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September 30, 2011
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Legislation
ASIA PACIFIC
Public Release of Draft Priority Existing Chemical Report for Diethyl
Phthalate
2011-09-12
The National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme
(NICNAS) have announced that that the draft Priority Existing Chemical
(PEC) assessment report on Diethyl Phthalate (DEP) is now available for
public comment. Under Section 60D of the Act, the draft PEC report was
given to applicants for 28 days to enable corrections of any errors. No
requests for corrections were received. The report focuses on assessment of
risks for the public associated with potential exposure to DEP through
the use of children’s toys, child care articles and cosmetics. A
recommendation to reducing the risks identified for children and the
general public from use of DEP-containing cosmetics is made. The draft
report is available on the NICNAS website at
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/consultations.asp. Any requests to vary the
draft report should be received in writing to NICNAS by close of business
on 4 October 2011. This is a statutory deadline, which cannot be
extended. Applications should clearly outline any amendment or
change(s) requested. All applications for variation must identify the exact
words, sentence or paragraph in the report to be varied and then state
replacement words, sentences or paragraphs. The rationale behind any
request for variation must be clearly explained, with references where
relevant.
NICNAS Chemical Gazette, 6 September 2011
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Publications/Chemical_Gazette
Amendment of NICNAS Cosmetics Guidelines
2011-09-12
NICNAS has made two changes to the NICNAS Cosmetic Guidelines in
consultation with the NICNAS Cosmetic Advisory Group. The first change
involves modifying the existing Part F of the Cosmetics Guidelines on
Prohibited or Restricted Cosmetic Chemicals in Australia. The list of
prohibited or restricted chemicals has been replaced by links to sources
of information on chemicals that by law, must not be used in cosmetics
in Australia, or may be used with restrictions. The revised Part F also
includes links to useful information on cosmetic ingredients that are
prohibited or restricted in countries other than Australia. The second
change involves the creation of a new part G on a List of Sunscreening
Agents for Use in Cosmetic Products. The new Part G sets out the
recommended UV filters and their concentrations for cosmetic sunscreen
products used on the skin. These include:
moisturising products for dermal application (e.g. skin care
creams/lotions) with SPF up to 15, sunbathing products with sun
protection for a secondary purpose with SPF up to 15, and untinted lip
products (e.g. lip balms) with SPF, which were previously regulated as
therapeutic goods but have been regulated as cosmetics since 2007, and
other cosmetic products containing sunscreens such as tinted lip products
(e.g. lipsticks) with SPF and tinted bases/foundations with SPF.
The new Part G aligns the regulatory controls on UV filters between the
therapeutic and industrial chemicals regulatory frameworks. The
updated Cosmetics Guidelines can be found on the NICNAS website at
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Current_Issues/Cosmetics/Cosmetic_Guidelines_P
DF.pdf.
NICNAS Chemical Gazette, 6 September 2011
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Publications/Chemical_Gazette
South Korea updates toxic substance and observational substance lists
2011-09-12
On 1 September, the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER)
announced four substances have been added to South Korea’s toxic
chemical substance list and two substances to its observational chemical
substance list. The list is available on the NIER website, but in Korean
only. The additions come into force one month after the announcement.
The four substances added to toxic chemical substance list are:
CAS 86347-14-0 5-[1-(2,3-Dimethylphenyl)ethyl]-1H-imidazole and
mixtures containing at least 1% of the substance;
CAS 341-58-2 2,2’-Bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine and mixtures
containing at least 25%;
CAS 154279-60-4
4,4’-Methylenebis[ N-(1-methylpropyl)cyclohexanamine and mixtures
containing at least 25%; and
CAS 137-07-5 2-Aminothiophenol and mixtures containing at least
25%.
The two substances added to the observational chemical substance list
are:
CAS 561064-11-7
2-[4-(9,10-Di-2-naphthalenyl-2-anthracenyl)phenyl]-1-phenyl-1Hbenzimidazole and mixtures containing at least 25%; and
CAS 580-13-2 2-Bromonaphthalene and mixtures containing at least
25%.
In addition, on 7 September, the NIER separately announced that four
substances have been added to its list of substances classified according to
South Korea’s version of the UN Globally Harmonised System (GHS). As
well as a classification, the list provides a substance’s ID number (TCCL
ID), CAS number, signal word, pictogram, H codes, and M factors. The list
has been mandatory since 1 July 2011, and is also available from the
NIER website in Korean only. The classified substances are:
CAS 86347-14-0 5-[1-(2,3-Dimethylphenyl)ethyl]-1H-imidazole
CAS 341-58-2 2,2’-Bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine
CAS 154279-60-4
4,4’-Methylenebis[ N-(1-methylpropyl)cyclohexanamine
CAS 137-07-5 2-Aminothiophenol
Chemical Watch, 9 September 2011 http://chemicalwatch.com/news
China updates RoHS law
2011-09-12
China has published detailed lists showing which electronic products
and parts will require voluntary certification from November under the
country’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) law. A list of
exemptions has also been published, according to consultancy Young &
Global.
Chemical Watch, 7 September 2011 http://chemicalwatch.com/news
AMERICA
California Nearing Ban of Toxic Chemical in Baby Products
2011-09-12
On 6 September, California moved one step closer to protecting the health
of children when the Assembly took a final vote to send the Toxin-Free
Infants and Toddlers Act (AB 1319) to the Governor for his signature. AB
1319, by Assembly member Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey), bans the
toxic chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby products. “I applaud the
California Legislature and Betsy Butler for passing this historic bill that
will make California the 11th state to pass a ban on the dangerous
chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in certain baby and toddler feeding
products,” said U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, author of SB 136, the Ban
Poisonous Additives Act of 2011. “With the passage of the Toxin-Free
Infants and Toddlers Act, the California legislature has taken an
important first step to protect vulnerable babies and toddlers from the
harmful health effects of BPA. I’ll continue to work to achieve a
nationwide ban on BPA in all children’s feeding products.” “California
is now just one final step away from banning BPA after years of fighting
to give families access to safe, non-toxic baby products,” said Assembly
member Butler. “Despite intense lobbying by the chemical industry,
protecting the health of our children has prevailed. With the Governor’s
signature, California will finally join numerous other states and
countries in banning this toxic chemical and protecting our most
vulnerable citizens.” BPA is an artificial hormone and endocrine
disruptor widely used in shatter-proof plastic baby bottles and sippy
cups. BPA leaches out of containers and into food and drink. It has been
linked to a host of health problems, including early puberty, breast and
prostate cancer, infertility, obesity and neurological and behavioural
changes, including autism and hyperactivity. Specifically, the bill
would prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of baby bottles and
sippy cups designed for children three years of age and younger that
contain more than 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) of BPA. AB 1319 is
supported by the American Academy of Paediatrics of California, the
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the California
Medical Association and the California Nurses Association as well as
numerous other environmental and children’s organisations. If AB 1319
is signed into law, California will join ten other states in the United
States that have enacted bans on BPA in baby bottles and other feeding
products for children. BPA has been banned in China, Canada and the
European Union. In addition, several key federal agencies and scientific
bodies have stated official concern about the safety of BPA including the
National Institutes of Health (National Toxicology Program), the Food and
Drug Administration, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the
President’s Cancer Panel.
California State Democratic Caucus, 6 September 2011 http://asmdc.org
US EPA publishes draft IRIS review of n-butanol
2011-09-12
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the
release of the draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
Toxicological Review of n-butanol with an extended public review and
comment period ending 14 November 2011. The Interagency Science
Consultation Draft of the n-butanol IRIS assessment has also been
released. Further details are available at:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris_drafts/recordisplay.cfm?deid=200321
Chemical Watch, 9 September 2011 http://chemicalwatch.com/news
USPS Puts Lithium Battery Limits on Hold
2011-09-12
The U.S. Postal Service has withdrawn a rule that would have set new
limits on outbound mailing of lithium batteries to international, or APO,
FPO or DPO locations to await action by the ICAO Dangerous Goods
Panel. The new limits that would have taken effect 3 October for U.S.
mail containing equipment with lithium metal or lithium-ion batteries
that is bound for international, APO, FPO, or DPO locations are now on
hold. The U.S. Postal Service had set the limits with a 25 August 2011,
final rule so they would be consistent with recent amendments to the
Universal Postal Union (UPU) Convention and regulations, but those
amendments are themselves on hold, for now. USPS said it withdrew its
revisions “because of a notice to the UPU from the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on 19 August 2011, requesting that the
UPU delay implementation of the aforementioned amendment until the
UPU revisions could be reviewed by the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel,
and if approved, incorporated into The Technical Instructions for the
Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air manual.” In addition, the
Postal Service withdrew the revision to 39 CFR 20.1 that had added a
new section 135.6 to the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal
Service, International Mail Manual, to describe the new maximum limits
for the outbound mailing of lithium batteries, according to the Federal
Register notice.
Occupational Health & Safety News, 11 September 2011
http://www.ohsonline.com
New Tool Proposed for Assessing Chemical Risks
2011-09-12
On September 6, the American Chemistry Council proposed a
comprehensive, scientifically based system that could be used by EPA to
decide which chemicals require additional review and assessment,
possibly offering a solution to the agency’s quest to update the Toxic
Substances Control Act. “As outlined in ACC’s principles for modernising
the Toxic Substances Control Act, establishing a clear and scientifically
sound prioritisation process is key to creating a world-class chemical
management system,” ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. “We believe the
prioritisation tool we’re proposing today will help EPA evaluate
chemicals more efficiently and effectively and improve public confidence
in the agency’s regulation of chemicals.” Now 35 years old, TSCA does not
dictate a process to use the information currently available to prioritise
chemicals for review. ACC said with no system in place, EPA may be
wasting time, energy, and resources gathering and analysing data on
chemicals that are already well understood or are unlikely to pose a
significant risk to public health or the environment. “ACC worked
closely with experts from our member companies to develop a tool that
will enable the public, public health officials, lawmakers, and
businesses to understand better which chemicals and uses warrant
priority evaluation by EPA and which do not,” said Mike Walls, the
council’s vice president of Regulatory and Technical Affairs. The system
would evaluate chemicals against consistent scientific criteria that take
into account both hazard and exposure, giving each chemical a score
based on the criteria and then ranking it based on the scores and EPA’s
best professional scientific judgment. The rankings would be used to
determine which chemicals are referred to EPA’s Office of Chemical
Safety & Pollution Prevention for further assessment. Before it was
announced, representatives from ACC met with officials at EPA to discuss
the tool and how it could inform the agency’s stakeholder dialogue on
prioritisation that took place 7 September. “We are glad that EPA has
recognised the urgent need to prioritise chemicals for review,” said
Dooley.
Occupational Health & Safety News, 9 September 2011
http://www.ohsonline.com
EPA holds webinar on identifying priority chemicals for review
2011-09-12
On 7 September 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
held a webinar regarding its plans to use a two-step process to identify
priority chemical substances for review and assessment under the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA states that its goal is ‘to identify
priority chemicals for near-term evaluation, not to screen and prioritise
the entire TSCA Inventory of approximately 84,000 chemicals.’ EPA held
the webinar to obtain public input on the prioritisation factors and data
sources it plans to use. The Acta Group, L.L.C.’s memorandum on the
proposed EPA prioritisation process is available online. EPA’s
presentation closely followed the Discussion Guide it posted describing
the two-step process. In Step 1, EPA plans to identify an initial group of
priority chemicals for review by using a specific set of data sources to
identify chemicals that meet one or more of the Action Plan priority
factors. EPA is seeking public input on two related aspects of Step 1:
(a) prioritisation factors; and
(b) data sources for prioritisation factors.
In Step 2, EPA intends to refine that group by using information from
additional exposure and hazard data sources to analyse further the
chemicals to select for specific chemicals for further assessment,
including possible risk assessment and risk management action. EPA is
seeking input on the data sources for further analysis to be used in Step
2. The Discussion Guide is available online. The Discussion Guide lists
the following factors for identifying candidate chemicals for review:
Potentially of concern for children’s health (e.g., chemicals with
reproductive or developmental effects);
Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT);
Probable or known carcinogens;
Used in children’s products;
Used in consumer products; and
Detected in biomonitoring programs.
Comments during the webinar included a suggestion that EPA expand
the factors to include chemicals such as neurotoxins and endocrine
disruptors. Other participants urged EPA to make optimum use of data
and information generated under the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.
