Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Risk from Eating Cassava Grown in Some Mining Communities in Ghana

Food crops such as cassava, cocoyam and other tuber crops grown in mining communities uptake toxic or hazardous chemicals such as arsenic, and cadmium, from the soil. Cassava is a stable food for Ghanaians. This study evaluated human health risk from eating cassava grown in some mining communities in Ghana such as Bogoso, Prestea, Tarkwa and Tamso, which are important mining towns in the Western Region of Ghana. The study evaluated cancer and non-cancer health effects from eating cassava grown in the study areas in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Assessment guidelines. The results of the study revealed the following: cancer health risk for Tamso, 0.098 (RME – Reasonable Maximum Exposure) and 0.082 (CTE – Central Tendency Exposure). This means that approximately 10 and 8 out of 100 resident adults are likely to suffer from cancer related cases by RME and CTE parameters respectively. For Prestea, we have 0.010 and 0.12, which also means that approximately 1 out of 100 and 10 resident adults out of 100 are also likely to suffer from cancer related diseases by RME and CTE parameters. The results of the study obtained were found to be above the acceptable cancer risk range of 1× 10⁻⁶ to 1× 10⁻⁴, i.e., 1 case of cancer out of 1 million or 100,000 people respectively.     

Dissipation of Endosulfan and Dichlorvos Residues In/On Cauliflower Curds

Dissipation behaviour of endosulfan and dichlorvos in/on cauliflower, variety Snowball-16, was studied during rabi season (Sep.–March) 2003–2004. Endosulfan and dichlorvos were sprayed @ 350 and 110g a.i. with 115 g a.i., respectively, 80 days after transplanting. Samples were taken at the interval of 0 (1h after spray), 3, 5, 7, and 10 days after spray (DAS) in triplicate and residues were estimated on GC-ECD system equipped with capillary column. The initial deposits of 3.452 and 0.295μgg⁻¹ of endosulfan and dichlorvos dissipated to 0.084 (97.56%) and 0.009 (96.95%), respectively after 10 DAS. Residues of endosulfan reached below maximum residue limit of 2μgg⁻¹ one day after spray and of dichlorvos were below MRL value of 0.5μgg⁻¹ even on 0 day. Dissipation pattern followed first order kinetics for both the insecticides with half life periods of 1.81 and 2.08 days for endosulfan and dichlorvos, respectively.     

基于耦合协调度模型的河西走廊生态环境质量时空格局演化

以“丝绸之路”经济带上的河西走廊地区为研究对象,采用耦合分析法,构建环境承载力与生态弹性限度的耦合协调模型,在分析2001—2016年河西走廊生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度的基础上,探析河西走廊生态环境承载力与弹性限度的耦合协调度,评价生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度耦合协调阶段及区域生态环境质量水平,从区域和城市两个空间尺度分析生态环境耦合协调类型,为探索河西走廊生态环境可持续发展道路提供科学依据。结果表明:①2001—2016年,河西走廊生态环境承载力和生态弹性限度均呈现东南高、西北低的空间格局和缓慢波动上升趋势。②河西走廊生态环境耦合协调度呈现“东南高西北低,优劣破碎穿插”的空间格局特征,耦合协调度在0~0.5之间,生态系统处于低水平和拮抗耦合阶段,生态环境质量处于濒临失调阶段。③河西走廊生态环境承载力与生态弹性限度耦合协调度存在明显区域差异。河西走廊生态环境耦合协调度共分9个等级3个层次3个耦合协调阶段:高水平-磨合阶段区(良好协调、中度协调和初级协调区);中等水平-拮抗耦合阶段区(勉强协调、濒临失调和轻度失调区)和低水平区-低水平耦合阶段区(极度失调、严重失调和中度失调区)。④根据2001—2016年生态环境耦合协调状况将河西走廊五市分为4种耦合协调类型:高耦合协调增长型(张掖市、金昌市)、高耦合协调减少型(武威市)、中耦合协调增长型(嘉峪关市)和低耦合协调增长型(酒泉市)。各地区应因地制宜地制定发展战略,提高生态环境质量,推进生态环境持续协调发展。     

Setting the stage for the review of the international estimate of short-term intake (IESTI) equation

