Updating federal standards for toxicants: n-Hexane as the model

Regulatory agencies commonly set standards for a myriad of chemical and physical hazards, with a special focus on carcinogens. This focus can obscure the need to update previously set standards for non-carcinogenic hazards in response to new scientific data. This paper considers n-hexane as a representative chemical hazard: the occupational standard of 500 ppm over an 8 hr time weighted average for a 40 hr week as set in 1948. In the last 12 yr, n-hexane has been shown to cause adverse effects on the peripheral and central nervous systems, the eye, and the respiratory tract. Yet, these new data have not, as yet, been incorporated into a revised standard for n-hexane. The lack of scientific data on the carcinogenicity of n-hexane may be an underlying reason explaining the failure of regulatory agencies to revise their standards. Perhaps, the most troubling problem to regulatory agencies is the sheer magnitude of the chemical regulatory burden. Research should proceed on developing meaningful categories or groupings both for the initial setting of standards and for revising existing standards.     

The older driver with dementia: an updated literature review

INTRODUCTION: At some point during their illness, drivers with dementia pose a public safety risk. METHOD: To address the issue of determining driving competence in drivers with dementia, the authors reviewed 11 studies. RESULTS: When comparing different driving assessments, the authors found that while road tests, simulators, and neuropsychological tests are important, each has limitations. CONCLUSION: Neuropsychological tests that highlighted visual spatial skills, attention, and reaction time provided the most meaningful correlations with driving performance. Furthermore, the authors recommend that patients with MMSE scores of 24 or less have a driving evaluation, and that driving evaluations be repeated at six month intervals or more frequently if a noticeable decline is observed. IMPACT: Because many older adults with dementia continue to drive, competence must be addressed.     

Safety of stationary grinding machines – impact resistance of work zone enclosures

Guards on machine tools are intended to protect persons from being injured by parts ejected with high kinetic energy from the work zone of the machine. Stationary grinding machines are a typical example. Generally such machines are provided with abrasive product guards closely enveloping the grinding wheel. However, many machining tasks do not allow the use of abrasive product guards. In such cases, the work zone enclosure has to be dimensioned so that, in case of failure, grinding wheel fragments remain inside the machine’s working zone. To obtain data for the dimensioning of work zone enclosures on stationary grinding machines, which must be operated without an abrasive product guard, burst tests were conducted with vitrified grinding wheels. The studies show that, contrary to widely held opinion, narrower grinding wheels can be more critical concerning the impact resistance than wider wheels although their fragment energy is smaller.     

Challenges to measuring,monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ecuador

Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador is an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) region with approximately 6000 gold miners working with mercury and cyanide. Although artisanal gold mining (AGM) has taken place in Portovelo-Zaruma for centuries, highly mechanized small-scale gold mining (SGM) processing plants capable of increased throughput began being built in the 1990s. While there are benefits associated with ASGM, there are also negative impacts experienced by the miners and the surrounding communities. To take advantage of ASGM as a poverty-alleviating mechanism while reducing unwanted externalities, the cumulative impacts must be understood. Numerous challenges to measuring, monitoring, and addressing ASGM impacts result from the complexity of the impacts themselves, the nature of the gold mining as an informal industry, and the shortfalls in the current regulatory framework. These are discussed in the context of ongoing, unresolved issues including efforts to address trans-boundary water pollution, management of mining waste, and conflicts regarding priorities, ambiguities, and enforcement of existing regulations and policies. Internationally, interventions to address both AGM and SGM impacts have typically focused almost exclusively on technological changes through the elimination of mercury use. Our analysis suggests that to better address ASGM and their cumulative impacts in Ecuador, it will be beneficial to revisit the legal definitions of AGM and SGM. Additionally, promotion of information-based strategies including educational outreach programs and cross-scale and cross-level mitigation methods may also be beneficial. The success of these strategies to reduce ASGM-related cumulative impacts will depend on sufficient funding and the commitment of stakeholders.     

