Comparison of Nitrate Levels in Raw Water and Finished Water from Historical Monitoring Data on Iowa Municipal Drinking Water Supplies

Nitrate contamination of water sources is a concern where large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers are regularly applied to soils. Ingested nitrate from dietary sources and drinking water can be converted to nitrite and ultimately to N-nitroso compounds, many of which are known carcinogens. Epidemiologic studies of drinking water nitrate and cancer report mixed findings; a criticism is the use of nitrate concentrations from retrospective drinking water data to assign exposure levels. Residential point-of-use nitrate data are scarce; gaps in historical data for municipal supply finished water hamper exposure classification efforts. We used generalized linear regression models to estimate and compare historical raw water and finished water nitrate levels (1960s--1990s) in single source Iowa municipal supplies to determine whether raw water monitoring data could supplement finished water data to improve exposure assessment. Comparison of raw water and finished water samples (same sampling date) showed a significant difference in nitrate levels in municipalities using rivers; municipalities using other surface water or alluvial groundwater had no difference in nitrate levels. A regional aggregation of alluvial groundwater municipalities was constructed based on results from a previous study showing regional differences in nitrate contamination of private wells; results from this analysis were mixed, dependent upon region and decade. These analyses demonstrate using historical raw water nitrate monitoring data to supplement finished water data for exposure assessment is appropriate for individual Iowa municipal supplies using alluvial groundwater, lakes or reservoirs. Using alluvial raw water data on a regional basis is dependent on region and decade.     

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.     

阿坝州室内氡及子体水平与肺癌患病率关系的研究

本文报道了四川省阿坝州高原山区各县室内氧及子体浓度,并对阿坝州各县肺癌患病进行了流调。全州室内氧浓度范围值0.5～374.1Bqm~(_3)X:22.7Bqm~(-3);Xg:16.3Bqm~(-3),子体浓度范围值0.32～87.6mwl;X:6.0mwl;Xg:3.94mwl。研究表明:肺癌患病率与氡浓度有相关关系,r=0.6,p<0.01。     

江西某地"癌症高发区"地质环境现状及评价

江西某地“癌症高发区”的报道引起了社会的广泛关注。通过对该地土壤、水体、降尘地质环境调查评价,认为调查区土壤环境质量较好,为清洁区,仅镍元素达轻度污染级。地下水质量为较差级,外围为优良级。饮用水源地水质综合评价为较差级,有机氯农药检出2项,多环芳烃检出10项,萘达到轻度污染级。区域地质、水文地质背景不具特殊性,土壤、水体地质环境与周边南昌地区无明显异常,是否与癌症发病有直接的关系,尚需作进一步的调查研究工作。降尘污染较为严重,污染因子主要为镉,应引起重视。     

Prenatal detection of non-cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma

The most prevalent soft tissue tumour in children is rhabdomyosarcoma. These tumours may develop within or outside of muscle anywhere in the body and at any age. We report what is apparently the earliest case of non-cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma detected prenatally.     

氟化物与癌症相关性研究进展

为了探索氟化物与癌症的相关性及其机理,国内外许多研究机构分别从氟化物对癌的诱发作用、流行病学调查和相关性研究以及促进致癌作用等方面进行了长期的研究.结果表明:在一定的条件下,氟化物对肝癌、纤维肉瘤、肿瘤性转化等方面具有诱发作用,与口腔癌、咽癌、结肠癌、直肠癌、肝胆管癌、排泄器官癌、男性骨癌、泌尿系癌、淋巴造血系癌、肺癌、膀胱癌等的发生密切相关,在肿瘤发生过程中,也具有某种促进作用.     

某化工企业1971～2000年职工恶性肿瘤死亡情况的动态分析

对以天然气、食盐为原料生产基础化工产品的综合性化工企业的职工调查显示,恶性肿瘤已成为该企业职工死亡的主要原因之一,总死亡率为1.44‰,与当地对照有显著性,尤以肺癌、肝癌、食道癌为主.动态观察显示,职工恶性肿瘤死亡率从1971～的0.41‰上升为1996～的1.93‰,总体呈现逐年上升的趋势.1991～以来的男、女职工死亡性比率为1.90∶1,两者差异非常显著,目前3位死因都有统计学意义.这说明恶性肿瘤对该企业职工,特别是男性职工的生命健康威胁越来越大,应成为今后卫生工作的重点之一.     

Evaluation of the validity of the US EPA's cancer risk assessment of arsenic for low-level exposures: a likelihood ratio approach

Skin cancers associated with ingesting of arsenic have been documented since the 19th century. A study in the southwestern coastal area of Taiwan where people drank well water containing arsenic is generally recognised as providing the best data available for quantifying the risk, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used these data to conduct a risk assessment of arsenic ingestion. However, the lowest exposure category in the Taiwan study included arsenic levels up to 290 µg L^–1, which is nearly six times higher than the current EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL), 50 µg L^–1. Therefore, the EPA risk assessment model extrapolated data on high-level exposures to generate risk estimates for low-level exposures. To evaluate the validity of this model, we conducted a quantitative review of epidemiological studies observing arsenic exposures below 290 µg L^–1. A ratio of the likelihood of the EPA model being inappropriate to that of it being appropriate was calculated for each study population as a measurement of the validity of the EPA model. Although existing human data on low-level exposures are limited, the review suggested that the EPA model is unlikely to be able to predict the risk of skin cancer accurately when the arsenic exposure level is between 170 and 270 µg L^–1.     

垃圾焚烧过程中水分促燃脱氯效果的研究

分别在转式垃圾焚烧炉和固定床加热炉中，研究了水分对垃圾焚烧及钙基脱氯效果的影响。研究结果表明，垃圾焚烧过程中一定量水分的存在能促进垃圾焚烧效率，提高钙基氯剂的脱氯效率。同时，分析水分促进垃圾焚烧率和脱氯效果提高的原因，这是由于水分能强化焚烧过程的传质传热，能活化脱氯剂，改善脱氯剂的物理和化学性质，这些研究结果将为垃圾焚烧技术在我国的进一步推广提供科学依据。     

Human risk assessment of As,Cd, Cu and Zn in the abandoned metal mine site

The cancer risk and the non-cancer hazard index for inhabitants exposed to As, Cd, Cu and Zn in the soils and stream waters of the abandoned Songcheon Au–Ag mine area were evaluated. Mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in agricultural soils were 230, 2.5, 120, 160, and 164 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Mean concentrations of As, Cd and Zn of the water in the stream where drinking water was drawn was 246 μg L⁻¹, 161 μg L⁻¹ and 3899 μg L⁻¹, respectively. These levels are significantly higher than the permissible levels for drinking water quality recommended by Korea and WHO. The resulting human health risks to farmers who inhabited the surrounding areas due to drinking water were summarized as follows: (1) the non-cancer health hazard indices showed that the toxic risk due to As and Cd in drinking water were 10 and 4 times, respectively, greater than those induced by the safe average daily dosages of the respective chemicals. (2) the cancer risk of As for exposed individuals through the drinking water pathway was 5 in 1000, exceeded the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 set for regulatory purposes.