Physiological Method of Evaluating Protective Clothing for Work in a Cold Environment

The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of physiological studies in the evaluation of protective clothing for work in a cold environment. The study included the examination of the dynamics of changes in chosen physiological parameters (core and skin temperatures, heart rate, pulmonary minute ventilation) as well as physical ones (the temperature and relative humidity under the clothes) during work in protective clothing with unknown thermal insulation. The experiment was conducted in extreme environmental conditions (–10 and –15°C) at a work load defined by the clothing manufacturer as moderate. Results show that thermal equilibrium was achieved and maintained throughout the investigated work time (60 min) and that the protective clothing ensures safety on the time scale of a regular 8-hour work day. It was also shown that the dynamics of thermal stress physiological parameters can be used to determine the maximum duration of exposure for cold protective clothing with unknown thermal insulation.     

Test Method for Retractable Type Fall Arresters Designed for Horizontal Use

Retractable type fall arresters are designed to protect against falls from a height of people who need freedom of vertical movement. The practice of fall protection shows that the devices are also used to protect people who work on flat roofs. This application creates quite different operating conditions for the devices. In some situations those conditions can be dangerous for users. The article presents a theoretical analysis of phenomena occurring during a fall arrest with retractable type fall arresters arranged horizontally. The analysis was verified with laboratory tests. The article presents a proposal for the construction of a test stand and a test method for estimating retractable type fall arresters intended for horizontal use.     

Locking of Retractable Type Fall Arresters—Test Method and Stand

Retractable type fall arresters are very effective personal equipment protecting against falls from a height. These devices are used under different atmospheric conditions and in the presence of various types of industrial pollution. For this reason appropriate locking after conditioning simulating extreme conditions of a worksite is one of the essential characteristics of retractable type fall arresters. This article presents the requirements for locking of the devices. A previously used locking test method and its disadvantages are discussed. The article suggests an improved test method and test equipment. Measurement of the test mass acceleration is the most important improvement introduced into the test method. The article shows laboratory tests used to verify the method, which turned out to be a valuable source of information concerning the performance of retractable type fall arresters.     

Body Heat Balance of a Man with Deficient Sweat Rate Subjected to Physical Work in a Hot Environment

The dynamics of physiological stress and thermal balance were investigated in men subjected to endogenous and exogenous heat loads. The study was conducted using the thermometric method. Substantial differences in the dynamics of the tested parameters and their quantitative characteristics were observed in 1 out of 8 participants. In this article, the observed differences are rationalized in terms of the deficient sweat rate mechanism. It is pointed out that it is indispensable to address these cases in work safety regulations.     

The Inversion Method in Measuring Noise Emitted by Machines in Opencast Mines of Rock Material

The inversion method was used to test vibroacoustic processes in large-size machines used in opencast mines of rock material. When this method is used, the tested machine is replaced with a set of substitute sources, whose acoustic parameters are determined on the basis of sound pressure levels and phase shift angles of acoustic signals, measured with an array of 24 microphones. This article presents test results of a combine unit comprising a crusher and a vibrating sieve, for which an acoustic model of 7 substitute sources was developed with the inversion method.     

Evaluation of a new ballistic vest design for compliance with Standard No. PN-V-87000:2011 using physiological tests

Research into newly developed ballistic vests to be worn by police officers under clothing was carried out with air temperature conditions of +20 °C. A ballistic vest should incorporate protective features, comfort and ergonomics. The thermal strain on users who wore the vests was evaluated as an average and individually, after they had been conditioned in high (+50 °C), low (?40 °C) or neutral (+20 °C) air temperatures, while performing various occupational activities. Research involved six police officers aged 36–42 years, who wore civilian clothing used in moderate environmental conditions. During the tests, physiological parameters (internal temperature, local skin temperatures and amount of sweat secreted) were determined. The ease of doing exercises while wearing the vests, vest service and level of discomfort in use were assessed. Research showed that the vests tested, both as an average and individually, meet the requirements of Standard No. PN-V-87000:2011 (clause 4.5).     

Estimation of energy demand of fermentation-based hydrogen production

The paper is concerned with estimation of heat and power consumption in a conceptual plant to produce hydrogen from sucrose-containing or starchy biomass by fermentation. A hydrogen plant connected with a sugar factory is regarded as the basic option; the sugar factory serves as a source of sucrose-containing thick juice for the hydrogen plant, where this feedstock is processed to hydrogen. As another option, a stand-alone hydrogen plant in which starch must initially be converted to fermentable glucose solution is considered. The values of key process parameters are assumed on the basis of preliminary experimental data. For both options of the hydrogen plant, heat consumption is estimated taking heat recovery in a heat exchanger network into account. Power consumption is estimated by calculating power needed for pumping of liquid and gaseous process media.     

