Analysis of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and other perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in the River Po watershed in N-Italy

C7-C11 perfluorinated carboxylates (PFACs) and perfluorooctansulfonate (PFOS) were analysed in selected stretches of the River Po and its major tributaries. Analyses were performed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis HLB cartridges and methanol elution followed by LC-MS-MS detection using 13C-labelled internal standards. High concentration levels ( approximately 1.3 microg l(-1)) of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) were detected in the Tánaro River close to the city Alessandria. After this tributary, levels between 60 and 337 ng l(-1) were measured in the Po River on several occasions. The PFOA concentration close to the river mouth in Ferrara was between 60 and 174 ng l(-1). Using the river discharge flow data in m3 s(-1) at this point (average approximately 920 m3 s(-1) for the year 2006), a mass load of approximately 0.3 kg PFOA per hour or approximately 2.6 tons per year discharged in the Adriatic Sea has been calculated. PFOS concentration levels in the Po River at Ferrara were approximately 10 ng l(-1).     

Ökotoxikologische und humantoxikologische Risikobewertung PAK-belasteter Böden vor und nach biologischer Behandlung

The goal of the present work is to assess the adverse effects of soil bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which remain in soils after biological remediation. We focus on risk assessment for mammalian species with respect to the oral uptake of contaminated soil particles and compare the results of a biomarker test with those of an ecotoxicological assay, the bioluminescence inhibition test withVibrio fischeri. As a biomarker effect in mammals, we determined the liver microsomal cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP1A1 which is induced by PAH in exposed rats. After biological soil treatment, different amounts of PAH remain in the soil depending on the soil properties and initial pollutant composition. Particularly, higher condensated PAH resists biological treatment due to its hydrophobicity. In addition, high amounts of organic carbon in the soils affect remediation efficiency. In the bioluminescence inhibition test, eluates of all biologically treated soils studied do not reveal any or only low inhibitory effects. In contrast, the oral uptake of biologically treated contaminated soils leads to induction levels for CYP1A1 similar to those in the untreated samples. A good correlation is obtained between CYP1A1 levels and the amount of 5 and 6-ring PAH in the soil samples. The main result is that the remediation efficiency determined by the luminescence test is not reflected by the biomarker test, a finding which indicates the high bioavailability of residual PAH in soils. Consequently, new criteria for human risk assessment can be delineated.     

World coal outlook: 1990s

In the 1990s for the newly industrializing nations of the Pacific Rim and for the OECD countries as well, the demand for energy is expected to increase at a rate in excess of that of the increase in GNP. The demand for coal is likely to increase as well but probably to a lesser degree than GNP. This is because coal can expect increasing competition not from oil, but from natural gas. For a whole host of reasons, economic as well as environmental, gas could be the preferred fuel of the 1990s. Nevertheless, coal prices can be expected to increase but low cost production due to come on stream shortly, is likely to keep those increases modest.     

商品和服务消费在家庭温室气体计算表中的重要性

尽管生活方式，尤其是商品和服务消费，对于温室气体排放的全球性不公平和不可持续性具有关键作用，但这些问题在有关的情报和教育资料如温室气体计算表中常常没有给予充分的表述。通常的结论是，对于气候变化负有责任的是个人，而且只限于读者周围的环境，如家庭和私人汽车，而商品和服务的消费却几乎一直被忽略。结果是，有关减少个人温室气体排放的建议都集中在次要的电力和燃料的使用方面，没有把减少商品和服务消费这个更重要的问题作为减轻气候变化的一个有效途径。本文以最近发表的家庭温室气体排放调查表为例，阐述上述缺点。同时也提出了一个温室气体综合计算表的实例。     

Prenatal diagnosis of aortic atresia by colour doppler flow mapping

A case of aortic atresia with insufficiency of mitral valve diagnosed prenatally at 33 weeks of gestation is presented. An accurate diagnosis of this fetal cardiovascular malformation was possible by application of Doppler colour flow mapping, which demonstrated (a) the absence of forward flow in the hypoplastic ascending aorta, (b) reverse flow of blood from the ductus arteriosus into the severely hypoplastic ascending aorta in the late systole, (c) pansystolic mitral valve regurgitation, and (d) absent flow across the foramen ovale as a result of premature closure of the foramen ovale.