MEDICAL MISSION TO A REFUGEE CAMP IN THAILAND

Abstract— During the latter part of 1979, hundreds of thousands of Kampuchean refugees fled from all parts of their war-and hunger-ridden country to the Thai–Cambodian border, thousands perishing from hunger, disease and by stepping onto mine fields on their way. The majority of those who survived settled in several large villages straddling the border in relative security from the advancing Vietnamese army, receiving food and medical supplies from many international welfare organizations.
Widespread public interest in the plight of these refugees arose in Israel after a television program late in October 1979, and a public campaign was initiated by Mr. Abie Nathan, an Israeli citizen. The ensuing large-scale fund raising efforts resulted in the substantial sum of 1.2 million dollars, most of which originated from private donations. These contributions enabled the Israeli government to equip 5 medical teams and send them to Thailand, covering the last 2 months of 1979 and the first 4 months of 1980.
The first medical team, consisting of 5 physicians and 4 medics started i t s work in the camp of SaKaeo in Thailand on 4th November 1979.
This paper summarizes our experiences in this refugee camp.     

Current EU-27 technical potential of organic waste streams for biogas and energy production

Anaerobic digestion of organic waste generated by households, businesses, agriculture, and industry is an important approach as method of waste treatment – especially with regard to its potential as an alternative energy source and its cost-effectiveness. Separate collection of biowaste from households or vegetal waste from public green spaces is already established in some EU-27 countries. The material recovery in composting plants is common for biowaste and vegetal waste. Brewery waste fractions generated by beer production are often used for animal feeding after a suitable preparation. Waste streams from paper industry generated by pulp and paper production such as black liquor or paper sludge are often highly contaminated with toxic substances. Recovery of chemicals and the use in thermal processes like incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification are typical utilization paths. The current utilization of organic waste from households and institutions (without agricultural waste) was investigated for EU-27 countries with Germany as an in-depth example. Besides of biowaste little is known about the suitability of waste streams from brewery and paper industry for anaerobic digestion. Therefore, an evaluation of the most important biogas process parameters for different substrates was carried out, in order to calculate the biogas utilization potential of these waste quantities. Furthermore, a calculation of biogas energy potentials was carried out for defined waste fractions which are most suitable for anaerobic digestion. Up to 1% of the primary energy demand can be covered by the calculated total biogas energy potential. By using a “best-practice-scenario” for separately collected biowaste, the coverage of primary energy demand may be increased above 2% for several countries. By using sector-specific waste streams, for example the German paper industry could cover up to 4.7% and the German brewery industry up to 71.2% of its total energy demand.     

Laboratory and field evidence of the photonitration of 4-chlorophenol to 2-nitro-4-chlorophenol and of the associated bicarbonate effect

Background, aim and scope  

Photochemical processes can decontaminate the aqueous environment from xenobiotics, but they also produce secondary pollutants. This paper presents field and laboratory evidence of the transformation of 4-chlorophenol (4CP) into 2-nitro-4-chlorophenol (2N4CP).     

A comparison of relative abundance versus class data in diatom-based quantitative reconstructions

Relative species abundances are the most frequently applied data type used for modern or paleolimnological diatom studies. In contrast, plant ecologists save time by commonly using ordinal scale data (class data), where the abundance of a species is estimated using dominance classes, instead of relative abundance data. This study compares the performance of models based on ordinal diatom species class data (class 1: sporadic (<0–1%) up to class 6: dominant (>60%)) with similar model types based on relative abundance data for different regional training sets and sediment cores. First, relative diatom abundances were converted into ordinal classes. Species response to total phosphorous (TP) was modelled using both types of data - relative abundance and ordinal class data. Secondly, TP was reconstructed for six sediment cores from North-East Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark using WA and WA-PLS based on both types of data. Thirdly, 20 lake sediment surface samples with known relative diatom abundances and known water TP concentrations were recounted using an ordinal data scale to create an independent test set. No significant differences were found between relative abundance and class data for (1) explained species variance, (2) reconstructed TP values, and (3) inferred TP values of the 20 recounted samples. This approach demonstrates that past TP concentrations may also be reliably reconstructed using class data instead of relative diatom abundances. Thus, by using class data lake managers may not only obtain more long-term records past water quality, but this approach is also quicker and therefore more cost effective. Moreover, the findings of this study may also advance the use of automatic diatom identification with digital image recognition, as we demonstrate that not every damaged diatom valve needs to be identified.