Endocrine disrupting nonyl- and octylphenol in infant food in Germany: considerable daily intake of nonylphenol for babies

Nonylphenol and octylphenol are persistent endocrine disrupters that are priority substances of the European Union Water Framework Directive. Their presence in the environment has caused increasing concern about their impact to human health. Infants are more sensitive to hormonal impacts of environmental chemicals than adults. The results of the present study indicate that nonylphenol is ubiquitous in foodstuffs for babies and toddlers commercially available in Germany, while octylphenol could only be determined in 80% of all food samples. The daily intakes based on consumption studies in μg nonylphenol kg⁻¹ body weight per day for high consumers in the baby category (0.23-0.65 μg kg⁻¹ bw d⁻¹) were relatively high. This could lead to a higher risk especially for babies.     

Monotonicity-constrained species distribution models

Flexible modeling frameworks for species distribution models based on generalized additive models that allow for smooth, nonlinear effects and interactions are of increasing importance in ecology. Commonly, the flexibility of such smooth function estimates is controlled by means of penalized estimation procedures. However, the actual shape remains unspecified. In many applications, this is not desirable as researchers have a priori assumptions on the shape of the estimated effects, with monotonicity being the most important. Here we demonstrate how monotonicity constraints can be incorporated in a recently proposed flexible framework for species distribution models. Our proposal allows monotonicity constraints to be imposed on smooth effects and on ordinal, categorical variables using an additional asymmetric L2 penalty. Model estimation and variable selection for Red Kite (Milvus milvus) breeding was conducted using the flexible boosting framework implemented in R package mboost.     

Mercury fate in ageing and melting snow: development and testing of a controlled laboratory system

A snow cover can modify when, to what extent, and in what form atmospherically deposited mercury is released to the underlying surface media and/or back to the atmosphere. Investigations of mercury transport and transformation processes in snow packs are hampered by the difficulty in controlling experimental and melt conditions and due to the huge variability in the composition and physical structure of environmental snow packs. A method was developed that allows the detailed mechanistic investigation of mercury fate in snow that is made, aged and melted under controlled laboratory conditions. A number of control samples established that mercury in indoor air, scavenged during the snow making process, constitutes the dominant source of mercury in the artificial snow. No addition of mercury is required. The amount of mercury in fresh snow was quantitatively (102 and 106% in two experiments) recovered in the dissolved and particulate fractions of the melt water and the vessel head space, confirming a mass balance for mercury and the absence of unquantifiable mercury sources and sinks in the experimental system. In snow made from unmodified tap water, more than half of the mercury present in the snowpack was recovered from the bottom of the snow vessel after all of the snow had melted. Such late elution is indicative of mercury being mostly associated with particles that are filtered by, and retained in, the shrinking snowpack. Addition of salt to the snow-making water at an environmentally realistic pH notably shifted the distribution of mercury in the snowpack from the particulate to the dissolved phase, resulting in more than 60% of the mercury eluting in the dissolved phase of early melt water fractions.     

Inhibition of rainbow trout acetylcholinesterase by aqueous and suspended particle-associated organophosphorous insecticides

Cadmium (Cd) adsorption on 14 non-calcareous New Jersey soils was investigated with a batch method. Both adsorption edge and isotherm experiments were conducted covering a wide range of soil composition, e.g. soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration ranging from 0.18% to 7.15%, and varying Cd concentrations and solution pH. The SOC and solution pH were the most important parameters controlling Cd partition equilibrium between soils and solutions in our experimental conditions. The Windermere humic aqueous model (WHAM) was used to calculate Cd adsorption on soils. The effect of solution chemistry (various pH and Cd concentrations) on Cd adsorption can be well accounted for by WHAM. For different soil compositions, SOC concentration is the most important parameter for Cd binding. Only a fraction of SOC, the so-called active organic carbon (AOC), is responsible for Cd binding. We found a linear relationship between SOC and AOC based on the adsorption edge data. The linear relationship was validated by the independent data sets: adsorption isotherm data, which presumably can be used to predict Cd partition equilibrium across a wide range of soil compositions. The modeling approach presented in this study helps to quantitatively predict Cd behavior in the environment.     

Contribution of milk production to global greenhouse gas emissions

Background, aim and scope  

Studies on the contribution of milk production to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are rare (FAO 2010) and often based on crude data which do not appropriately reflect the heterogeneity of farming systems. This article estimates GHG emissions from milk production in different dairy regions of the world based on a harmonised farm data and assesses the contribution of milk production to global GHG emissions.     