ABSTRACT

In the framework of setting Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides, both chronic and acute health risks to consumers arising from the long-term and short-term dietary exposure to pesticide residues have to be assessed. The current internationally harmonized approach for assessing the acute dietary exposure is based on deterministic methods for calculating the IESTI (International Estimate of Short-Term Intake). Recently, it became apparent that the IESTI approach needs a revision in the light of new scientific and political aspects. The main reasons that require this review were the lack of an international harmonization of the methodology which implies trade barriers as well as difficulties in risk communication concerning the public trust in regulatory systems. The most recent milestone in the scientific debate on a possible revision of the IESTI equation was an international scientific workshop held in Geneva in September 2015. The main objectives of this meeting were the re-evaluation, and where possible, the international harmonization of the input parameters for the IESTI equations as well as the equations themselves. The main recommendations from the workshop were (i) to replace the highest residue and supervised trials median residue with the maximum residue limit (MRL), (ii) to use a standard variability factor of three, (iii) to derive the P97.5 large portion value from the distribution of consumption values of dietary surveys expressed as kg food/kg bw/d, and (iv) to remove the commodity unit weight from the equations. In addition, the application of conversion factors and processing factors was addressed. On the initiative of the (World Health Organization) WHO Collaborating Centre on Chemical Food Safety at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands, an international working group with members from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, France (ANSES), Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Australia (APVMA), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Germany (BfR), Chemical Regulation Division, the United Kingdom (CRD), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and RIVM, the Netherlands was formed after the IESTI workshop to conduct a comprehensive impact assessment of the proposed changes of the IESTI equations.     

Development of inherent safety and health index for formulated product design

The numerous formulated products which are introduced to the market consist of chemical ingredients that may cause various safety and health hazards to the consumers. Therefore, it is extremely important to practice a systematic methodology to formulate products with acceptable safety and health performances. This work presents an index-based methodology to assess the safety and health hazards of the ingredients during the early formulation stage of product design. Hence, new inherent safety and health sub-indexes are introduced to improve the current safety and health hazards that are needed in formulated product design. The inherent safety and health sub-indexes are assigned with scores based on the degree of potential hazards. A higher score indicates a higher safety risk or severe health effect, and vice versa. The proposed methodology will greatly assist the users to identify the adverse safety and health effects caused by the ingredients. Hence, it is pivotal to eliminate or reduce the safety and health impacts from product usage. A case study on common ingredients used in the formulation of paint is presented on this study to describe the proposed method.     

论“限期治理”的法律性质

“限期治理”是我国环境保护法的一项基本制度,文章从四个方面详尽地阐述了“限期治理”决定不是一种行政处罚行为,即“限期治理”决定不具有行政处罚的一般特征;“限期治理”决定并并未对行政管理相对人的权利作任何否定;该决定不会影响行政管理相对人固有权利义务的消长;从“环保法”法典的篇章结构安排上和行政行为的性质上分析,“限期治理”决定也不是一种行政处罚行为。正确理解“限期治理”的法律性质,可以避免对企业行     

一种有效提高拉深成形性能的方法

提出了一种能有效减小拉深件最大厚度变薄量 ,提高拉深成形极限及拉深件质量的夹紧式拉深模具结构 ,并已用于实际生产中。叙述了该模具结构特点及其工作原理 ,对有关工艺参数的影响进行了实验研究 ,并对实验结果进行了分析。     

欧盟工业废水污染物排放限值的制定方法

依据欧盟委员会的IPPC指令和水框架指令，欧盟成员国目前在制定废水污染物排放限值时，都以最佳可得技术（BAT）为参考，同时运用反演的方法将污染物排放限值与环境质量标准相结合。阐述了欧盟国家制定废水污染物排放限值的“BAT法”和“质量标准反演法”，并举例分析了“质量标准反演法”。提出了我国借鉴欧盟方法的几点建议。     

华北山区温度推算模式和应用

利用华北山区气象站观测的温度与其所在纬度、经度和高度，分山区建立宏观地面气温场方程。采用１：２０万地形图，以１０＇经、纬度为步长，判读其高度值，代入已建立好的方程中，经地形项订正，推算华北山区年、月平均温度、年较差和ΣＴ＇≥１０℃，其精度达极显著水平。计算结果使我们对华北山区热量资源有了新的认识，最后求算华北山区的主要水果最优品质种植上限高度。     

关于提高挥发酚测定质量的探讨

探讨了在水样采集及分析测定过程中，如何保证分析结果的可靠性和准确性。