Economic and environmental effects of unilateral climate actions

Unilateral climate policy can be detrimental to global climate protection. Our objective is to provide insight into such a policy, to quantify the risk of carbon leakage, and to investigate the effects related to potential anti-leakage measures. We analyze existing definitions of carbon leakage and propose an alternative, rigorous one, which is different in three respects. The definition is then tested using computable general equilibrium analysis of the global economy and decomposition analysis. We identify a list of parameters that affect not only the magnitude but also the sign of the carbon leakage rate. Manipulating elasticities of substitution suggests that carbon leakage can be either positive or negative. Computable general equilibrium models, which are widely applied, including by the European Commission in this area, should be transparent, and their assumptions call for careful validation. We find that emission limits are properly distributed between sectors covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System and other sectors for the first commitment period (ended in 2012) but not for the second one (ending in 2020), where the target for the non-trading sectors should be reduced relative to the target for the trading sectors in order to equlize marginal abatement costs.     

The application of bioassays as indicators of petroleum-contaminated soil remediation

Bioremediation has proven successful in numerous applications to petroleum contaminated soils. However, questions remain as to the efficiency of bioremediation in lowering long-term soil toxicity. In the present study, the bioassays Spirotox, Microtox, Ostracodtoxkit F, umu-test with S-9 activation, and plant assays were applied, and compared to evaluate bioremediation processes in heavily petroleum contaminated soils. Six higher plant species (Secale cereale L., Lactuca sativa L., Zea mays L., Lepidium sativum L., Triticum vulgare L., Brassica oleracea L.) were used for bioassay tests based on seed germination and root elongation. The ecotoxicological analyses were made in DMSO/H2O and DCM/DMSO soil extracts. Soils were tested from two biopiles at the Czechowice oil refinery, Poland, that have been subjected to different bioremediation applications. In biopile 1 the active or engineered bioremediation process lasted four years, while biopile 2 was treated passively or non-engineered for eight months. The test species demonstrated varying sensitivity to soils from both biopiles. The effects on test organisms exposed to biopile 2 soils were several times higher compared to those in biopile 1 soils, which correlated with the soil contaminants concentration. Soil hydrocarbon concentrations indeed decreased an average of 81% in biopile 1, whereas in biopile 2 TPH/TPOC concentrations only decreased by 30% after eight months of bioremediation. The bioassays were presented to be sensitive indicators of soil quality and can be used to evaluate the quality of bioremediated soil. The study encourages the need to combine the bioassays with chemical monitoring for evaluation of the bioremediation effectiveness and assessing of the contaminated/remediated soils.     

Bioaccumulation of elements in bryophytes from Serra da Estrela, Portugal, and Veluwezoom, the Netherlands

Background, Aims and Scope Pollution by heavy metals over large areas and long periods of time may cause chronic damage to living organisms and must be carefully controlled. One way to determine the extent of environmental contamination is by measuring the levels of contaminants in plants. The use of mosses as biomonitors is a convenient method to determine levels of (atmospheric) deposition, as terrestrial mosses obtain most of their supply of mineral elements from precipitation and dry deposition of airborne particles. Mosses have therefore received increasing attention as a suitable tool for monitoring regional patterns of elemental deposition from the atmosphere in large-scale studies in various countries, in areas close to industrial installations as well as in areas not expected to be contaminated. Although this technique is widely known, ecological studies of this type have rarely been done in Portugal. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the spatial distribution of heavy metals in Hypnum cupressiforme, Pleurozium schreberi, Dicranum scoparium and Polytrichum piliferum collected from the Serra da Estrela natural park in Portugal and in the Veluwezoom natural park in the Netherlands. The selected species are the most widely used bryophytes for biomonitoring in the boreal region. The popularity of these species for this purpose is due to their wide ecological amplitude and distribution.Methods At 54 sampling sites in both nature parks, samples of Hypnum cupressiforme, Pleurozium schreberi, Dicranum scoparium and Polytrichum piliferum were collected. Plant digests were analysed for Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Sr, V, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, N and P. Differentiations between sampling sites in terms of concentrations of elements in mosses were evaluated by ANOVA and the least significant difference was calculated. The normality of the analysed features was checked with the chi square test. After standardization, the matrix of 54 samples and 10 heavy metals was subjected to numerical classification to detect groups of samples with similar patterns of metal concentrations. The clustering algorithm was prepared with Ward’s method, and the City Block Manhattan method was used for the similarity measure. Metals and samples were also subjected to ordination to reveal possible gradients of heavy metal levels, using PCA. Correlations were calculated between concentrations of metals and factors 1 and 2, allowing the dependence between the concentration of metals and factors (factor loading) to be estimated.Results and Discussion All species examined in both areas contained elevated levels of Mn and Pb. For each particular species, concentrations of N, P and Pb were significantly higher at Serra da Estrela, while concentrations of Cu were significantly higher at the Veluwezoom. Mosses from Portugal and the Netherlands differed significantly mainly in the concentrations of Al, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and V. This differentiation did not exceed that within the mosses from Portugal.Conclusions Mosses from Portugal and the Netherlands differ significantly mainly in the concentrations of Al, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and V. This differentiation does not exceed the differentiation within the mosses from Portugal.Recommendation and Outlook Further research is required into the origin and deposition of the polluting elements in other environmental compartments.