Platin in Klärschlammasche und an Gräsern

Concentrations of platinum and lead were measured in common grass sampled near the Autobahn. Additionally, platinum was determined in spot checks of ash from seawage sludge incinerators to 1972. The increase in Pt levels since 1987 was traced back to releases from automobile catalytic converters. The emission rate of a car equipped with a catalytic converter has been estimated by comparison with Pb.     

Planning Tools for Developing Comprehensive Regional Monitoring Programs

We present a planning framework that structures thelarge amount of interrelated information involved indeveloping regional monitoring programs. By regionalwe mean programs that recognize the importance ofprocesses that occur on larger geographic scales andthat cut across more than one ecosystem component. Theframework helps visualize functional relationshipsamong qualitative ingredients such as public concernsand more concrete details such as individual dataelements. It portrays the flow of information amongthe components of a regional program and ties eachaspect of the program to management decision-makingneeds. This makes it easier, during the planningprocess, to ensure that monitoring will actuallyproduce useful information. Further, the frameworksnovel, graphically oriented, and readily accessibleformat makes key information equally available to thewide range of participants (regulators, scientists,managers, public) whose input and support arenecessary for program success.     

Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis

A number of different models of CF carrier screening have now been tested in pilot trials. Apart from opportunistic and cascade testing (which are strictly speaking not true forms of screening), the major programmes have been directed either to young adults in primary care or to pregnant women in antenatal clinics. Only in the latter form of screening has sufficient data been collected to allow conclusions to be reached on the optimum mode of delivery. It seems very probable that when CF carrier screening passes into routine service, it will be the antenatal couple model that is used.     

The use of amniotic fluid AFP action limits in diagnosing open neural tube defects

An analysis is made of alphafetoprotein (AFP) concentrations in 3630 amniotic fluids submitted for prospective prenatal diagnoses over a 7-year period. There were 89 cases of anencephaly, 74 of open spina bifida and 3467 with normal singleton outcomes. The AFP data were expressed in both standard deviations above the mean and multiples of the normal median for individual weeks of gestation. False positive and false negative rates were comparable in the two systems at selected cut-offs. It is concluded that either system may be used in setting action limits for the primary distinction of unaffected pregnancies from those in which an open neural tube defect is present.     

Magnetic properties of biogenic selenium nanomaterials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bioreduction of selenium oxyanions to elemental selenium is ubiquitous; elucidating the properties of this biogenic elemental selenium (BioSe) is thus...     

Benzene Exposure Assessment at Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Levels. The French Contribution to the Life MACBETH Programme

Many VOC represent hazards to human health through chronic exposure. Recent European and world-wide legislation proposes limit values for ambient concentrations of these compounds. However, very little experimental data exists for true population exposure. In 1996, the European MACBETH initiative set out to measure population exposure to benzene in six European cities. This study details the French contribution to this program. Six campaigns were carried out, each comprising measurements at 100 outdoor sites and the participation of 50 non-smoking volunteers who wore personal samplers and had passive monitors installed in their homes. Iso-concentration maps were drawn for each campaign and the results showed that outdoor concentrations were significantly lower than indoors. Almost 75% of the volunteers were exposed to mean concentrations higher than the limit value of 5µgm³. It is demonstrated that personal exposure levels cannot be deduced simply by combining indoor and outdoor background concentrations. It is also shown that there is need for better knowledge of the contributions to overall exposure of outdoor microenvironments and the authors hope that future European directives will take this into account.     

Fate of cancerostatic platinum compounds in biological wastewater treatment of hospital effluents

The present work focuses on the fate of two cancerostatic platinum compounds (CPC), cisplatin and carboplatin, as well as of two inorganic platinum compounds, [PtCl₄]²⁻ and [PtCl₆]²⁻ in biological wastewater treatment. Laboratory experiments modelling adsorption of these compounds onto activated sludge showed promising specific adsorption coefficients K_D and K_OC and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. However, the adsorption properties of the investigated substances were differing significantly. Adsorption decreased following the order cisplatin > [PtCl₆]²⁻ > [PtCl₄]²⁻ > carboplatin. Log K_D-values were ranging from 2.5 to 4.3 , log K_OC from 3.0 to 4.7.

A pilot membrane bioreactor system (MBR) was installed in a hospital in Vienna and fed with wastewater from the oncologic in-patient treatment ward to investigate CPC-adsorption in a sewage treatment plant. During three monitoring periods Pt-concentrations were measured in the influent (3–250 μg l⁻¹ Pt) and the effluent (2–150 μg l⁻¹ Pt) of the treatment plant using ICP-MS. The monitoring periods (duration 30 d) revealed elimination efficiencies between 51% and 63% based on averaged weekly input–output budgets. The derived log K_D-values and log K_OC-values ranged from 2.4 to 4.8 and from 2.8 to 5.3, respectively. Species analysis using HPLC-ICP-MS proofed that mainly carboplatin was present as intact drug in the influent and – due to low log K_D – in the effluent of the MBR.     

The historical record of PCB and PCDD/F deposition at Greifensee, a lake of the Swiss plateau, between 1848 and 1999

Dated sediment cores provide an excellent way to investigate the historical input of persistent organic pollutants into the environment and to identify possible sources of pollution. The vertical distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) was investigated in a sediment core from Greifensee to elucidate the historical trends of PCDD/F and PCB inputs between 1848 and 1999. Concentrations of PCB and PCDD/F increased by more than one order of magnitude between 1930 and 1960. PCB and PCDD/F concentrations were 5700 ng/kg dry weight (dw) and 160 ng/kg dw, respectively, in sediments originating from the late 1930s and reached a maximum of 130,000 ng/kg dw and 2400 ng/kg dw, respectively, in the early 1960s. From 1960 on, concentrations decreased to the 1930s level by the mid 1980s. A remarkable shift in the PCDD/F pattern was observed after the early 1940s. Before 1940, the PCDD/F pattern was PCDF dominated (ratio of PCDD to PCDF=0.41+/-0.11), while the PCDD started to be the major species after the early 1940s (ratio of PCDD to PCDF=1.46+/-0.38). The temporal trends of PCB and PCDD/F correlate surprisingly well with each other. This might be due to the coincidence of two factors. The introduction of PCB on the market in the 1930s resulted in emissions due to the widespread use of these industrial chemicals. In the same time period, waste incineration became an increasingly popular way to get rid of garbage, boosting the PCDD/F emissions significantly. The rapid decline of PCDD/F and PCB concentrations in the sediment starting in the early 1960s reflects the result of better emission control techniques in thermal processes and the improvement of waste water treatment in the catchment of Greifensee.