Respiratory irritation due to carpet shampoo: Two outbreaks

Dried detergent residue left in carpets after they were shampooed with underdiluted carpet shampoo caused respiratory irritation among most employees in an office building and among all staff members and most children in a day-care center. Symptoms included cough, dry throat, difficulty in breathing, nasal congestion, and headache. Eye irritation was also noted by day-care center staff members. Symptoms persisted for many weeks until the carpets were wet extracted. The major ingredient of the three shampoo products implicated in these two outbreaks and in a third similar report in sodium dodecyl sulfate, a respiratory irritant in mice. Unpublished occupational investigations suggest that soap dust exposure may be associated pulmonary function abnormalities in some exposed workers. Detergent dust is a newly recognized example of indoor air pollution and should be considered when patients or employees complain of building-specific respiratory or eye irritation.     

Monitoring of symptoms in estimating the effect of intervention in the sick building syndrome: A field study

Employees in six day-care institutions were asked to fill out a simple questionnaire before and one year after technical changes were made in their buildings. The institution were defined as sick buildings, based on a prevalence (exceeding 40%) of irritative symptoms and general symptoms among the employees. Based on the technical measurements there were no obvious reasons for the complaints. It was decided, however, to remove man-made mineral-acoustic ceilings and to install mechanical ventilation. One year later there was a significant reduction in the prevalence of symptoms (irritative and general symptoms related to the sick building syndrome) among the employees. The study indicates that systematic monitoring of employees' symptoms before and after corrective action is an important indicator of the benefit of the actions and might be used routinely by architects, engineers, and local authorities in dealing with indoor climate problems. Follow-up studies might give more knowledge of the causes of sick building syndrome.     

Indoor radon concentration in geothermal areas of central Italy

The indoor radon (²²²Rn) activity concentration was measured between January and June in the schools of two geothermal areas in Tuscany, central Italy. One of these areas (the Larderello area) is characterized by a large number of geothermal power plants, covering about 9% of the world’s geothermal power production. In contrast, the other area, Monte Pisano, has not any such facilities. About 250 measurements were made using track etch detectors. Only a slight difference in the concentrations between the two major sampling areas (98 Bq m⁻³ for Larderello area and 43 Bq m⁻³ for Monte Pisano area) was found, and this was related to different geological characteristics of the ground and not the presence of the geothermal plants. The measured radon concentrations were always well below the intervention levels in both areas, and health risks for students and personnel in the examined schools were excluded.     

The activity of radon daughters in high-rise buildings and the influence of soil emanation

Forty measurements are reported in similar rooms in two high-rise buildings. The geometrical means for the concentration of radon daughters including and excluding the basement results, respectively, were 0.90 and 1.00 mWL, which is less than the quoted mean 2.0 mWL for 65 measurements in typical houses in the same city. The frequency distribution of these measurements shows a log-normal distribution. The concentrations did not depend on the distance from ground level but may depend on the ventilation rate of the room examined. The correlation between the concentration of radon daughters in WL in rooms above the first floor in the two high-rise buildings with the inverse of their ventilation rate were 0.73 and 0.67, respectively.     

Noise Impact and Improvement on Indoors Acoustic Comfort for the Building Adjacent to Heavy Traffic Road

A good acoustic environment is absolutely essential to maintaining a high level satisfaction and moral health among residents. Noise and other boresome sounds come from both in- door and outdoor sources. For the residential buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roads, outdoors traffic noise is the main source that affects indoor acoustic quality and health. Ventilation and outdoor noise prevention become a pair of contradictions for the residents in China nowadays for those buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roads. It is investigated that traffic noise emission is mainly con- stituted by the motors of trucks, buses and motorcycles as well as brake. In this paper, two methods of traffic noise reduction on the indoor sound environment and comfort are carried out to study and compare the residential buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roadway in a city. One is to install noise barriers on the two sides of the roadway, which consist of sound-proof glass and plas- tic materials. The effect of sound-insulation of this method is heavily dependent on the relative distance between the noise bar- rier and indoors. A reduction of sound with an average pressure level of 2–15dB is achieved on the places behind and under the noise barrier. However, for the equivalent of noise barrier height, the noise reduction effect is little. As for the places of higher than the noise barrier, the traffic noise will be even strengthened by 3–7dB. Noise increment can be seen at the points of distance farther than 15m and height more than noise barrier; the noise reduction effect is not satisfactory or even worsened. In addition, not every location is appropriate to install the noise barrier along the heavy traffic roads. The other method of noise reduction for the buildings adjacent to heavy traffic is to install the airproof and soundproof windows, which is the conversion from natural venti- lation to mechanical ventilation. A reduction of sound with an average pressure level of 5dB to 17dB can be achieved compared with common glass windows, if adopting sound proof glass win- dows. These two methods are helpful to isolate high frequency noise but not for low frequency noise. For those frequency noises, installing thick and cotton curtain and porous carpet can only decrease 2.4–4.5dB, which hardly contributes to indoor sound comfort, so further study is demanded to cut down traffic noise, especially to cut down the low frequency noise.     

