Multivariate toxicity profiles and QSAR modeling of non-dioxin-like PCBs--an investigation of in vitro screening data from ultra-pure congeners

The non-dioxin-like PCBs (NDL-PCBs) found in food and human samples have a complex spectrum of adverse effects, but lack a detailed risk assessment. The toxicity profiles of 21 carefully selected PCBs (19 NDL-PCBs) were identified by in vitro screening in 17 different assays on specific endpoints related to neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption and tumor promotion. To ensure that the test results were not affected by polychlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans or DL-PCB contaminants, the NDL-PCB congeners were thoroughly purified before testing. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to derive general toxicity profiles from the in vitro screening data. The toxicity profiles indicated different structure-activity relationships (SAR) and distinct mechanisms of action. The analysis also indicated that the NDL-PCBs could be divided into two groups. The first group included generally smaller, ortho-substituted congeners, comprising PCB 28, 47, 51, 52, 53, 95, 100, 101, 104 and 136, with PCB 95, 101 and 136 as generally being most active. The second group comprising PCB 19, 74, 118, 122, 128, 138, 153, 170, 180 and 190 had lower biological activity in many of the assays, except for three endocrine-related assays. The most abundant congeners, PCB 138, 153, 170, 180 and 190, cluster in the second group, and thereby show similar SAR. Two quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models could be developed that added information to the SAR and could aid in risk assessments of NDL-PCBs. The QSAR models predicted a number of congeners as active and among these e.g., PCB 18, 25, 45 and 49 have been found in food or human samples.     

Pushing and pulling: an assessment tool for occupational health and safety practitioners

A tool has been developed for supporting practitioners when assessing manual pushing and pulling operations based on an initiative by two global companies in the manufacturing industry. The aim of the tool is to support occupational health and safety practitioners in risk assessment and risk management of pushing and pulling operations in the manufacturing and logistics industries. The tool is based on a nine-multiplier equation that includes a wide range of factors affecting an operator’s health risk and capacity in pushing and pulling. These multipliers are based on psychophysical, physiological and biomechanical studies in combination with judgments from an expert group consisting of senior researchers and ergonomists. In order to consider usability, more than 50 occupational health and safety practitioners (e.g., ergonomists, managers, safety representatives and production personnel) participated in the development of the tool. An evaluation by 22 ergonomists supports that the push/pull tool is user friendly in general.     

Chain-Length Shortening of Methyl Ethyl Hydroxyethyl Cellulose: An Evaluation of the Material Properties and Effect on Foaming Ability

During the past century, plastics have become a natural element in our every-day life. Lately however, an awareness about the fossil origin and often non-degradable nature of many plastics is rising. This has resulted in the emergence of some bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics, often produced from renewable resources. One possible candidate for bioplastics production could be found in cellulose. This paper aims at contributing information regarding a cellulose derivative, which could possibly be used in foamed plastics applications. Therefore, the reduction of the chain-length of a methyl ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (MEHEC), assessed by size exclusion chromatography, and the effect of chain-length on the foaming behaviour were studied. The foaming was accomplished with a hot-mould technique using aqueous polymer solutions. The generated steam was here used as the blowing agent and important parameters were polymer concentration and solution viscosity. The density of the produced foams was assessed and was in some cases comparable to that of commodity foams. It was found that reducing the chain-length enabled an increase of the initial polymer concentration for the foaming process. This is believed to be beneficial for creating more structurally stable foams of this type.     

Quantification of the resource recovery potential of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ashes

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plays an important role in many European waste management systems. However, increasing focus on resource criticality has raised concern regarding the possible loss of critical resources through MSWI. The primary form of solid output from waste incinerators is bottom ashes (BAs), which also have important resource potential. Based on a full-scale Danish recovery facility, detailed material and substance flow analyses (MFA and SFA) were carried out, in order to characterise the resource recovery potential of Danish BA: (i) based on historical and experimental data, all individual flows (representing different grain size fractions) within the recovery facility were quantified, (ii) the resource potential of ferrous (Fe) and non-ferrous (NFe) metals as well as rare earth elements (REE) was determined, (iii) recovery efficiencies were quantified for scrap metal and (iv) resource potential variability and recovery efficiencies were quantified based on a range of ashes from different incinerators. Recovery efficiencies for Fe and NFe reached 85% and 61%, respectively, with the resource potential of metals in BA before recovery being 7.2%ww for Fe and 2.2%ww for NFe. Considerable non-recovered resource potential was found in fine fraction (below 2 mm), where approximately 12% of the total NFe potential in the BA were left. REEs were detected in the ashes, but the levels were two or three orders of magnitude lower than typical ore concentrations. The lack of REE enrichment in BAs indicated that the post-incineration recovery of these resources may not be a likely option with current technology. Based on these results, it is recommended to focus on limiting REE-containing products in waste for incineration and improving pre-incineration sorting initiatives for these elements.     

