The current picture of fatal injuries in Sweden is dominated by falls, which account for about 40%. Furthermore, falls are by far the most dominating cause of hospital in-patient care (57%). The aetiologic mechanisms behind falls and fractures are complicated, with a multifactorial causal pattern.The Lidköping Accident Prevention Programme — one of the few comprehensive community intervention programs in the world — provides an opportunity to discuss links between a multifactorial intervention program and related injuries in the elderly. The incidence of femoral fractures in Lidköping shows a significantly declining trend for females (− 6.6% per year) and a − 5.4% decline for males during the study period of 1987–1992. The control area of Skaraborg County showed a minor decrease and Sweden as a whole showed an increasing trend during the same period.In spite of the methodological problems of attributing effects in quasi-experiments, there is some support for the claim that the declining trend in the trial area was largely the result of the intervention program. This conclusion is further strengthened by the recently published report from the USA showing that a multiple-risk-factor intervention strategy resulted in a significant reduction in the risk of falling among elderly persons in the community. 相似文献
A growing body of literature argues that subjective factors can more accurately explain individual adaptation to climate change than objective measurers of adaptive capacity. Recent studies have shown that personal belief in climate change and affect are much better in explaining climate awareness and action than income, education or gender. This study focuses on the process of individual adaptation to climate change. It assesses and compares the influence of cognitive, experiential and structural factors on individuals’ views and intentions regarding climate change adaptation. Data from this study comes from a survey with 836 forest owners in Sweden. Ordinal and binary logistic regression was used to test hypotheses about the different factors. Results show that cognitive factors—namely personal level of trust in climate science, belief in the salience of climate change and risk assessment—are the only statistically significant factors that can directly explain individuals’ intention to adapt to climate change and their sense of urgency. Findings also suggest that structural or socio-demographic factors do not have a statistically significant influence on adaptation decision-making among Swedish forest owners. The study also offers valuable insights for communication interventions to promote adaptation. Findings strongly suggest that communication interventions should focus more strongly on building trust and addressing stakeholders’ individual needs and experiences.
A revised Swedish forest health assessment system is presented. The assessment system is composed of several interacting components
which target information needs for strategic and operational decision making and accommodate a continuously expanding knowledge
base. The main motivation for separating information for strategic and operational decision making is that major damage outbreaks
are often scattered throughout the landscape. Generally, large-scale inventories (such as national forest inventories) cannot
provide adequate information for mitigation measures. In addition to broad monitoring programs that provide time-series information
on known damaging agents and their effects, there is also a need for local and regional inventories adapted to specific damage
events. While information for decision making is the major focus of the health assessment system, the system also contributes
to expanding the knowledge base of forest conditions. For example, the integrated monitoring programs provide a better understanding
of ecological processes linked to forest health. The new health assessment system should be able to respond to the need for
quick and reliable information and thus will be an important part of the future monitoring of Swedish forests. 相似文献
Background, aim, and scope Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is used as an additive flame retardant in polymers. It has become a ubiquitous environmental
contaminant, particularly abundant in abiotic media, such as sediments, air, and dust, and also present in wildlife and in
humans. The main DecaBDE constituent, perbrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209), is susceptible to transformations as observed
in experimental work. This work is aimed at identifying and assessing the relative amounts of products formed after UV irradiation
of BDE-209.
Materials and methods BDE-209, dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF), methanol, or combinations of methanol/water, was exposed to UV light for 100
or 200 min. Samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (electron ionization) for polybrominated diphenyl
ethers (PBDEs), dibenzofurans (PBDFs), methoxylated PBDEs, and phenolic PBDE products.
Results The products formed were hexaBDEs to nonaBDEs, monoBDFs to pentaBDFs, and methoxylated tetraBDFs to pentaBDFs. The products
found in the fraction containing halogenated phenols were assigned to be pentabromophenol, dihydroxytetrabromobenzene, dihydroxydibromodibenzofuran,
dihydroxytribromodibenzofuran, and dihydroxytetrabromodibenzofuran. The PBDEs accounted for approximately 90% of the total
amount of substances in each sample and the PBDFs for about 10%.
Discussion BDE-209 is a source of PBDEs primarily present in OctaBDEs but also to some extent in PentaBDEs, both being commercial products
now banned within the EU and in several states within the USA. It is notable that OH-PBDFs have not been identified or indicated
in any of the photolysis studies performed to date. Formation of OH-PBDFs, however, may occur as pure radical reactions in
the atmosphere.
