Could wastewater analysis be a useful tool for China? — A review

Analysingwastewater samples is an innovative approach that overcomesmany limitations of traditional surveys to identify and measure a range of chemicals that were consumed by or exposed to people living in a sewer catchment area. First conceptualised in 2001, much progress has been made to make wastewater analysis (WWA) a reliable and robust tool for measuring chemical consumption and/or exposure. At the moment, the most popular application of WWA, sometimes referred as sewage epidemiology, is to monitor the consumption of illicit drugs in communities around the globe, including China. The approach has been largely adopted by lawenforcement agencies as a device tomonitor the temporal and geographical patterns of drug consumption. In the future, themethodology can be extended to other chemicals including biomarkers of population health (e.g. environmental or oxidative stress biomarkers, lifestyle indicators or medications that are taken by different demographic groups) and pollutants that people are exposed to (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated chemicals, and toxic pesticides). The extension of WWA to a huge range of chemicals may give rise to a field called sewage chemical-information mining (SCIM) with unexplored potentials. China has many densely populated cities with thousands of sewage treatment plants which are favourable for applying WWA/SCIM in order to help relevant authorities gather information about illicit drug consumption and population health status. However, there are some prerequisites and uncertainties of the methodology that should be addressed for SCIM to reach its full potential in China.     

Learning lessons from the 2011 Van Earthquake to enhance healthcare surge capacity in Turkey

Historically, Turkey has adopted a reactive approach to natural hazards which resulted in significant losses. However, following the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake, a more proactive approach has been adopted. This study aims to explore the way this new approach operates on the ground. A multinational and multidisciplinary team conducted a field investigation following the 2011 Van Earthquake to identify lessons to inform healthcare emergency planning in Turkey and elsewhere. The team interviewed selected stakeholders including, healthcare emergency responders, search and rescue services, ambulance services, and health authority representatives, in addition to conducting a focus group. Data were analysed according to an open coding process and SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis. The findings suggest that the approach succeeded in developing a single vision by consolidating official efforts in a more structured way, mobilising many governmental and non-governmental organisations, securing significant amounts of resources including physical and human, and increasing the resilience and flexibility of infrastructure to expand its capacity. However, more attention is required to the development of stronger management procedures and acquisition of further resources.     

Bioavailability of permethrin and cyfluthrin in surface waters with low levels of dissolved organic matter

Pyrethroids are widely used insecticides in both agricultural and urban environments, and their potential movement to surface streams and toxicity to susceptible aquatic species is an emerging concern. Natural surface waters usually contain low levels of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Limited data have shown that DOM preparations can significantly alter the bioavailability and toxicity effects of pyrethroids. However, the importance of these effects in natural waters has not been investigated. In this study we measured uptake and acute toxicity of permethrin and cyfluthrin by Daphnia species in 15 surface water samples. Low levels of DOM (3-20 mg L(-1)) inhibited cyfluthrin uptake by Daphnia magna and acute toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia in most samples. For permethrin, the effects of DOM on bioavailability and toxicity were generally not significant. The effects of DOM on bioavailability of cyfluthrin could not be explained from the DOC concentration alone, suggesting that properties of DOM were also important in regulating bioavailability. Regression of K DOC with selected DOM properties revealed significant dependence of K DOC on the carboxylic acid content of DOM. Moreover, concentrations sensed by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers were well correlated with the observed changes in bioaccumulation by D. magna and acute toxicity to C. dubia. Therefore, selective sampling methods such as SPME may be used for measuring the bioavailable concentrations of pyrethroids in waters with naturally occurring DOM levels and predicting the actual toxicity effects.     

Atmospheric xenon radioactive isotope monitoring

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) organisation is implementing a world-wide monitoring network in order to check that the State Signatories comply with the treaty. One of the monitoring facilities consists of an atmospheric noble gas monitoring equipment. According to the requirements annexed in the treaty, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) developed a device, called SPALAX, which automatically extracts xenon from ambient air and makes in situ measurements of the activities of four xenon radioisotopes (131mXe, 133mXe, 133Xe, 135Xe). The originality of this device is noticeable essentially in the gas sample processing method: thanks to the coupling of a gas permeator and of a noble gas specific adsorbent, it can selectively extract and concentrate xenon to more than 3 x 10 E6. This process is carried out continuously without cryogenic cooling, without any regeneration time. The detection of the xenon radioactive isotopes is done automatically by high spectral resolution gamma spectrometry, a robust technology well-suited for on-field instrumentation. In the year 2000, a prototype was involved in an international evaluation exercise directed by the CTBT organisation (CTBTO). This exercise demonstrated that the SPALAX equipment perfectly met the requirements of the CTBTO for such systems. On the basis of the continuous 24-h resolution record of the atmospheric xenon radioactive isotopes concentrations, the SPALAX system also demonstrated that ambient levels of 133Xe can fluctuate quickly from less than the detection limit to over 40 x 10(-3) Bq m(-3). In order to build an industrial version of this equipment, the CEA entered into a partnership with a French engineering company (S.F.I., Marseille, France), which is now able to produce an industrial version of SPALAX, i.e. more compact and more efficient than the prototypes. The 133Xe minimum detectable concentration is 0.15 x 10(-3) Bq m(-3) air per 24 h sampling cycle.