Modeling traffic air pollution in street canyons in New York City for intra-urban exposure assessment in the US Multi-Ethnic Study of atherosclerosis and air pollution

We evaluated the Danish AirGIS air quality and exposure model system using air quality measurement data from New York City in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air). Measurements were used from three US EPA Air Quality System (AQS) monitoring stations and a comprehensive MESA Air measurement campaign including about 150 different locations and about 650 samples of about 2 week measurements of NO_x, NO₂ and PM_2.5. AirGIS is a deterministic exposure model system based on the dispersion models Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) and the Urban Background Model (UBM). The UBM model reproduced the annual levels within 1–26% depending on station and pollutant at the three urban background EPA monitor stations, and generally reproduced well the seasonal and diurnal variation. The full model with OSPM and UBM reproduced the MESA Air measurements with a correlation coefficient of r² = 0.51 for NO_x, r² = 0.28 for NO₂ and r² = 0.73 for PM_2.5.     

Exposure to inhaled THM: Comparison of continuous and event-specific exposure assessment for epidemiologic purposes

Trihalomethanes (THMs) (chloroform, bromoform, dibromochloromethane, and bromodichloromethane) are the most abundant by-products of chlorination. People are exposed to THMs through ingestion, dermal contact and inhalation. The objective of this study was to compare two methods for assessing THM inhalation: a direct method with personal monitors assessing continuous exposure and an indirect one with microenvironmental sampling and collection of time–activity data during the main event exposures: bathing, showering and swimming. This comparison was conducted to help plan a future epidemiologic study of the effects of THMs on the upper airways of children. 30 children aged from 4 to 10 years were included. They wore a 3M^™ 3520 organic vapor monitor for 7 days. We sampled air in their bathrooms (during baths or showers) and in the indoor swimming pools they visited and recorded their time–activity patterns. We used stainless steel tubes full of Tenax^® to collect air samples. All analyses were performed with Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Chloroform was the THM with the highest concentrations in the air of both bathrooms and indoor swimming pools. Its continuous and event exposure measurements were significantly correlated (r_s = 0.69 p < 0.001). Continuous exposures were higher than event exposures, suggesting that the event exposure method does not take into account some influential microenvironments. In an epidemiologic study, this might lead to random exposure misclassification, thus underestimation of the risk, and reduced statistical power. The continuous exposure method was difficult to implement because of its poor acceptability and the fragility of the personal monitors. These two points may also reduce the statistical power of an epidemiologic study. It would be useful to test the advantages and disadvantages of a second sample in the home or of modeling the baseline concentration of THM in the home to improve the event exposure method.     

Radiofrequency exposure in the French general population: Band, time, location and activity variability

Information on the exposure of individual persons to radiofrequency (RF) fields is scarce, although such data are crucial in order to develop a suitable exposure assessment method, and frame the hypothesis and design of future epidemiological studies. The main goal of this survey is to assess individual RF exposure on a population basis, while clarifying the relative contribution of different sources to the total exposure. A total of 377 randomly selected people were analyzed. Each participant was supplied with a personal exposure meter for 24-hour measurements (weekday), and kept a time–location–activity diary. Electric field strengths were recorded in 12 different RF bands every 13 s. Summary statistics were calculated with the robust regression on order statistics method. Most of the time, recorded field strengths were not detectable with the exposure meter. Total field, cordless phones, WiFi-microwave, and FM transmitters stood apart with a proportion above the detection threshold of 46.6%, 17.2%, 14.1%, and 11.0%, respectively. The total field mean value was 0.201 V/m, higher in urban areas, during daytime, among adults, and when moving. When focusing on specific channels, the highest mean exposure resulted from FM sources (0.044 V/m), followed by WiFi-microwaves (0.038 V/m), cordless phones (0.037 V/m), and mobile phones (UMTS: 0.036 V/m, UMTS: 0.037 V/m). Various factors, however, contributed to a high variability in RF exposure assessment. These population-based estimates should therefore be confirmed by further surveys to better characterize the exposure situation in different microenvironments.     

Mass balance approach to estimating radionuclide loads and concentrations in edible fish tissues using stable analogues

Humans can consume a number of types of biota tissues, which have varying propensities to accumulate radionuclides. As a result, depending upon the biota species, the radionuclide and the tissue under consideration, it may be necessary to estimate the percent radionuclide load in specific edible tissues, and in cases where whole organisms are consumed, to estimate the radionuclide load in the whole body of an organism, based on data that have been collected for individual tissues. To accomplish this, data were compiled that can be used to estimate the partitioning patterns and percent loads of various groups of elements in edible tissues of freshwater fishes. General trends in partitioning, such as those provided in this paper, can be used to predict radionuclide transfer to humans and the corresponding potential radiological dose to humans via dietary pathways, in this case following the consumption of fish.     