Additional suggested data sources include EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor
Screening Program (EDSP), the Substitute It Now! (SIN) List developed by
the International Chemical Secretariat, a non-governmental organisation
(NGO), and EPA’s ToxCast Database. Other participants recommended
against the use of NGO-derived lists. According to EPA, after it identifies
priority chemicals for review (Step 1), it will publicly announce the data
and sources of information that it intends to use to inform its review in
Step 2. If stakeholders believe there are better and/or more recent data
available that EPA should consider, they will have an opportunity to
provide information to EPA for review. Importantly, EPA stated it would
post the Power Point presentation, a summary of comments obtained
during the webinar and meetings, and comments submitted through the
discussion forum within several weeks of the close of the discussion
forum. This is important as presumably the comments received orally
during the webinar will all be considered part of the administrative
record in the development of EPA’s priority chemical identification
process.
Environmental Expert, 8 September 2011
http://www.environmental-expert.com
EUROPE
EC flame retardant review highlights data gaps
2011-09-12
An EU-funded review of 42 flame retardants used in consumer goods has
not detected enough available data to assess the health and
environmental risks of more than half the substances. It says that 11
appear to pose unaddressed risks. The study, conducted by consultants for
the European Commission, also found no clear link between the
stringency of EU rules on flame retardants in particular member states
and deaths from domestic fires. The number of deaths fluctuates for a
number of other reasons, including the use of fire alarms and changing
smoking habits. It is not clear whether rules on incorporating fire
retardants in consumer goods have any effect, the study says. It discovered
appropriate risk management measures in place to address the risks posed
by six of the 42 flame retardants reviewed. Furthermore, the authors
were broadly satisfied with measures covering another three. However,
there was evidence of unaddressed health or environmental risks for a
further 11 substances. More data on the remaining flame retardants
should become available through REACH. The commission wants to ask
its scientists for a fuller evaluation of the risk posed by these chemicals,
but at the moment there is not enough information available. Industry
association PINFA questioned the suitability of the method used to assess
the flame retardants and said it would help fill any data gaps. It also
said there was evidence for the benefits of stricter fire regulations in
France, the UK and Ireland – the three countries for which detailed
statistics are available. Associations representing the chemical industry
promised to work together to develop an industry-wide approach to
resource efficiency. They also called for a partnership with
policy-makers on climate and energy issues. The pledges were included
in a joint sustainability declaration from Cefic, the European Mine,
Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation and the European Chemical
Employers Group. The groups also made several social and economic
commitments.
ENDS Europe Daily, 7 September 2011 http://www.endseuropedaily.com
EFSA to hold consultative workshop with stakeholders on Independence
and Scientific Decision-Making Processes
2011-09-12
Recently, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced it will
hold a consultative workshop on 12 October 2011 in Brussels to discuss
some of the key issues behind independence and trust in science and to
explore in more detail comments made during the online public
consultation for its Draft Policy on Independence and Scientific
Decision-Making Processes. Stakeholders and interested parties are still
able to contribute to the online consultation which runs until 16
September 2011 and can register to attend the workshop through the
EFSA website before 23 September 2011. Since its creation in 2002,
EFSA has put in place a wide range of initiatives to uphold its core
values of scientific excellence, openness, independence and transparency.
The Draft Policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making
Processes aims to integrate these initiatives into one comprehensive
document, thereby strengthening the way in which the Authority assures
independence and transparency in its work. EFSA welcomes a public
debate on this issue and the workshop will allow contributors to the
public consultation on its draft policy and those with specific expertise
in this area to express their views on the Authority’s approach to
safeguarding independence and scientific integrity in its work. The
programme for the morning session of the workshop will include a
roundtable discussion on general issues related to independence and trust
in science, such as managing conflicts of interest in public organisations
and public engagement and confidence in science. The panel will
include speakers with both academic and public-sector backgrounds. The
afternoon’s proceedings will comprise interactive sessions with
contributors to the online public consultation, where specific comments
and views will be explored in more detail. Audience members will be
encouraged to engage in the discussions taking place throughout the day.
EFSA encourages all stakeholders and interested parties who would like
to attend the October workshop to register as soon as possible. Places at the
workshop need to be kept to such a number as to facilitate discussion
and therefore those interested should apply early and indicate their
specific reasons for wishing to attend. EFSA also plans to provide a live
webcast of the meeting via its website. Further information on the webcast
will be made available closer to the workshop. Further information is
available on the EFSA website.
EFSA, 2 September 2001 http://www.efsa.europa.eu
Danish ministry highlights upcoming changes in cosmetics regulation
2011-09-12
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published
information on its website relating to the new Cosmetics Regulation
which will apply as a whole from 11 July 2013. The Regulation entered
into force in 2009, and replaced the statutory order on cosmetics that
previously implemented the EU Cosmetics Directive in Danish law. While
much of the Regulation is in line with the EU Directive, it introduced
some new elements, including the requirement that any nanomaterial
substances present in cosmetics must now be included in the list of
ingredients by inserting (nano) after the substance name. It also contains
a clearer definition of who is responsible for complying with the
legislation and what their obligations are in addition to the
requirements for distributors, who must verify that labelling, language
requirements and date of minimum durability are compliant before
making a cosmetic product available on the market. In addition, the
Regulation introduced a new notification procedure, which requires the
responsible member of the supply chain to submit new information
electronically to the Commission prior to placing a cosmetic product on
the market. This includes notification of the presence of nanomaterials
and CMR-substances, in addition to other information such as the
category of the product, the name and address of the responsible person,
country of origin in the case of import and the member state in which
the product is to be placed on the market. The new requirements also
include obligations with regards to translation in order to meet national
law outlined in Article 13.
Chemical Watch, 8 September 2011 http://chemicalwatch.com/news
REACH Update
RAC adopts seven scientific opinions
2011-09-21
The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) has adopted opinions on seven
proposals for harmonised classification and labelling across Europe
during its 17th meeting, held from 13-16 September 2011 in Helsinki.
RAC opinions on harmonised classification and labelling
Polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride (PHMB)
RAC agreed with the proposal from France to classify PHMB as acutely
toxic by the oral and inhalation route, damaging to the eye, as a skin
sensitiser, as toxic to the respiratory tract after repeated exposure,
suspected carcinogen and hazardous to the aquatic environment. The
classification of this substance is not currently harmonised at EU level.
PHMB is used as biocidal product (disinfectant).
Di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP)
RAC agreed with the proposal from France to classify DnHP for
reproductive toxicity due to the potential for effects on unborn babies as
well as on male fertility. The classification of this substance is not
currently harmonised at EU level. DnHP is used in the manufacture of
plastics.
Fenamiphos
RAC agreed with the proposal from the Netherlands to classify
Fenamiphos as acutely toxic by the inhalation route and as an eye
irritant. Fenamiphos already has a harmonised classification as acutely
toxic by the oral and dermal route and as hazardous to the aquatic
environment. RAC agreed with the proposal to replace the minimum
classification for acute toxicity (indicate by an asterix) with the definite
classification based on data. Further, RAC proposed an M-factor of 100
for chronic aquatic toxicity. Fenamiphos is used as a plant protection
product.
Trichloromethylstannane (MMTC)
RAC agreed with the proposal from France to classify MMTC as toxic to
reproduction. RAC did not agree with the proposal from France, to
classify MMTC as mutagenic. The classification of this substance is not
currently harmonised at EU level. MMTC is used as an industrial
intermediate in the production of other organotin chemicals.
2-ethylhexyl
10-ethyl-4-[[2-[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]-2-oxoethyl]thio]-4-methyl-7-oxo8-oxa-3,5-dithia-4-stannatetradecanoate (MMT (EHMA))
RAC agreed with the proposal from France to classify MMT(EHMA) as
toxic to reproduction. RAC did not agree with the proposal from France,
to classify MMT(EHMA) as mutagenic. The classification of this substance
is not currently harmonised at EU level. MMT(EHMA) is used as a heat
stabiliser in PVC.
Benzenamine, 2-chloro-6-nitro-3-phenoxy- (Aclonifen)
RAC agreed with the proposal from Germany to classify Aclonifen as a
suspected carcinogen, as a skin sensitiser and as hazardous to the aquatic
environment. Aclonifen already has a harmonised classification as
hazardous to the aquatic environment. Aclonifen is used as a plant
protection product (herbicide).
Perestane
RAC agreed with the proposal from the UK to classify Perestane as acutely
toxic by the oral, dermal and inhalation routes, skin corrosive and as
toxic to the eye after single exposure and to remove the classification for
mutagenicity. Perestane already has a harmonised classification as
acutely toxic by the oral, dermal and inhalation routes, skin corrosive
and mutagenic. Perestane is used as a biocide (surface disinfectant).
The full RAC opinions will be available shortly at:
http://echa.europa.eu/about/organisation/committees/rac/committee_opin
ions_en.asp
ECHA, 20 September 2011 http://echa.europa.eu
ECHA consults on proposed phthalate cocktail ban
2011-09-21
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is consulting on a Danish
proposal to ban a combination of four phthalates from some goods. The
proposal for a restriction under article 17 of REACH would apply to
DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP. Denmark wants to ensure that the combined
concentration of these endocrine-disrupting substances does not exceed
0.1% in goods intended for indoor use or likely to come into direct
contact with skin or mucous membranes. The proposal says around
184,000 tonnes of the phthalates were used in the production of articles
in the EU in 2009. Denmark is concerned about their joint
concentrations because endocrine disruptors can act in combination. The
European Commission is still considering how to assess this type of risk.
Under existing law, manufacturers wanting to use three of the phthalates
– DEHP, DBP and BBP – from 2015 will have to apply for
authorisations. The fourth one, DIBP, is recommended for addition to
REACH’s annex 14 authorisation list. But the authorisation process does
not cover imported products. The consultation will run for six months
but the chemicals agency would like responses earlier to help its risk
assessment (RAC) and socio-economic assessment (SEAC) committees
which will start discussing the proposal in January.
ENDS Europe Daily, 20 September 2011
http://www.endseuropedaily.com
SEAC adopts three scientific opinions on lead, mercury and
phenylmercuries
2011-09-21
The Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC) has adopted opinions
on three restriction proposals during its 12th meeting, held from 13-15
September 2011 in Helsinki.
SEAC opinion on lead
Following the submission by France of a restriction proposal aimed at
reducing children’s exposure to lead, the Committee for Risk Assessment
(RAC) adopted its opinion supporting France’s proposal in principle but
with significant modifications in March 2011. At the same time, SEAC
agreed on its draft opinion, which concluded that the benefits for
human health of the restriction of lead in jewellery outweigh the costs of
the restriction. SEAC proposed the restriction to be based only on the
content of lead in jewellery articles as it is easier to measure in practice.
Derogations for crystals and precious and semi-precious stones were
proposed, as well as for jewellery more than 50 years old. The draft
opinion of SEAC was submitted for public consultation for 60 days.
Following the comments received, SEAC included additional derogations
for vitreous enamels and non-accessible parts of watches in its opinion.
The final opinion has now been adopted.
Opinions on restrictions intended to reduce the emissions of mercury
Mercury and most of its compounds are highly toxic to humans, animals
and ecosystems. High doses can be fatal for humans, but even relatively
low doses can seriously affect the nervous system and have been linked
with possible harmful effects on the cardiovascular, immune and
reproductive systems. Once released, mercury persists in the environment,
where it circulates between air, water, sediments, soil and biota in
various forms. In the presence of bacteria, mercury can change into
methylmercury, its most toxic form, which biomagnifies especially in the
aquatic food chain, making populations and wildlife with a high intake
of fish and seafood particularly vulnerable. Methylmercury readily
passes through both the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, so
exposure to women of child-bearing age, pregnant women and children,
is of greatest concern. The restrictions proposed by ECHA on behalf of the
European Commission and by Norway, are measures to further reduce
mercury emissions and protect against exposure.
SEAC opinion on mercury in measuring devices
At the request of the European Commission, ECHA has reviewed the
availability of safer alternatives to measuring devices containing mercury
and, as a result, prepared a restriction report proposing to restrict
mercury in several measuring devices that are used in industrial and
professional settings (thermometers, sphygmomanometers, barometers,
manometers, metering devices for the determination of softening point,
pycnometers and strain gauges). RAC adopted its opinion in support of
ECHA’s proposal with some modifications in June 2011. At the same
time, SEAC agreed on its draft opinion, which concluded that suitable
alternatives to the measuring devices are available and that the
restriction (with some minor derogations) is considered to be
proportionate to the risks. The draft opinion of SEAC was submitted for
public consultation for 60 days. No comments were received that lead to
changes to the final opinion, which has now been adopted. For
clarification, one minor change was introduced to the proposed
restriction.
