?Kochsalz verbieten?“ – ein nachdenkliches Vorwort zur Beitragsserie Regulatorische ?kotoxikologie

Zusammenfassung  Ziel der Beitragsserie „regulatorische ?kotoxikologie“ ist es, (i) die gesetzlichen Grundlagen, Prinzipien und Instrumente der ?kotoxikologischen Stoff- und Risikobewertung zu erl?utern, (ii) die Denk- und Arbeitsweisen von Regulatoren zu beschreiben, (iii) die Abstimmungs- und Entscheidungsprozesse in der Stoff- und Risikobewertung nachzuzeichnen, (iv) unterschiedliche Standpunkte zu strittigen regulatorischen Themen zu vermitteln und (v) aktuelle Entwicklungen in der regulatorischen ?kotoxikologie aufzuzeigen. Die Serie umfasst Diskussionsbeitr?ge und Originalarbeiten von Autorinnen und Autoren aus den ma?geblich beteiligten Interessensgruppen (Beh?rde, Industrie, Akademie, Umweltverb?nde), wobei mit unterschiedlichen Fragestellungen s?mtliche relevanten Stoffgruppen, Methoden und stoffgesetzlichen Regelungsbereiche (Biozide, Pflanzenschutzmittel, Arzneimittel, Abwasserreinigung, REACH, Wasserrahmenrichtlinie) adressiert werden.      

Bestimmung von Phthals?ureestern in Lebensmitteln, Frauenmilch, Hausstaub und Textilien

Zusammenfassung  Es wurden 25 Lebensmittel-, 5 Frauenmilch-, 4 Staub- und 16 Textilproben auf Phthals?ureester untersucht. In allen Proben waren Phthalate nachweisbar, wobei Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalat (DEHP) und Di-n-butylphthalat (DBP) am h?ufigsten gefunden wurden. In Rohmilchproben lagen die Gesamtphthalat-Konzentrationen im Mittel bei 0,1 mg/kg. Konsummilch wies keine h?here Belastung als Rohmilch auf, auch die Lagerung von Milchproben bis zum Ablauf des Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatums führte nicht zu h?heren Gehalten. Fettarme Milch war weniger belaster als Vollmilch. Die in Sahneproben gefundenen h?heren DEHP-sowie Gesamptphthalatgehalte lassen sich durch den h?heren Fettgehalt erkl?ren. Mit Konzentrationen von bis zu 1,54 mg/kg zeigten gemahlene Haselnüsse, Mandeln und Muskatnüsse, die in Kunststofffolie verpackt waren, eine vergleichsweise hohe Belastung. In S?uglingsnahrung waren nur Spuren von DEHP und DBP zu finden, weitete Phthals?ureester konnten nicht nachgewiesen werden. Auch die Frauenmilchproben wiesen nur geringe Gehalte von ca. 0,1 mg/kg auf, eine Akkumulation der Phthalester im menschlichen K?rper scheint also nicht stattzufinden. Au?ergew?hnlich hohe Konzentrationen wurden in Staubproben gefunden; die Werte lagen zwischen 300 und 5370 mg/kg Staub, wobei DEHP die Hauptkomponente darstellte. Die Belastung des Staubes l?sst auf eine erhebliche Bedeutung des Luftpfades beim Transfer der Phthals?ureester schlie?en. Da Staub erhebliche Anteile an Textilfasern enth?lt, wurden auch Textilien untersucht. Die Phthals?ureester-Gehalte in den Textilproben reichten von 3,42 bis 34,44 mg/kg. Die hohen Phthalester-Kontaminationen des Staubes k?nnen daher nicht durch Textilfasern erkl?rt werden. Online-Publikation: 07. Februar 2000     

Disturbance cues in freshwater prey fishes: do juvenile convict cichlids and rainbow trout respond to ammonium as an ‘early warning’ signal?

