A common approach for radiological protection of humans and the environment

Protection of the environment is developing rapidly at the national and international level, but there are still no internationally agreed recommendations as to how radiological protection of the environment should be carried out. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is currently reviewing its existing recommendations for human protection. It has set up a task group with the aim of developing a protection policy for, and suggesting a framework of, the protection of the environment that could feed into its recommendations at the start of the 21st century. The task group will propose a framework for the protection of the environment from harmful effects of radiation, harmonising with the principles for the protection of humans. Although the task group has not yet finalised on the objectives for the environment, these might be to safeguard the environment by preventing or reducing the frequency of effects likely to cause early mortality, reduced reproductive success, or the occurrence of scorable DNA damage in individual fauna and flora to a level where they would have a negligible impact on conservation of species, maintenance of biodiversity, or the health and status of natural habitats or communities. To achieve these objectives, a set of reference dose models, reference dose per unit intake and reference organisms will be required.     

Atmospheric background of chlorinated hydrocarbons studied in Swedish lichens

Lichens $\text{Cladonia}$$\text{alpestris}$ collected in the northern part of Sweden were analyzed over a 10-year period for chlorinated hydrocarbons. Results show a delay of 2–3 years between the production of PCBs and the deposition of these compounds in the lichen. They confirm the low solubility of PCBs in water and the predominance of atmospheric transport of these chlorinated compounds far away from industrialized areas.     

Calculation of Clothing Insulation by Serial and Parallel Methods: Effects on Clothing Choice by IREQ and Thermal Responses in the Cold

Cold protective clothing was studied in 2 European Union projects. The objectives were (a) to examine different insulation calculation methods as measured on a manikin (serial or parallel), for the prediction of cold stress (IREQ); (b) to consider the effects of cold protective clothing on metabolic rate; (c) to evaluate the movement and wind correction of clothing insulation values.

Tests were carried out on 8 subjects. The results showed the possibility of incorporating the effect of increases in metabolic rate values due to thick cold protective clothing into the IREQ model. Using the higher thermal insulation value from the serial method in the IREQ prediction, would lead to unacceptable cooling of the users. Thus, only the parallel insulation calculation method in EN 342:2004 should be used. The wind and motion correction equation (No. 2) gave realistic values for total resultant insulation; dynamic testing according to EN 342:2004 may be omitted.     

A Comparison of Skin Temperatures and Clothing Microclimate During Moderate Intermittent Exercise in the Cold Between One and Two Layers of Cotton and Polypropylene Underwear

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of 2 kinds of underwear made from hydrophobic and hydrophilic fabrics on the mean skin temperatures and clothing microclimate (temperature, humidity) in participants performing intermittent exercise in cold environmental conditions.

One or 2 layers of cotton underwear (C1, C2) with a 2-piece long-sleeved shirt and long-legged trousers, and 1 or 2 layers of polypropylene underwear (P1, P2) with a 2-piece long-sleeved shirt and long-legged trousers were used as experimental underwear. In addition, the participants wore a 2-piece ski suit as 100% polyester clothing including 100% polyester padding. Ten young adult females volunteered as participants. The experiments were performed in a climatic chamber at an ambient temperature (T_a) of 0°C and an air velocity of 0.26 m s^?1.

The major findings are summarized as follows: (a) Although the clothing microclimate humidity was not different within the ski suit of outer clothing between C1 and P1, it was significantly higher in P2 than in C2; (b) Clothing microclimate temperature inside the ski suit did not differ between C1 and P1, whereas it was significantly higher in P2 than in C2; (c) The thermal gradient between innermost and outermost of clothing microclimate at back level did not show any difference between C1 and P1, but it was significantly higher in C2 than in P2. These results are discussed in terms of thermal physiology and clothing sciences.     

Aspects on the analysis of 210Po

There has been little development regarding analysis of polonium (Po) in environmental samples since the 1960ies. This is due to the straightforward spontaneous deposition of this element on silver (Ag), nickel (Ni) or copper (Cu) without any radiochemical separation. For many years, no radiochemical yield determinant was used and it was generally supposed that the yield was 100% after two depositions. Counting was often done using ZnS scintillation counter coupled to a photomultiplier tube. However, the use of the yield determinants ²⁰⁸Po and ²⁰⁹Po and the development of alpha spectrometry showed that the yield was lower. Furthermore, the tendency of Po to volatilize at low temperatures constrains the sample preparation techniques; dry-ashing cannot be used. But during the wet-ashing procedure, there are still some losses.The aim of this study was to evaluate the Po losses during wet-ashing by the use of a double-tracer technique. We have found that the losses were about 30% when open glass beakers were used and about 17% when the samples were digested in microwave oven. When long-necked bottles (Kjeldahl flasks) were used, a loss of about 20% was registered.It has also been observed that ²¹⁰Pb to some extent is plating out together with its daughter nuclide Po during the electrochemical deposition. This will result in a systematic error since an unknown amount of supported ²¹⁰Po will be produced from the ²¹⁰Pb decay depending on the fraction of ²¹⁰Pb being deposited on the disc and the waiting time between deposition and measurement of the sample. A further consequence of this is that in the assessment of the ²¹⁰Pb content in the sample, very often the remaining liquid is stored after deposition for build-up of ²¹⁰Po. Since some ²¹⁰Pb is lost on the disc, the result for ²¹⁰Pb will be too low. Both these systematic errors give rise to a too high ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb ratio. The fraction of ²¹⁰Pb which is plating out has been assessed in this study for different matrices and is about 50-90%. During the measurement by solid state Si-detectors, some Po is evaporated in the vacuum conditions contaminating the detectors. Experiments have here been done by heating the discs after deposition which indicate that less Po is evaporated from Ag than from Ni. The losses from Ag are less than that from the other metals probably due to a deeper penetration into the surface of Po. We conclude that in most aspects, Ag is better to use than the other plating metals.     

