Setting the stage for the review of the international estimate of short-term intake (IESTI) equation

ABSTRACT

In the framework of setting Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides, both chronic and acute health risks to consumers arising from the long-term and short-term dietary exposure to pesticide residues have to be assessed. The current internationally harmonized approach for assessing the acute dietary exposure is based on deterministic methods for calculating the IESTI (International Estimate of Short-Term Intake). Recently, it became apparent that the IESTI approach needs a revision in the light of new scientific and political aspects. The main reasons that require this review were the lack of an international harmonization of the methodology which implies trade barriers as well as difficulties in risk communication concerning the public trust in regulatory systems. The most recent milestone in the scientific debate on a possible revision of the IESTI equation was an international scientific workshop held in Geneva in September 2015. The main objectives of this meeting were the re-evaluation, and where possible, the international harmonization of the input parameters for the IESTI equations as well as the equations themselves. The main recommendations from the workshop were (i) to replace the highest residue and supervised trials median residue with the maximum residue limit (MRL), (ii) to use a standard variability factor of three, (iii) to derive the P97.5 large portion value from the distribution of consumption values of dietary surveys expressed as kg food/kg bw/d, and (iv) to remove the commodity unit weight from the equations. In addition, the application of conversion factors and processing factors was addressed. On the initiative of the (World Health Organization) WHO Collaborating Centre on Chemical Food Safety at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands, an international working group with members from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, France (ANSES), Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Australia (APVMA), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Germany (BfR), Chemical Regulation Division, the United Kingdom (CRD), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and RIVM, the Netherlands was formed after the IESTI workshop to conduct a comprehensive impact assessment of the proposed changes of the IESTI equations.     

Towards a roadmap for sustainable land use in Europe

Regional Environmental Change -     

Investigating the strategic antecedents of agility in humanitarian logistics

This study investigates the strategic antecedents of operational agility in humanitarian logistics. It began by identifying the particular actions to be taken at the strategic level of a humanitarian organisation to support field‐level agility. Next, quantitative data (n=59) were collected on four strategic‐level capabilities (being purposeful, action‐focused, collaborative, and learning‐oriented) and on operational agility (field responsiveness and flexibility). Using a quantitative analysis, the study tested the relationship between organisational capacity building and operational agility and found that the four strategic‐level capabilities are fundamental building blocks of agility. Collectively they account for 52 per cent of the ability of humanitarian logisticians to deal with ongoing changes and disruptions in the field. This study emphasises the need for researchers and practitioners to embrace a broader perspective of agility in humanitarian logistics. In addition, it highlights the inherently strategic nature of agility, the development of which involves focusing simultaneously on multiple drivers.     

Determination of total content and isotopic compositions of plutonium and uranium in environmental samples for safeguards purposes by ICP-QMS

The aim of this work was to determine the concentrations and isotopic compositions of plutonium and uranium in environmental samples for safeguards purposes. An analytical method was developed with a plutonium and uranium separation procedure based on extraction chromatography (using 2 mL TEVA and UTEVA columns) and detection with a quadrupole ICP-MS applying an ultra-sonic nebulizer coupled with a membrane desolvation system. Starting from blank swipes, the background equivalent concentration (BEC) was 8 fg for ²³⁹Pu and 1 ng ²³⁸U. The method was successfully applied to certified reference materials as well as to round robin samples obtained in the framework of the inter-laboratory exercise program, promoted by the Brazilian–Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), together with the US Department of Energy (USDOE). After the introduction of an additional ion-exchange separation step, the methodology was applied to the IAEA-384 sediment reference sample with precise and accurate total plutonium and uranium, ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu, ²⁴¹Pu/²³⁹Pu, ²³⁴U/²³⁸U and ²³⁵U/²³⁸U atomic ratio results.     

Photosynthetic behavior of woody species under high ozone exposure probed with the JIP-test: a review

Visible ozone symptoms on leaves are expressions of physiological mechanisms to cope with oxidative stresses. Often, the symptoms consist of stippling, which corresponds to localized cell death (hypersensitive response, HR), separated from healthy cells by a layer of callose. The HR strategy tends to protect the healthy cells and in most cases the efficiency of chlorophyll to trap energy is not affected. In other cases, the efficiency of leaves to produce biomass declines and the plant loses its photosynthetic apparatus replacing it with a new, more efficient one. Another strategy consists of the production of pigments (anthocyanins), and leaves become reddish. In these cases, the most significant physiological manifestation consists of the enhanced dissipation of energy. These different behavior patterns are reflected in the initial events of photosynthetic activity, and can be monitored with techniques based on the direct fluorescence of chlorophyll a in photosystem II, applying the JIP-test.     

