Migration of aluminum from food contact materials to food—a health risk for consumers? Part III of III: migration of aluminum to food from camping dishes and utensils made of aluminum

Background

When cooking on a barbecue grill, consumers often use aluminum grill pans. For one, the pan catches the fats and oils that would drip into the embers causing the formation of potentially noxious smoke, and the pan also protects the food from being burned by direct heat from the coals. In addition, new aluminum products for use in ovens and grills are becoming increasingly popular. Due to their light weight and excellent heat transfer camping, utensils made of aluminum are, for example, often used by fishermen and mountain climbers. Preparing food in aluminum utensils can, however, result in migration of the aluminum to the foodstuffs.

Results/Conclusions

In this study presented here, it was found that the transfer limit of 5.00 mg/L for aluminum is not exceeded using simulants for oil or for tap water; however, with an aqueous solution of 0.5% citric acid, the limit is clearly exceeded at 638 mg/L. This means that the Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) is exceeded by 298% for a child weighing 15 kg and for an adult weighing 70 kg it is equivalent to 63.8% of the TWI, assuming a daily uptake of 10 mL marinade containing lemon juice over a period of 1 week. Preparation of a fish dish with a marinade containing lemon juice in camping dishes would result in the TWI being exceeded by 871% for a child weighing 15 kg and by 187% for an adult weighing 70 kg assuming a daily uptake of 250 g over a period of 1 week.

     

Climate change,future Arctic Sea ice,and the competitiveness of European Arctic offshore oil and gas production on world markets

A significant share of the world’s undiscovered oil and natural gas resources are assumed to lie under the seabed of the Arctic Ocean. Up until now, the exploitation of the resources especially under the European Arctic has largely been prevented by the challenges posed by sea ice coverage, harsh weather conditions, darkness, remoteness of the fields, and lack of infrastructure. Gradual warming has, however, improved the accessibility of the Arctic Ocean. We show for the most resource-abundant European Arctic Seas whether and how a climate induced reduction in sea ice might impact future accessibility of offshore natural gas and crude oil resources. Based on this analysis we show for a number of illustrative but representative locations which technology options exist based on a cost-minimization assessment. We find that under current hydrocarbon prices, oil and gas from the European offshore Arctic is not competitive on world markets.     

Evaluating Environmental Parameters for Minimum Ammonium Losses during Composting of Trimming Residues

Abstract

A neural fuzzy system was used to investigate the influence of environmental variables (time, aeration, moisture, and particle size) on composting parameters (pH, organic matter [OM], nitrogen [N], ammonium nitrogen [NH₄ ⁺-N] and nitrate nitrogen [NO₃ ^--N]). This was to determine the best composting conditions to ensure the maximum quality on the composts obtained with the minimum ammonium losses. A central composite experimental design was used to obtain the neural fuzzy model for each dependent variable. These models, consisting of the four independent process variables, were found to accurately describe the composting process (the differences between the experimental values and those estimated by using the equations never exceeded 5–10% of the former). Results of the modeling showed that creating a product with acceptable chemical properties (pH, NH₄ ⁺-N and NO₃ ^--N) entails operating at medium moisture content (55%) and medium to high particle size (3–5 cm). Moderate to low aeration (0.2 L air/min · kg) would be the best compromise to compost this residue because of the scant statistical influence of this independent variable.     

Prevention of struvite scaling in digesters combined with phosphorus removal and recovery--the FIX-Phos process

The fixation of phosphorus (FIX-Phos) combines struvite prevention and phosphorus recovery by the addition of calciumsilicatehydrate (CSH) particles into the anaerobic digester. The CSH fixates phosphorus as calcium phosphate and reduces the phosphorus concentration in the sludge water that allows for control of struvite formation. The phosphorus-containing recovery product can be separated and recovered from the digested sludge. In pilot plant experiments, 21% to 31% of phosphorus contained in digested sludge could be recovered when CSH was added at concentrations of 2 g/L to 3.5 g/L to a mixture of primary sludge and waste activated sludge (WAS) from enhanced biological phosphorus removal. The recovery product contained few heavy metals and a phosphorus content of 18 wt % P2O5, which allows for recycling as fertilizer. The fixation of phosphorus within the digester may increase wastewater sludge dewaterability. The phosphorus recycle stream to the headworks of the wastewater treatment plant is reduced.     

