Exposure of garbage truck drivers and maintenance personnel at a waste handling centre to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons derived from diesel exhaust

Exposure to diesel exhaust was evaluated in summer and winter by measuring vapour and particle phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Fifteen PAHs were simultaneously determined from the air samples obtained from truck drivers collecting household waste and maintenance personnel at a waste handling centre. The major compounds analysed from the personal air samples of exposed workers were naphthalene, phenanthrene and fluorene. The total PAH exposure (sum of 15 PAHs) of garbage truck drivers ranged from 71 to 2,660 ng m(-3) and from 68 to 900 ng m-3 in the maintenance work. The exposure of garbage truck drivers to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) ranged from the mean of 0.03 to 0.3 ng m(-3) whereas no B[a]P in control samples or in those collected from maintenance workers was detected. A statistically significant difference in diesel-derived PAH exposure between the garbage truck drivers and the control group in both seasons (in summer p = 0.0022, degrees of freedom (df) 70.5; and in winter p < 0.0001, df = 80.4) was observed. Also, a significant difference in PAH exposure between the garbage truck drivers and the maintenance workers (in summer p < 0.0001, df = 50.1; and in winter p < 0.0001, df = 44.2) was obtained.     

Exposure to airborne isocyanates and other thermal degradation products at polyurethane-processing workplaces

The thermal degradation products of polyurethanes (PURs) and exposure to isocyanates were studied by stationary and personal measurements in five different occupational environments. Isocyanates were collected on glass fibre filters impregnated with 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine (2MP) and in impingers containing n-dibutylamine (DBA) in toluene. connected to a glass fibre postfilter. The derivatives formed were analysed by liquid chromatography: 2MP derivatives with UV and electrochemical detection and DBA derivatives with mass spectrometric detection. The release of aldehydes and other volatile organic compounds into the air was also studied. In a comparison of the two sampling methods, the 2MP method yielded about 20% lower concentrations for 4,4'-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) than did the DBA method. In car repair shops, the median concentration of diisocyanates (given as NCO groups) in the breathing zone was 1.1 microg NCO m(-3) during grinding and 0.3 microg NCO m(-3) during welding, with highest concentrations of 1.7 and 16 pg NCO m(-3), respectively. High concentrations of MDI, up to 25 and 19 microg NCO m(-3), respectively, were also measured in the breathing zone during welding of district heating pipes and turning of a PUR-coated metal cylinder. During installation of PUR-coated floor covering, small amounts of aliphatic diisocyanates were detected in the air. A small-molecular monoisocyanate, methyl isocyanate, and isocyanic acid were detected only during welding and turning operations. The diisocyanate concentrations were in general higher near the emission source than in the workers' breathing zone. A sampling strategy to evaluate the risk of exposure to isocyanates is presented.     

Air concentrations and urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among paving and remixing workers

The exposure of paving workers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during stone mastic asphalt (SMA) paving and remixing was evaluated. The effects on the workers' PAH exposure were also evaluated during the use of an industrial by-product, coal fly ash (CFA), instead of limestone as the filler in the SMA. The PAH exposure was measured by personal air sampling and by analysing the levels of urinary naphthols, phenanthrols and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in the workers' pre- and post-shift urine samples. The respiratory PAH exposure of the paving workers (geometric mean (GM) 5.7 microg m(-3)) was about ten-fold that of the traffic controllers (GM 0.43 microg m(-3)). The levels of PAH metabolites were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the post-shift urine samples than in the pre-shift urine samples, and the levels of metabolites in the post-shift urine of paving workers were significantly higher than in that of the controls (p < 0.01). Urinary 1-naphthol correlated well with the airborne concentrations of the two- to three-ring PAHs (r = 0.544, p = 0.003) and naphthalene (r = 0.655, p < 0.001), when non-smoking paving workers were tested. A good correlation was observed between urinary 1-OHP and the airborne concentrations of the four- to six-ring PAHs (r = 0.524, p = 0.003) as well as total PAHs (r = 0.575, p = 0.001). The concentrations of 1-OHP and phenanthrols in the urine of the pavers were significantly higher (p < 0.01) during remixing than during SMA paving. The CFA in the asphalt had no effect on the airborne PAH exposure or on the concentrations of the PAH metabolites in the paving workers' urine.     

