Levels and determinants of beta(1-->3)-glucans and fungal extracellular polysaccharides in house dust of (pre-)school children in three European countries

BACKGROUND: Mold growth is believed to be one causative factor underlying the association between dampness in buildings and increased respiratory morbidity. Measurements of beta(1-->3)-glucans and fungal extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) are used as markers of mold exposure in field studies. Little is known about their levels and determinants in homes. OBJECTIVE: To study levels and determinants of beta(1-->3)-glucan and EPS levels in mattress and living room floor dust in three European countries. METHODS: Mattress and living room floor dust was collected in the homes of 1065 German, Dutch, and Swedish (pre-)school children. All samples were analyzed for beta(1-->3)-glucans and EPS in one central laboratory. Determinants were assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS: Amounts of dust, EPS and beta(1-->3)-glucan levels differed between countries. Amounts of dust, beta(1-->3)-glucan and EPS levels for mattresses were only weakly correlated with those for living room floors. Floor dust beta(1-->3)-glucan loads, EPS loads and EPS concentrations were strongly correlated with the amount of dust sampled, which is largely determined by the type of floor that was sampled (carpeted floors had 5-20 higher amounts of dust). None of the other determinants was consistently and statistically significantly associated with amounts of dust, beta(1-->3)-glucan and EPS concentrations on floors and mattresses. CONCLUSION: Mattress dust and floor dust are two different measures of exposure to the investigated mold components. Living room floor beta(1-->3)-glucan and EPS loads and EPS concentrations are largely determined by the type of floor sampled. Differences between countries can only partly be explained by the determinants studied.     

Identification and pattern of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) isomers in human serum and plasma

Human serum and plasma from Sweden (n=17), the United Kingdom (the UK) (n=13) and Australia (n=40) were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The objective was to identify different perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) isomers. Similar isomer patterns typical for the electrochemical fluorination (ECF) process were found for all samples. The linear PFOS (L-PFOS) was the major isomer found (58-70%) followed by the monosubstituted PFOS isomers 1/6-CF(3)-PFOS (18-22%) and 3/4/5-CF(3)-PFOS (13-18%). Disubstituted isomers were also detected. The percentage of L-PFOS found in the serum and plasma samples was lower compared to a standard PFOS product (76-79%). The pattern of PFOS isomers in human serum and plasma may be suggestive concerning potential isomeric discrimination since PFOS is only produced by ECF. Possibilities for such isomer discrimination are discussed. Significant higher content of L-PFOS (68%) in Swedish samples compared to Australia and the UK (59%) was also found, which may suggest differences in exposure sources for humans.     

Dramatic effect of pop-up satellite tags on eel swimming

The journey of the European eel to the spawning area in the Sargasso Sea is still a mystery. Several trials have been carried out to follow migrating eels with pop-up satellite tags (PSATs), without much success. As eels are very efficient swimmers, tags likely interfere with their high swimming efficiency. Here we report a more than twofold increase in swimming cost caused by a regular small satellite tag. The impact was determined at a range of swimming speeds with and without tag in a 2-m swimming tunnel. These results help to explain why the previous use of PSATs to identify spawning sites in the Sargasso Sea was thus far unsuccessful.     

Water quality in rice-growing watersheds in a Mediterranean climate

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) agriculture is estimated to cover 161 million ha of land on Earth, with 10% grown in temperate regions. Currently there are strong concerns about surface water nutrient pollution, and the purpose of this study was to determine the impacts of temperate rice cultivation on nutrient dynamics at the small watershed scale. Over the course of the 2008 growing season (May through September), bi-weekly grab samples were collected from outlets of 11 agricultural subwatersheds in California. Samples were analyzed for NO₃-N, NH₄-N, PO₄-P, K, and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations, and the average values across all subwatersheds and sampling dates were 0.22, 0.031, 0.047, 1.36, and 0.32 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Linear mixed effects analysis was used to evaluate the magnitude of relationships between nutrient concentration and flux and subwatershed characteristics (i.e. percent soil clay and organic matter, percent rice area, irrigation water reuse, subwatershed discharge, irrigated area, and time, measured as the day in the growing season). For all nutrients, flux decreased over time and increased with discharge. Concentrations of K and DON were highest at the start and end of the growing season. Concentrations of NH₄-N were near non-detect levels, with the exception of a peak in mid-July, which corresponds to when many growers top-dress rice fields with N fertilizer. Nitrate-N concentration and flux decreased with percent rice area, whereas PO₄-P concentrations increased with percent rice area, indicating that rice area should be considered in future watershed-scale studies of nutrient discharge. In all subwatersheds, the discharge loads of K were smaller than surface water input loads, while NO₃-N, NH₄-N, PO₄-P, and DON discharge loads exceeded input loads when total growing season discharge was greater than 3500-6600 m³ ha⁻¹. This implies that the management of subwatershed discharge can be used to control nutrient export from rice-growing areas.     

