Air pollution and the demand for hospital services: a review

Time-series studies published since 1993 on the association between short-term changes in air quality and use of hospital services, including both inpatient and emergency room use, are reviewed. The use of nonparametric analysis, often incorporating generalized additive models (GAMs), has increased greatly since the early 1990s. There have also been three major multi-city studies, which together analyzed data from well over 100 cities in Europe and North America. Various air pollutants, especially ozone (O(3)), particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), were generally found to be significantly associated with increased use of hospital services. Ozone tends to have stronger effects in the summer during periods of higher concentrations. Several studies revealed synergistic effects between pollutants such as PM and SO(2). Overall, short-term exposure to air pollutants is found to be an important predictor of increased hospital and emergency room use around the world.     

Comparison of Multiple Passage Integrated Cell Culture-PCR and Cytopathogenic Effects in Cell Culture for the Assessment of Poliovirus Survival in Water

The goal of this study was to determine if a cytopathogenic effects (CPE) cell culture assay and an integrated cell culture PCR (ICC-PCR) assay would yield similar or different results when used to assess virus survival in water. Poliovirus type 1 was added to dechlorinated tapwater and stored at room temperature (22.5–24°C) for a total of 50 days. Samples were assayed at defined time intervals by the most probable number (MPN) method on Buffalo green monkey kidney cells (BGM) by CPE and additionally by ICC-PCR. Monolayers that were CPE negative on first passage were passed onto fresh monolayers of cells for a second and third time if still negative. By CPE assay, second passage was observed to yield a greater titer (2,300 vs. 24,000 MPN/ml) and third passage also resulted in an increased titer. ICC-PCR proved to be a more rapid and sensitive method than conventional cell culture for determining virus inactivation rates in water. Poliovirus survived in tapwater for up to 32 days, as assessed by both third passage ICC-PCR and CPE. There was no statistical difference in the inactivation rates between the two methods. To determine the total number of infectious viruses, these findings indicate the need for performing three cell culture passages or, alternatively, ICC-PCR on first passage.     

Environmental Conditions Leading to Shellfish Contamination and Related Outbreaks

Human fecal wastes contain a large variety of viruses that can enter the environment through discharge of waste materials from infected individuals. Despite the high diversity of viruses that are introduced into the environment by human fecal pollution, only a few have been recognized to cause disease in association with consumption of contaminated shellfish. To explain bivalve mollusks contamination, several factors including human epidemiology, virus persistence through sewage treatment plant, and shellfish uptake may be suggested. Considering different outbreaks described in the literature, the most common route for transmission is accidental contamination after heavy rainfall, when extra loads cause an overflow, and release of untreated sewage into the aquatic environment. Outbreak analysis also demonstrates the impact on shellfish consumption of some viral strain transmission and thus their impact on molecular epidemiology, especially for norovirus. To limit shellfish contamination and thus to protect the consumer, the most desirable and effective option is to reduce the viral input.     

Assessment of the Antiviral Properties of Zeolites Containing Metal Ions

The antiviral properties of zeolite (sodium aluminosilicate) powders amended with metal ions were assessed using human coronavirus 229E, feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), and feline calicivirus F-9. Zeolites containing silver and silver/copper caused significant reductions of coronavirus 229E after 1 h in suspension. The silver/copper combination yielded a >5.13-log₁₀ reduction within 24 h. It was also the most effective (>3.18-log₁₀) against FIPV after 4 h. Other formulations were ineffective against FIPV. On plastic coupons with incorporated silver/copper-zeolites, >1.7-log₁₀ and >3.8-log₁₀ reductions were achieved for coronavirus 229E and feline calicivirus within 24 h, respectively. Silver/copper zeolite reduced titers of all viruses tested, suggesting that it may be effective against related pathogens of interest [i.e., SARS coronavirus, other coronaviruses, human norovirus (calicivirus)]. Of note, it was effective against both enveloped and nonenveloped viruses. Metal-zeolites could therefore possibly be used in applications to reduce virus contamination of fomites and thus the spread of viral diseases.     

Regional and Temporal Differences in Nitrate Trends Discerned from Long‐Term Water Quality Monitoring Data

Riverine nitrate (NO₃) is a well‐documented driver of eutrophication and hypoxia in coastal areas. The development of the elevated river NO₃ concentration is linked to anthropogenic inputs from municipal, agricultural, and atmospheric sources. The intensity of these sources has varied regionally, through time, and in response to multiple causes such as economic drivers and policy responses. This study uses long‐term water quality, land use, and other ancillary data to further describe the evolution of river NO₃ concentrations at 22 monitoring stations in the United States (U.S.). The stations were selected for long‐term data availability and to represent a range of climate and land‐use conditions. We examined NO₃ at the monitoring stations, using a flow‐weighting scheme meant to account for interannual flow variability allowing greater focus on river chemical conditions. River NO₃ concentration increased strongly during 1945‐1980 at most of the stations and have remained elevated, but stopped increasing during 1981‐2008. NO₃ increased to a greater extent at monitoring stations in the Midwest U.S. and less so at those in the Eastern and Western U.S. We discuss 20th Century agricultural development in the U.S. and demonstrate that regional differences in NO₃ concentration patterns were strongly related to an agricultural index developed using principal components analysis. This unique century‐scale dataset adds to our understanding of long‐term NO₃ patterns in the U.S.     

Modelling of BP Texas City refinery accident using dynamic risk assessment approach

Process industries involve handling of hazardous substances which on release may potentially cause catastrophic consequences in terms of assets lost, human fatalities or injuries and loss of public confidence of the company. In spite of using endless end-of-the-pipe safety systems, tragic accidents such as BP Texas City refinery still occur. One of the main reasons of such rare but catastrophic events is lack of effective monitoring and modelling approaches that provide early warnings and help to prevent such event. To develop a predictive model one has to rely on past occurrence data, as such events are rare, enough data are usually not available to better understand and model such behavior. In such situations, it is advisable to use near misses and incident data to predict system performance and estimate accident likelihood. This paper is an attempt to demonstrate testing and validation of one such approach, dynamic risk assessment, using data from the BP Texas City refinery incident.Dynamic risk assessment is a novel approach which integrates Bayesian failure updating mechanism with the consequence assessment. The implementation of this methodology to the BP Texas City incident proves that the approach has the ability to learn from near misses, incident, past accidents and predict event occurrence likelihood in the next time interval.     

Physiological responses and phytoremediation capacity of floating and submerged aquatic macrophytes exposed to ciprofloxacin

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) water contamination is a global concern, having reached disturbing concentrations and threatening the aquatic ecosystems. We...     

Evaluation of phytotoxicity of three organic amendments to collard greens using the seed germination bioassay

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Small-scale vegetable and fruit crop producers in the USA use locally available commercial organic fertilizers and soil amendments recycled from...     

Analysis of potentially toxic metal constraints to apply sewage sludge in Portuguese agricultural soils

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The application of sewage sludge (SS) in the soil can be a valuable way to increase its content of organic matter. However, the concentration of...