Investigating the sources of the mutagenic activity found in a river using the Salmonella assay and different water extraction procedures

In the routine São Paulo state (Brazil) surface water quality-monitoring program, which includes the Salmonella microsome mutagenicity assay as one of its parameters, a river where water is taken and treated for drinking water purposes has repeatedly shown mutagenic activity. A textile dyeing facility employing azo-type dyes was the only identifiable source of mutagenic compounds. We extracted the river and drinking water samples with XAD4 at neutral and acidic pH and with blue rayon, which selectively adsorbs polycyclic compounds. We tested the industrial effluent, raw, and treated water and sediment samples with YG1041 and YG1042 and compared the results with the TA98 and TA100 strains. The elevated mutagenicity detected with YG-strains suggested that nitroaromatics and/or aromatic amines were causing the mutagenicity detected in the samples analyzed. Positive responses for the blue rayon extracts indicated that mutagenic polycyclic compounds were present in the water samples analyzed. The mutagen or mixture of mutagens present in the effluent and water samples cause mainly frameshift mutations and are positive with and without metabolic activation. The Salmonella assay combined with different extraction procedures proved to be very useful in the identification of the origin of the pollution and in the identification of the classes of chemical compounds causing the mutagenic activity in the river analyzed.     

Environmental Surveillance of Enteroviruses in Central Argentina: First Detection and Evolutionary Analyses of E14

Environmental surveillance is an effective approach to investigate the circulation of human enteroviruses in the population. Enteroviruses E14, CVA9, E-6, E16, E20, E25, E13, and CVA24 were detected in sewage and a watercourse in central Argentina. E14 was the most frequent serotype and was found for the first time in environmental samples in our region. Phylogenetic and coalescence analyses showed at least two recent introduction events.     

California sea lions (Zalophus californianus californianus) have lower chlorinated hydrocarbon contents in northern Baja California, México, than in California, USA

Chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHs) were determined in blubber samples of 18 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus californianus) that stranded dead along Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada, Baja California, México, January 2000-November 2001. Summation operatorDDTs were the dominant group (geometric mean 3.8 microg/g lipid weight), followed by polychlorinated biphenyls ( summation operatorPCBs, 2.96 microg/g), chlordanes (0.12 microg/g) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (0.06 microg/g). The summation operatorDDTs/ summation operatorPCBs ratio was 1.3. We found CH levels more than one order of magnitude lower than those reported for California sea lion samples collected along the California coast, USA, during the same period as our study. This sharp north-south gradient suggests that Z. californianus stranded in Ensenada (most of them males) would probably have foraged during the summer near rookeries 500-1000 km south of Ensenada and the rest of the year migrate northwards, foraging along the Baja California peninsula, including Ensenada, and probably farther north.     

Occurrence and risk assessment of organophosphate esters in urban rivers from Piracicaba watershed (Brazil)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are substances globally used as flame retardants and plasticizers that have been detected in all environmental...     

Using participation to create resilience: how to involve citizens in designing a hospital system?

Decisions on health-related risks affect many people personally. The public debate on hospital planning is therefore especially emotional and conflict-ridden. Due to the aging population and the high costs of constantly improving medical care, the question arises in many German rural areas as to which hospitals can be kept and developed further and which ones should be closed. The new approach of the present state government of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, in collaboration with the University of Stuttgart and the State Health Office Baden-Württemberg, is to apply citizen participation to prepare this type of decision. The design of this type of public participation process is based on the criteria of mediation (including open decision-making scope, opportunity for discussion in the protected context of the working group, as well as disclosure of all information and transparency of the results toward the public). This approach has proven useful for conducting dialogs in areas with potential conflict. Based on the experiences from this hospital participation process, further recommendations for an effective, efficient and fair participation processes could be derived. The case demonstrates that adequate and structured involvement processes are capable of delivering sustainably acceptable results even in difficult decision-making processes.