中国居民及动植物的环境激素暴露研究现状和建议

环境激素污染严重威胁着人类及动植物的健康。综述了EDCs生物危害,简要介绍了美国、日本和欧盟的EDCs研究工作,分析了中国居民和动植物的EDCs暴露现状,归纳了现有的流行病学调查信息,并针对现状提出了建议。     

氯化消毒过程对抗生素的降解行为及其毒性效应的影响研究进展

抗生素的大量使用导致其通过各种途径进入到污水处理厂、地表水甚至饮用水源水中.在污水处理厂二级出水排放之前以及自来水的生产和供应过程中,都必须进行氯化消毒处理以杀灭病原微生物.在此过程中,抗生素一方面可能被氯化降解,另一方面也可能转化成毒性更高的降解产物.因此,了解抗生素在氯化消毒过程中的降解行为对于明确其生态和健康风险至关重要.本文在大量文献资料调研的基础上,综述了不同种类抗生素的氯化降解行为及其影响因素,分析了抗生素氯化降解前后的毒性效应,提出了今后研究的方向.     

Employing the shared socioeconomic pathways to predict CO2 emissions

Predicting CO₂ emissions is of significant interest to policymakers and scholars alike. The following article contributes to earlier work by using the recently released “shared socioeconomic pathways” (SSPs) to empirically model CO₂ emissions in the future. To this end, I employ in-sample and out-of-sample techniques to assess the prediction accuracy of the underlying model, before forecasting countries’ emission rates until 2100. This article makes three central contributions to the literature. First, as one of the first studies, I improve upon the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) by incorporating the SSPs, which did not exist when the RCPs have been released. Second, I calculate predictions and forecasts for a global sample in 1960–2100, which circumvents issues of limited time periods and sample selection bias in previous research. Third, I thoroughly assess the prediction accuracy of the model, which contributes to providing a guideline for prediction exercises in general using in-sample and out-of-sample approaches. This research presents findings that crucially inform scholars and policymakers, especially in light of the prominent 2 °C goal: none of the five SSP scenarios is likely to be linked to emission patterns that would suggest achieving the 2 °C goal is realistic.     

Detoxification of ferrocyanide in asoil–plant system

The detoxification of iron cyanide in a soil–plant system was investigated to assess the total cyanide extracted from contaminated soil and allocated in the leaf tissue of willow trees(Salix caprea). They were grown in soil containing up to 1000 mg/kg dry weight(dw) of cyanide(CN),added as ~(15)N-labeled potassium ferrocyanide and prepared with a new method for synthesis of labeled iron cyanides. CN content and ~(15)N enrichment were monitored weekly over the exposure in leaf tissue of different age. The ~(15)N enrichment in the young and old leaf tissue reached up to 15.197‰ and 9063‰, respectively; it increased significantly over the exposure and with increasing exposure concentrations(p 0.05). Although the CN accumulation in the old leaf tissue was higher, compared to the young leaf tissue(p 0.05), the ~(15)N enrichment in the two tissue types did not differ statistically. This indicates a non-uniform CN accumulation but a uniform ~(15)N allocation throughout the leaf mass. Significant differences were detected between the measured CN content and the C~(15)N content, calculated from the ~(15)N enrichment(p 0.05), revealing a significant CN fraction within the leaf tissue, which could not be detected as ionic CN. The application of labeled iron CN clearly shows that CN is detoxified during uptake by the willows. However, these results do not exclude other detoxification pathways, not related to the trees. Still, they are strongly indicative of the central role the trees played in CN removal and detoxification under the experimental conditions.     

电子束辐照降解水体中的金霉素

应用电子加速器辐照研究了去除水体中金霉素（30mg/L）的过程,初步探索了剂量、不同气氛条件下叔丁醇的存在、pH值、无机阴离子等对去除效率的影响.然后根据实验结果推测了降解机理和降解产物毒性.结果表明：电子束辐照能高效去除水体中的金霉素,且还原性粒子占主导作用;pH值为碱性时利于金霉素的去除;0.005mol/LCO₃^2-、SO₄^2-、NO₃^-或Cl^-的存在能促进其去除.根据超高效液相色谱-质谱（UHPLC-MS）对降解产物的分析,并结合理论计算推测出10种降解产物和相应的降解途径.之后的费氏弧菌毒理实验数据显示：降解后水样的生物毒性随着吸收剂量先增高后缓慢降低,但辐照5.0kGy后毒性依然较大.     

双酚AF诱导乳腺癌细胞增殖的分子机制

从细胞水平上研究不同浓度双酚AF （BPAF）对MCF-7人乳腺癌细胞系的细胞增殖能力、细胞凋亡、细胞周期等终点的影响;以新型雌激素膜受体GPER1介导的PI3K/Akt和ERK1/2信号通路为靶点,研究低浓度BPAF对该信号通路相关基因表达的影响,以及其在诱导乳腺癌细胞增殖中的作用,评估其增殖效应机制.结果表明,低浓度BPAF （0.001~1μmol/L）能够诱导MCF-7细胞的增殖,使S期细胞比例升高,并且激活雌激素信号通路相关基因mRNA的表达;在较高浓度时（>10μmol/L）能抑制细胞活力,诱导细胞凋亡.通过特异性靶点抑制剂发现GPER1在mRNA层面上激活了PI3K/Akt和ERK1/2信号通路,并且该信号通路的激活可能是BPAF引起MCF-7细胞增殖的关键机制,并且ERα也在其中起到了重要的作用.