SEAC opinion on Phenylmercury compounds
Norway prepared a restriction report proposing a ban on the manufacture,
placing on the market and use of five phenylmercury compounds, as well
as a ban on placing articles containing these substances on the market.
Phenylmercury compounds are mainly used in the production of
polyurethane coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers. RAC adopted
its opinion in support of Norway’s proposal with some modifications in
June 2011. At the same time, SEAC agreed on its draft opinion, which
also supported the proposal and concluded that a restriction on the five
phenylmercury compounds was proportionate. The draft opinion of SEAC
was submitted for public consultation for 60 days. No comments were
received that lead to changes to the final opinion, which has now been
adopted.
Further Information is available at:
http://echa.europa.eu/reach/restriction/restrictions_under_consideration_
en.asp
ECHA, 20 September 2011 http://echa.europa.eu
Julien’s Advice Line
Conflict
One of the new features of ChemGold3 is the ability to add a Suppliers/Vendors MSDS to the Manifest, so that you no longer have to wait for
the Chemwatch report to be written to complete your lists. In order to take
this further for Australian clients particularly, we allow you to record R
codes and Dangerous Goods details for the material. In order to address
the gap, materials added to folders or Manifests are now automatically
registered, and the Chemwatch MSDS will be written up. At that point
there may be a discrepancy between the User entered data from the Supplier, and the Chemwatch Assessment. This will generate a Conflict message, and allow the user to review which assessment they would like to
keep. There is only a single material entry, but as there are two classifications it appears twice in the Manifest. If the user elects to go with the
Chemwatch assessment, the Conflict disappears.
As I am continually reminded however, with increasing flexibility comes
increasing complexity, which means there is more that can go wrong.
Some materials have displayed a Conflict message without any entry by
yourselves at all. We have now fixed the causes of this, so I hope these
will have disappeared.
If not, please contact us and we will chase up
the stragglers.
Janet’s Corner – Not too seriously!
Surfing the Internet
Surfing the Net
So I think I’m in the clear
the boss is no where in sight
I logon to the web and start to surf
and then my hair stands up with fright
The footsteps coming down the hall
are quickening in pace
there is no time to exit
no way to save my face
So I press the power button
and relax just a bit
there is no way he can tell
exactly what I hit
I act all surprised
don’t know why my machine died
simply unpredictable these
computers are! I cried
So we’ll get you a new one
a computer that won’t crash he exclaims
Do you think he’ll wonder
when the new one acts the same?
Please note: articles for Janet’s Corner are not original, and come from
various sources. Author’s credits are supplied when available.
Hazard
Quartz silica
2009-04-03
Quartz silica is a colourless or white, variable, black, purple, green
crystal. It is odourless and will not burn. Quartz silica is an
occupational cancer hazard.
Silica refers to naturally occurring minerals composed principally of
silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon dioxide exists in both crystalline and
amorphous forms. Quartz, cristobalite and tridymite are the three most
common crystalline forms. It is found in activities like mining, quarrying,
tunnelling, and in foundries. Pure and synthetic quartz is used for
production of electronic components; frequency control in electrical
oscillators and filters and electromechanical transducers; fibre optics;
and used in consumer products such as electronic watches.
Health Effects
In general, high concentrations of dust may cause coughing and mild,
temporary irritation following short-term exposure. There is no human
or animal information available specifically for quartz. Quartz can have
potentially serious respiratory effects following long-term inhalation (one
year or more).
Contact with skin
Quartz dust is not expected to be irritating to the skin. However,
foreign-body reactions (granulomas) have been observed after crystalline
silica accidentally got under the skin as a result of an injury. Often the
effects are delayed for periods ranging from weeks up to more than 50
years.
Contact with eyes
In general, the dust is not expected to be irritating except as a “foreign
object”. Some tearing, blinking and mild temporary pain may occur as
the solid material is rinsed from the eye by tears.
Chronic Health Effects
Prolonged or repeated exposure to fine airborne crystalline silica dust
may cause severe scarring of the lungs, a disease called silicosis. The risk
of developing and the severity of silicosis depends on the airborne
concentration of respirable-size silica dust to which an employee is
exposed and duration of exposure. Silicosis usually develops gradually
over 20 years or more of exposure. Particles with diameters less than 1
micrometre and freshly cleaved particles (for example, those produced by
sandblasting) are considered most hazardous. Several reliable studies
have found silicosis in employees with exposure to considerably less than
1 mg/m3 respirable quartz.
The early symptoms of silicosis (cough, mucous production and shortness
of breath upon exertion) are non-specific, so the development of silicosis
may not be detected until advanced stages of the disease. Silicosis may
continue to develop even after exposure to crystalline silica has stopped.
Evidence of silicosis can normally be seen on an X- ray.
Silicosis can vary in severity from minimal to severe. In cases of mild
silicosis, there is typically no significant respiratory impairment,
although there is X-ray evidence of lung injury. In severe cases,
significant and increasingly severe respiratory impairment develops.
There is no proven effective treatment for the disease. Life expectancy may
be reduced, depending on the severity of the case.
Inhalation of quartz has also been associated with a number of other,
less well characterised, harmful effects including effects on the kidney
(glomerulonephritis), the liver, the spleen and immune system disorders
(progressive systemic sclerosis, scleroderma or rheumatoid arthritis).
Personal Protection
Respiratory Protection
If engineering controls and work practices are not effective in controlling
exposure to this material, then wear suitable personal protection
equipment including approved respiratory protection. Have appropriate
equipment available for use in emergencies such as spills.
If respiratory
protection is required, institute a complete respiratory protection program
including selection, fit testing, training, maintenance and inspection.
RESPIRATORY PROTECTION GUIDELINES: NIOSH RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR SILICA (CRYSTALLINE (AS RESPIRABLE DUST)) CONCENTRATIONS
IN AIR:
UP TO 0.5 mg/m3: Air-purifying respirator with high-efficiency
particulate filter(s).
UP TO 1.25 mg/m3: Powered air-purifying respirator with
high-efficiency particulate filter; or SAR operated in a continuous-flow
mode.
UP TO 2.5 mg/m3: Full-facepiece air-purifying respirator with
high-efficiency particulate filter(s); or powered air-purifying respirator
with tight-fitting facepiece and high-efficiency particulate filter.
UP TO 25 mg/m3: Positive pressure SAR.
EMERGENCY OR PLANNED ENTRY INTO UNKNOWN CONCENTRATIONS
OR IDLH CONDITIONS:
Positive pressure, full-facepiece SCBA; or positive pressure, full-facepiece
SAR with an auxiliary positive pressure SCBA.
ESCAPE: Full-facepiece respirator with high-efficiency particulate
filter(s); or escape-type SCBA.
NOTE: The IDLH concentration for quartz silica is 50 mg/m3.
NOTE: The purpose of establishing an IDLH value is to ensure that the
worker can escape from a given contaminated environment in the event
of failure of the most protective respiratory protection equipment. In the
event of failure of respiratory protective equipment every effort should be
made to exit immediately.
NOTE: NIOSH has classified this material as a potential occupational
carcinogen, according to specific NIOSH criteria. This classification is
reflected in these recommendations for respiratory protection, which
specify that only the most reliable and protective respirators be worn at
any detectable concentration. The requirements in Canadian
jurisdictions may vary. The respirator use limitations specified by the
approving agency and the manufacturer must be observed. Air-purifying
respirators do not protect against oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
Recommendations apply only to NIOSH approved respirators.
ABBREVIATIONS: SAR = supplied-air respirator; SCBA = self-contained
breathing apparatus; IDLH = Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health.
Quartz Silica (1997) Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety
retrieved from
Reference
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/quartz_silica/
on 3rd April 2009
Gossip
Research Suggests Scented Laundry Products Emit Hazardous Chemicals
Through Dryer Vents
2011-08-29
A new study, published recently in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere
and Health, has uncovered the scented air wafting from household
laundry vents. The findings showed that air vented from machines using
the top-selling scented liquid laundry detergent and scented dryer sheet
contains hazardous chemicals, including two that are classified as
carcinogens. “This is an interesting source of pollution because emissions
from dryer vents are essentially unregulated and unmonitored,” said
lead author Anne Steinemann, a University of Washington professor of
civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs. “If they’re
coming out of a smokestack or tail pipe, they’re regulated, but if they’re
coming out of a dryer vent, they’re not.” The research builds on earlier
work that investigated what chemicals are released by laundry products,
air fresheners, cleaners, lotions and other fragranced consumer products.
Manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients used in
fragrances, or in laundry products. During the new study, which focuses
on chemicals emitted through laundry vents, the researchers first
purchased and pre-rinsed new, organic cotton towels. They asked two
homeowners to volunteer their washers and dryers, cleaned the inside of
the machines with vinegar, and ran full cycles using only water to
eliminate as much residue as possible. At the first home, they ran a
regular laundry cycle and analysed the vent fumes for three cases: once
with no products, once with the leading brand of scented liquid laundry
detergent, and finally with both the detergent and a leading brand of
scented dryer sheets. A canister placed inside the dryer vent opening
captured the exhaust 15 minutes into each drying cycle. Researchers
then repeated the procedure with a different washer and dryer at a
second home. Analysis of the captured gases found more than 25 volatile
organic compounds, including seven hazardous air pollutants, coming
out of the vents. Of those, two chemicals – acetaldehyde and benzene –
are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, for
which the agency has established no safe exposure level. “These products
can affect not only personal health, but also public and environmental
health. The chemicals can go into the air, down the drain and into
water bodies,” Steinemann said. The researchers estimate that in the
Seattle area, where the study was conducted, acetaldehyde emissions from
this brand of laundry detergent would be equivalent to 3 percent of the
total acetaldehyde emissions coming from automobiles. Emissions from
the top five brands, they estimate, would constitute about 6 percent of
automobiles’ acetaldehyde emissions. “We focus a lot of attention on how
to reduce emissions of pollutants from automobiles,” Steinemann said.
“And here’s one source of pollutants that could be reduced.” In addition,
the project’s website includes letters from the public reporting health
effects from scented consumer products. Steinemann says that people’s
reports of adverse reactions to fragranced air coming from laundry vents
motivated her to conduct this study. Steinemann recommends using
laundry products without any fragrance or scent.
Environmental Protection News, 25 August 2011
http://www.eponline.com
Gold Nanoparticles Help Scientists Detect Growth-Promoting Drugs
2011-08-29
Most countries have banned the use of growth-promoting drugs known as
β agonists in animal feeds. When livestock consume the drugs, people who
eat the animals can experience heart palpitations, headaches, nausea,
and other symptoms. Now, a new study, published in the journal
Analytical Chemistry, describes the development of a quick and easy
colour-changing assay to detect β agonists in liquid samples. Regulators
could use the test to screen animals’ blood and urine for illegal β agonists
before slaughter, the researchers say. Currently, scientists screen for β
agonists such as clenbuterol with mass spectrometry. But mass
spectrometry can spot only known drugs, says Zhen Li, a biologist at
China Agricultural University. Li wanted to find a method that could
also detect new β agonists. Previous research has demonstrated that
certain molecules such as dopamine can directly reduce HAuCl4 to
atomic gold, forming gold nanoparticles. Because, like dopamine, β
agonists have electron-rich aromatic groups, Li’s team reasoned that the
drugs might also reduce gold salts. So they mixed 13 common β agonists
with HAuCl4. Within minutes, the liquid samples changed colour from
colourless to red. The colour change signalled the presence of gold
nanoparticles, which absorb light at 528 nm, making the solutions
appear red. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of
gold nanoparticles that were between 15 and 25 nm in diameter. The
scientists then used ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy to measure the
concentration of β agonists based on the absorbance of the resulting gold
nanoparticles. The detection limit varied with the drug, but the scientists
could always detect β agonist concentrations in the low to
sub-micromolar range. Furthermore, they tested the assay in the presence
of antibiotics and glucose, molecules sometimes capable of reducing gold
salts, and found that those compounds didn’t disrupt the measurements.
Li next plans to adapt the assay to test animal fluids.
