Bromine and iodine in 1997 UK total diet study samples

Concentrations of bromine and iodine were analysed in samples from the 1997 UK Total Diet Study (TDS) using ICP-MS. The data has been used to estimate dietary exposures of UK consumers to these elements from the typical UK diet. Samples for the 20 TDS food groups were obtained from 20 towns in the UK in 1997 and analysed in 1998/99 for total bromine and total iodine concentrations. These samples were also analysed for 12 other elements. The UK regulatory authority had considered iodine recently, but had not considered bromine before. This survey provides up-to-data baseline data for those two elements. Iodine concentrations are similar to those found in recent surveys. Levels of bromine were consistent with previous data where available. Dietary exposures to bromine and iodine were calculated to see if there were any risks to health from the levels of these elements found in the UK diet. The estimated population average exposure to iodine was 0.25 mg d-1, which is within the range of previous estimates (1995, 0.21 mg d-1; 1991, 0.17 mg d-1; 1985, 0.28 mg d-1). The estimated population average exposure to bromine was 3.6 mg d-1.     

Book reviews

Local Politics and Participation in Britain and France

Albert Mabileau, George Moyser, Gerraint Parry, Patrick Quantin. 1989. 281 pp. Price £30.00.

ISBN: 0 521 34576 6.

The Rural State?: Limits to Planning in Rural Society

Paul Cloke and Jo Little. 1990, Oxford University Press. 287 pp.

Price £30.00.

ISBN: 0 19 823287 X

Urbanisation in History: A Process of Dynamic Interactions. International Studies in Demography.

Edited by Ad van der Woude, Jan de Vries, and Akira Hayami. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1990. 371 pp. Price £40.00.

Housing and Social Inequality

Jenny Morris and Martin Winn

Integrated Land‐Use and Transport Modelling — Decision Chains and Hierarchies

Tomas de la Barra

Beyond Green Belts — Managing Urban Growth in 21st Century

Regional Studies Association (1990). 64 pp. Price £9.95.

Learning from Rotterdam

M. J. Vroom and J. H. A. Meeus.

173 pp. Nichols, New York. Price £25.

Reviewing the Quality of Environmental Statements

N. Lee and R. Colley

EIA Centre, University of Manchester, 1990.

Occasional Paper 25, 46 pp. Price: £3.00.

Knowledge and Public Policy: the search for meaningful indicators

Judith Innes. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick. 352 pp. Price: £16.95.

Urban Problems: An Applied Urban Analysis

Michael Pacione. Routledge, 1990.

Living with Inner City Policies: Two Essays on Inner City Life and Inner City Policies

Meryl Aldridge and John Edwards, Department of Social Policy, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College. Social Policy Papers No. 2, 1989.

Information Technology in Geography and Planning: including principles of GIS

Bracken and Webster, Routledge, London 1990. 444 pp.

Housing and Social Change in Europe and the USA

Michael Ball, Michael Harloe and Maartje Martens. Routledge, 222 pp. Price: £10.99.

Land and Property Development: Changing Context

Edited by Healey and Nabarro. 212 pp. Price: £39.50.     

High bat (Chiroptera) diversity in the Early Eocene of India

The geographic origin of bats is still unknown, and fossils of earliest bats are rare and poorly diversified, with, maybe, the exception of Europe. The earliest bats are recorded from the Early Eocene of North America, Europe, North Africa and Australia where they seem to appear suddenly and simultaneously. Until now, the oldest record in Asia was from the Middle Eocene. In this paper, we report the discovery of the oldest bat fauna of Asia dating from the Early Eocene of the Cambay Formation at Vastan Lignite Mine in Western India. The fossil taxa are described on the basis of well-preserved fragments of dentaries and lower teeth. The fauna is highly diversified and is represented by seven species belonging to seven genera and at least four families. Two genera and five species are new. Three species exhibit very primitive dental characters, whereas four others indicate more advanced states. Unexpectedly, this fauna presents strong affinities with the European faunas from the French Paris Basin and the German Messel locality. This could result from the limited fossil record of bats in Asia, but could also suggest new palaeobiogeographic scenarios involving the relative position of India during the Early Eocene.     

Zum indirekten Photoabbau chlororganischer Verbindungen durch OH-Radikale in der Atmosphäre

The substituent chlorine is generally considered to be an agent which reduces the reactivity of organic molecules with regard to the indirect photodegradation by OH radicals. A systematic study of selected, representative classes of compounds, however, reveals that the deactivating influence of chlorine on the OH radical reactivity is actually rather moderate. In individual cases, for instance, chlorine substitution can even lead to an increase in this reactivity. This study is based on both experimental data and on the molecular orbital calculations of OH radical reactivity.     

Reproductive biology of three species of midwater fishes associated with the continental slope of eastern Tasmania,Australia

The reproductive biology of Lampanyctodes hectoris (Günther, 1876), Maurolicus muelleri (Gmelin, 1789) and Diaphus danae Tåning, 1932, from continental-slope waters of eastern Tasmania, was examined between April 1984 and June 1985. L. hectoris spawned in winter and M. muelleri spawned from late winter to early summer. Apart from one ripe male, no reproductive activity was detected in D. danae; this species may be an expatriate in these waters. Fecundity was positively correlated with standard length in L. hectoris, but not in M. muelleri. The ratio of females to males increased with length in all three species. The spermatozoa of L. hectoris and D. danae are atypical of vertebrates and have no tail.     

A greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory presented in this paper provides detailed estimates of emissions and their sources for the six major categories of GHGs. The inventory was compiled using the current U.S. Environment Protection Agency methodology, which applies emissions factors to socioeconomic data, such as fossil energy use, vehicle miles traveled, and industrial production. The paper also contains an assessment of the methodology and suggestions for improving accounting with respect to process, sectoral, and geographic considerations. The study found that Pennsylvania emitted 77.4 million metric tons carbon equivalent of GHGs in 1990 and that this total increased by 3% to 79.8 million metric tons carbon equivalent by 1999. Despite this increase, however, the state's percentage contribution to the United States total declined during the decade. Pennsylvania's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels represented 92.4% of 1990 totals and declined to 90.5% in 1999. Electricity generation was the largest single source of CO2 emissions, being responsible for 38% of fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 1990 and 40% of the total in 1999. Transportation emissions accounted for the largest increases in emissions between 1990 and 1999, whereas industrial emissions accounted for the largest decrease. The overall trend indicates that Pennsylvania has been able to weaken the relationship between GHG emissions and economic growth.     

Toxics Release Information: A Policy Tool for Environmental Protection

This study examines investor reactions to the repeated public disclosure of environmental information about firms in the chemical industry and the effectiveness of this information as a decentralized mechanism for deterring their pollution. By allowing investors to benchmark the performance of firms, repeated provision of the Toxics Release Inventory led firms to incur statistically significant negative stock market returns during the one-day period following the disclosure of that information in the years 1990–1994. These losses had a significant negative impact on subsequent on-site toxic releases and a significant positive impact on wastes transferred off site, but their impact on total toxic wastes generated by these firms is negligible.     

Environmental impact of sunscreen nanomaterials: ecotoxicity and genotoxicity of altered TiO2 nanocomposites on Vicia faba

Mineral sunscreen nanocomposites, based on a nano-TiO₂ core, coated with aluminium hydroxide and dimethicone films, were submitted to an artificial ageing process. The resulting Altered TiO₂ Nanocomposites (ATN) were then tested in the liquid phase on the plant model Vicia faba, which was exposed 48 h to three nominal concentrations: 5, 25 and 50 mg ATN/L. Plant growth, photosystem II maximum quantum yield, genotoxicity (micronucleus test) and phytochelatins levels showed no change compared to controls. Oxidative stress biomarkers remained unchanged in shoots while in roots, glutathione reductase activity decreased at 50 mg ATN/L and ascorbate peroxidase activity decreased for 5 and 25 mg ATN/L. Nevertheless, despite the weak response of biological endpoints, ICP-MS measurements revealed high Ti and Al concentrations in roots, and X-ray fluorescence micro-spectroscopy revealed titanium internalization in superficial root tissues. Eventual long-term effects on plants may occur.     

Detection of environmental clastogens and aneugens in human fibroblasts by cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay associated with immunofluorescent staining of CENP-A in micronuclei

The cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay, in combination with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of human pan-centromeric DNA probes, or with CREST antibodies that specifically stain kinetochore proteins, is widely used on several cell types. It distinguishes micronuclei containing one or several whole chromosomes, which are positively labeled (centromere positive micronucleus, C+MN, due to aneugenic effect), or acentric chromosome fragments, which are unlabeled due to the absence of centromere (centromere negative micronucleus, C−MN, due to clastogenic effect). However, the very slight level of the centromeric signals obtained with the FISH technique on primary human fibroblasts, a cell type commonly used in environmental genetic toxicology, leads to great difficulties in distinguishing C+MN and C−MN. Furthermore, the CREST technique may lead to inappropriate results particularly with regards to variations in antibody composition between patient sera. Our results show that the in vitro CBMN, in combination with immunofluorescence staining of CENP-A (centromere protein A), efficiently screens genotoxicants for their ability to induce clastogenic and/or aneugenic effects. We propose the in vitro CBMN assay in combination with immunofluorescence staining of CENP-A as a suitable tool in environmental genotoxicity testing of primary human fibroblasts.     

The assimilation of dioxins and PCBs in conventionally reared farm animals: occurrence and biotransfer factors

The assimilation of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in chickens, pigs and sheep was investigated in studies using conventional animal husbandry practices. Closely matched samples of muscle (meat), liver, kidneys, eggs, milk, feed, soil and grass were collected of which 105 were analysed. The data obtained were consistent with the PCB and PCDD/F TEQ concentrations to be expected in rural background locations. A slight decline in TEQ values in meat with increasing age was evident in pigs, sheep and broiler chickens. Higher TEQ values in meat from outdoor pigs compared to those raised indoors, and an increase in TEQs in eggs as a result of free-range conditions might be attributable to additional contaminant intakes from soil. TEQ values in samples of sheep meat were slightly higher than those for pigs and chickens and market ready lowland sheep showed higher meat TEQs than the highland species. PCDD/F TEQs were considerably higher in the liver than meat. Contaminant transfer from dietary sources was investigated using biotransfer factors (BTFs) which tended to be higher in chickens than in sheep or pigs. BTFs for all animals declined in magnitude with age, but on average, BTFs for pigs and chickens showed a sharper initial decline than for sheep. The relative magnitude of the BTFs usually followed the order: (highest first) PCB 153, PCB 169, PCB 126, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD/2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 2,3,7,8-TCDD. This may suggest that higher chlorinated congeners accumulate more readily in meat tissues. Congener-specific BTF variations were found to be associated with variables such as dietary composition during rearing, differences between feed and animal species.