Organochlorine contaminants in the Vistula Lagoon sedimentation zone as possible source of lagoon recontamination

The presented results include decade of monitoring of the Vistula Lagoon waters and have been supplemented by the determination of chlorinated compounds, as well as on concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in the sedimentation zone. Monitoring of river waters entering the Polish part of the lagoon and the lagoon waters confirmed the presence of plant protection chemical; the largest contributors has lindane (34%) and DDT_total (21%); the same as for sediments were dominate lindane (19%) and DDT_total (14%) within pp-DDT isomer dominate (13%). In the lagoon water, PCDD/Fs were determined within a range of 1.5–5.6 ng dm^?3, leading to average toxicity of 0.18?±?0.13 ng TEQ·dm^?3. In sediments, their concentrations fell within a range of 22.7–405.7 ng kg^?1 dw and the average toxicity of the lagoon sediments was set at 5.00?±?1.98 ng TEQ·kg^?1 dw. Both in water and sediments, the greatest share among PCDD/Fs has octa-chlorodibenzodioxin. Due to the hydromorphological conditions of the lagoon, the waters are mixed to the bottom causing the surface layer of sediment to become remobilized—this is suggested as the key factor when it comes to water recontamination and increased access of POPs to marine organisms.     

Decision‐making behaviour during urban search and rescue: a case study of Germany

The objective of assisting with tasks and decisions during incident response is to reduce the risks to victims and rescue personnel while increasing the efficiency of the rescue operation. Handling uncertain information during urban search and rescue (USAR) missions represents additional stress to the decision‐maker. The aim of this study is to identify the decision‐making behaviour of rescuers during USAR missions to pinpoint trapped or buried victims in debris in order to design assistance technologies and decision‐support systems that meet their needs. In 2010, a survey was conducted among 10–15 per cent of all German rescue personnel specialised in search tasks. One of the major results of this survey is that a subjective assessment of the reliability of information available from heterogeneous sources influences the rescuers’ actions and that there is no methodology for decision‐making involving uncertain information. In addition, the study found that compliance with procedures does not require assistance.