Chemical & Engineering News, 24 August 2011
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news
Nickel Nanoparticles May Contribute to Lung Cancer
2011-08-29
All the excitement about nanotechnology comes down to this: Structures
of materials at the scale of billionths of a metre take on unusual
properties. Technologists often focus on the happier among these
newfound capabilities, but new research by an interdisciplinary team of
scientists at Brown University finds that nanoparticles of nickel activate
a cellular pathway that contributes to cancer in human lung cells.
“Nanotechnology has tremendous potential and promise for many
applications,” said Agnes Kane, chair of the Department of Pathology
and Laboratory Medicine in The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown
University. “But the lesson is that we have to learn to be able to design
them more intelligently and, if we recognise the potential hazards, to
take adequate precautions.” Kane is the senior author of the study
published in the journal Toxicological Sciences. Nickel nanoparticles
have previously been shown to be harmful, but not in terms of cancer.
Kane and her team of pathologists, engineers and chemists found
evidence that ions on the surface of the particles are released inside
human epithelial lung cells to jumpstart a pathway called HIF-1 alpha.
Normally the pathway helps trigger genes that support a cell in times of
low oxygen supply, a problem called hypoxia, but it is also known to
encourage tumour cell growth. “Nickel exploits this pathway, in that it
tricks the cell into thinking there’s hypoxia but it’s really a nickel ion
that activates this pathway,” said Kane, whose work is supported by a
National Institutes of Health Superfund Research Program Grant. “By
activating this pathway it may give premalignant tumour cells a head
start.” During the study, the research team, led by postdoctoral research
associate and first author Jodie Pietruska, exposed human lung cells to
nanoscale particles of metallic nickel and nickel oxide, and larger
microscale particles of metallic nickel. A key finding is that while the
smaller particles set off the HIF-1 alpha pathway, the larger metallic
nickel particles proved much less problematic. In other words, getting
down to the nanoscale made the metallic nickel particles more harmful
and potentially cancer-causing. Kane said the reason might be that for
the same amount of metal by mass, nanoscale particles expose much more
surface area and that makes them much more chemically reactive than
microscale particles. Another important result from the work is data
showing a big difference in how nickel nanoparticles and nickel oxide
nanoparticles react with cells, Pietruska said. The nickel oxide particles
are so lethal that the cells exposed to them died quickly, leaving no
opportunity for cancer to develop. Metallic nickel particles, on the other
hand, were less likely to kill the cells. That could allow the hypoxia
pathway to lead to the cell becoming cancerous. “What is concerning is
the metallic nickel nanoparticles caused sustained activation but they
were less cytotoxic,” Pietruska said. “Obviously a dead cell can’t be
transformed.” Although Kane said the findings should raise clear
concerns about handling nickel nanoparticles, for instance to prevent
airborne exposure to them in manufacturing, they are not all that’s
needed to cause cancer. Cancer typically depends on a number of
unfortunate changes, Kane said. Also, she said, the study looked at the
short-term effects of nickel nanoparticle exposure in cells in a lab,
rather than over the long term in a whole organism. Still, in her lab
Kane employs significant safeguards to keep researchers safe. “We handle
all these materials under biosafety level 2 containment conditions,” she
said. “I don’t want anyone exposed. We’re handling them as though they
were an airborne carcinogen.”
Science Daily, 23 August 2011 http://www.sciencedaily.com
A Revamped Vancomycin
2011-08-29
In a new study, researchers have achieved a key step toward redesigning
the antibiotic vancomycin so that it kills some resistant bacteria. The
work could lead to drugs effective against difficult-to-treat infections.
Discovered by Eli Lilly & Co. researchers in the 1950s, vancomycin is a
glycosylated natural product that has become the antibiotic of last resort
for hard-to-treat infections, such as those caused by antibiotic-resistant
staphylococcal and enterococcal bacteria. But eventually bacteria
developed resistance to vancomycin, too, in some cases by changing an
amide to an ester in a bacterial glycopeptide cell-wall precursor.
Antibiotic mechanisms expert Christopher A. Walsh of Harvard Medical
School and colleagues showed in the early 1990s that the modified
glycopeptide is less likely to interact with one of vancomycin’s oxygens,
thereby inhibiting binding of the drug to the glycopeptide and turning
off the drug’s antibiotic action. Now, a new study by synthetic chemist
Dale L. Boger and colleagues at Scripps Research Institute, in La Jolla,
California, have turned the tables on these resistant bacteria by
synthesising a form of vancomycin in which an amide containing the
interacting oxygen has been changed to an amidine, which lacks oxygen.
“The thought was floating around for some time” that such a
modification could restore efficacy, Walsh says. People would ask at
seminars, he adds, “ ‘Why not change the amide?’ My reply was always
that it would be a monumental synthetic challenge.” During the study,
the researchers simplified the challenge by modifying only vancomycin’s
aglycone, which is vancomycin minus its disaccharide group. In in vitro
tests, the amidinated aglycon achieves about the same level of activity as
vancomycin against antibiotic-sensitive bacteria and retains a similar
level of activity against bacteria with the resistant amide-to-ester
modification, making it about 1,000 times stronger than the parent
compound against those microorganisms.
For the amidinated aglycon to
be effective in vivo, however, the disaccharide or a modified version of it
would have to be installed, and this would make synthesis of the
redesigned vancomycin yet more difficult. Synthesis of the amidinated
aglycon “is a highly creative and rationally targeted approach” to
combating bacterial drug resistance, says antibiotic resistance specialist
Gerry Wright of McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. “The big
challenge will be to figure out if this can be applied in real-life drug
discovery efforts.” The new study “is the culmination of a monumental
effort by Boger and his group to resuscitate this antibiotic scaffold against
vancomycin-resistant enterococci,” Walsh comments. It “shows medicinal
chemistry mastery in this forbiddingly complex scaffold.” It does open the
question of whether anyone could make a fully glycosylated amidinated
vancomycin analogue on a practical scale, but one cannot rule that out,
he says.
Chemical & Engineering News, 22 August 2011
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news
Thawing Permafrost Could Release Vast Amounts of Carbon, Accelerating
Climate Change
2011-08-29
A new computer modelling study has reported that billions of tons of
carbon trapped in high-latitude permafrost may be released into the
atmosphere by the end of this century as the Earth’s climate changes,
further accelerating global warming. In addition, the study found that
soil in high-latitude regions could shift from being a sink to a source of
carbon dioxide by the end of the 21st century as the soil warms in
response to climate change. The research was led by Charles Koven of the
U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(Berkeley Lab). He conducted the research with a team of scientists from
France, Canada and the United Kingdom while he was a postdoctoral
researcher at France’s Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de
l’Environnement. The modelling was conducted at a supercomputing
facility run by France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy
Commission. Their study was published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. Their findings counter results from a
comparison of models that were included in the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change’s 2007 fourth assessment report. The comparison
found that climate change will spark a growth in high-latitude
vegetation, which will pull in more carbon from the atmosphere than
thawing permafrost will release. But unlike earlier models, the new
model includes detailed processes of how carbon accumulates in
high-latitude soil over millennia and how it’s released as permafrost
thaws. Because it includes these processes, the model begins with much
more carbon in the soil than previous models. It also better represents the
carbon’s vulnerability to decomposition as the soil warms. As a result, the
new model found that the increase in carbon uptake by more vegetation
will be overshadowed by a much larger amount of carbon released into
the atmosphere. “Including permafrost processes turns out to be very
important,” said Koven, who joined Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences
Division as a staff scientist earlier this year. “Previous models tended to
dramatically underestimate the amount of soil carbon at high latitudes
because they lacked the processes of how carbon builds up in soil. Our
model starts off with more carbon in the soil, so there is much more to
lose with global warming.” During the new study, Koven and colleagues
set out to estimate how much carbon dioxide and methane could be
released by boreal and Arctic land ecosystems as a result of climate
change. These regions are crucial to the global carbon cycle because they
are rich in soil organic carbon, which has built up in frozen soils and
peat layers over thousands of years. Much of this carbon is trapped and
not cycling. But scientists believe that some of it could be released in
response to warming and become a positive feedback to global climate
change. At stake is an estimated 2,167 petagrams of carbon in all layers
of high-latitude soil, which is more than two trillion U.S. tons.
The scientists modified a land surface ecosystem model called ORCHIDEE
to account for how carbon behaves at different layers, such as at the
surface versus 30 centimetres below ground. Additionally they accounted
for the rate of soil carbon decomposition as a function of temperature at
the freeze-thaw boundary, which sinks deeper and deeper as soil warms.
Other improvements include soil physics that more realistically capture
the effects of organic matter on carbon. Most other models do not have all
of these phenomena. To determine how these processes affect the balance
of carbon dioxide and methane in high-latitude soils, the scientists ran
four simulations from 1860 to 2100, each with a different assortment of
processes. They added in a middle-of-the-road climate change scenario
that caused high-latitude surface soil to rise 8 degrees Celsius by 2100,
which is much greater than the global average. The simulations revealed
a climate-induced loss of between 25 and 85 petagrams of carbon,
depending on the processes included. The best estimate is from a
simulation that includes all of the permafrost soil processes. It found that
62 petagrams of soil carbon will be released into the atmosphere by 2100,
or about 68 billion U.S. tons. This release of carbon is equivalent to an
additional 7.5 years of global anthropogenic emissions at today’s rate.
Furthermore, the simulation detected only a slight increase in methane
release, which is contrary to previous predictions. “People have this idea
that permafrost thaw will release methane,” Koven said. “But whether
carbon comes out as carbon dioxide or methane is dependent on
hydrology and other fine-scale processes that models have a poor ability
to resolve. It’s possible that warming at high latitudes leads to drying in
many regions, and thus less methane emissions, and in fact this is what
we found.” Koven added that there are large uncertainties in the model
that need to be addressed, such as the role of nitrogen feedbacks, which
affect plant growth. And he said that more research is needed to better
understand the processes that cause carbon to be released in permanently
frozen, seasonally frozen, and thawed soil layers. Researchers in Berkeley
Lab’s Earth Sciences Division are focusing on improving global climate
model representations of these processes under two Department of
Energy-funded projects.
Environmental Protection News, 24 August 2011
http://www.eponline.com
Fishing Out Dilute Disease Biomarkers
2011-08-29
A new study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry has suggested
that monitoring disease-related biomarkers called microRNAs (miRNAs)
could be easier and more accurate with a new technique that detects
directly the nucleic acids in blood samples at sub-femtomolar
concentrations. Scientists think that these short RNA segments are
signposts for certain diseases. The nucleic acids don’t carry
protein-assembly instructions, but can regulate gene expression. Since
specific miRNAs signal different stages of cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s
and other diseases, scientists think that finding them can help monitor
and predict the course of these diseases. Detecting miRNAs quickly and
cheaply in blood samples hasn’t proved so easy: They aren’t present in
large amounts, and blood’s other biomolecules complicate methods to
extract the molecules. Current techniques often rely on amplifying the
nucleic acids using polymerase chain reaction to produce higher
concentrations that are easier to detect and measure. But this
amplification can introduce sequence errors, leading to misidentification
of the miRNAs. A more ideal method would detect the miRNAs directly,
says chemical engineer Patrick Doyle at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. To produce such a method, Doyle and his graduate student
Stephen Chapin developed a system that amplified the detection signal,
instead of the miRNAs. Their technique uses absorbent gel particles that
are 70 µm wide and look like dominoes. The scientists etch sites into the
particles to attach DNA molecules that selectively recognise specific
miRNA sequences of interest. After the scientists add the particles to a
blood sample and allow miRNAs to hybridise with the gel-bound probes,
they introduce another, longer DNA molecule that binds to the end of the
probe DNA with a long, over-hanging DNA sequence. Then the
researchers add a circular DNA template and DNA polymerases to the gel
particles to replicate the overhanging sequences about 100 to 1,000 times.
This process builds long DNA chains of repeating sequences at each
bound miRNA site. The scientists can tag each repeating unit with
fluorescent markers to amplify the detection signal and make it easy to
detect bound miRNAs using fluorescence spectroscopy. Doyle and Chapin
tested their technique with real serum samples from a healthy donor and
a patient with prostate cancer. During the study, the researchers looked
for a few miRNA sequences including miR-141, which appears in the
blood of people with prostate cancer. They report detecting miRNA in
serum at concentrations of 300 aM, which amounts to about 10,000
molecules in 50 µL. In blood serum, there are typically 10,000 to
100,000 molecules of miRNAs per 50 µL, says Chapin. “We’re certainly
in the zone where we can detect clinically relevant miRNAs in the
circulatory system,” he says.
