Hands on explosives: Safety testing of protective measures

Several attempts have been made to test the suitability of protective measures for the handling of explosives. We investigated the suitability of safety gloves and a combined safety helmet and face shield. In the presented studies, three different experimental setups were used to simulate the effects of an explosion of a primary explosive in a glass flask on the glove or helmet protected body. Depending on the experimental setup, the fragment effects were evaluated and compared. Furthermore, the fragment distribution of an explosion inside a glass flask was investigated. The explosion of 1 g of lead azide in a 10 mL flask yielded approximately 14,000 glass fragments. However, most of the shards were accelerated down- and side-wards and only few upwards. Holding a flask on its neck (instead of its bottom) is therefore a simple but effective way of diminishing the risk of injury, when handling explosives. The safety helmet/face shield performed very well, by shielding the face from all fragments. Furthermore, it could be proven that DIN and EN standard testing procedures for gloves are unsuitable to simulate the effects of a respective explosion.In this article, the progress in the development of realistic testing procedures for the testing of gloves for the protection against fragmentation effects of glassware in situations involving explosions is reported and the results and methods of previous tests are summarized.     

Identification of sperm proteins as candidate biomarkers for the analysis of reproductive isolation in Mytilus: a case study for the enkurin locus

Sperm proteins of the marine sessile mussels of the Mytilus edulis species complex are models to investigate reproductive isolation and speciation. This study aimed at identifying sperm proteins and their corresponding genes. This was aided by the use of monoclonal antibodies that preferentially bind to yet unknown sperm molecules. By identifying their target molecules, this approach identified proteins with relevance to Mytilus sperm function. This procedure identified 16 proteins, for example, enkurin, laminin, porin and heat shock proteins. The potential use of these proteins as genetic markers to study reproductive isolation is exemplified by analysing the enkurin locus. Enkurin evolution is driven by purifying selection, the locus displays high levels of intraspecific variation and species-specific alleles group in distinct phylogenetic clusters. These findings characterize enkurin as informative candidate biomarker for analyses of clinal variation and differential introgression in hybrid zones, for example, to understand determinants of reproductive isolation in Baltic Mytilus populations.     

Persistence revisited

We are happy and proud to announce that our book ‘Atmospheric Degradation of Organic Substances — Data for Persistence and Long-range Transport’ (see pp. 143–144) has recently been published by Wiley-VCH [1]. It contains a critical compilation of photo degradation rate constants and quantum efficiencies relevant for calculating the atmospheric persistence of volatile and a few semi-volatile organic compounds. In addition to the data of nearly 1100 substances, the importance of persistence in air and long-range transport potential is presented in two chapters from the point of view of chemicals legislation and of atmospheric photochemistry.     

Impact of a flood disaster on sediment toxicity in a major river system--the Elbe flood 2002 as a case study

The ecotoxicological implications of a flooding disaster were investigated with the exceptional Elbe flood in August 2002 as an example. Sediment samples were taken shortly after the flood at 37 sites. For toxicity assessment the midge Chironomus riparius (Insecta) and the mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gastropoda) were exposed to the sediment samples for 28 days. For a subset of 19 sampling sites, the contamination level and the biological response of both species were also recorded before the flood in 2000. The direct comparison of biological responses at identical sites revealed significant differences for samples taken before and immediately after the flood. After flood sediments of the river Elbe caused both higher emergence rates in the midge and higher numbers of embryos in the mudsnail. Contrary to expectations the toxicity of the sediments decreased after the flood, probably because of a dilution of toxic substances along the river Elbe and a reduction in bioavailability of pollutants as a result of increasing TOC values after the flood.     

Das neue Chemikalienprogramm von UNEP Chemicals

Zusammenfassung  UNEP International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) wurde von der ersten VN-Umweltkonferenz 1972 geschaffen. Sein Einfu? und Zusammenwirken in den 80ziger Jahren mit anderen internationalen Programmen der WHO, FAO, OECD und EG in der Chemikalienkontrolle wird beschrieben. Nach dem Erdgipfel von Rio 1992 werden im VN-Rahmen drei neue Gremien gebildet, die das Fachprogramm des Kapitels 19 der Agenda 21 (umweltfreundliches Chemikalienmanagement) umsetzen sollen: die United nations Commission of Sustainable Development, das Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety und das Interorganization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals. Der Erdgipfel brachte auch für IRPTC eine Neuorientierung. Seit 1996 hat UNEP Chemicals, wie sich IRPTC nunmehr nennt, drei Aufgaben in sein Arbeitsprogramm aufgenommen, die beschrieben werden: das internationale übereinkommen zum Prior Informed Consent, das internationale übereinkommen zur Kontrolle der Persistent Organic Pollutants, und schlie?lich sein traditionelles Arbeitsgebiet des Informations-austausches über Stoffe wird weitergeführt.

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Die Aussagen dieses Beitrages sind die Meinung des Autors. Sie müssen nicht mit der Auffassung des Umweitbundesamtes oder von UNEP Chemicals übereinstimmen.     

