Indoor acrolein emission and decay rates resulting from domestic cooking events

Acrolein (2-propenal) is a common constituent of both indoor and outdoor air, can exacerbate asthma in children, and may contribute to other chronic lung diseases. Recent studies have found high indoor levels of acrolein and other carbonyls compared to outdoor ambient concentrations. Heated cooking oils produce considerable amounts of acrolein, thus cooking is likely an important source of indoor acrolein. A series of cooking experiments were conducted to determine the emission rates of acrolein and other volatile carbonyls for different types of cooking oils (canola, soybean, corn and olive oils) and deep-frying different food items. Similar concentrations and emission rates of carbonyls were found when different vegetable oils were used to deep-fry the same food product. The food item being deep-fried was generally not a significant source of carbonyls compared to the cooking oil. The oil cooking events resulted in high concentrations of acrolein that were in the range of 26.4–64.5 μg m^?3. These concentrations exceed all the chronic regulatory exposure limits and many of the acute exposure limits. The air exchange rate and the decay rate of the carbonyls were monitored to estimate the half-life of the carbonyls. The half-life for acrolein was 14.4 ± 2.6 h, which indicates that indoor acrolein concentrations can persist for considerable time after cooking in poorly-ventilated homes.     

Effective Population Size in Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers: Population and Model Differences

Loss of genetic variability in isolated populations is an important issue for conservation biology. Most studies involve only a single population of a given species and a single method of estimating rate of loss. Here we present analyses for three different Red-cockaded Woodpecker ( Picoides borealis ) populations from different geographic regions. We compare two different models for estimating the expected rate of loss of genetic variability, and test their sensitivity to model parameters. We found that the simpler model (Reed et al. 1988) consistently estimated a greater rate of loss of genetic variability from a population than did the Emigh and Pollak (1979) model. The ratio of effective population size (which describes the expected rate of loss of genetic variability) to breeder population size varied widely among Red-cockaded Woodpecker populations due to geographic variation in demography. For this species, estimates of effective size were extremely sensitive to survival parameters, but not to the probability of breeding or reproductive success. Sensitivity was sufficient that error in estimating survival rates in the field could easily mask true population differences in effective size. Our results indicate that accurate and precise demographic data are prerequisites to determining effective population size for this species using genetic models, and that a single estimate of rate of loss of genetic variability is not valid across populations.     

Experience with 500 prenatal diagnoses of sickle cell diseases: The effect of gestational age on affected pregnancy outcome

Prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell diseases is obtained rapidly and precisely by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with Ddel restriction analysis and dot-blotting with alllele-specific oligonucleotides (ASO). Prenatal diagnosis of HgbSS and HgbSC was performed in 500 pregnancies, 196 by Southern blot and 304 by PCR. PCR drastically shortened the interval from sampling to reporting, allowing acceptance even of samples with unknown paternal phenotype, and resulted in an overall four-fold increase in diagnoses. In 108 pregnancies, the diagnosis was an affected fetus; 25 were HgbSC: 3 (12 per cent) were terminated; 83 were HgbSS: four ended in miscarriage; 40/79 (51 per cent) were terminated. The gestational age at the time of report to the mother appeared to be a major outcome determinant when the fetal diagnosis was HgbSS. The change-point in the maternal decision was found at 20 weeks of gestation. Before the 20th week, most mothers (64 per cent) chose termination; thereafter, the majority (72 per cent) chose continuation. The odds ratio of termination in earlier relative to later reporting was 4·7. In order to offer a choice to the mothers at risk of delivering a fetus affected by sickle cell disease, the diagnosis should be reported before the 20th week of gestation.     

Disaster studies inside out

Disaster studies is faced with a fascinating anomaly: frequently it claims to be critical and innovative, as suggested by the so‐called vulnerability paradigm that emerged more than 40 years ago, yet often it is perpetuating some of the core and problematic tenets of the hazard paradigm that we were asked to challenge initially. This paper interrogates why such an anomaly persists. In so doing, it employs Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony to unpack why disaster studies is still dominated by Western epistemologies and scholars that perpetuate an orientalist view of disasters. Ultimately, it suggests a research agenda for the 40 years to come, which builds on the importance of local researchers analysing local disasters using local epistemologies, especially in the non‐Western world. Such subaltern disaster studies are to be fuelled by increasing consciousness of the need to resist the hegemony of Western scholarship and to relocate disaster studies within the realm of its original political agenda.     

Malnutrition in emergencies: how can we do better and where do the responsibilities lie?

Over many years, the international relief system has been repeatedly criticised in terms of slowness of response, poor inter-agency co-ordination, and technical incompetence on a larger or smaller scale. Notwithstanding many initiatives to improve co-ordination and other aspects of international relief performance, relief failures, including epidemic malnutrition, continue to occur. The reasons for these failures are discussed from the perspective of the characteristics of the international system, and the way in which this would be expected to perform under different conditions. The chief limitations of the international system identified are: the lack of any focus for imposing co-ordination, other than governments of affected countries; the lack of any requirement for donor nations to ensure that adequate resources are supplied; and a tendency for the system to respond uncritically to the international media. A broad typology of international responses is proposed. It is suggested that relief failure can be recast in terms of the lack of any system which can ensure the correct allocation of food and other resources between emergencies, and ensure the systematic distribution of such resources as are supplied. It concludes that the scope for further improvement in the performance of the international relief system is now limited, but that the most promising area for investment would, where possible, support governments in affected countries to take greater control of the management of the international relief system.     

Models to Estimate Volatile Organic Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Municipal Sewer Systems

Abstract

Emissions from municipal sewers are usually omitted from hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emission inventories. This omission may result from a lack of appreciation for the potential emission impact and/or from inadequate emission estimation procedures. This paper presents an analysis and comparison of the models available to estimate volatile organic HAP (VOHAP) emissions from sewers. Comparisons were made between the different theoretical foundations of the models, as well as between the emissions predicted by the models for a single sewer component. Sewer gas concentrations predicted by the models were also compared to measured sewer gas concentrations reported in the literature. Two of the models were compared in their ability to estimate sewer VOHAP emissions for a large U. S. city using National Pollution Discharge Effluent System data for the influent wastewater to the city's municipal wastewater treatment facilities. This estimate showed that, regardless of the model used, sewer emissions are a potentially significant source of VOHAP emissions in the urban environment. The choice of model, however, is thought to be less critical to sewer emission estimates than the source of sewer wastewater VOHAP concentration data.     

Adsorption behavior of 2,4-dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol in an allophanic soil

The adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) by a variable-charge soil from southern Chile was studied in a series of batch equilibration experiments. 2,4-DCP and PCP adsorption behavior was evaluated as a function of pH (pH values of 4.5, 6.0 and 7.5) in a 0.1M KCl (25 degrees C) background solution for soil material collected at three different depths (0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, and 40-60 cm). 2,4-DCP and PCP adsorption decreased with increasing soil pH, suggesting that the undissociated species were adsorbed more readily and that electrostatic repulsion may inhibit partitioning as pH increases. The PCP adsorption was greater than observed for 2,4-DCP and decreased with soil depth. Multiple regression analysis between K(d) and various soil properties indicated that the soil organic carbon content is a strong indicator of chlorophenol adsorption, and in addition to organic carbon, the soil pH is an important property controlling adsorption behavior.