Summary.  Several freshwater invertebrate and vertebrate prey species rely on chemosensory cues, including non-injury released disturbance cues, to assess and avoid local predation threats. The prevailing hypothesis is that a pulse of ammonia released by disturbed or stressed prey functions as the disturbance cue. Here, we test this hypothesis in two phylogenetically distant freshwater prey fishes, convict cichlids and rainbow trout. In our first experiment, we measured NH₄ ⁺ concentration in tanks containing shoals of cichlid or trout before and after exposure to a realistic model predator (or left undisturbed). We failed to find an increase in ambient NH₄ ⁺ concentration for either cichlids or trout. In our second experiment, we exposed cichlids or trout to NH₄ ⁺ at 0.1 or 0.5 mg L⁻¹ (or a distilled water control) and measured the change in antipredator behaviour (time moving, foraging rate and area use). We found no consistent increase in antipredator behaviour in response to NH₄ ⁺. In our third study, we exposed cichlids and trout to the disturbance cues of cichlids or trout (versus the odour of undisturbed donors). We found significant increases in antipredator behaviour, regardless of donor species, for both cichlids and trout. Thus, the results of our first two experiments do not support the hypothesis that ammonium functions as a disturbance cue in prey fishes. However, the results of our final experiment do confirm the use of disturbance cues in convict cichlids and rainbow trout and support that hypothesis that the disturbance cue is indeed some generalized metabolic byproduct.     

Biologically active secondary metabolites in white clover (Trifolium repens L.) – a review focusing on contents in the plant, plant–pest interactions and transformation

Summary.  To exploit biologically active compounds from white clover (Trifolium repens L.) for suppressing weeds and soil-borne diseases, either as isolated products (biopesticides) or through cultivars with enhanced production of these compounds, the biologically active compounds must be identified, plant content measured, and their fate in soil known. The present review summarizes the published knowledge needed for such exploitation; providing essential information on structure and concentration of flavonols, flavones, condensed tannins, isoflavones, isoflavanones, pterocarpans, coumestans, cyanogenic glucosides, and saponins in healthy and stressed white clover plants. Various stresses and particular cultivars affect the concentrations of several of the compounds. Information on biological effects and the degradation/transformation of these compounds in plants or by microorganisms is available. There is no information on the degradation pathway in soil, the mechanisms of exudation and leaching of compounds from plants, and soil sorption properties of the compounds. The clover soil fatigue problem is increasing in grasslands and causes problems especially in organic farming. Research efforts focused on biological elements of clover soil fatigue have not explained it, and the influence of secondary metabolites has not been investigated. There are few investigations into the interaction between beneficial fungi/fungal-diseases and the occurrence of biologically active secondary metabolites in white clover plants. Such studies are critical to better understand beneficial fungi and pathogens.     

A review on the potential of citrus waste for D-Limonene,pectin, and bioethanol production

Citrus peel waste is a valuable lignocellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production due to its richness in fermentable sugars and low lignin content. Citrus peel contains two major value-added products: <span class="smallcaps smallerCapital">dspan>-limonene and pectin. <span class="smallcaps smallerCapital">dspan>-Limonene is widely used in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. However, it acts as a microbial growth inhibitor for yeast during the fermentation process and hence it has to be removed prior to fermentation. Pectin is used as thickening agent, gelling agent, and stabilizer in the food industry. Since pectin increases the viscosity of the fermentation medium and makes fermentation troublesome, it has to be either extracted or degraded into galacturonic acid using pectinase enzyme. Thus, the removal and recovery of both <span class="smallcaps smallerCapital">Dspan>-limonene and pectin from citrus peel are essential for better fermentation. For bioethanol production, pretreatment plays a crucial role in the utilization of citrus peels since the reduction of <span class="smallcaps smallerCapital">dspan>-limonene concentration to less than 0.05% is necessary. This review solely describes the potential of citrus waste for value added products such as <span class="smallcaps smallerCapital">dspan>-limonene and pectin and the production of bioethanol from citrus peel waste is discussed in detail.     

