Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls levels in human breast milk from different regions of Turkey

Human breast milk offers the optimal nutrition for all infants and have been widely used in biomonitoring programs to assess human exposure to lipophylic environmental contaminants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). There are no previous reports from Turkey on chemically determined levels of PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs in human breast milk expressed as World Health Organization (WHO) toxic equivalents (TEQ). To get an overview of the levels of these contaminants in Turkish human milk, samples from 51 Turkish women living in the Ankara, İstanbul, Antalya, Kahramanmaraş, and Afyon provinces were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) throughout 2007. The mean concentrations of WHO_PCDD/F-TEQ and WHO_PCB-TEQ of all samples from the five regions were 7.5 and 3.1 pg g⁻¹ on a lipid basis, respectively. PCDD/F concentrations ranged between 0.78 and 29.3 pg WHO-TEQ g⁻¹ fat (1.7 and 36.2 pg WHO-TEQ g⁻¹ fat, respectively, including PCB). Of the five studied locations, the lowest levels of ∑TEQs (PCDD/F + PCB) were found in the Afyon (6.8 pg WHO-TEQ g⁻¹ fat) and the highest in the Antalya (15.6 pg WHO-TEQ g⁻¹ fat) province. The results have been discussed in terms of regions and PCDD/F and PCBs for which analyses had been made. The mean levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in Turkish human milk are comparable to that found in other countries.     

Simultaneous monitoring of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in contaminated air with semipermeable membrane devices and fresh spruce needles

The contaminated air with burning plastic floor and electronic scrap was monitored with semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and fresh unpolluted spruce needles at the same time for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It was found that there were more polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) than polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) collected from contaminated air. The total amounts of PCBs were much higher than that of PCDD/Fs, but the contribution of them to the WHO-TEQ was less than that of PCDD/Fs. Triolein-containing SPMDs can absorb much more PCDD/Fs and PCBs than spruce needles when they were exposed in contaminated air simultaneously. The logarithm of the concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in SPMDs and in spruce needles at the same sampling time exhibited a significant linear correlation, the correlation coefficients were larger than 0.86 for PCDD/Fs and 0.92 for PCBs. SPMDs and spruce needles are effective passive air sampler for PCDD/Fs and PCBs. SPMDs and spruce needles can complement each other in passive air sampling.     

Influence of H2SO4 and ferric iron on Cd bioleaching from spent Ni–Cd batteries

The paper is concerned with biohydrometallurgical methods of cadmium recovery from spent Ni–Cd batteries. Cd leaching efficiency from electrode material in different media (H₂SO₄ and Fe₂(SO₄)₃ solutions), at different Fe(III) concentrations and using the bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans were investigated. The main aim of this study was to understand which from the bioleaching products (sulphuric acid or ferric sulphate) play a main role in the bioleaching process of Cd recovery. The influence of Fe ions on Cd leachability was confirmed. The best leaching efficiency of Cd (100%) was reached by bioleaching and also by leaching in Fe₂(SO₄)₃ solution. The results of X-ray diffraction confirmed that no cadmium was present in solid residuum obtained after the Cd bioleaching as well as Cd leaching using solely ferric iron. The use of H₂SO₄ solution resulted in the lowest efficiency of Cd leachability, the presence of hydroxides in electrode materials caused neutralization of the leaching solution and inhibition of Cd leaching.     

Mountain spa rehabilitation improved health of patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome: pilot study

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - European Association of Spa Rehabilitation (ESPA) recommends spa rehabilitation for patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome. We tested the hypothesis...     

Quantification of present and past biomass productivity as a support to effective biomass management

We used statistical data including specific calculations to show how the productivity of different biomass categories varies with land use, environmental conditions and land management at national and local level in Slovakia. Three different study sites were selected. Averaged annual productivity of the total biomass from one hectare ranged from 5.96 to 12.03 t on arable land, from 4.02 to 15.20 t on grasslands and from 11.72 to 13.56 t on forest land. Although the biomass productivity varied among the various biomass categories and the study sites, the average annual values of the total biomass per hectare from productive land was about the same at all three study sites (11.62, 11.68, 11.78 t/ha). Detailed quantification of different biomass categories offered a variety of possibilities to use them for further applications in economy and ecosystem services. At the national level, the unused biomass could have produced 29.8 PJ (petajoule) of heat energy.     