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in matched samples of indoor dust and breast milk in New Zealand

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are present in many consumer goods. There is evidence that PBDEs are toxic to humans, particular young children. The purpose of this study was to assess indoor dust as an exposure source for PBDEs. Concentrations of 16 PBDEs were determined in dust samples from 33 households in New Zealand, and in breast milk samples from 33 mothers living in these households. Associations between dust and breast milk PBDE concentrations were assessed, and children's PBDE intake from breast milk and dust estimated. Influences of household and demographic factors on PBDE concentrations in dust were investigated. Indoor dust concentrations ranged from 0.1 ng/g for BDE17 to 2500 ng/g for BDE209. Breast milk concentrations were positively correlated (p < 0.05) with mattress dust concentrations for BDE47, BDE153, BDE154, and BDE209 and with floor dust for BDE47, BDE183, BDE206, and BDE209. The correlation for BDE209 between dust and breast milk is a novel finding. PBDE concentrations in floor dust were lower from households with new carpets. The estimated children's daily intake of PBDEs from dust and breast milk was below U.S. EPA Reference Dose values. The study shows that dust is an important human exposure source for common PBDE formulations in New Zealand.     

A pilot survey of blood lead levels in various types of workers in the United Arab Emirates.

The aim of the present study is to determine the effect of blood lead on the health of industrial workers in United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is a cross-sectional pilot survey of blood lead levels (BLL) of 100 industrial workers (exposed) and 100 non-industrial workers (nonexposed), matched for age, sex and nationality selected from Al-Ain, Abu-Dhabi Emirate. Industrial workers had significantly higher mean of BLL (77.5+/-42.8 microg/dl and median 80.9 microg/dl) than non-industrial workers (19.8+/-12.3 microg/dl and median 11.0 microg/dl). In the present study, reported symptoms among industrial workers were strongly associated with BLL nausea/vomiting, muscular symptoms, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, memory disturbances, insomnia and allergic conjuctivitis, rhinitis and dermatitis. Furthermore, the present study revealed that industrial workers had higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms for phlegm, shortness of breath and diagnosed asthma. In conclusion, this study determined that occurrence of certain symptoms might be associated with lead exposure among industrial workers.     

Symptoms prevalence among office workers of a sealed versus a non-sealed building: Associations to indoor air quality

ObjectivesAn increasing number of complaints related to time spent in artificially ventilated buildings have been progressively reported and attributed, at least in part, to physical and chemical exposures in the office environment. The objective of this research was to investigate the association between the prevalence of work-related symptoms and the indoor air quality, comparing a sealed office building with a naturally ventilated one, considering, specially, the indoor concentration of TPM, TVOCs and the main individual VOCs.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed to compare the prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms among 1736 office workers of a sealed office building and 950 of a non-sealed one, both in Rio de Janeiro's downtown. The prevalence of symptoms was obtained by a SBS standardized questionnaire. The IAQ of the buildings was evaluated through specific methods, to determine the temperature, humidity, particulate matter and volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations.ResultsUpper airways and ophthalmic symptoms, tiredness and headache were highly prevalent in both buildings. Some symptoms were more prevalent in the sealed building: “eye dryness” 33.3% and 27.1% (p: 0.01); “runny nose” 37.3% and 31.3% (p: 0.03); “dry throat” 42% and 36% (p: 0.02); and “lethargy” 58.5% and 50.5% (p: 0.03) respectively. However, relative humidity and indoor total particulate matter (TPM) concentration as well as total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) were paradoxically greater in the non-sealed building, in which aromatic compounds had higher concentration, especially benzene. The analysis between measured exposure levels and resulting symptoms showed no association among its prevalence and TPM, TVOCs, benzene or toluene concentration in none of the buildings.ConclusionsOther disregarded factors, like undetected VOCs, mites, molds and endotoxin concentrations, may be associated to the greater prevalence of symptoms in the sealed building.     

