Toxicological assessment of river water quality in bioassays with fish

A series of bioassays with fish was developed in order to evaluate toxicological aspects of polluted rivers in The Netherlands. A long term exposition of trout to riverwater under standardized conditions enables the detection of pathological effects such as growth retardation, liver and kidney enlargement and changes in clinical blood parameters. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals and organochlorine compounds can also be measured. Embryo-larval tests with trout were less suitable, because of yearly variations in egg quality. In the near future, sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assays in vivo with Nothobranchius may become available for the detection of mutagenic effects. It was possible to measure trends in toxicological quality of Rhinewater with these tests. However extrapolation of results to ecosystems and tracing of the causes of changes occurring in waterquality are still problematic.     

Workplace incivility: A review of the literature and agenda for future research

A growing body of research explores workplace incivility, defined as low‐intensity deviant workplace behavior with an ambiguous intent to harm. In the 15 years since the theoretical introduction of the workplace incivility construct, research in this domain has taken off, albeit in a variety of directions. We review the extant body of research on workplace incivility and note the multitude of samples, sources, methodologies, and instrumentation used. In this review article, we provide an organized review of the extant body of work that encompasses three distinct types of incivility: experienced, witnessed, and instigated incivility. These three types of incivility serve as the foundation for a series of comprehensive models in which we integrate extant empirical research. In the last part of this review article, we suggest directions for future research that may contribute to this growing body of work. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FMEA and consideration of real work situations for safer design of production systems

Production equipment designers must ensure the health and safety of future users; in this regard, they augment requirements for standardizing and controlling operator work. This contrasts with the ergonomic view of the activity, which recommends leaving operators leeway (margins for manoeuvre) in performing their task, while safeguarding their health. Following a brief analysis of design practices in the car industry, we detail how the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) approach is implemented in this sector. We then suggest an adaptation that enables designers to consider real work situations. This new protocol, namely, work situation FMEA, allows experience feedback to be used to defend the health standpoint during designer project reviews, which usually only address quality and performance issues. We subsequently illustrate the advantage of this approach using two examples of work situations at car parts manufacturers: the first from the literature and the second from an in-company industrial project.     

Facing the water framework directive challenges: A baseline of stakeholder participation in the European Union

Public participation is a key element of Integrated Water Resources Management and, in the European Union (EU), is a major challenge in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which was adopted in December 2000. When new legislation enters into force it is essential to set a baseline against which to measure the progress towards the established goals at significant milestones of its implementation. This paper presents an assessment of the quality of stakeholder participation at the beginning of the WFD implementation in twenty countries belonging to or with close institutional relationships with the EU. The evaluation was completed by environmental non-governmental organizations and it shows that already in 2003 there were positive examples of stakeholder participation in several countries but that, in general, the WFD implementation will require significant efforts to improve on participatory practices throughout Europe.     

Multi-level interactions in a context of political decentralization and evolving water-policy goals: the case of Spain

Regional Environmental Change - Spain is a highly decentralized country where water governance is a multi-level institutional endeavor requiring effective intergovernmental coordination—in...     

Analysis of lipid peroxidation in animal and plant tissues as field-based biomarker in Mediterranean irrigated agroecosystems (Extremadura,Spain)

ABSTRACT

The development of field-based biomarkers can allow for a more reliable assessment of the exposure of organisms to pollutants. Different sampling sites, along two streams running through an irrigable agricultural area, were selected to evaluate the effect of agrochemical load on the measured endpoints. The levels of lipid peroxidation were evaluated in several organs of Procambarus clarkii. The same method was applied to leaves of two woody species. Determining levels of MDA (malonaldehyde) by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay allows measuring the levels of lipid peroxidation. Differences in lipid peroxidation levels were observed in P. clarkii individuals collected at different sites; however, the patterns varied depending on the organ (when accounting for variations due to sex). The use of a MDA-gills/MDA-hepatopancreas index allowed for discrimination between reference and polluted sites. Significant differences in oxidative damage between sites were found in the leaves of Quercus rotundifolia but not in Salix sp. The lipid peroxidation of crayfish organs and holm oak leaves as a suitable biomarker of environmental pollution deserves further investigation.     

PCB congener specific oxidative stress response by microarray analysis using human liver cell line

In this study we have examined the effect of exposure to different congeners of PCBs and their role in oxidative stress response. A metabolically competent human liver cell line (HepG2) was exposed with two prototype congeners of PCBs: coplanar PCB-77 and non-coplanar PCB-153. After the predetermined times of exposure (0–24 h) at 70 μM concentration, the HepG2 cells showed significant apoptotic changes by fluorescent microscopy after 12 h of exposure. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) identified oxidative stress as the predominant enrichment. Further, paraquat assay showed that PCB congeners lead to oxidative stress to different extents, PCB-77 being more toxic. This study, with emphasis on all recommended microarray quality control steps, showed that apoptosis was one of the most significant cellular processes as a result of oxidative stress, but each of these congeners had a unique signature gene expression, which was further validated by Taqman real time PCR and immunoblotting. The pathways involved leading to the common apoptotic effect were completely different. Further in-silico analysis showed that PCB-153 most likely acted through the TNF receptor, leading to oxidative stress involving metallothionein gene families, and causing apoptosis mainly by the Fas receptor signaling pathway. In contrast, PCB-77 acted through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. It induced oxidative stress through the involvement of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1) leading to apoptosis through AHR/ARNT pathway.     

Mercury in the Mediterranean. Part 2: processes and mass balance

Mass balance of contaminants can provide useful information on the processes that influence their concentrations in various environmental compartments. The most important sources, sinks and the equilibrium or non-equilibrium state of the contaminant in individual environmental compartments can also be identified. Using the latest mercury speciation data, the results of numerical models and the results of recent studies on mercury transport and transformation processes in the marine environment, we have re-evaluated the total mercury (HgT) mass balance in the Mediterranean Sea. New calculations have been performed employing three distinct marine layers: the surface layer, the thermocline and the deep sea. New transport mechanisms, deep water formation and density-driven sinking and upwelling, were included in the mass balance calculations. The most recent data have even enabled the calculation of an approximate methylmercury (MeHg) mass balance. HgT is well balanced in the entire Mediterranean, and the discrepancies between inputs and outputs in individual layers do not exceed 20 %. The MeHg balance shows larger discrepancies between gains and losses due to measurement uncertainties and gaps in our knowledge of Hg species transformation processes. Nonetheless, the main sources and sinks of HgT (deposition and evasion) and MeHg (fluxes from sediment, outflow through the Gibraltar Strait) are in accordance with previous studies on mercury in the Mediterranean Basin. Mercury in the Mediterranean fish harvest is the second largest MeHg sink; about 300 kg of this toxic substance is consumed annually with sea food.