Which compounds contribute most to elevated airborne exposure and corresponding health risks in the Western Balkans?

A majority of ongoing monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is currently focused on chemicals emphasized in the Stockholm Convention. Quantitative detection of other substances (especially those with numerous anthropogenic sources such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) is, however, also needed since their concentrations are usually several orders of magnitude higher. A goal of this study was to determine how various groups of compounds contribute to total human health risks at the variety of sampling sites in the region of Western Balkan. Distribution of the risks between the gas and particulate phases was also addressed. Results showed that inhalation exposure to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) does not represent a significant risk to humans, while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) re-volatilized to the atmosphere from contaminated soils and buildings can pose a problem. PCB evaporation from primary sources (currently used PCB-filled transformers or non-adequate storage facilities) generally resulted in much higher atmospheric concentrations than evaporation from the secondary sources (soils at the sites of war destructions). A majority of the human health risks at the urban sites were associated with PAHs. Between 83 and 94% of the cumulative risk at such sites was assigned to chemicals sorbed to particles, and out of it, PAHs were responsible for 99%.     

上海隧桥工程海域生态系统健康的初步评价

随着上海经济的快速发展，一些大型海洋工程在上海海域纷纷兴建，造成了生境破碎化、生物多样性的破坏等一系列的生态损害。在分析海洋工程可能造成生态损害的同时，以上海长江口隧桥工程为例，选择2007年春季和秋季的2次生态调查数据进行研究。架桥阶段结束后，综合分析了春季与秋季的调查数据，发现各项指标均有偏向于不利的趋势。基于结构功能指标体系评价法，并利用层次分析法研究后得出上海长江口隧桥工程附近海域的综合健康指数分别为2043和2166。根据CHI≤3的情况下判断，该海域的生态健康状况属于不健康接近亚健康状态，表明河口生态系统自然属性发生明显改变，生物多样性及生态系统结构发生了一定程度的变化，主要生态服务功能出现退化或丧失。针对遭遇海洋工程破坏的生境，需要进行更多、更长时间的人工干预，并提出有效的生态保护和修复对策。     

从《矿山安全和卫生公约》剖析我国矿山安全卫生立法

国际劳工组织制定的劳工标准在国际上被认为具有高度的权威地位,日益成为各国制定法律法规的标准文书。176号《公约》的目的是为了促进各国在矿山职业安全和卫生方面采取行动,制定国家矿山安全和卫生政策、法规和实施制度,并要求政府、主管部门、雇主、工人承担各自的职责,确保矿山职工拥有安全与健康的工作环境和体面的工作,促进采矿业的可持续发展。通过我国矿山法律法规与176号《公约》的比对分析,本文提出了应进一步完善访协商机制,明确主管部门职责,以法律法规形式明确义务,赋予工人安全与已生权利和义务等方面完善我国矿山安全和卫生法律法规建议。     

Preferred modes of travel among older adults: What factors affect the choice to walk instead of drive?

Introduction

There are many factors that influence older adults' travel choices. This paper explores the associations between mode of travel choice for a short trip and older adults' personal characteristics.

Methods

This study included 406 drivers over the age of 64 who were enrolled in a large integrated health plan in the United States between 1991 and 2001. Bivariate analyses and generalized linear modeling were used to examine associations between choosing to walk or drive and respondents' self-reported general health, physical and functional abilities, and confidence in walking and driving.

Results

Having more confidence in their ability to walk versus drive increased an older adult's likelihood of walking to make a short trip by about 20% (PR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.06-1.40), and walking for exercise increased the likelihood by about 50% (PR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.22-1.91). Reporting fair or poor health decreased the likelihood of walking, as did cutting down on the amount of driving due to a physical problem.

Discussion

Factors affecting a person's decision to walk for exercise may not be the same as those that influence their decision to walk as a mode of travel. It is important to understand the barriers to walking for exercise and walking for travel to develop strategies to help older adults meet both their exercise and mobility needs. Impact on Industry: Increasing walking over driving among older adults may require programs that increase confidence in walking and encourage walking for exercise.     