Analysis of transportation carbon emissions and its potential for reduction in China

The transportation industry is an essential sector for carbon emissions mitigation.This paper firstly used the LMDI(Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index)decomposition method to establish factors decomposition model on China’s transportation carbon emission.Then,a quantitative analysis was performed to study the factors influencing China’s transportation carbon emissions from 1991 to 2008,which are identified as transportation energy efficiency,transportation structure and transportation development.The results showed that:(1)The impact of transportation development on transportation carbon emissions showed pulling function.Its contribution value to carbon emissions remained at high growth since 1991 and showed an exponential growth trend.(2)The impact of transportation structure on transportation carbon emissions showed promoting function in general,but its role in promoting carbon emissions decreased year by year.And with the continuous optimization of transportation structure,the promoting effect decreased gradually and showed the inversed"U"trend.(3)The impact of transportation energy efficiency on transportation carbon emissions showed a function of inhibition before pulling.In order to predict the potential of carbon emission reduction,three scenarios were set.Analysis of the scenarios showed that if greater intensity emission reduction measures are taken,the carbon emissions will reduce by 31.01 million tons by 2015 and by 48.81 million tons by 2020.     

Monitoring and modelling of indoor radon concentrations in a multi-storey building at Mumbai,India

Radon (Rn(222)) levels in an indoor atmosphere of a multi-storey building at Mumbai have been measured for one year covering all the four seasons. Monitoring was carried out using the time-integrated passive detector technique, using Kodak-115 type Solid State Nuclear Track Detector (SSNTD) films of 2.5x2.5 cm size. Measured indoor radon levels showed a decreasing trend with height with concentration ranging from 41 Bq m(-3) at ground floor level to 15 Bq m(-3) at 19th floor level. Using the dose conversion factors, the inhalation dose due to breathing of radon gas is estimated to be 1.03 mSv y(-1) at the ground floor to 0.38 mSv y(-1) at the 19th floor level. Measured indoor radon concentrations on each floor were compared with the computed values using a mathematical model. The agreement between measured values and calculated values of indoor concentrations at different floors was very good within the limitations of various field parameter values.     

Children's well-being at schools: Impact of climatic conditions and air pollution

Human civilization is currently facing two particular challenges: population growth with a strong trend towards urbanization and climate change. The latter is now no longer seriously questioned. The primary concern is to limit anthropogenic climate change and to adapt our societies to its effects. Schools are a key part of the structure of our societies. If future generations are to take control of the manifold global problems, we have to offer our children the best possible infrastructure for their education: not only in terms of the didactic concepts, but also with regard to the climatic conditions in the school environment. Between the ages of 6 and 19, children spend up to 8 h a day in classrooms. The conditions are, however, often inacceptable and regardless of the geographic situation, all the current studies report similar problems: classrooms being too small for the high number of school children, poor ventilation concepts, considerable outdoor air pollution and strong sources of indoor air pollution.There have been discussions about a beneficial and healthy air quality in classrooms for many years now and in recent years extensive studies have been carried out worldwide. The problems have been clearly outlined on a scientific level and there are prudent and feasible concepts to improve the situation. The growing number of publications also highlights the importance of this subject. High carbon dioxide concentrations in classrooms, which indicate poor ventilation conditions, and the increasing particle matter in urban outdoor air have, in particular, been identified as primary causes of poor indoor air quality in schools. Despite this, the conditions in most schools continue to be in need of improvement. There are many reasons for this. In some cases, the local administrative bodies do not have the budgets required to address such concerns, in other cases regulations and laws stand in contradiction to the demands for better indoor air quality, and sometimes the problems are simply ignored.This review summarizes the current results and knowledge gained from the scientific literature on air quality in classrooms. Possible scenarios for the future are discussed and guideline values proposed which can serve to help authorities, government organizations and commissions improve the situation on a global level.     

99Tc in the sub-arctic food chain Lichen-Reindeer-man

The deposition, migration and annual variations of ⁹⁹Tc fallout in carpets of lichen collected during the period 1956–1981 have been investigated. The transfer of ⁹⁹Tc to reindeer and man has also been studied. Technetium showed a shorter mean residence time than ¹³⁷Cs in the lichen carpet. The activity ratio ⁹⁹Tc/¹³⁷Cs was generally lower than the theoretical fission ratio of 1·43 × 10⁻⁴. The maximum concentration of ⁹⁹Tc in lichens occurred in 1967 (ca. 60 mBq kg⁻¹) but in 1975 higher values were found than would have been predicted from fallout. The average depth integrated concentration of ⁹⁹Tc at 62·3°N, 12·4° E in 1972 was 540 ± 100 mBq m⁻². The studies of reindeer tissues show that technetium has a short mean residence time in the muscle tissues (ca. 5 days) and is not accumulated like ¹³⁷Cs. The committed dose equivalent from ⁹⁹Tc to the local Lapp population engaged in reindeer breeding is negligible.     