Muneesh Tewari, who works on miRNAs at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Centre in Seattle, is impressed that the technique can pick out
different miRNAs in one go from serum, without isolating the RNA. “It is
remarkable that the sensitivity appears to approach that of PCR-based
methods,” he says, adding that it is too early to tell how useful the
technique will be in a clinical setting. But he says, “the results so far are
promising”.
Chemical & Engineering News, 18 August 2011
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news
Scientific proof: Money is dirty
2011-08-29
Paper money from countries all around the world carry a chemical
hitchhiker – the hormone-active substance known as bisphenol A (BPA).
Paper bills are the latest addition to a growing list of items tainted with
the ubiquitous chemical that has been linked to adverse reproductive,
metabolic and behavioural effects. The new study identifies cash as
another source of human exposure to BPA, report the researchers who
found that BPA can transfer to the bills from thermal cash receipts stored
next to them in wallets. The levels measured in the 50 bills from
different governments varied widely – from almost nothing to
considerably high amounts. Still, more research is needed to understand
human exposures and possible health effects. BPA is a high production
chemical, used in the production of a variety of plastic products and the
epoxy resin linings of canned food. This chemical can escape from these
products and contaminate the packaged food (Schecter et al. 2010). More
than 90 percent of the U.S. population is chronically exposed to BPA
(Calafat et al. 2008), and diet is considered a major source of this
exposure. Contact and absorption through the skin is another potential
source of exposure. BPA is found in some types of thermal papers that are
used in a variety of applications, including cash register receipts, luggage
tags and faxes (Mendum et al. 2010), all products that require handling.
BPA is loosely bound to the thermal papers – most notably cash register
receipts – allowing for easy transfer to hands, money and other products
touched in a complementary setting. In addition, household dust
contains this chemical (Loganathan and Kanna 2011), and may be
another source from which BPA can be transferred to other items. Until
now, only one study has measured for the chemical in paper money. The
Washington Toxic Coalition detected BPA in 21 of 22 U.S. dollar bills.
No research has examined paper currency from other countries or tested
if BPA can be deposited on money from other sources. Researchers do not
know whether paper money is made with BPA. Identifying sources of
exposure is important because BPA has endocrine disrupting effects,
meaning it can interfere with the actions of hormones in the body.
Animal studies have linked developmental BPA exposures to
reproductive and neurobehavioral problems, obesity and immune system
changes. In the study, paper currency was collected from several different
countries, including the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Russia,
Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, China, India, Japan,
Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
and the United Arab Emirates. Bills were graded as “fresh” or “used”
based upon appearance.
They were collected from different years of release. Three circle punches
from each bill – the lower left corner, middle and upper right hand
corner – were analysed for BPA. To test if currencies can collect BPA
from other sources, several bills – two from the Philippines, two from
Thailand and one each from Vietnam, Brazil and the Czech Republic –
were placed in direct contact with a thermal register receipt and kept in
a wallet for 24 hours. The results showed that all 52 paper bills tested
contained a detectable level of BPA in at least one of the punches. Levels
ranged from almost nothing – 0.001 micrograms per gram (µg/g) – to
very high amounts of almost 83 µg/g. Concentrations varied on the bill
itself and across countries. Higher levels were detected away from the
edges in the bill’s interior. Of the countries, Brazil’s bills had the highest
levels. No relationship was found between currency value and BPA levels.
BPA concentrations in paper money with low initial levels – including
the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – were increased 100- to
1,000-fold when placed alongside a receipt in a wallet for 24 hours. A
more modest two-fold increase was seen in paper money from Brazil and
the Czech Republic that had a high initial BPA content. These results
clearly suggest the possibility of transfer from thermal receipts to paper
money, with quantity shifted dependent upon the initial concentration
in the currency. Older bills from some countries (including the United
States, China and the Philippines) had consistently higher levels of this
chemical than newer bills. These findings further suggest potential
transfer from other BPA-containing products, an effect that can result in
an accumulation of this chemical in paper money across years of
circulation. Paper currency is another in a long list of everyday products
contaminated with BPA. The results suggest people around the world can
be exposed to the endocrine-active chemical through yet another
ubiquitous source: money. Yet, how it ends up tainting the bills is not
altogether clear. The researchers did find that the BPA can rub off onto
paper money from thermal receipt papers kept in the same wallet. BPA is
not chemically bound to the receipts, and in this study it easily migrated
to nearby items. BPA and BPA-containing products may also be used to
produce paper money, including ink developers and recycled paper.
While these products can contain BPA, it is not know whether paper
money is manufactured with them. Its use could explain the
contaminant found in paper currencies around the world and account
for some of the differences measured in the various currencies. These
results are important because BPA can be absorbed through the skin.
Little is known of human exposures through this route, but research
suggests up to 27 percent can be transported to the bloodstream within
two hours of dermal exposure (Biedermann et al. 2010). Furthermore,
exposure could also occur through breathing air and dust. Cashiers and
others who spend long periods of time handling the thermal receipts and
money may be at most risk for this type of exposure. Overall, the results
of this study suggest the need for additional research regarding the
transfer of BPA to and from money and the potential human exposure
and health effects that may accompany frequent contact with the paper
money.
Environmental Health News, 18 August 2011
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/
Study Shows Climate Cycles May Be Driving Wars
2011-08-29
In the first study of its kind, researchers have linked a natural global
climate cycle to periodic increases in warfare. The arrival of El Niño,
which every three to seven years boosts temperatures and cuts rainfall,
doubles the risk of civil wars across 90 affected tropical countries, and
may help account for a fifth of worldwide conflicts during the past
half-century, say the authors. The study, written by an interdisciplinary
team at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, was published in the
journal Nature. In recent years, historians and climatologists have built
evidence that past societies suffered and fell due in connection with heat
or droughts that damaged agriculture and shook governments. This is the
first study to make the case for such destabilisation in the present day,
using statistics to link global weather observations and well-documented
outbreaks of violence. The study does not blame specific wars on El Niño,
nor does it directly address the issue of long-term climate change.
However, it raises potent questions, as many scientists think natural
weather cycles will become more extreme with warming climate, and
some suggest ongoing chaos in places like Somalia is already being stoked
by warming climate. “The most important thing is that this looks at
modern times, and it’s done on a global scale,” said Solomon M. Hsiang,
the study’s lead author. “We can speculate that a long-ago Egyptian
dynasty was overthrown during a drought. That’s a specific time and
place, that may be very different from today, so people might say, ‘OK,
we’re immune to that now.’ This study shows a systematic pattern of
global climate affecting conflict, and shows it right now.” The cycle
known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a periodic
warming and cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean. This affects weather
patterns across much of Africa, the Mideast, India, southeast Asia,
Australia and the Americas, where half the world’s people live. During
the cool, or La Niña, phase, rain may be relatively plentiful in tropical
areas; during the warmer El Niño, land temperatures rise, and rainfall
declines in most affected places. Interacting with other factors, including
wind and temperature cycles over the other oceans, El Niño can vary
dramatically in power and length. At its most intense, it brings scorching
heat and multi-year droughts. (In higher latitudes, effects weaken,
disappear or reverse; La Niña conditions earlier this year helped dry the
U.S. Southwest and parts of east Africa.) During the study, the
scientists
tracked ENSO from 1950 to 2004 and correlated it with onsets of civil
conflicts that killed more than 25 people in a given year. The data
included 175 countries and 234 conflicts, more than half of which each
caused more than 1,000 battle-related deaths. For nations whose weather
is controlled by ENSO, they found that during La Niña, the chance of
civil war breaking out was about 3 percent; during El Niño, the chance
doubled, to 6 percent. Countries not affected by the cycle remained at 2
percent no matter what. Overall, the team calculated that El Niño may
have played a role in 21 percent of civil wars worldwide—and nearly
30 percent in those countries affected by El Niño. Co-author Mark Cane,
a climate scientist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said
that the study does not show that weather alone starts wars. “No one
should take this to say that climate is our fate. Rather, this is compelling
evidence that it has a measurable influence on how much people fight
overall,” he said. “It is not the only factor--you have to consider politics,
economics, all kinds of other things.” Cane, a climate modeler, was
among the first to elucidate the mechanisms of El Niño, showing in the
1980s that its larger swings can be predicted—knowledge now used by
organisations around the world to plan agriculture and relief services.
The authors say they do not know exactly why climate feeds conflict.
“But if you have social inequality, people are poor, and there are
underlying tensions, it seems possible that climate can deliver the
knockout punch,” Hsiang said. When crops fail, people may take up a
gun simply to make a living, he said.
Kyle C. Meng, the study’s other author, pointed out that social scientists
have shown that individuals often become more aggressive when
temperatures rise, but he said that whether that applies to whole societies
is only speculative. Bad weather does appear to tip poorer countries into
chaos more easily; rich Australia, for instance, is controlled by ENSO,
but has never seen a civil war. On the other side, Hsiang said at least two
countries “jump out of the data.” In 1982, a powerful El Niño struck
impoverished highland Peru, destroying crops; that year, simmering
guerrilla attacks by the revolutionary Shining Path movement turned
into a full-scale 20-year civil war that still sputters today. Separately,
forces in southern Sudan were already facing off with the domineering
north, when intense warfare broke out in the El Niño year of 1963. The
insurrection abated, but flared again in 1976, another El Niño year.
Then, 1983 saw a major El Niño—and the cataclysmic outbreak of more
than 20 years of fighting that killed 2 million people, arguably the
world’s bloodiest conflict since World War II. It culminated only this
summer, when South Sudan became a separate nation; fighting continues
in border areas. Hsiang said some other countries where festering conflicts
have tended to blow up during El Niños include El Salvador, the
Philippines and Uganda (1972); Angola, Haiti and Myanmar (1991);
and Congo, Eritrea, Indonesia and Rwanda (1997). The idea that
environment fuels violence has gained currency in the past decade, with
popular books by authors like Jared Diamond, Brian Fagan and Mike
Davis. Academic studies have drawn links between droughts and social
collapses, including the end of the Persian Gulf’s Akkadian empire (the
world’s first superpower), 6,000 years ago; the AD 800-900 fall of
Mexico’s Maya civilisation; centuries-long cycles of warfare within
Chinese dynasties; and recent insurgencies in sub-Saharan Africa. Last
year, tree-ring specialists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
published a 1,000-year atlas of El Niño-related droughts; data from this
pinpoints droughts coinciding with the downfall of the Angkor
civilisation of Cambodia around AD 1400, and the later dissolution of
kingdoms in China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. Some scientists
and historians remain unconvinced of connections between climate and
violence. “The study fails to improve on our understanding of the causes
of armed conflicts, as it makes no attempt to explain the reported
association between ENSO cycles and conflict risk,” said Halvard Buhaug,
a political scientist with the Peace Research Institute Oslo in Norway
who studies the issue. “Correlation without explanation can only lead to
speculation.” Another expert, economist Marshall Burke of the University
of California, Berkeley, said the authors gave “very convincing evidence”
of a connection. But, he said, the question of how overall climate change
might play out remains. “People may respond differently to short-run
shocks than they do to longer-run changes in average temperature and
precipitation,” he said. He called the study “a useful and illuminating
basis for future work.”
Environmental Protection News, 25 August 2011
http://www.eponline.com
Scientists Develop New Approaches to Predict the Environmental Safety of
Chemicals
2011-08-29
In a new study, environmental researchers from Baylor University have
proposed a different approach to predict the environmental safety of
chemicals by using data from other similar chemicals. For many
chemicals in use every day, scientists do not have enough information to
understand all of the effects on the environment and human health. In
response to this, the European Union enacted the REACH regulation,
which places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks from
chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. The
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical
Substances (REACH) regulation was enacted in 2006 and requires
manufacturers and importers to gather information on the properties of
their chemical substances and to register the information in a central
database. Regulators say the goal of REACH is to improve the protection of
human health and the environment through better and earlier
identification of the harmful properties of chemical substances. In the
Baylor study, researchers suggest using data from other chemicals, such as
what concentrations can cause toxicity in aquatic organisms to predict
the toxicity of another chemical that scientists expect causes toxicity in
the same way. “This study proposes one approach to advance the three R’s
of sustainability – reduce, replace, refine – for studying biological
impacts of chemicals in the environment,” said study co-author Bryan
Brooks, associate professor of environmental science and biomedical
studies and director of environmental health science at Baylor.