FloodProBE: technologies for improved safety of the built environment in relation to flood events

The FloodProBE project started as a FP7 research project in November 2009.Floods, together with wind related storms, are considered the major natural hazard in the EU in terms of risk to people and assets. In order to adapt urban areas (in river and coastal zones) to prevent flooding or to be better prepared for floods, decision makers need to determine how to upgrade flood defences and increasing flood resilience of protected buildings and critical infrastructure (power supplies, communications, water, transport, etc.) and assess the expected risk reduction from these measures.The aim of the FloodProBE-project is to improve knowledge on flood resilience and flood protection performance for balancing investments in flood risk management in urban areas. To this end, technologies, methods and tools for assessment purposes and for the adaptation of new and existing buildings and critical infrastructure are developed, tested and disseminated.Three priority areas are addressed by FloodProBE. These are: (i) vulnerability of critical infrastructure and high-density value assets including direct and indirect damage, (ii) the assessment and reliability of urban flood defences including the use of geophysical methods and remote sensing techniques and (iii) concepts and technologies for upgrading weak links in flood defences as well as construction technologies for flood proofing buildings and infrastructure networks to increase the flood resilience of the urban system.The primary impact of FloodProBE in advancing knowledge in these areas is an increase in the cost-effectiveness (i.e. performance) of new and existing flood protection structures and flood resilience measures.     

Primary and secondary organic winter aerosols in Mediterranean cities under different mixing layer conditions (Barcelona and Granada)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - PM10 was collected during an EMEP winter campaign of 2017–2018 in two urban background sites in Barcelona (BCN) and Granada (GRA), two...     

A novel survey of raptor collections in Europe and their potential to provide samples for pan-European contaminant monitoring

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper provides a novel survey of current collections of frozen raptor carcasses and tissue samples in natural history museums (NHMs),...     

Higher Cd adsorption on biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles

Cadmium (Cd) is a carcinogenic metal contaminating the environment and ending up in wastewaters. There is therefore a need for improved methods to remove Cd by adsorption. Biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles have been shown to adsorb Zn, Cu and Hg, but these nanoparticles have not been tested for Cd removal. Here we studied the time-dependency and adsorption isotherm of Cd onto biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles using batch adsorption experiments. We measured ζ-potential values to assess the stability of nanoparticles loaded with Cd. Results show that the maximum Cd adsorption capacity amounts to 176.8 mg of Cd adsorbed per g of biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles. The ζ-potential of Cd-loaded nanoparticles became less negative from ?32.7 to ?11.7 mV when exposing nanoparticles to an initial Cd concentration of 92.7 mg L^?1. This is the first study that demonstrates the high Cd uptake capacity of biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles, of 176.8 mg g^?1, when compared to that of traditional adsorbents such as carboxyl-functionalized activated carbon, of 13.5 mg g^?1. An additional benefit is the easy solid–liquid separation by gravity settling due to coagulation of Cd-loaded biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles.     

Soil and plant biodegradation of chlorpyrifos in fields of cauliflower and brussels sprouts crops

For the protection of early and summer cauliflower and brussels sprouts crops against root fly, the insecticide chlorpyrifos was applied at planting onto soil around the stem of the plant, or in the planting line. In the soil, chlorpyrifos (1) was transformed into the insecticide metabolites oxon, 0,0‐diethyl‐0‐(3,5,6‐tri‐chloro‐2‐pyridinyl) phosphate (2), and 3,5,6‐trichloro‐2‐pyridinol (3). The soil half life time of chlorpyrifos could be 2.8 times greater (42 days relative to 15 days) when the field history as to cauliflower monoculture and insecticide treatments was short (1 year), than when it was long (8 years). Rains and season also had cumulative effects on the chlorpyrifos soil half life times. In the leaves of cabbage, chlorpyrifos and compound 3 were observed at concentrations which were higher, especially when their soil concentrations were high. Chlorpyrifos and compounds 2 and 3 however were not detected in the “flower” of cauliflower, nor in the brussels sprouts itself, the limit of sensitivity being 0.02 ppm of fresh weight.