226Ra concentration in the teeth of habitants of areas with high level of natural radioactivity in Ramsar

The level of natural radiation in some regions of Ramsar, a northern coastal city of Iran, is known to be among the highest levels of natural radiation in the world. 226Ra existing in high concentrations in the soil of this region is washed by underground water and transferred to the surface. In this way, 226Ra enters the food chain of residents and substitutes within the hard body tissues of humans. 226Ra is one of the so-called bone seekers as its metabolic processes in the human body are similar to calcium and remains in hard tissues of body because of its long half-life, and being an alpha emitter causes dangerous effects on human health. The purpose of this study is to determine the concentration of 226Ra in the teeth of residents of these high-level natural radiation areas, compared with a control group. Thirteen teeth in five groups were studied as the case group and thirteen teeth in five corresponding control groups were inspected. The mean values of the activity of 226Ra in the case group and in the control group were 0.32 and 0.18mBqg(-1), respectively.     

Use of scenarios and strategic planning to explore an uncertain future in Greenland

Greenland is facing unpredictable changes due to ongoing exploration in the extractive sector. More exploration applications than ever are being submitted to the Greenlandic authorities and development trends are therefore hard to determine. Based on the challenge of securing strategic planning in the Greenlandic context, this article examines scenario building as a planning tool. An empirical study that uses local stakeholder input identifies nine primary driving forces to frame and setup four scenarios for potential Greenland futures. The study also demonstrates that there are significant barriers for strategic planning. These are related to creating an inclusive process, reaching agreement on values and content of the scenarios and securing coordination, ownership and commitment among the stakeholders.     

Comparative overview of indoor air quality in Antwerp, Belgium

This comprehensive study, a first in Belgium, aimed at characterizing the residential and school indoor air quality of subgroups that took part in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey and the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood [Masoli M, Fabian D, Holt S, Beasley R. Global Burden of Asthma, Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, University of Southampton; 2004.] questionnaire-based asthma and related illnesses studies. The principal aim was to perform a base-line study to assess the indoor air quality in Antwerp in terms of various gaseous and particulate pollutants. Secondly, it aimed to establish correlations between these pollutants investigated, the pollutant levels in the indoor and outdoor micro-environments, findings of the previous questionnaire-based studies and an epidemiological study which ran in conjunction with this study. Lastly, these results were compared and evaluated with current indoor and ambient guidelines in various countries This paper presents selected results on PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations and elemental C estimates as black smoke, as well as gaseous NO(2), SO(2), O(3) and BTEX concentrations of 18 residences and 27 schools. These are related to current guidelines of Flanders, Germany, Norway, China and Canada and evaluated with reference to selected similar studies. It was found that indoor sources such as tobacco smoking and carpets, the latter causing re-suspension of dust, are responsible for elevated indoor respirable particulate matter and place school children and residents at risk. Both PM2.5 and PM10 equalled or exceeded the current guidelines adopted by Flanders, noting that 12-h and 24-h PM2.5 were compared with an annual limit value. Indoor and ambient NO(2) concentrations in the school campaign were higher than the annual EU ambient norm. The other studied pollutant levels were below the current guidelines.     

Integration and implementation of sustainable ICT-based education in developing countries: low-cost,en masse methodology in Kenya

The quality of education in Kenya’s public elementary schools has continued to drop, which is an ironic outcome in the wake of the introduction of tuition-exempt primary education. This removal of tuition costs led to a surge in primary education enrollment that overwhelmed the existing educational infrastructure. Overcapacity in classrooms led to frustrated teachers and mediocre delivery of content amid the overstretched resources and limited education budget. To remedy this situation, the government has begun introducing various information and communication technologies (ICTs) in schools to supplement current resources. This comes with mixed results. This paper aims to demonstrate effective strategies for integrating low-cost ICT-based materials in schools in developing countries through a community of practice. Three schools were used to illustrate integration of sustainable ICT-based education in a style of classroom characteristic in developing schools. Development and use of prerecorded DVD-based content was proposed as an effective solution. A comparative study was undertaken to evaluate the differences in student comprehension and educator delivery of education involving a digital, ICT-integrated classroom and a traditional, analog-type teaching method classroom to underscore the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of introducing a low-cost ICT-based program. This study also shows that teachers are better positioned to lead the design and development of appropriate and innovative materials. Furthermore, to cope with the immense amount of materials that need developing to correspond with the curriculum, it shows that with the emergence of a community of practice of teachers, many suitable low-cost materials can be developed. This takes place through an iterative collaboration as opposed to traditional top-down approaches, which have a proven record of failure.     