“Identifying, testing and implementing new approaches to leverage
available information to support better environmental decision-making
remains a critical need around the world.” Baylor researchers used
statistical and mathematical techniques called chemical toxicity
distributions to understand the relative potency of two groups of
chemicals. They then used these findings to develop environmental safety
values, which they hope will help determine the environmental impacts
of chemical substances without unnecessary testing on animals. “The
biggest hurdle we face when protecting public health and the
environment is the general lack of information,” said study co-author Dr.
Spencer Williams, a research scientist at Baylor. “The approach we
propose should help prioritise the selection of chemicals and organisms
for additional safety assessments. Instead of having to test similar
chemicals on many organisms over and over again, scientists could
estimate safety levels using fewer tests, which could be more efficient
without compromising environmental safety.” The study was published
in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Environmental Protection News, 24 August 2011
http://www.eponline.com
New molecule to beat toxin
2011-08-29
Australian researchers have discovered a new way to block the action of
botulinum toxin, which may pave the way for more effective treatments
of the life-threatening disease botulism. A team from the Queensland
Brain Institute (QBI), the University of Newcastle and the Children’s
Medical Research Institute have found a novel way of blocking the
update of the toxin using a new class of drug called dynamin inhibitors.
“We have designed and tested a new molecule called Dyngo-4a™ which
prevents botulinum toxin from entering nerve cells,” explains QBI
Associate Professor Fred Meunier, who led the study. “Dyngo-4a™ works
by blocking the action of a protein called dynamin which plays a key
role in controlling how most molecules can enter nerve cells.” Botulism is
a rare but potentially fatal condition that involves progressive weakness.
It is caused by botulinum toxin, which is made by the Clostridium
botulinum bacterium found naturally in soil, sediments, raw foods
(including seafood) and honey. In addition, as terrorists have attempted
to use botulinum toxin as a bioweapon, development of more effective
treatments to counter this type of health threat is a high priority for
countries such as the United States. “The toxin that causes botulism is
one of the most deadly agents known – it’s been estimated that a single
gram of it in crystalline form could kill more than one million people if
distributed evenly,” Associate Professor Meunier says. Currently, the only
known treatment for botulism is antibodies that bind some of the toxin
before it reaches nerve cells. Dyngo-4a™ significantly delayed the onset
of paralysis, botulism’s most lethal symptom, by more than 30 per cent,
adds Associate Professor Meunier. “This is significant because it may
provide extra time for antibodies to take effect and minimise symptoms,”
he says. “Our research is the first to identify the protein dynamin as a
suitable drug target for preventing botulinum toxin entering nerve cells
throughout the body.” According to Professor Phil Robinson, Head of the
Cell Signalling Research Unit at the Children’s Medical Research
Institute, botulinum toxin, like anthrax, is a biological agent of
international concern because it has the potential to be used as a deadly
weapon and to be a serious threat to public health. The World Health
Organisation notes that, while rare, botulism infections can be fatal in 5
to 10 per cent of cases. Each year, several hundred children around the
world die from botulism. “Current treatment options for botulism are
expensive and not readily available to the public,” explains Professor
Robinson. “Therefore any new developments that could lead to improved
treatment options and be more widely accessible, particularly in large
scale bioterrorism situations, are very welcome.” Dyngo-4a™ was
designed by the Medicinal Chemistry team of Professor Adam McCluskey
at the University of Newcastle. The research may also have much broader
implications, with the new findings potentially being useful to develop
these compounds further for a range of other serious infections.
Dyngo-4a™ and other dynamin inhibitors are currently undergoing
early stage laboratory testing for their suitability as potential
therapeutics for a range of diseases. “Our discovery not only opens up the
possibility of better treatments for botulism, it also provides a new
starting point for investigating potential treatments for other infectious
diseases which use the same pathway to enter nerve cells in the body,”
Professor Robinson says. The next steps for the research team will be to
test the efficacy of higher doses of Dyngo-4a™ and determine the window
of opportunity for treatment following exposure to botulinum toxin. The
research is published in the international Journal of Biological
Chemistry.
Science Alert, 23 August 2011 http://www.sciencealert.com.au
Heat in Chilli Peppers Can Ease Sinus Problems, Research Shows
2011-08-29
Hot chilli peppers are known to make people “tear up,” but a new study
led by University of Cincinnati allergy researcher Jonathan Bernstein,
MD, found that a nasal spray containing an ingredient derived from hot
chilli peppers (Capsicum annum) may help people “clear up” certain
types of sinus inflammation. The study, which appears in the August
2011 edition of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, compares the
use of the Capsicum annum nasal spray to a placebo nasal spray in 44
subjects with a significant component of nonallergic rhinitis (i.e., nasal
congestion, sinus pain, sinus pressure) for a period of two weeks.
Capsicum annum contains capsaicin, which is the main component of
chilli peppers and produces a hot sensation. In addition, capsaicin is the
active ingredient in several topical medications used for temporary pain
relief. It is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and is available over the counter. “Basically, we concluded that the
spray was safe and effective on non-allergic rhinitis,” Bernstein says of
the study which showed that participants who used a nasal spray with
Capsicum reported a faster onset of action or relief, on average within a
minute of using the spray, than the control group. Non-allergic rhinitis
is an upper respiratory condition not caused by allergies but instead
caused by environmental factors such as weather, household chemicals
or perfumes; however, there are some people who have no triggers or don’t
know what triggers are causing the inflammation, Bernstein says. This is
the first controlled trial where capsaicin was able to be used on a
continuous basis to control symptoms. It is considered a significant
advance, “because we don’t really have good therapies for non-allergic
rhinitis,” says Bernstein, adding that in previous trials the ingredient
was too hot to administer without anaesthesia.
Science Daily, 25 August 2011 http://www.sciencedaily.com
Dust mite linked to asthma risk
2011-08-29
Wheezy toddlers who have a sensitivity to house dust mites are more at
risk of developing asthma by the age of 12, a University of Melbourne led
study has shown. Children aged one – two years with a family history of
allergy, who had a positive skin prick test to house dust mites, had a
higher risk of developing asthma later in life. Results showed 75 per cent
of these children had asthma at aged 12 compared to 36 per cent of
children without a positive skin prick test. Lead author Dr Caroline
Lodge from the University of Melbourne’s School of Population Health
said the identification of house dust mites as a predictor for asthma in
high risk children, is a significant step forward in identifying high risk
groups on whom we can trial interventions. “Our findings provide
researchers with a more targeted group of at risk children, for
investigating strategies to prevent asthma later in life,” she said. “House
dust mite sensitivity amongst wheezy toddlers could be used as a clinical
tool to assist parents in understanding the risk of asthma in their
children. “Although currently there is no known intervention to stop
asthma developing, identifying children at higher risk may lead to more
tailored treatments of wheeze in this high risk group.” The study
followed 620 children, with a family history of allergies, from birth to
12 years old. Researchers tested the children at the ages of one and two
years, for single and multiple sensitivity to milk, egg, peanut, rye grass,
cat and house hold dust mites and then again at the age of 12 for having
asthma. “We found in the children aged one – two years, that whatever
the mix of sensitivity, if their skin reacted to house dust mites they had
a higher chance of developing asthma later in life,” Dr Lodge said. “Our
study did not show house dust mite caused asthma but it highlighted a
strong correlation between sensitivity and more severe wheeze and
asthma. “House dust mites are common in our environment. They are
something we have to live with everyday. Previous studies have revealed
that efforts to eradicate house dust mites have been ineffective.” The
study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Collaborators involved in the study are the Murdoch Children’s Research
Institute, Monash University and the Royal Children’s Hospital. The
study is part of a broader project to investigate sensitivity and allergy and
their link to asthma.
Science Alert, 25 August 2011 http://www.sciencealert.com.au
Workplace Stress a Growing Health Hazard
2011-08-29
A new study by researchers at Concordia University, published in BMC
Public Health, has found that increased job stress causes workers to
increasingly seek help from health professionals for physical, mental and
emotional ailments linked to job stress. Indeed, the number of visits to
healthcare professionals is up to 26 per cent for workers in high stress
jobs. “These results show that people in medium-to-high stress jobs visit
family doctors and specialists more often than workers with low job
stress,” says first author Sunday Azagba, a PhD candidate in the
Concordia Department of Economics. To reach their conclusions, the
economists crunched nationally representative data from the Canadian
National Population Health Survey (NPHS). All NPHS figures were
restricted to adults aged 18 to 65 years -- the bulk of the labour force -and included statistics on the number of healthcare visits, chronic
illnesses, marital status, income level, smoking and drinking habits. “We
believe an increasing number of workers are using medical services to
cope with job stress,” says co-author Mesbah Sharaf, a PhD candidate in
the Concordia Department of Economics. “There is medical evidence that
stress can adversely affect an individual’s immune system, thereby
increasing the risk of disease,” Sharaf continues. “Numerous studies have
linked stress to back pain, colorectal cancer, infectious disease, heart
problems, headaches and diabetes. Furthermore, job stress may heighten
risky behaviours such as smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, discourage
healthy behaviours such as physical activity, proper diet and increase
consumption of fatty and sweet foods.” Previous research has found that
aging populations and prescription drugs increase the price of healthcare.
Yet few studies have so far correlated workplace stress rates on healthcare
costs. “Healthcare spending in Canada, as a percentage of gross domestic
product, increased from seven per cent in 1980 to 10.1 per cent in
2007,” says Azagba. In the United States, recent polls found that 70 per
cent of American workers consider their workplace a significant source of
stress, whereas 51 per cent report job stress reduces their productivity. “It
is estimated that healthcare utilisation induced by stress costs U.S.
companies $68 billion annually and reduces their profits by 10 per
cent,” says Sharaf. Total health care expenditures in the U.S. amount to
$2.5 trillion, or $8,047 per person. “That represents 17.3 per cent of the
2009 gross domestic product -- a nine per cent increase from 1980,” says
Azagba. The researchers caution that easing workplace stress could help
governments reduce soaring health budgets and bolster employee morale.
“Improving stressful working conditions and educating workers on
stress-coping mechanisms could help to reduce health care costs,” says
Azagba. “Managing workplace stress can also foster other economic
advantages, such as increased productivity among workers, reduce
absenteeism and diminish employee turnover.” The occupations analysed
as part of the Canadian National Population Health Survey included
seven categories: mechanical, trade, professional, managerial, health,
service and farming.
Science Daily, 25 August 2011 http://www.sciencedaily.com
Coriander Oil Could Tackle Food Poisoning and Drug-Resistant
Infections
2011-08-29
According to the authors of a new study, coriander oil has been shown to
be toxic to a broad range of harmful bacteria. Its use in foods and in
clinical agents could prevent food-borne illnesses and even treat
antibiotic-resistant infections. The new study, published in the Journal
of Medical Microbiology, was undertaken by researchers from the
University of Beira Interior in Portugal. The researchers tested coriander
oil against 12 bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella
enterica, Bacillus cereus and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). Of the tested strains, all showed reduced growth, and most were
killed, by solutions containing 1.6% coriander oil or less. Coriander is an
aromatic plant widely used in Mediterranean cuisine. Coriander oil is
one of the 20 most-used essential oils in the world and is already used
as a food additive. Coriander oil is produced from the seeds of the
coriander plant and numerous health benefits have been associated with
using this herb over the centuries. These include pain relief, ease of
cramps and convulsions, cure of nausea, aid of digestion and treatment
of fungal infections. This study not only shows that coriander oil also
has an antibacterial effect, but provides an explanation for how it works,
which was not previously understood. “The results indicate that
coriander oil damages the membrane surrounding the bacterial cell. This
disrupts the barrier between the cell and its environment and inhibits
essential processes including respiration, which ultimately leads to death
of the bacterial cell,” explained Dr Fernanda Domingues who led the
study. The researchers suggest that coriander oil could have important
applications in the food and medical industries. “In developed countries,
up to 30% of the population suffers from food-borne illness each year.
This research encourages the design of new food additives containing
coriander oil that would combat food-borne pathogens and prevent
bacterial spoilage,” said Dr Domingues. “Coriander oil could also become
a natural alternative to common antibiotics. We envisage the use of
coriander in clinical drugs in the form of lotions, mouth rinses and even
pills; to fight multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that otherwise
could not be treated. This would significantly improve people’s quality of
life.”