By-Catch Impacts in Fisheries: Utilizing the IUCN Red List Categories for Enhanced Product Level Assessment in Seafood LCAs

Overexploitation of fish stocks causes concern not only to fisheries managers and conservation biologists, but also engages seafood consumers; more integrated product perspectives would be useful. This could be provided by life cycle assessment (LCA); however, further complements of present LCA methodology are needed to assess seafood production, one being by-catch impacts. We studied the scientific rationale behind using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species? for assessment of impacts relating to fish species’ vulnerability. For this purpose, the current Red List status of marine fish in Sweden was compared to the advice given in fisheries as well as key life history traits known to indicate sensitivity to high fishing pressure. Further, we quantified the amount of threatened fish (vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered) that was discarded in demersal trawl fisheries on the Swedish west coast. The results showed that not only did the national Red List of marine fish have a high consistency with advice given in fisheries and indices of vulnerability, the different fishing practices studied were also found to have vastly different amounts of threatened fish discarded per kilo landing. The suggested approach is therefore promising as a carrier of aggregated information on the extent to which seafood production interferes with conservation priorities, in particular for species lacking adequate stock assessment. To enable extensive product comparisons, it is important to increase coverage of fish species by the global IUCN Red List, and to reconsider the appropriate assessment unit (species or stocks) in order to avoid false alarms.     

Flexibility in daily travel routines causes regional variation in bird migration speed

We used novel Global Positioning System-based satellite telemetry to reconstruct daily time budgets on travelling days of a long-distance migrant, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus, to reveal how landscape affects migratory performance. We compared daily travel routines between the Ospreys’ passage of Europe and the Sahara. In Europe, where feeding habitat is abundant, Ospreys fed both before–after flights and during interruptions, thus, combining migration with foraging. This resulted in a 2.7-h shorter daily flight period in Europe than in the Sahara. A calculated energy budget indicated that a ‘fly-and-forage migration strategy’ is favourable in Europe because associated benefits (energy intake) more than outweigh costs (reduced flight time). The much shorter flight time in Europe was the main explanation why Ospreys covered on average 78 km less distance on a travelling day in Europe than in the Sahara. In addition, there were regional differences in hourly flight speeds that are most probably the result of variation in thermal soaring conditions. We conclude that landscape properties have a profound effect on migration through regional variation in daily routines.     

Lifestyle: suggesting mechanisms and a definition from a cognitive science perspective

The concept of lifestyle is rather difficult to pin down. It is used in a variety of disciplines and related to many different problems. In our highly modern society, lifestyle is more often mentioned as something we need to change in order to achieve a sustainable development. Our main interest then is how we create and change a lifestyle. How can we understand why it is sometimes difficult to achieve change? In relation to terms like beliefs, desires, intentions, habits and artefacts six factors will be suggested. Within these factors we may have a foundation for a mechanism underlying the creation and change of lifestyle. A definition of the concept of lifestyle from a cognitive science perspective will also be suggested, as derived from the same foundation and terms related to it.     

Emission of Volatiles from Polymers — A New Approach for Understanding Polymer Degradation

Emission of low molar mass compounds from different polymeric materials was determined and the results from the volatile analysis were applied to predict the degree of degradation and long-term properties, to determine degradation rates and mechanisms, to differentiate between biotic and abiotic degradation and for quality control work. Solid-phase microextraction and solid-phase extraction together with GC-MS were applied to identify and quantify the low molar mass compounds. Volatiles were released and monitored at early stages of degradation before any matrix changes were observed by e.g. SEC, DSC and tensile testing. The analysis of volatiles can thus also be applied to detect small differences between polymeric materials and their susceptibility to degradation. The formation of certain degradation products correlated with the changes taking place in the polymer matrix, these indicator products could, thus, be analysed to rapidly predict the degree of degradation in the polymer matrix and further to predict the long-term properties and remaining lifetime of the product.     

Ethics and biodiversity offsetting

Biodiversity offsetting is an increasingly applied tool aiming to compensate for environmental damage caused by exploitation projects. Critics, however, raise concerns over the purported effectiveness of offsetting and question the ethical underpinnings and implications of offsetting. These ethical dimensions have largely been overlooked in research, which may lead to offsetting systems that fail to respect the values intended to be safeguarded. To address these dimensions, 5 ethical objections in the scientific literature were identified: offsetting violates nature's intrinsic value; losses of nature cannot be compensated for by human interventions; too little is known to make adequate trades; offsetting impedes virtuous dispositions toward nature; and offsetting has negative justice implications. We examined these objections and arguments against them based on the ethical concepts of intrinsic and instrumental values, anthropocentrism, nonanthropocentrism, and deontological, consequentialist, and virtue-ethical paradigms. Both nonanthropocentric and anthropocentric concerns were expressed in deontological, consequential, and virtue-ethical framings. Objections mostly had a deontological or virtue-ethical basis, whereas counterarguments were based on consequential reasoning, but common ground in practice is often conceivable. Based on our findings, we formulated 10 recommendations for policy makers and 5 questions for practitioners to consider. We propose, for example, that policy makers clarify aims, legislate on no-go areas, and govern the use of multipliers. We suggest that practitioners consider, for instance, how to improve case-specific knowledge and promote learning and stakeholder engagement. We hope these recommendations and questions will encourage further discussion of the ethics of biodiversity offsets and ultimately strengthen the respect for biodiversity and human-welfare values at stake in offsetting projects.