Poplar plantation has the potential to alter the water balance in semiarid Inner Mongolia

Poplar plantation is the most dominant broadleaf forest type in northern China. Since the mid-1990s plantation was intensified to combat desertification along China's northwestern border, i.e., within Inner Mongolia (IM). This evoked much concern regarding the ecological and environmental effects on areas that naturally grow grass or shrub vegetation. To highlight potential consequences of large-scale poplar plantations on the water budget within semiarid IM, we compared the growing season water balance (evapotranspiration (ET) and precipitation (PPT)) of a 3-yr old poplar plantation (Kp₃) and a natural shrubland (Ks) in the Kubuqi Desert in western IM, and a 6-yr old poplar plantation (Bp₆) growing under sub-humid climate near Beijing. The results showed that, despite 33% lower PPT at Kp₃, ET was 2% higher at Kp₃ (228 mm) as compared with Ks (223 mm) in May–September 2006. The difference derived mainly from higher ET at the plantation during drier periods of the growing season, which also indicated that the poplars must have partly transpired groundwater. Estimated growing season ET at Bp₆ was about 550 mm and more than 100% higher than at Kp₃. It is estimated that increases in leaf area index and net radiation at Kp₃ provide future potential for the poplars in Kubuqi to exceed the present ET and ET of the natural shrubland by 100–200%. These increases in ET are only possible through the permanent use of groundwater either directly by the trees or through increased irrigation. This may significantly change the water balance in the area (e.g., high ET at the cost of a reduction in the water table), which renders large-scale plantations a questionable tool in sustainable arid-land management.     

CAREAIR: A Computer Aided Modeling Toolbox to Generate and Analyze Emission Data in High Temporal and Spatial Resolution

ABSTRACT

For the evaluation of air quality improvement strategies, emission data in high temporal and spatial resolution is necessary, including all emission sources and all relevant pollutant species. Computer aided models are usually used to generate this emission data because it is not possible to obtain measurements from all sources, and, furthermore, a large amount of data has to be handled. For the development of emission modeling systems, a software tool called CAREAIR has been created. The intention of this paper is to introduce CAREAIR to the international community dealing with emission inventories and air quality improvement strategies.

CAREAIR is not just a single emission model but a flexible modeling toolbox. The database contains data and formulas for data manipulation, which is performed by using a set of flexible operators with different specifications. The emission calculation is carried out by combining several data manipulation operators. The CAREAIR modeling toolbox allows model implementation for the calculation of emissions from different pollutants in a high spatial and temporal resolution. The application of CAREAIR within various investigation projects in Germany, Europe, and Nigeria shows that CAREAIR is an appropriate instrument for the development of flexible emission models by meeting the various demands of these projects. The function and the data structures of this modeling toolbox are described and, towards the end of the paper, an example of an emission calculation with CAREAIR is given.     

Das neue Chemikalienprogramm von UNEP Chemicals

The UNEP International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) was created by the UN Conference on the Human Environment of 1972. Its influence and co-operation in the 80ies with other international programmes of the WHO, FAO, OECD, and EC for the control of chemicals is presented here. The follow-up of the UN Conference on the Environment and Development (1992) created three new bodies that are to implement chapter 19 of Agenda 21 (Environmentally Sound Management of Chemicals): The UN Commission of Sustainable Development, the International Forum on Chemical Safety, and the Interorganisation Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals. This UN Conference also brought about a new orientation ofIIRPTC. In 1996, IRPTC was renamed as UNEP Chemicals and has been functioning in three major fields since then: The international convention on Prior Informed Consent, the international convention on the control of Persistent Organic Pollutants and, finally, a continuation of is traditional field of information exchange on chemicals.     

Fate of the veterinary antibiotic 14C-difloxacin in soil including simultaneous amendment of pig manure with the focus on non-extractable residues

The fate of ¹⁴C-labeled difloxacin (¹⁴C-DIF) was studied in time course experiments after application on soil (Ap horizon of silt loam) and amendment of authentic DIF containing pig manure (146 mL kg^?1; 4.17 MBq kg^?1; 0.85 mg kg^?1) or water (124 mL kg^?1; 0.42 MBq kg^?1; 0.09 mg kg^?1) for 56 and 120 days of incubation, respectively.

Mineralization of ¹⁴C-DIF was below 0.2% in both experiments after 56 days or 120 days. In the course of the experiments, portions of extractable radioactivity (Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE); acetonitrile-water) decreased to 19–21% depending only little on manure amendment. Non-extractable residues of ¹⁴C-DIF increased to 70–74% after 56 days and 120 days, respectively, and therefore were the main route of ¹⁴C-DIF in soil. According to radioanalytical HPLC and LC-MS/MS, only the parent compound was found in all extracts over the whole time of the experiment. According to fractionation of the non-extractable residues (NER) into particle size fractions, ¹⁴C portions were associated to the water used for fractionation, the silt and clay fractions, whereas no radioactivity was detected in the sand fraction. The majority of ¹⁴C was found within the clay fractions.

Fractionation of humic components showed that radioactivity derived from ¹⁴C-DIF was associated with humic acids, fulvic acids, humins and minerals and very little with soluble, non-humic HCl fraction. The highest portions of radioactivity were found in the fulvic acid fraction. Results obtained by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of the purified fulvic acids were similar for every sample analyzed. One large portion of ¹⁴C co-eluted with fulvic acids of a molecular weight below 910 g mol^?1. Both fractionation methods demonstrated that the parent compound DIF or initial metabolites were rapidly integrated into humic materials and, thus, were major components of NER.