methodologies (the use of cyclodextrins and butanol extraction). Application of unified evaluation criteria across different techniques enabled comparison not only from the bioaccessibility prediction perspective but also analysis of economical (cost of extraction) and practical (such as extraction time) measures. Whilst the use of cyclodextrins ...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Latawiec AE, Reid BJ Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Mutagenic properties of PM2.5 urban pollution in the Northern Italy: the nitro-compounds contribution.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, a strengthened in vitro bioassay--able to predict the mutagenic/carcinogenic activity of the environmental mixtures--was conducted on PM2.5 organic extracts to define the nitro-compounds burden. PM2.5 air pollution was daily monitored, during 2006, in three cities located in the Northern part of Italy (Torino, Pavia and Verona) and the mutagenic properties of the PM2.5 organic extracts were assessed with the Ames test. The bacterial used in this study were three Salmonella typhimurium strains: TA98, nitroreductase-less mutant TA98NR and YG1021 carrying a nitroreductase-producing plasmid. The annual PM2.5 mea...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Traversi D, Degan R, De Marco R, Gilli G, Pignata C, Villani S, Bono R Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Colonized beads as inoculum for marine biodegradability assessment: application to Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
An innovative biodegradation test system was developed in order to fill the current gap for cost effective and environmentally relevant tools to assess marine biodegradability. Glass beads were colonized by a biofilm in an open flow-through system of seawater with continuous pre-exposure to Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS) (20 microg/L). Thereafter, such colonized beads were added as inoculum in different test systems. [(14)C]-LAS (5-100 microg/L) was added and primary and ultimate biodegradation were assessed. The bacterial density collected on the beads (10(9) bact./mL beads) was ca. 3 orders of magnitude higher t...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Mauffret A, Rottiers A, Federle T, Gillan DC, Hampel M, Blasco J, Temara A Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Disposal practices for unused medications in New Zealand.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSIONS: A significant percentage of unwanted medications are disposed of via routes that have the potential to adversely affect the environment. Reducing excess medications and wastage as well as education of appropriate disposal techniques may minimize their potential impact on the environment. PMID: 19423167 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Environment International)
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Braund R, Peake BM, Shieffelbien L Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

A critical evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of radon protection methods in new homes in a radon Affected Area of England.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the UK, building new homes in areas prone to radon gas is currently subject to regulations that require installation of radon-proof membranes. These membranes are not, however, the only way to protect residents of new homes against radon's potential to cause lung cancer. Alternative regulatory regimes can be constructed that would achieve the same end. The purpose of this paper is to examine the cost-effectiveness of four alternative regimes and so determine if building regulations for new homes could be altered to protect residents from the effects of radon more cost-effectively than at present. In addressing this ...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Coskeran T, Denman A, Phillips P, Tornberg R Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

Hydroxylated PCB metabolites (OH-PCBs) in archived serum from 1950-60s California mothers: a pilot study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We are studying participants selected from the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), a longitudinal birth cohort of over 20,000 California pregnancies between 1959 and 1967, for associations between maternal body burden of organochlorine contaminants and thyroid function. We designed a pilot study using 30 samples selected among samples with high and low PCB concentrations to evaluate the feasibility of measuring OH-PCBs in the larger study population. GC-ECD and GC-NCI/MS were used to determine PCBs and OH-PCBs as methyl derivatives, respectively. Maternal serum levels of Sigma11PCBs and Sigma8OH-PCB metabolite...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Park JS, Petreas M, Cohn BA, Cirillo PM, Factor-Litvak P Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals

A multicriteria-based methodology for site prioritisation in sediment management.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Decision-making for sediment management is a complex task that incorporates the selections of areas for remediation and the assessment of options for any mitigation required. The application of Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) to rank different areas, according to their need for sediment management, provides a great opportunity for prioritisation, a first step in an integrated methodology that finally aims to assess and select suitable alternatives for managing the identified priority sites. This paper develops a methodology that starts with the delimitation of management units within areas of study, followed by the applic...
Source: Environment International - June 28, 2009 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Alvarez-Guerra M, Viguri JR, Voulvoulis N Tags: Environ Int Source Type: journals