The changing state of contamination in the Lagoon of Venice. Part 1: organic pollutants

The Lagoon of Venice is a transitional environment suffering from industrial, urban and agricultural impact. Recently the mechanical clam fishing, preventing a regular deposition of sediments has made sampling of cores suitable for radiodating very problematic. Therefore, in this study, in order to assess temporal and spatial trends of contamination, the same sampling scheme was repeated three times over a 12-year period. The concentrations of PCBs, PAHs and organochlorine pesticides were measured in the uppermost 5 cm of sediments collected in 25 sites in the central portion of the lagoon during three campaigns conducted in 1987, 1993 and 1998. Analytical results, validated statistically, indicated that, while PCB and pesticide concentrations tend to decrease during the considered period of time, PAH do not, showing that the input rate of these compounds to the lagoon environment is still important. A spatial trend of pollution was also found in the lagoon for PCBs and pesticides, which decrease from the sources, namely the industrial zone and the mouths of rivers, to areas closer to the sea: a reduction up to 80% and 90%, respectively, was monitored. PAH contamination, originating chiefly from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, as inferred from ratios of congeners, was mainly located around the historical center of Venice, where most of the boat traffic is concentrated and has an increasing trend.     

Mutagenicity of anaerobic fenitrothion metabolites after aerobic biodegradation

Previous studies have revealed that the mutagenicity of fenitrothion increases during anaerobic biodegradation, suggesting that this insecticide's mutagenicity could effectively increase after it pollutes anaerobic environments such as lake sediments. To investigate possible changes to the mutagenicity of fenitrothion under aerobic conditions after it had already been increased by anaerobic biodegradation, batch incubation cultures were maintained under aerobic conditions. The mutagenicity, which had increased during anaerobic biodegradation, decreased under aerobic conditions with aerobic or facultative bacteria, but did not disappear completely in 22 days. In contrast, it did not change under aerobic conditions without bacteria or under continued anaerobic conditions. These observations suggest that the mutagenicity of anaerobically metabolized fenitrothion would not necessarily decrease after it arrives in an aerobic environment: this would depend on the presence of suitable bacteria. Therefore, fenitrothion-derived mutagenic compounds may pollute the water environment, including our drinking water sources, after accidental pollution of aerobic waters. Although amino-fenitrothion generated during anaerobic biodegradation of fenitrothion was the principal mutagen, non-trivial contributions of other, unidentified metabolites to the mutagenicity were also observed.     

Transfer of radiocarbon liquid releases from the AREVA La Hague spent fuel reprocessing plant in the English Channel

The recent risk assessment by the North-Cotentin Radioecology Group (, 1999) outlined that (14)C has become one of the major sources of the low dose to man through seafood consumption. It was recommended that more data should be collected about (14)C in the local marine environment. The present study aims to respond to this recommendation. The estimation of (14)C activity in marine species is based on concentration factor values. The values reported here ranged from 1x10(3) to 5x10(3)Bqkg(-1)ww/BqL(-1). A comparison was made between the observed and predicted values. The accuracy of (14)C activity calculations was estimated between underestimation by a factor of 2 and over-estimation by 50% (95% confidence interval). However, the use of the concentration factor parameter is based on the biological and seawater compartments being in steady state. This assumption may not be met at short distances from the point of release of discharges, where rapid changes in seawater concentration may be smoothed out in living organisms due to transfer kinetics. The data processing technique, previously published by Fiévet and Plet (2003. Estimating biological half-lives of radionuclides in marine compartments from environmental time-series measurements. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 65, 91-107), was used to deal with (14)C transfer kinetics, and carbon half-lives between seawater and a few biological compartments were thus estimated.     