Optimization of the levels of grip force,stroke rotation,frequency and grip span for a torqueing task

This study was to investigate the effects of grip force, frequency, stroke rotation and grip-span on discomfort and obtain best posture for hand tool users. Fifteen male participants volunteered in this study. Participants performed combined gripping with torqueing exertions for 5 min for two levels of frequency (10 and 20 exertions/min) at two levels of grip force (50 and 70 N), two levels of stroke rotation (30^○ and 60^○) and three levels of grip-span (4.7, 6 and 7.3 cm). Therefore, a 2×2×2×3 full factorial design was used. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that frequency, stroke rotation and grip-span were significant on discomfort score. Minimum discomfort and comfortable posture was found to be 90 N grip force with 10 exertions/min for 60° stroke rotation at 6-cm grip-span. The grip force, frequency and stroke rotation were found significant on EMG activity of forearm muscles using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The extensor muscles were found more activated than flexor muscles during the given task.     

The Northern Mole Vole: Is It a Hibernator?

Based on the results of long-term field studies (1980–1997) and published data on the ecology of the northern mole vole (Ellobius talpinusPall.), it is assumed that these animals living in the Southern Urals and the Transural region do hibernate. The factors that cause their hibernation (freezing of the ground, the resultant unavailability of food, and hypoxia), some indirect evidence for hibernation (the cessation of tooth root growth from autumn to spring and a long life span), and characteristic signs of the preparation for hibernation (a decrease in body weight and an increase in liver weight) are considered. A hypothetical scheme of the active and dormant periods is proposed.     

Comparative sensitivities of the tropical cladoceran,Ceriodaphnia rigaudii and the temperate species Daphnia magna to seven toxicants

The toxicities of seven chemicals [cadmium (Cd) chloride, potassium dichromate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, potassium chloride (KCl), Triton X-100, zinc (Zn) chloride and copper (Cu) (II) sulfate] were determined using the tropical freshwater cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia rigaudii and the temperate species, Daphnia magna. Data generated was subsequently used to determine the relative sensitivities of both species, using interspecies correlation to compare the 48?h LC50 values for both species. The 48?h LC50 values for C. rigaudii ranged from 0.002?mg?L^?1 (potassium dichromate) to 21.1?mg?L^?1 (KCl), whereas those for D. magna ranged from 0.3?mg?L^?1 for Cu to 418.87?mg?L^?1 for KCl. The LC50 values for C. rigaudii were significantly less than that for D. magna for six of the compounds tested. The interspecies correlation also showed a low, positive correlation suggesting that the sensitivities of both species were not similar for the compounds tested. The sensitivity factors for C. rigaudii and D. magna ranged between 0.01 and 12.3. These values further suggested that for six of the compounds tested, C. rigaudii appeared to be more sensitive than D. magna. It is therefore possible that because of these differences in relative sensitivities, toxicity data generated with D. magna may not be appropriate for Trinidad.     

Effects of a phycotoxin,okadaic acid,on oyster heart cell survival

Okadaic acid (OA) is a dinoflagellate toxin which accumulates in shellfish producing diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) in humans. It was found that OA is a highly selective inhibitor of protein phosphatase types 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A) which produces a marked increase in phosphorylation of several proteins, including p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. The cytotoxicity attributed to OA and the effects on p38 MAP kinase and calcium current were examined in the oyster Crassostrea gigas in this study. Data showed that p38 MAP kinase is strongly expressed in oyster heart and that OA bioaccumulated in cultured heart cells. Hence the effects of OA was tested in vitro and in vivo on oysters. OA was found to (i) exert a positive chronotropic effect on cultured atrial cardiomyocytes which is related to an increase in calcium current via PKC as shown by patch clamp measurements, (ii) produce an activation/phosphorylation of MAP kinase as shown by Westernblot while the non-phosphorylated p38 remained constant during treatment, (iii) did not induce a pro-apoptotic effect. Data suggest that OA may also stimulate the anti-apoptotic pathway by phosphatase inhibition.