Science Daily, 24 August 2011 http://www.sciencedaily.com
Technical
ENVIRONMENTAL
Effects of poultry and household garbage manure on the growth of
Amaranth tricolor L. and heavy metal accumulation in soils
2011-08-24
Excessive application of organic manure could result in potential threat
to environment. This study was conducted with pot culture on red earth
and fluvo-aquic soil received poultry and household garbage manure
with the rates of 5%, 10% and 15% of soil weight in order to explore the
effects of poultry and household garbage manure on the growth of
amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) and soil chemical properties as well
as soil heavy metal content. The results showed that almost all the
treatments received organic manure obviously increased the fresh leaf
yield, main root length and plant height of amaranth as well as OM, EC,
available P and exchangeable K in soils except of soil total N. The Cu
and Zn concentrations in amaranth plants on fluvo-aquic soil increased
compared with control, but the concentrations didn’t exceed National
Food Standard for the permission of Cu and Zn content in vegetables,
while the concentrations of Pb, Cr and Cd in amaranth plants decreased.
The concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd in amaranth plants in the
treatments received organic manure on red earth decreased compared
with control. When the treatments received 5% organic manure on red
earth and fluvo-aquic soil no obvious heavy metal accumulation in
amaranth plants was found. On the contrary, the treatments received 10%
and 15% organic manure could obviously increase the contents of
available Zn, Cd, Cr and Pb in red earth and fluvo-aquic soil, except of
available Cu in the treatment received poultry on two soils. From the
comprehensive consideration of soil fertility and environmental quality
safety, a proper application rate of organic manure is necessary.
Authors: Wu, Qingqing; Ma, Junwei; Jiang, Lina; Ye, Jing; Wang, Qiang;
Wang, Jianmei; Yu, Qiaogang; Sun, Wanchun; Fu, Jianrong
Full Source: Nongye Huanjing Kexue Xuebao 2010, 29(7), 1302-1309
(Ch)
Analysis of several issues relating to environmental safety of metallic
mine
2011-08-24
During production of metallic mine, waste rock, wastewater and waste
gas are generated in huge amount. The unsuitable discharge of such
wastes may cause pollution of water bodies, atmosphere and soil or bring
geological disaster. According to actual conditions of the mine, the
measures such as improvement of technological process, execution of
clean operation, enhancing of safety monitoring and management are
adopted.
Authors: Lin, Zi-chun; Wu, Chang-fu
Full Source: Kuangye Gongcheng (Anshan, China) 2010, 8(3), 56-58
(Ch)
MEDICAL
Toxicological evaluation of ionic liquids: effect of ionic liquids on
human colon carcinoma HT-29 and CaCo-2 cell lines
2011-08-24
This study focused on the toxicological evaluation of ionic liquids on
colon carcinoma cells. Two colon carcinoma cell lines were used: HT-29
and CaCo-2. Tests were done on several cations: methylimidazoliums
(MIM), dimethylguanidinium (DMG),
tri-nhexyl-tetra-n-decylphosphonium (P66614),
tri-n-octyl-methylammonium (Aliquat) and choline, as well as anions:
tetrafluoroborate (BF4), hexafluorophosphate (PF6), acesulfame (ACS),
saccharin (SAC), dicyanoamide (DCA),
bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (NTf2), N-cyanobenzenesulfonamide
(CBS) and N-cyanomethanesulfonamide (CMS). It was found that MIM
toxicity increased with the chain length, but greatly decreased when a
carboxylic group was added at the end of a C10 chain. On the other
hand, the change of the carboxylic group to an ester
((CH2)10-COO-CH2-CH3) induced a high toxicity.
BDMIM did not induce cytotoxicity for CaCo-2 cells, but can be a little
toxic to HT-29 cells. There was also no cytotoxicity when C4 chain was
replaced for C2OH or C5O2 chains. Many of the ILs containing Aliquat
was observed to be highly toxic for CaCo-2 cells, and [Aliquat] [NTf2]
was the only exception. DMG toxicity also depended strongly on the
anionic P66614 studied in combination with NTf2, and it was found to
be not toxic for CaCo-2 cells, however, it decreases HT-29 viability in
about 50% at the highest concentration. Lastly, choline was analysed in
combination with the anions ACS and SAC and both combinations were
not toxic for any of the tested colonic cell lines.
Authors: Frade, Raquel F. M.; Matias, Ana; Branco, Luis C.; Lourenco,
Nuno M. T.; Rosa, Joao N.; Afonso, Carlos A. M.; Duarte, Catarina M. M.
Full Source: ACS Symposium Series 2010, 1038(Ionic Liquid
Applications), 135-144 (Eng)
Activities of catalase and glutathione S-transferase in fluorosis patients
2011-08-24
The objective of this paper was to investigate the relationship of plasma
catalase and glutathione S-transferase activity levels with oxidation
stress in patients with coal-burning caused fluorosis. Two hundred and
forty five villagers that use unchanged stoves in coal-burning fluorosis
area were selected as non-intervention group (group N), two hundred and
forty villagers using improved stoves in fluorosis endemic area were
chosen as intervention group (group I), and two hundred and forty seven
villagers in non-fluorosis-endemic area were as control group (group C).
The activities of catalase and glutathione S-transferase of them were
tested with spectrophotometer. Results showed that the activities of
plasma catalase and glutathione S-transferase of group N were
significantly lower than those of group I, and the latter ones were
significantly lower than those of group C. No significant difference of the
two enzymes based on sex was found in all the 3 groups. It was concluded
that excessive intake of fluorine might cause unbalance of free radical
metabolites, and artificial intervention of fluorine intake could help to
recover the balance of oxidation.
Authors: Zhang, Ting; Shan, Keren; He, Yan; Xu, Shiqing; Wu, Changxue;
Zhou, Shuguang; Li, Yi; Wang, Chanjuan; Zhao, Yan; Guan, Zhizhong
Full Source: Guiyang Yixueyuan Xuebao 2010, 35(4), 331-333 (Ch)
Bisphenol-A can bind to human glucocorticoid receptor as an agonist: an
in silico study
2011-08-24
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a primary monomer in polycarbonate plastics and
epoxy resins. BPA may be released into the environment following its
formation via hydrolysis of ester bonds of the polymers. It has been
detected in human plasma, placenta, amniotic fluid, amniotic chord,
urine and saliva. BPA disrupts normal cell function by acting as an
oestrogen agonist as well as an androgen antagonist. The present study
was carried out to investigate whether BPA can bind to human
glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and elucidate its mode of interaction. BPA
has been successfully docked in silico into the ligand binding site of GR
using the program Discovery Studio 2.0. The structure has been compared
with other agonist and antagonist bound structures of GR. It is found that
the mode of interactions and binding energy of BPA were similar to that
of DEXA and cortisol, two known agonists of GR. This reveals that BPA
can bind to GR as an agonist.
Hence, BPA may produce biological effects similar to that produced by
glucocorticoids.
Authors: Prasanth, G. K.; Divya, L. M.; Sadasivan, C.
Full Source: Journal of Applied Toxicology 2010, 30(8), 769-774 (Eng)
A kinetic model for human blood concentrations of gaseous halocarbon
fire-extinguishing agents
2011-08-24
A simple kinetic model for calculating the blood concentration history of
humans exposed to time-varying concentrations of gaseous, halocarbon
fire-extinguishing agents is described. The kinetic model was developed
to extend experimental physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK)
models for arterial blood concentration of halocarbons, obtained from
constant concentration exposure of dogs to time-varying exposure
conditions for humans. In the present work, the simplified kinetic model
was calibrated using published PBPK derived arterial concentration
histories for constant concentration exposure to several common
fire-extinguishing agents. The calibrated kinetic model was then used to
predict the blood concentration histories of humans exposed to
time-varying concentrations of these fire-extinguishing agents in
ventilated compartments and the results were compared with
PBPK-derived data for the agents. It was found that the properly
calibrated kinetic model predicts human arterial blood concentration
histories for time-varying exposures as well as the PBPK models.
Consequently, the kinetic model represents an economical methodology
for calculating safe human exposure limits for time-varying
concentrations of gaseous halocarbon fire-extinguishing agents when
only PBPK-derived human arterial blood concentration histories for
constant exposure conditions are available.
Authors: Lyon, Richard E.; Speitel, Louise C.
Full Source: Inhalation Toxicology 2010, 22(14), 1151-1161 (Eng)
Activation of group IVC phospholipase A2 by polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons induces apoptosis of human coronary artery endothelial
cells
2011-08-24
Exposure to environmental pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in coal tar mixtures and tobacco sources, is
considered a significant risk factor for the development of heart disease
in humans.
The goal of this study was to detect the influence of PAHs present at a
Superfund site on human coronary artery endothelial cell (HCAEC)
phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity and apoptosis. Extremely high levels of
12 out of 15 EPA high-priority PAHs were present in both the streambed
and floodplain sediments at a site where an urban creek and its adjacent
floodplain were extensively contaminated by PAHs and other coal tar
compounds. Nine of the 12 compounds and a coal tar mixture (SRM
1597A) activated group IVC PLA2 in HCAECs, and activation of this
enzyme was associated with histone fragmentation and poly (ADP) ribose
polymerase (PARP) cleavage. Genetic silencing of group IVC PLA2
inhibited both 3H-fatty acid release and histone fragmentation by PAHs
and SRM 1597A, indicating that individual PAHs and a coal tar
mixture induce apoptosis of HCAECs via a mechanism that involves
group IVC PLA2. Western blot analysis of aortas isolated from feral mice
(Peromyscus leucopus) inhabiting the Superfund site showed increased
PARP and caspase-3 cleavage when compared to reference mice.
These data suggest that PAHs induce apoptosis of HCAECs via activation
of group IVC PLA2.
Authors: Tithof, Patricia K.; Richards, Sean M.; Elgayyar, Mona A.; Menn,
Fu-Minn; Vulava, Vijay M.; McKay, Larry; Sanseverino, John; Sayler,
Gary; Tucker, Dawn E.; Leslie, Christina C.; Lu, Kim P.; Ramos, Kenneth
S.
Full Source: Archives of Toxicology [online computer file] 2011, 85(6),
623-634 (Eng)
OCCUPATIONAL
Occupational exposures as risk factors for asthma and allergic diseases in
a Turkish population
2011-08-17
There was no community-based epidemiological study on the relation of
occupational exposures with asthma, rhinitis, and eczema in Turkey. In
this study, the authors examined the relation between occupational
exposures and adult-onset asthma, wheezing, allergic rhinitis, and
eczema in a Turkish adult population. The data was collected from
1,047 adults, selected randomly from five distant family health centres.
Questionnaires were filled by family practitioners with the help of
interviews. The data included physician-diagnosed asthma, allergic
rhinitis, eczema, wheezing, and occupational exposures. Wheezing in all
the subjects was associated with past exposure to irritants (OR: 1.7, 95%
CI: 1.0-2.9), wood/coal smoke (OR: 2.3, 95%CI: 1.0-5.3), metal dust (OR:
2.6, 95%CI: 1.2-5.7), volatile fumes (OR: 2.5, 95%CI: 1.1-5.3), and paper
dust (OR: 3.7, 95%CI: 1.5-8.9). Past exposure to dust (OR: 4.1, 95%CI:
1.2-14.2) and to irritants (OR: 6.5, 95%CI: 2.0-20.4) were associated
with increased prevalence of wheezing in nonsmokers, whereas current
exposure to irritants was associated with decreased prevalence of
wheezing (OR: 0.1, 95%CI: 0.01-0.9) in these subjects. In subjects who
were regular smokers, exposure to metal dust (OR: 2.8, 95%CI: 1.2-6.5),
volatile fumes (OR: 2.3, 95%CI: 1.0-5.3), and paper dust (OR:3.3, 95%CI:
1.3-8.6) were the main causes for wheezing. Physician diagnosed eczema
was associated with occupational exposure to chemical fumes (OR: 3.7,
95%CI: 1.3-10.6). The authors concluded that the present study showed
that occupational exposures were associated with wheezing and eczema
prevalence in the studied population. Nonsmokers could be more
vulnerable to respiratory effects of occupational exposures due to healthy
smokers effect.