New view of environmental health: Toward an environmental research policy for international strategies

We are witnessing a growing concern with the global dimension of many environmental issues, reflected in the increase in the number and significance of international environmental organizations. Yet there is no internationally applicable strategy for environmental research which is management oriented. A new type of research policy, which integrates ideas derived from environmental and human ecology, is required in order to deal with cultural and ecological diversity and their interactions as reflected in the ecology of landscapes. The newly defined concept of environmental health is proposed to fill this gap. This concept integrates the latest developments in landscape evolutionary ecology and environmental health, bringing out a conflict between making the environment conducive to human health and increasing the available options for supporting the essential biological and ecological processes of the environment. Lessons derived from the evolution of human environments are used in order to illustrate how health may become un umbrella for developing an environmental research policy, which could also serve as a catalyst for international environmental projects.     

机械工业职业卫生状况研究

对１２２４个工种（岗位）的工人接触生产性毒物、粉尘、高温的状况以及部分工种（岗位）的工人体力劳动强度状况进行了调研，初步了解到机械工业的主要职业危害因素、危害分布、危害程度和特征。     

五氯酚对环境污染及居民健康影响研究

中国长期以来使用五氯酚纳盐杀灭亡血吸虫的中间宿主──—钉螺．为评价它对环境的污染及居民健康危害，１９９０－１９９３年在我省开展了五氯酚环境污染及对居民健康影响研究．在研究区采集环境样品（空气、水体、土壤及底泥、蔬菜、肉、蛋、鱼等）共１７３份；生物材料（人血、尿）共４５７份，分析五氯酚浓度．结果在明，在五氯酚使用区，环境中ＰＣＰ浓度稍高于对照区，而生物材料尿、血中ＰＣＰ浓度明显高于对照区．全血胆碱脂酶活性用药区明显低于对照区，统计学分析有显著差异（Ｐ＜０．００１），证实了长期低剂量使用可造成环境及生物蓄积．     

Risk management: Time for innovative approaches

Risk management practices under the current environmental regulations is a long, complex process that considers scientific, technologic, and management factors to develop various regulatory standards and pollution control measures. Using the mandatory enforcement approach, sometimes referred to as “command-and-control”, a set of preliminary environmental goals, such as better air and water qualities, were achieved. However, the information-intensive nature of the risk management process and the lack of flexibility in conventional regulatory methods to changing economic and technologic realities of the decade has created interest among risk managers to examine some innovative management approaches. Above all, environmental problems of a global scale require novel management methods while striving to achieve the desired environmental goals. As the principal analytical tool in risk management, quantitative risk assessment exerts considerable influence on the risk management process. Therefore, advances in risk management are closely associated with scientific developments that enhance the risk assessment process, particularly those efforts aimed at improving human exposure and toxicity assessments. Market incentives, information dissemination, creative enforcement practices, and interagency and intergovernmental interactions were identified as the key elements of innovative environmental risk management practices. This paper will present an overview of the emerging innovative risk management approaches.     

“Food Metaphors and Ethics: Towards More Attention for Bodily Experience”

Official Dutch food information apparently tries to avoid images but is implicitly shaped by the metaphor that food is fuel. The image of food as fuel and its accompanying view of the body as a machine are not maximally helpful for integrating two important human desires: health and pleasure. At the basis of the split between health and pleasure is the traditional mind–body dichotomy, in which the body is an important source of evil and bodily pleasure is sinful and dangerous. In the search for alternatives, new metaphors are proposed that integrate mind and body as well as pleasure and health. The relevance of metaphors for ethics is at least twofold. (1) Moral thought and theory are at least partly shaped by metaphors. In the light of this growing recognition, the analysis of morality needs innovation. (2) With regard to food, new metaphors, such as slow food, or the image of enjoyment as an art, enable a new search for morally responsible forms of hedonism, based on more love and respect for human as well as animal bodies. But new metaphors are specific and selective, just like old ones. I argue that a search for the best overall metaphor would be misguided, but that more diverse forms of attention to bodily aspects of life, including experiences related to food, will result in richer vocabularies of the body, the mind, and body–mind relations. This holds a promise of moral progress.     

构建煤矿职业安全卫生管理体系

安全生产是煤矿企业的头等大事。根据煤矿企业的实际特点 ,分析了煤矿安全生产管理的现状、特点和煤矿建立职业安全卫生管理体系的注意事项。讨论了建立煤矿职业安全卫生管理体系的步骤和方法