Health Risks Associated with Predicted Increase of Cadmium in Cultivated Soils and in the Diet

We have assessed the change of the dietary intake and the potential health risks of cadmium in Finland, assuming that a high level of cadmium in fertilizers (138 mg Cd/kg P) would prevail for the next 100 years. Soil measurements and modelling were used to derive the predicted level of cadmium in foods. In three important cultivars, wheat, potato and sugar beet, the cadmium concentration would increase by 20–35%. Consequently, the average dietary intake of cadmium in Finland would increase from 7.9 to 10.0 μg/day, corresponding with the urinary level of about 0.2 μg/l, a level that has not been associated with effects on the human health. However, in the risk group with 1) high dietary intake of cadmium, 2) elevated gastrointestinal absorption, and 3) tobacco smoking, the estimated urinary level of cadmium would be 2.0 μg/l. Recent epidemiological studies have shown that urinary level of 1–2 μg Cd/l is associated with an increased risk of bone demineralization and fractures, and 2–4 μg Cd/l with pre-clinical kidney damage. People characterized by more than one of the above-mentioned risks factors, may develop the adverse health effects at an old age, when cadmium has accumulated in the body.     

Conversion of dissolved phosphorus in runoff by ferric sulfate to a form less available to algae: Field performance and cost assessment

Conversion of dissolved P by ferric sulfate into a particulate form sparingly available to algae was studied in 15 ditches in Finland using stand-alone dispensers for ferric sulfate administration. Ferric sulfate typically converted 60–70 % of dissolved P into iron-associated form, a process which required 250–650 kg per kg dissolved P. Mean cost was 160 EUR per kg P converted (range 20–400 EUR kg^?1). The costs were lowest at sites characterized by high dissolved P concentrations and small catchment area. At best, the treatment was efficient and cost-effective, but to limit the costs and the risks, ferric sulfate dispensers should only be installed in small critical source areas.     

Implications of regulation based on the IPPC directive – A review on the Finnish pulp and paper industry

This article evaluates the impacts of integrated environmental permits on the environmental performance of Finnish pulp and paper industry. It assesses the performance of the Finnish pulp and paper mills in relation to the EU best available techniques (BAT) associated emission levels and compares the emission limit values and product specific emissions of the mills with non-integrated permits to those of the mills with new integrated permits. A set of practical indicators for the assessment of BAT, local conditions and transboundary effects is presented and discussed. Moreover, the paper highlights some significant cross-media aspects in the Finnish pulp and paper industry.     

Quantitative analysis of environmental factors in differential weighing of blank Teflon filters

Mass differences less than 100 microg must be correctly measured in gravimetric analysis of particles collected on filters. Even small variations in mass measurement may contribute significant errors to calculated concentrations. In addition to the collected particles, a number of other factors affect the observed mass difference between the measurements before and after sampling. The most often controlled of these factors are static charge, temperature, and humidity. Using 951 laboratory blank filter weights, we have statistically analyzed these and other factors that affect the observed filter weight. Some of these are controllable or correctable; others are not and enter into the final results as errors. The standard deviation of differential blank filter weighing after applying all corrections was 2.7 microg. The most important correctable factors are air buoyancy variation and filter storage time. When weighing blank Teflon filters at relative humidity < 50%, these are an order of magnitude more important than weighing-room humidity. Using field blank filters in each weighing batch could control these three factors but also doubles the errors caused by balance random variation and filter handling contamination, because four weighing measurements and the handling of two filters are needed to obtain one corrected differential mass result.     

S -phenylcysteine adduct concentration in serum albumin of countryside residents and factory workers in Estonia

In this communication we present data on S-phenylcysteine (SPC) in human serum albumin in an Estonian cohort. A total of 112 human samples were collected from workers of a benzene processing plant in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia and another 56 samples from nearby countryside residents. Albumin was isolated using a sequential precipitation method designed for low volume plasma samples. The adducted cysteine derivatives were cleaved off from the albumin and subsequently derivatized to phenyl trifluorothioacetate (PTTA) derivatives. Derivatized adducts were subjected to GC/MS analysis utilizing negative chemical ionization and a selected ion monitoring (SIM) technique. The detection limit for the PTTA adduct was 0.2?pmol?g^?1 albumin and the limit of quantification was 2?pmol?g^?1 albumin. The method utilized deuterated SPC as an internal standard. The analysis revealed that adduct levels were also high in the population that was not occupationally exposed to benzene. The reason for this is unknown, but may cause problems if not of environmental origin, when one is attempting to monitor low level occupational or environmental benzene exposure.     