Authors: Kurt, Emel; Demir, Ahmet Ugur; Cadirci, Omer; Yildirim,
Huseyin; Ak, Guntulu; Eser, Tulin Pinar
Full Source: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental
Health [online computer file] 2011, 84(1), 45-52 (Eng)
Cancer morbidity in Swedish dry-cleaners and laundry workers:
historically prospective cohort study
2011-08-17
Despite decades of experimental and observational studies, the
carcinogenic risks to humans associated with occupational exposure to
perchloroethylene (PER) remain uncertain. In this study, the authors
further examine the possible associations. Methods A national cohort of
dry-cleaning and laundry workers (n ) 10,389) assembled in 1984 was
followed up for new cases of cancer by matching with the Swedish cancer
register from 1985 to 2006 (inclusive), and the results were compared
with expected frequencies derived from national reference data.
Follow-up was complete for 90.9% of the cohort (2,810 men, 6,630
women). The overall standardised cancer incidence ratio (SIR) for all
subjects was close to unity (SIR 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI)
0.91-1.02) with a slightly more favourable outcome in women (SIR 0.91;
95% CI 0.85-0.98) than in men (SIR 1.10; 95% CI 0.99-1.23).
Significantly elevated rates of lung cancer (SIR 1.45; 95% CI 1.03-1.98)
and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (SIR 2.05; 95% CI 1.30-3.07) were seen in
men, but for both types of cancer, the point estimates were similar in
genuine laundry workers and dry-cleaners exposed to PER, respectively.
There was no significant excess of cancer of the oesophagus, larynx,
uterine cervix, liver, kidney or urinary bladder. The authors concluded
the absence of individual or collective data on PER exposure from
participating dry-cleaning shops and laundries involved and limited
information on exposure time hampered the risk assessment related to
PER. However, no clear association between PER exposure and
subsequent cancer morbidity in the workers was evident from this
historically prospective cohort.
Authors: Selden, Anders I.; Ahlborg, Gunnar, Jr.
Full Source: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental
Health [online computer file] 2011, 84(4), 435-443 (Eng)
Inducible nitric oxide synthase genetic polymorphism and risk of
asbestosis
2011-08-17
Asbestos, a known occupational pollutant, may upregulate the activity of
inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and thus the production of nitric
oxide (NO). This study investigated whether iNOS (CCTTT)n
polymorphism is associated with an increased asbestosis risk in exposed
workers. The study cohort consisted of 262 cases with asbestosis and 265
controls with no asbestos-related disease. For each subject the cumulative
asbestos exposure data were available. The number of CCTTT repeats was
detected following PCR amplification of the iNOS promoter region.
Logistic regression was performed to estimate asbestosis risk. The OR of
asbestosis was 1.20 (95% CI ) 0.85-1.69) for the LL genotype compared to
the combined SL and SS genotypes and 1.26 (95% CI ) 0.86-1.85) for the
LL genotype compared to the SL genotype. The authors concluded that the
results of this study are borderline significant and suggest a possible role
of iNOS (CCTTT)n polymorphism in the risk of asbestosis; however,
further studies are needed.
Authors: Franko, Alenka; Dodic-Fikfak, Metoda; Arneric, Niko; Dolzan,
Vita
Full Source: Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology [online computer
file] 2011, 685870, 4 pp. (Eng)
Hygienic regulations on levels of bismuth citrate in working zone of
industrial facilities
2011-08-17
During an experimental study on laboratory animals (rats, mice, guinea
pigs, rabbits) a toxicological evaluation and substantiation of maximum
permissible concentration of bismuth citrate in a work zone took place. It
was detected that the compound, according to the criterion of acute
toxicity related to low hazard compounds, exhibits a strong cumulative
activity and is a strong irritant effect towards mucous membranes.
Allergenic properties were not identified. Maximum
concentration limit in the work zone is 1.0 mg/m3.
Authors: Kuz’minov, B. P.; Zazulyak, T. S.; Hektegaev, I. O.; Grushka, O. I.;
Galushka, O. I.
Full Source: Sovremennye Problemy Toksikologii 2010, (4), 48-50
(Ukrain)
Substantiation of maximum permissible concentration level of
cianocobalamine in the air of a work zone
2011-08-17
A toxicological study of maximum permissible concentration in air of a
working zone of cianocobalamine (vitamin B12) in the air of a work
zone was performed in experiments on laboratory animals (rats, mice,
guinea pigs, rabbits). It was detected that the compound is characterised
by low toxicity, is allergenic, exhibits weak cumulative properties and is
characterised by low irritating effect on skin and mucous membranes.
Sex gland toxic properties are not identified. Maximum permissible
concentration level in the air of a work zone is 0.05 mg/m3.
Authors: Kuz’minov, B. P.; Zazulyak, T. S.; Grushka, O. I.; Galushka, O. I.
Full Source: Sovremennye Problemy Toksikologii 2010, (2-3), 33-35
(Ukrain)
PUBLIC HEALTH
Effect of traffic pollution on eye and nose irritations of the people at
Durgapur City
2011-08-17
The vehicular emissions are one of the potential sources of air pollution
in Durgapur steel city. During this study, the authors conducted a
statistical analysis on the population of the city to detect its effect on
human health focused only on eye and nose irritations. Two parameters,
namely mode of transport and travelling time are chosen for this analysis.
The results found that on the basis of these two parameters, there is a
certain level of pollution effect on human health.
Authors: Nandi, P. K.; Gorain, G. C.
Full Source: Indian Journal of Environmental Protection 2009, 29(7),
597-604 (Eng)
The evaluation of the effect of air pollution on the health status of
children in Zonguldak City, Turkey
2011-08-17
Air pollution affects human health, particularly sensitive groups such as
children, pregnant women, elderly people and patients with chronic
respiratory diseases in many ways, including reduced lung function,
increased morbidity and infant mortality. Many epidemiological studies
have shown positive associations between respiratory health and ambient
air pollution. This study tries to assess the associations between
Occurrence of Respiratory Symptoms and Diseases (ORSD) and those
parameters: Particulate Matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2), pollen and
meteorological variables in the mining city of Zonguldak, Turkey. The
finding of the study shows significant association between ORSD, and
ambient level of PM, SO2 and pollen.
Authors: Tecer, Lokman Hakan; Tomac, Nazan; Karaca, Ferhat; Kaplan,
Ayse; Tuncer, Tunc; Aydin, Hamit
Full Source: International Journal of Environment and Pollution 2009,
39(3/4), 352-364 (Eng)
Commuter exposure to carbon monoxide in Madurai city - measurements
of in-vehicle concentrations
2011-08-17
Determining human exposure to CO in micro-environments is critically
important to assess air quality, air pollution abatement, and
epidemiology. Estimated in-vehicle pollutant concentrations in India
cities are scarce; thus, this work was conducted to determine CO
concentrations in automobile cabin air within the urban limits of
Madurai. The generated database showed CO concentrations were
0.01-0.03 ppm in city buses, 0.01-0.04 ppm in auto rickshaws and
0.02-0.09 ppm in 2-wheeled vehicles. The authors concluded that CO
concentrations in these micro-environments can supplement the
generated database of outdoor measured pollutants and the combined
database can be used for effective air pollution management and
abatement strategies with the perspective to residential and commuting
population health in Madurai.
Authors: Daniel, Tennyson; Rajasekhar, R. V. Jeba; Muthusubramanian,
P.
Full Source: Pollution Research 2010, 29(3), 497-500 (Eng)
Short-term association between exposure to ozone and mortality in
Oporto, Portugal
2011-08-17
Exposures to air pollution in developed countries have generally
decreased over the last two decades. However, many recent
epidemiological studies have consistently shown positive associations
between low-level exposure to air pollutants and health outcomes. In
Portugal, very few studies have analysed the acute effect of air pollutants
on health. The present study evaluates the association between exposure
to air pollution and daily mortality in the Oporto Metropolitan Area,
Portugal. Generalised additive models were used for this analysis.
Pollutants assessed were ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter
(PM10). Models were adjusted for time trend, seasonality, and weather.
The authors found that an increase of 10 íg/m3 in the daily ozone 8-h
maximum moving average corresponds to an increase of 0.95% (95%CI:
0.30, 1.60) and 1.58% (95%CI: 0.45, 2.73) in non-accidental mortality
and cardiovascular mortality, respectively, in the summer season. A
significant effect of 0.67% (95% CI: 0.03:1.32) was also found for the
association between PM10 and non-accidental mortality in the summer
season. Associations with ozone and PM10 exposures were higher in the
elderly people. No significant effects on mortality were observed during
the summer season with nitrogen dioxide exposures. The authors
conclude that this study provide the first significant evidence in Oporto
that exposures to O3 and PM10 have adverse effects on the health of the
general population in the summer months.
Authors: Pinto de Almeida, Sofia; Casimiro, Elsa; Calheiros, Jose
Full Source: Environmental Research 2011, 111(3), 406-410 (Eng)
Radionuclide contents and radiological risk to the population due to raw
minerals and soil samples from the mining sites of quality ceramic and
pottery industries in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria
2011-08-17
Samples of domestically produced industrial raw minerals and soil
samples from three mining sites of quality ceramic/smelting and pottery
industries in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, were collected and analysed for their
226Ra, 232Th and 40K contents using gamma-ray spectroscopy. The
range of activity concentrations of the radionuclides in the industrial
raw minerals were 17.55 ( 1.63 to 80.99 (2.61 Bqákg-1 for 226Ra, 7.64
( 0.77 to 23.94 ( 0.92 Bqákg-1 for 232Th and 63.22 ( 3.43 to 503.90
( 5.69 Bqákg-1 for 40K, while in the soil samples they varied from 2.87
to 34.78 Bqákg-1, 7.02 to 24.47 Bqákg-1 and 7.05 to 162.81 Bqákg-1
for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. These results, along with the
estimated absorbed dose rates, annual ED rates, radium equivalency
(Raeq), external hazard index (Hex), internal hazard index (Hin) and
representative of the gamma index (Içr) are presented. The results
obtained were below the internationally accepted safe limits. Therefore,
the analysed samples could be used in the local industries in the area as
component raw materials and/or as building materials. In addition, the
mining activities of these minerals in the area have not significantly
affected the natural radiation dose levels in the area, hence the resulting
dose to the population is therefore considered generally low.
Authors: Jibiri, N. N.; Esen, N. U.
Full Source: Radioprotection 2011, 46(1), 75-88 (Eng)
SAFETY
Apparatus for preventing flue gas inlet corrosion and improving flow
field in wet flue gas desulfurisation tower
2011-08-24
The title apparatus comprises: a boiler, a coal saver, a denitrification
reactor, an air preheater, a deduster, a wet flue gas desulfurisation tower,
a chimney, a flue gas inlet, an absorbent spray layer, a slurry pool, and
an internal component. The apparatus has the advantages of no flue gas
inlet corrosion, uniform flow field distribution, high desulfurisation
efficiency, and no pollution.
Authors: Zhang, Yongxin; Li, Mingbo; Mao, Gengren; Zhong, Yi; Lin,
Gaoqian; Wu, Weihong; Mao, Chengqi; Wen, Wen; Gao, Xiang; Luo,
Zhongyang; Cen, Kefa
Full Source: Shiyong Xinxing Zhuanli Shuomingshu CN 201,799,210
(Cl. B01D53/78), 20 Apr 2011, Appl. 20,220,763, 8 Jun 2010; 6pp.
(Ch)
Loss prevention and safety promotion in industry
2011-08-24
The issue of major accident prevention is detailed by first proposing
possible approaches to quantify risk assessment, and then by focusing on
systems of risk management in industrial establishments. The aim of
major risk prevention is to operate process installations at an acceptable
societal level. Risk acceptability limits can differ depending on the
maturity of the state, the size of establishments, and a number of other
factors which must be included into any analysis and assessment of risk.
Author: Bernatik, Ales
Full Source: Handbook of Combustion 2010, 1, 441-458 (Eng)
Fire safety
2011-08-24
The need for data required to evaluate the components of fire safety
engineering to ensure that building fire safety is reliable, and that costs
are reasonable is illustrated. It is fortunate that the availability of
several barriers to mitigate the frequencies and consequences of fire,
although making fire safety a complicated science, allows for an efficient
fire safety environment based on the tremendous progress over the past
thirty years. This development provides a freedom of design while
simultaneously advancing levels of safety.
Author: Delichatsios, Michael A.
Full Source: Handbook of Combustion 2010, 1, 459-476 (Eng)