R&D professionals' views of criteria for intrafirm job mobility: Individual and aggregate analyses of transfer climate perceptions in West German and British Industrial R&D Organizations

Prior research on employees' views of various criteria for obtaining a desirable intrafirm transfer has conceptualized these perceptions on an individual level of analysis (i.e. has examined psychological transfer climates). It is argued that the identification of aggregate transfer climate dimensions on an organizational (subsystem) level of analysis is important for improving the effectiveness of R&D via better transfer policies. Factor analyses of questionnaire data obtained from 729 R&D professionals in 11 FRG industrial firms and 141 R&D professionals in three U.K. industrial firms revealed that both FRG and U.K. subjects perceived three broad means (overall task performance, publication and patent productivity, favouritism) for obtaining a desirable job transfer. Empirically the idea was supported that, for certain transfer criteria (overall task performance, manifest professional output, educational level, luck), individuals' scores can be meaningfully aggregated to obtain organizational transfer climate measures. Remarkable differences in the importance of company tenure and educational level as criteria for transfers in R&D were found between FRG and U.K. organizations. Using the FRG data set differences in the performance responsiveness of organizational transfer climates were shown to be significantly related to work-related outcome variables. Implications are sketched for R&D transfer policies and for explaining U.K./FRG differences in the corporate treatment of R&D activities.     

Mother’s choice of the oviposition site: balancing risk of egg parasitism and need of food supply for the progeny with an infochemical shelter?

Summary. Oviposition site selection of herbivorous insects depends primarily on host plant presence which is essential for offspring survival. However, parasitoids can exploit host plant cues for host location. In this study, we hypothesised that herbivores can solve this dilemma by ovipositing within high plant diversity. A diverse plant species composition might represent an ‘infochemical shelter’, as a potentially complex volatile blend can negatively affect the host location ability of parasitoids. We examined this exemplarily for the egg-laying response of the generalist leaf beetle, Galeruca tanaceti, in relation to (1) host plant availability and (2) plant species diversity in the field. Further, we investigated the effect of odours from mixed plant species compositions on (3) leaf beetle oviposition site selection and on (4) the orientation of its specialised egg parasitoid, Oomyzus galerucivorus. In the field, egg clutch occurrence was positively related to the presence and quantity of two major host plants, Achillea millefolium (yarrow) and Centaurea jacea, and to the number of herbaceous plant species. In two-choice bioassays, female beetles oviposited more frequently on sites surrounded by an odour blend from a diverse plant species composition (including yarrow) than on sites with a pure grass odour blend. In the presence of yarrow odour and an odour blend from a diverse plant mixture (including yarrow) no difference in the oviposition response was recorded. Experienced parasitoid females were attracted to yarrow odours, but showed no response when yarrow odours were offered simultaneously with odours of a non-host plant. In conclusion, it could be shown in laboratory bioassays that the parasitoid responds only to pure host plant odours but not to complex odour blends. In contrast, the herbivore prefers to oviposit within diverse vegetation in the field and in the laboratory. However, the laboratory results also point to a priority of host plant availability over the selection of a potential ‘infochemical shelter’ for oviposition due to high plant diversity.     

Interdisciplinary studies on the technical and economic feasibility of deep underground coal gasification with CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> storage in bulgaria

This paper presents the outcome of a feasibility study on underground coal gasification (UCG) combined with direct carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage (CCS) at a selected site in Bulgaria with deep coal seams (>1,200 m). A series of state-of-the-art geological, geo-mechanical, hydrogeological and computational models supported by experimental tests and techno-economical assessments have been developed for the evaluation of UCG-CCS schemes. Research efforts have been focused on the development of site selection requirements for UCG-CCS, estimation of CO₂ storage volumes, review of the practical engineering requirements for developing a commercial UCG-CCS storage site, consideration of drilling and completion issues, and assessments of economic feasibility and environmental impacts of the scheme. In addition, the risks of subsidence and groundwater contamination have been assessed in order to pave the way for a full-scale trial and commercial applications. The current research confirms that cleaner and cheaper energy with reduced emissions can be achieved and the economics are competitive in the future European energy market. However the current research has established that rigorous design and monitor schemes are essential for productivity and safety and the minimisation of the potential environmental impacts. A platform has been established serving to inform policy-makers and aiding strategies devised to alleviate local and global impacts on climate change, while ensuring that energy resources are optimally harnessed.     

Identification of oxidized TNT metabolites in soil samples of a former ammunition plant

Water extracts of soil samples of the former ammunition plant “Tanne” near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany, were investigated for highly polar oxidized 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) metabolites. 0.4 to 9.0 mg/kg dry soil 2,4,6-trinitrobenzoic acid (TNBA) and 5.8 to 544 mg/kg dry soil 2-amino-4,6-dinitrobenzoic acid (2-ADNBA) were found. In addition to the oxidized metabolites, TNT, 4- and 2-aminodinitrotoluene (4- and 2-ADNT), and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) were extractable with water. Most interestingly, in one sample, 2-ADNBA represented the main contaminant. The origin of the oxidized nitroaromatics is unknown at this time. They might be generated chemically or photochemically. Furthermore, a biological synthesis seems possible.