Effects of Land Use Changes on the Landscape Composition: A Comparison Between Finnish and Russian Karelia

During the last 50 years the practising and intensity of agriculture and forestry have differed considerably between Finnish and Russian Karelia. We studied the effects of different land use practices on the landscape composition in the two countries using the road transect sampling along four study routes (99-121 km) between 1997 and 1999. Effective environmental management in Finland has resulted in more distinct agricultural land types, more even distribution of the different age classes of forests, and the higher abundance of coniferous forests. Fields (mean percentage of the landscape: Finland 28%, Russia 13%), clearcuts and sapling stands (15%, 6%), and young forests (23%, 9%) were more typical elements of the Finnish landscape, whereas settlements (9%, 13%), semi-natural grasslands (3%, 7%), and mature forests (20%, 49%) were more characteristic of the Russian landscape. Landscape-level differences between the two countries may have various effects on the diversity of fauna and flora inhabiting Finnish and Russian Karelia.     

Characterisation of urban inhalation exposures to benzene,formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in the European Union

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: All across Europe, people live and work in indoor environments. On average, people spend around 90% of their time indoors (homes, workplaces, cars and public transport means, etc.) and are exposed to a complex mixture of pollutants at concentration levels that are often several times higher than outdoors. These pollutants are emitted by different sources indoors and outdoors and include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbonyls (aldehydes and ketones) and other chemical substances often adsorbed on particles. Moreover, legal obligations opposed by legislations, such as the European Union's General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), increasingly require detailed understanding of where and how chemical substances are used throughout their life-cycle and require better characterisation of their emissions and exposure. This information is essential to be able to control emissions from sources aiming at a reduction of adverse health effects. Scientifically sound human risk assessment procedures based on qualitative and quantitative human exposure information allows a better characterisation of population exposures to chemical substances. In this context, the current paper compares inhalation exposures to three health-based EU priority substances, i.e. benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Distributions of urban population inhalation exposures, indoor and outdoor concentrations were created on the basis of measured AIRMEX data in 12 European cities and compared to results from existing European population exposure studies published within the scientific literature. By pooling all EU city personal exposure, indoor and outdoor concentration means, representative EU city cumulative frequency distributions were created. Population exposures were modelled with a microenvironment model using the time spent and concentrations in four microenvironments, i.e. indoors at home and at work, outdoors at work and in transit, as input parameters. Pooled EU city inhalation exposures were compared to modelled population exposures. The contributions of these microenvironments to the total daily inhalation exposure of formaldehyde, benzene and acetaldehyde were estimated. Inhalation exposures were compared to the EU annual ambient benzene air quality guideline (5 microg/m3-to be met by 2010) and the recommended (based on the INDEX project) 30-min average formaldehyde limit value (30 microg/m3). RESULTS: Indoor inhalation exposure contributions are much higher compared to the outdoor or in-transit microenvironment contributions, accounting for almost 99% in the case of formaldehyde. The highest in-transit exposure contribution was found for benzene; 29.4% of the total inhalation exposure contribution. Comparing the pooled AIRMEX EU city inhalation exposures with the modelled exposures, benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde exposures are 5.1, 17.3 and 11.8 microg/m3 vs. 5.1, 20.1 and 10.2 microg/m3, respectively. Together with the fact that a dominating fraction of time is spent indoors (>90%), the total inhalation exposure is mostly driven by the time spent indoors. DISCUSSION: The approach used in this paper faced three challenges concerning exposure and time-activity data, comparability and scarce or missing in-transit data inducing careful interpretation of the results. The results obtained by AIRMEX underline that many European urban populations are still exposed to elevated levels of benzene and formaldehyde in the inhaled air. It is still likely that the annual ambient benzene air quality guideline of 5 microg/m3 in the EU and recommended formaldehyde 30-min average limit value of 30 microg/m3 are exceeded by a substantial part of populations living in urban areas. Considering multimedia and multi-pathway exposure to acetaldehyde, the biggest exposure contribution was found to be related to dietary behaviour rather than to inhalation. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, inhalation exposures of urban populations were assessed on the basis of novel and existing exposure data. The indoor residential microenvironment contributed most to the total daily urban population inhalation exposure. The results presented in this paper suggest that a significant part of the populations living in European cities exceed the annual ambient benzene air quality guideline of 5 microg/m3 in the EU and recommended (INDEX project) formaldehyde 30-min average limit value of 30 microg/m3. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: To reduce exposures and consequent health effects, adequate measures must be taken to diminish emissions from sources such as materials and products that especially emit benzene and formaldehyde in indoor air. In parallel, measures can be taken aiming at reducing the outdoor pollution contribution indoors. Besides emission reduction, mechanisms to effectively monitor and manage the indoor air quality should be established. These mechanisms could be developed by setting up appropriate EU indoor air guidelines.