坦桑尼亚的海洋渔业

渔业资源是重要的食物来源,对沿850km长的坦桑尼亚海岸线和无数岛屿进行渔业活动的当地居民作出了有价值的经济贡献.小规模的个体渔业占该国家43 000多渔民渔获量的大部分,个体渔民主要是在大陆架内的浅水海域中作业,使用传统的捕鱼船,包括小船、阿拉伯三角帆船、轻舟、舷外撑杆船以及舢板等.采用了使用不复杂的捕捞方法,例如诱捕篓、围栏捕鱼器、网以及不同的钓具技术等.鱼的物种组成和大小随渔具的类型和位置而变.     

Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate

PROBLEM: Although there has been considerable interest in safety climate, relatively little attention has been given to the factors that determine safety climate or to testing the hypothesized mediating role of safety climate with respect to safety-related outcomes. METHOD: Questionnaire responses were obtained from 2,208 employees of a large national retail chain in 21 different locations. RESULTS: After controlling for demographic variables, three factors: environmental conditions, safety-related policies and programs, and general organizational climate, accounted for 55% of the variance in perceived safety climate. Interestingly, organizational climate made a significant contribution to safety climate, even after controlling for the other more safety-relevant variables. Partial correlations showed that safety policies and programs had the largest observed correlation with safety climate, followed by two of the dimensions of organizational climate (communication and organizational support). Using Baron and Kenny's (J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51 (1986) 1173) procedures, the principal effects of the various work situation factors on perceived safety at work were found to be direct rather than mediated by safety climate. Safety climate influenced perceived safety at work, but its role as a mediator was limited. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: These results are discussed in terms of other recent findings on safety climate and the growing interest in understanding management and organizational factors in the context of workplace safety.     

Drivers of Change in Hunter Offtake and Hunting Strategies in Sendje,Equatorial Guinea

Economic development in Africa is expected to increase levels of bushmeat hunting through rising demand for meat and improved transport infrastructure. However, few studies have tracked long‐term changes in hunter behavior as a means of testing this prediction. We evaluated changes in hunter behavior in a rural community in Equatorial Guinea over a period of rapid national economic growth, during which time road access to the regional capital greatly improved. We conducted offtake surveys (Supporting Information) over 3 7‐week periods at the same time of year in 1998, 2003, and 2010 and conducted hunter and household interviews (Supporting Information) in 2003 and 2010. We tested whether relations existed among catch, hunting effort, hunting strategy, and income earned through hunting and other livelihoods in 2003 and 2010. Although village offtake increased from 1775 kg in 1998 to 4172 kg in 2003, it decreased in 2010 to 1361 kg. Aggregate catch per unit effort (i.e., number of carcasses caught per hunter and per trap) decreased from 2003 to 2010, and the majority of hunters reported a decrease in abundance of local fauna. Although these results are indicative of unsustainable hunting, cumulative changes in offtake and catch per unit effort were driven by a contraction in the total area hunted following an out‐migration of 29 of the village's hunters, most of whom left to gain employment in the construction industry, after 2003. Hunters operating in both 2003 and 2010 hunted closer to the village because an increased abundance of elephants posed a danger and because they desired to earn income through other activities. Our study provides an example of national economic development contributing to a reduction in the intensity and extent of hunting. Factores de Cambio en la Captura de Cazadores y Estrategias de Caza en Sendje, Guinea Ecuatorial     

Recruitment of mates and deceptive behavior by male Tengmalm's owls

Summary Tengmalm's owl Aegolius funereus is a hole-nesting polygynous species in which female nomadism is a reaction to cyclic lows of staple prey. For 2 years during a peak in vole abundance, I examined recruitment of mates and male singing behavior in a local population. Females and about half of the breeding males seemed to arrive successively throughout the breeding period of the first year. In contrast, a majority of the breeding males and likely also females were already on the breeding grounds at the beginning of the breeding season in the second year. Before breeding in the first peak year, males were singing at up to five different nest holes. All early breeding males (67% of total number) continued to sing at secondary nest holes after attracting and installing primary females. Secondary singing locations were never closer than 300 m from primary females' nest holes, although closer locations were used for singing before mating. All bigynous males with nests within the study area were also singing at tertiary nest holes, but none successfully attracted a third female. Polyterritoriality was confirmed by a late male settling between primary and secondary nest holes of a bigynous male. Polyterritorial behavior and reduced breeding success of secondary females are in line with the deception model. Females apparently could not discriminate between paired and unpaired singing males. Females made short visits to different males before mating. During courtship, the number and quality of nest holes defended by males may have been of particular importance to female choice.