Conclusions Photolysis of decaBDE yields a wide span of products, from nonaBDEs to hydroxylated bromobenzenes. It is evident that irradiation
of decaBDE in water and methanol yields OH-PBDFs and MeO-PBDFs, respectively. BDE-202 (2,2′,3,3′,5,5′,6,6′-octabromodiphenyl
ether) is identified as a marker of BDE-209 photolysis.
Recommendations and perspectives BDE-209, the main constituent of DecaBDE, is primarily forming debrominated diphenyl ethers with higher persistence which
are more bioaccumulative than the starting material when subjected to UV light. Hence, DecaBDE should be considered as a source
of these PBDE congeners in the environment.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
Concentrations and congener profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs) in placenta
samples from a Madrid population (Spain) are reported. Structure dependent retentions of OH-PCBs are known to occur in both
humans and wildlife, making it of interest to assess placental transfer of both parent compounds and their metabolites to
the developing foetus. 相似文献
Data on distribution, concentration and trends of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) is scarce in biota from the sub-Arctic region of the Atlantic. The present study is an investigation on PBDE and HBCD concentrations in eggs from seven marine bird species from Iceland, i.e. common eider (Somateria mollissima), arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), guillemot (Uria aalge), fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) and great skua (Stercorarius skua). Concentrations of sum PBDEs ranged from 44 ng g−1 fat in eider eggs to 2400 ng g−1 fat in great skua eggs. The contribution of different PBDE congeners to the sum concentration differed between species. Concentration of HBCDs (sum of α−,β− and γ−HBCD) ranged from 1.3 ng g−1 fat in arctic tern eggs to 41 ng g−1 fat in great black-backed gull. PCA on PBDE and HBCD shows different trends between the two BFR groups, further indicating different sources/usage. Investigations on any potential health or population effects of environmental pollutants on the great skua are advised since both the PBDE and HBCD concentrations are high. 相似文献
BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: The historical and widespread use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants in consumer products worldwide has caused PBDEs to now be regarded as pervasive environmental contaminants. Most recently, hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) and methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) have emerged as environmentally relevant due to reports of their natural production and metabolism. An important parameter for assessing the environmental impact of a chemical substance is persistence. By formulating the concept that persistence is the result of the substance's physicochemical properties and chemical reactivity, Green and Bergman have proposed a new methodology to determine the inherent persistence of a chemical. If persistence could be predicted by straightforward methods, substances with this quality could be screened out before large-scale production/manufacturing begins. To provide data to implement this concept, we have developed new methodologies to study chemical transformations through photolysis; hydrolysis, substitution, and elimination; and via oxidation. This study has focused on adapting an oxidative reaction method to be applicable to non-water soluble organic pollutants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PBDEs and one MeO-PBDE were dissolved in tetrahydrofuran/methanol and then diluted in alkaline water. The OH-PBDEs were dissolved in alkaline water prior to reaction. The oxidation degradation reaction was performed at 50 degrees C using potassium permanganate as described elsewhere. The pH was maintained at 7.6 with disodium hydrogen phosphate and barium hydrogen phosphate, the latter also serving as a trapping agent for manganate ions. The oxidation reactions were monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography and reaction rates were calculated. RESULTS: The OH-PBDEs have very fast oxidative transformation rates compared to the PBDEs. The reaction rates seem to be primarily dependent on substitution pattern of the pi-electron-donating bromine substituents and of bromine content. There are indications that further reactions of OH-PBDEs, e.g., methylation to the MeO-PBDEs, decrease the oxidation rates, and thereby generate more persistent substances. DISCUSSION: The resistance of PBDEs to oxidation, a major degradation pathway in air, should be further investigated, since these compounds do undergo long range transport. With slight modifications, the original method has been adapted to include a larger variety of chemical substances, and preliminary data are now available on the oxidative transformation rates for PBDEs and of OH-PBDEs. CONCLUSIONS: The original oxidation degradation method can now include non-water soluble compounds. This modification, using low concentrations of test chemicals, allows us to measure oxidative transformation rates, for some of the lower brominated DEs, data that can be used to assess their persistence in future model calculations. Oxidative transformation rates for PBDEs are slow compared to those for the OH-PBDEs. This suggests that OH-PBDEs, when released into the environment, undergo faster oxidative metabolism and excretion than the PBDEs. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: To evaluate the modified method, more degradation reactions with non-water soluble compounds should be investigated. Recent studies show that OH-PBDEs are present in rats and in humans and, because of their activity as endocrine disruptors, determining their subsequent environmental fate is of importance. The resistance of PBDEs to oxidative degradation should be acknowledged as of possible future concern. Several other compound classes (such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs), and pharmaceuticals) need to be subjected to this screening method to increase the database of transformation rates that can be used with this model. 相似文献