Linking Salmon Aquaculture Synergies and Trade-Offs on Ecosystem Services to Human Wellbeing Constituents

Salmon aquaculture has emerged as a successful economic industry generating high economic revenues to invest in the development of Chiloe region, Southern Chile. However, salmon aquaculture also consumes a substantial amount of ecosystem services, and the direct and indirect impacts on human wellbeing are still unknown and unexplored. This paper identifies the synergies and trade-offs caused by the salmon industry on a range of ecosystem services. The results show that large economic benefits due to the increase of provisioning ecosystem services are also causing a reduction on regulating and cultural services. Despite the improvement on average income and poverty levels experienced in communities closely associated with the sector, this progress is not large enough and social welfare did not improve substantially over the last decade. The rest of human wellbeing constituents in Chiloe region have not changed significantly compared to the development in the rest of the country.     

Photolysis of 14C-sulfadiazine in water and manure

Photolysis of 14C-sulfadiazine in aqueous solution under simulated sunlight followed first-order kinetics. The impact of H2O2, humic acid, fulvic acid and acetone to enhance the photodegradation of sulfadiazine (SDZ) was studied. Six photoproducts, 4-OH-SDZ, 5-OH-SDZ, N-formyl-SDZ, 4-[2-iminopyrimidine-1(2H)-yl] aniline, 2-aminopyrimidine, and aniline were identified. Extrusion of SO2 was found to be the main degradation process during irradiation. These photoproducts can occur in water and soil upon sunlight exposure, when soil is treated with SDZ contained in manure. Due to photodegradation the experimental half-life of the SDZ in water was 32h and in the presence of photosensitizers the half-life values were 19.3-31.4h, 17.2-31.4h, 12.6-29.8h, and 3.8-30.7h for H2O2, humic acid, fulvic acid, and acetone, respectively depending on the concentration of the photosensitizers. The presence of photosensitizers markedly reduced SDZ persistence, indicating that indirect photolytic processes are important factors governing the photodegradation of SDZ in aqueous environments. Investigation revealed further persistence behavior of SDZ in manure. The half-life value of SDZ in manure was 158h.     

Microbial degradation of the benzonitrile herbicides dichlobenil, bromoxynil and ioxynil in soil and subsurface environments--insights into degradation pathways, persistent metabolites and involved degrader organisms

The benzonitriles dichlobenil, bromoxynil and ioxynil are important broad-spectrum or selective herbicides used in agriculture, orchards and public areas worldwide. The dichlobenil metabolite 2,6-dichlorobenzamide is the most frequently encountered groundwater contaminant in Denmark, which suggests that the environmental fate of these three structurally related benzonitrile herbicides should be addressed in detail. This review summarises the current knowledge on microbial degradation of dichlobenil, bromoxynil and ioxynil with particular focus on common features of degradation rates and pathways, accumulation of persistent metabolites and diversity of the involved degrader organisms.     

Measurement of movement patterns of Caenorhabditis elegans (Nematoda) with the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor (MFB)--a potential new method to study a behavioral toxicity parameter of nematodes in sediments

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans receives increasing attention in sediment ecotoxicology and new toxicity tests with sensitive test parameters are under development. In this study, the motility of C. elegans could be measured for the first time online in sediment, using the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor. Whereas single nematodes could not be recorded, groups of 10 nematodes gave typical locomotive signals in different media (water, agar, sediment) with comparable precision and accuracy. The results of this study encourage to develop a new rapid online whole-sediment toxicity test with behaviour as sensitive test parameter.