Pesticide exposure and cancer among rural workers from Bariri, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

This article reports an environmental health study on risk identification. It discusses risk factors linked to rural work and pesticide contact in a restricted geographic area and shows the necessity of improving rural workers' health in the central part of Sao Paulo State. The municipality of Bariri, which is the case studied in this research, typifies this agriculturally based region. The study focuses on environmental problems engendered by modern agriculture that may have human-health repercussions such as cancer, as indicated by hard statistical association on an extended cause-effect time scale. For specific cases, the research used a database containing records of Amaral Carvalho Hospital, located in the city of Jau and a highly respected regional reference unit for over 85 years as one of the best in the Brazilian public health system for treating cancer. Statistics for age and gender were analyzed; relative risk was calculated for a group of cases registered from 2000 to 2002, as well as for a randomly selected control group from the same hospital. A map indicating the residences of cases (68) and non-cases (60) was made by geoprocessing techniques. For the period of time and the group studied, the authors concluded that the cancers of the skin and digestive system were the most prevalent. Bariri presented 24 cases representing all cancer types for each group of 10,000 citizens. The study indicated an almost two times higher probability of cancer development among rural workers, with a calculated relative risk between those exposed (agriculture workers) and the non-exposed (other occupations) of 1.6. No patterns of geographical distribution of cancer in that time period were recorded among rural workers of Bariri. However, the higher number of positive occurrences in the southwestern outskirts of the city indicated an area that must be prioritized in distributing environmental health information and conducting preventive education campaigns.     

Lead in vegetation,forest floor,and soils of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The scarcity of lead toxicity data for forest plant species and the increasing concern over the possible role of metals in the decline of forests in western Europe and thet Eastern United States necessitate that lead and other metals be closely monitored in these important forest ecosystems. Samples of vegetation, forest floor material, and soil were collected at five spruce-fir sites and two hardwood sites in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Mean forest floor lead concentrations were lower than average values reported in an earlier EPA study of lead levels in the GSMNP, and lower than recently published values for similar sites in the northeastern United States and western Europe. As expected, lead concentrations increased (1) with increasing age of coniferous foliage, (2) with increasing site elevation for foliage and forest floor material, and (3) with increasing degree of decomposition of forest floor material.     

Two-year follow-up study of nonregulatory recommendations for better air quality in indoor ice arenas

A standardized questionnaire was used in a two-year follow-up study to test the effectiveness of non-regulatory recommendations to improve indoor air quality of 103 ice arenas in Finland. In addition, the performance of a state-of-the-art emission control technology (ECT) on propane-fueled resurfacers was evaluated by measuring the one-week average nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentration in a small sample of arenas. The number of retrofitted ECT on propane-fueled resurfacers increased from 6 to 37 (8% to 37% of ice arenas) and the number of electric resurfacers from 7 to 9 (both 9% of arenas) in 1994–1996. At the same time, the prevalence of inadequate ventilation increased among the most susceptible small arenas (volume <30 000 m³) from 11 (31%) to 19 (38%). Combustion-powered resurfacers (88%) and inadequate ventilation (24%) were prevalent also among the 17 new arenas built in 1994–1996. ECT resurfacers significantly decreased the mean indoor NO₂ concentration of eleven arenas from 650 μg/m³ to 147 μg/m³. Thus, retrofitting resurfacers with ECT seems to be a feasible mitigation option to improve indoor air quality in ice arenas, but the ultimate solution is an electric ice resurfacer. Non-regulatory recommendations seem to be partially effective in abatement against the air quality problems, but additional regulatory measures are needed for full compliance in all arenas.     

Research on the management models of the rural primary water management from the view of public service: a case study of Zhejiang Province

The rural primary organizations of water management are the important parts of the public service system in the government administration. This paper studies several major management models of the rural primary water management in Zhejiang Province of China. The research result shows that ambiguous functions, lack of funding, and unreasonable personnel structure are the major problems of the rural primary water management. Therefore, it is urgent to improve service system, ensure sufficient funds, and qualify the population personnel of the rural primary organizations of water management.