Life cycle assessment of the waste hierarchy--a Danish case study on waste paper

The waste hierarchy is being widely discussed these days, not only by cost-benefit analysts, but a growing number of life cycle assessments (LCA) have also begun to question it. In this article, we investigate the handling of waste paper in Denmark and compare the present situation with scenarios of more waste being recycled, incinerated or consigned to landfill. The investigations are made in accordance with ISO 14040-43 and based on the newly launched methodology of consequential LCA and following the recent guidelines of the European Centre on Waste and Material Flows. The LCA concerns the Danish consumption of paper in 1999, totalling 1.2 million tons. The results of the investigation indicate that the waste hierarchy is reliable; from an environmental point of view recycling of paper is better than incineration and landfilling. For incineration, the reason for the advantage of landfilling mainly comes from the substitution of fossil fuels, when incinerators provide heat and electricity. For recycling, the advantage is related to the saved wood resources, which can be used for generating energy from wood, i.e., from renewable fuel which does not contribute to global warming.     

Content, distribution and fate of 33 elements in sediments of rivers receiving wastewater in Hanoi, Vietnam

Untreated industrial and domestic wastewater from Hanoi city is discharged into rivers that supply water for various agricultural and aqua-cultural food production systems. The aim of this study was to assess the content, distribution and fate of 33 elements in the sediment and pore water of the main wastewater receiving rivers. The sediment was polluted with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) with maximum concentrations of 73 As, 427 Cd, 281 Cr, 240 Cu, 218 Ni, 363 Pb, 12.5 Sb and 1240 Zn mg kg(-1) d.w. Observed distribution coefficients (log(10) K(d,obs)) were calculated as the ratio between sediment (mg kg(-1) d.w.) and pore water (mg L(-1)) concentrations. Maxima log(10) K(d,obs) were >4.26 Cd, >6.60 Cu, 4.78 Ni, 7.01 Pb and 6.62 Zn. The high values show a strong PTE retention and indicate the importance of both sorption and precipitation as retention mechanisms. Sulphide precipitation was a likely mechanism due to highly reduced conditions.     

Dry and wet heat transfer through clothing dependent on the clothing properties under cold conditions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moisture on the heat transfer through clothing in relation to the water vapour resistance, type of underwear, location of the moisture and climate. This forms part of the work performed for work package 2 of the European Union THERMPROTECT project. Thermal manikin results of dry and wet heat loss are presented from different laboratories for a range of 2-layer clothing with similar dry insulations but different water vapour permeabilities and absorptive properties. The results obtained from the different manikins are generally consistent with each other. For each climate, total wet heat loss is predominately dependent on the permeability of the outer layer. At 10 degrees C, the apparent evaporative heat loss is markedly higher than expected from evaporation alone (measured at 34 degrees C), which is attributed to condensation within the clothing and to increased conductivity of the wet clothing layers.     

Cleaner production in Danish fish processing – experiences,status and possible future strategies

Danish fish processing industry has been one of the pioneers regarding implementation of cleaner production and environmental management systems. This article describes the experiences with cleaner production (CP) among leading Danish industries producing pickled herring and canned mackerel. The article emphasizes two case studies of ‘first mover’ companies, but data from other ‘proactive’ companies are also included.The article provides an overview of different types of CP solutions, improvement potentials, synergistic effects and possible trade-offs. The development of the applied solutions from the late 1980s until today are analysed and recommendations to future strategies at company level and policy level are provided.It is concluded that significant environmental improvements have been obtained for the analysed companies – especially concerning reductions in water consumption, wastewater emissions, and utilisation of fish ‘waste’ for valuable by-products. Still, more focus could be placed on the reduction of energy consumption, change of packaging types, and environmental impacts in other stages of the products life cycle.Authorities and companies have mainly focused on on-site reductions of wastewater emissions, but life cycle assessments show that more attention should be given to the reductions of environmental impacts in other parts of the product chain, e.g. fishing operations and transport as well.