Simultaneous monitoring of profiles of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated air with semipermeable membrane devices and spruce needles

Gaseous emissions of combusted electronic scrap, PVC, carpet and wood were monitored for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by simultaneous use of semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and shoots of spruce needles (Picea abies). It was found that phenanthrene, acenaphthylene and fluorene were the dominating PAHs in all samples. SPMDs and needles mainly sequestered PAH associated with the vapor phase. Particle-bound PAHs were only detected in small amounts, at which the needles tended to uptake more of these compounds in comparison to the SPMDs. Nevertheless, the logarithm of the concentrations of PAHs analyzed in both passive samplers after the same sampling period exhibited a significant linear correlation with correlation coefficients larger than 0.8073. SPMDs and spruce needles can complement each other in passive air sampling for compounds with a preference to the gas phase rather than aerosols.     

Health impact assessment of Roma housing policies in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparative analysis

Marginalised Roma communities in European countries live in substandard housing conditions the improvement of which has been one of the major issues of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, the ongoing intergovernmental European Roma programme. The paper presents EU-funded health impact assessments of national Roma housing policies and programmes in 3 Central and Eastern European countries in light of the evaluation of a completed local project in a fourth CEE country so as to compare predicted effects to observed ones. Housing was predicted to have beneficial health effects by improving indoor and outdoor conditions, access to services, and socioeconomic conditions. Negative impacts were predicted only in terms of maintenance expenses and housing tenure. However, observed impacts of the completed local project did not fully support predictions especially in terms of social networks, satisfaction with housing and neighbourhood, and inhabitant safety. In order to improve the predictive value of HIA, more evidence should be produced by the careful evaluation of locally implemented housing projects. In addition, current evidence is in favour of planning Roma housing projects at the local rather than at the national level in alignment with the principle of subsidiarity.     

Concentration of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dioxin-like PCBs in human adipose tissue from Turkish men

There is no previous report from Turkey on chemically determined polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human tissues expressed as World Health Organization (WHO) toxic equivalents (TEQs). The objective of this study was to determine the occurrence of PCDDs/Fs, and dioxin-like PCBs in the general adult Turkish population. For this reason we measured adipose tissue concentrations of PCDDs/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in 23 Turkish men living in Ankara,Turkey in 2004. PCDD/F concentrations ranged between 3.2 and 19.7 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat (5.34 and 42.7 WHO-TEQ/g fat, respectively, including dioxin-like PCBs). The mean concentrations of WHO(PCDD/F)-TEQ and WHO(PCB)-TEQ were 9.2 and 6.67 pg/g on a lipid basis , respectively. Samples were analyzed for PCDD/F and twelve dioxin-like PCB congeners using high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). This study is very important since it is the first report on PCDDs/Fs and dioxin-like PCB contamination in human adipose tissue from Turkey.     

Bacteria Degrading PCBs and CBs Isolated from Long-Term PCB Contaminated Soil

Bacteria able to degrade polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorobenzoic acids (CBs) were isolated from soil that had been contaminated with PCBs for 15–30 years. Contaminated soil in which PCB content ranged between 10–470 mg/kg was naturally vegetated with different plants including ash (Fraxinus excelsior), birch (Betula pendula), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) and goat willow (Salix caprea) trees as well as a variety of grasses and forbs. Bacteria able to use biphenyl as a sole source of carbon and energy were found in the root zone of all plants, but occurred in the largest numbers beneath pine and black locust. Bacteria able to degrade chlorobenzoic acids were isolated from the same location contaminated with PCBs. Strains that were taxonomically identified by 16S rDNA as Pandoraea were able to use 2-CB, 3-CB, 2,3-CB, 2,5-CB as sole carbon sources, and the strain Arthrobacter utilised 4-CB.