Packed in-tube solid phase microextraction with graphene oxide supported on aminopropyl silica: Determination of target triazines in water samples

On-line in-tube solid phase microextraction (in-tube SPME) coupled to high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was successfully applied to the determination of selected triazines in water samples. The method based on the employment of a packed column containing graphene oxide (GO) supported on aminopropyl silica (Si) showed that the extraction phase has a high potential for triazines extraction aiming to its physical-chemical properties including ultrahigh specific surface area, good mechanical and thermal stability and high fracture strength. Injection volume and loading time were both investigated and optimized. The method validation using Si-GO to extract and concentrate the analytes showed satisfactory results, good sensitivity, good linearity (0.2–4.0 µg L^?1) and low detection limits (1.1–2.9 ng L^?1). The high extraction efficiency was determined with enrichment factors ranging from 1.2–2.9 for the lowest level, 1.3–4.9 intermediate level and 1.2–3.0 highest level (n = 3). Although the analytes were not detected in the real samples evaluated, the method has demonstrated to be efficient through its application in the analysis of spiked triazines in ground and mineral water samples.     

Features of fatal injuries in older cyclists in vehicle–bicycle accidents in Japan

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and better understand the features of fatal injuries in cyclists aged 75 years and over involved in collisions with either hood- or van-type vehicles.

Methods: This study investigated the fatal injuries of cyclists aged 75 years old and over by analyzing accident data. We focused on the body regions to which the fatal injury occurred using vehicle–bicycle accident data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) in Japan. Using data from 2009 to 2013, we examined the frequency of fatally injured body region by gender, age, and actual vehicle travel speed. We investigated any significant differences in distributions of fatal injuries by body region for cyclists aged 75 years and over using chi-square tests to compare with cyclists in other age groups. We also investigated the cause of fatal head injuries, such as impact with a road surface or vehicle.

Results: The results indicated that head injuries were the most common cause of fatalities among the study group. At low vehicle travel speeds for both hood- and van-type vehicles, fatalities were most likely to be the result of head impacts against the road surface.

The percentage of fatalities following hip injuries was significantly higher for cyclists aged 75 years and over than for those aged 65–74 or 13–59 in impacts with hood-type vehicles. It was also higher for women than men in the over-75 age group in impacts with these vehicles.

Conclusions: For cyclists aged 75 years and over, wearing a helmet may be helpful to prevent head injuries in vehicle-to-cyclist accidents. It may also be helpful to introduce some safety measures to prevent hip injuries, given the higher level of fatalities following hip injury among all cyclists aged 75 and over, particularly women.     

Trees on the move: using decision theory to compensate for climate change at the regional scale in forest social-ecological systems

Regional Environmental Change - The adaptation of social-ecological systems such as managed forests depends largely on decisions taken by forest managers who must choose among a wide range of...     

Exposure assessment of operators to pesticides in Kongou,a sub-watershed of Niger River valley

The use of pesticides in horticultural sector in Niger has become an integral part of modern agriculture. Nevertheless, their inappropriate use can generate negative health effects to operators. A study was carried out among Kongou farmers in order to assess their potential dermal exposure (PDE). The UK-POEM model was used to quantify the PDE during mixing/loading and application according to the local practices. In order to determine which parts of the operator body are subject to most contamination during spraying and to validate the theoretical model used, a patch method was used with a tartrazine dye. The deposits of the tartrazine on patches were measured by colorimetry thanks to the absorbance value determined after their extraction in water and a calibration curve. A total of ten spraying trials (five trials with the hand-held sprayer and five others with the backpack sprayer) were performed by different producers at 0.5 and 1 m height for each trial. The survey shows that 92% of the farmers are illiterate and the most common active substances identified are organophosphate or pyrethroids insecticides. Seventy percent of operators do not use any personal protective equipment (PPE) during mixing/loading or spraying. The predictive systemic exposure levels vary from 0.0027?mg kg^?1 bw per day to 0.7692?mg kg^?1 bw per day for backpack sprayer and from 0.0261?mg kg^?1 bw per day to 0.9788?mg kg^?1 bw per day for hand-held sprayer, several times higher the Acceptable Operator Exposure Level (AOEL) for some actives substances. Theoretical modeling indicates more exposure of operator by a hand-held sprayer than a backpack sprayer. The patch method results show that the deposits of dye increase when the position of sprayer nozzle increases from 0.5 to 1 m for the two sprayers. All parts of the operator body are contaminated but lower body parts and chest are the most exposed. The patch method results also show that hand spraying contaminates operator more than backpack spraying, confirming the results of the theoretical model.