Induction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase by chlorinated dibenzofurans in rats

Five of 25 chlorinated dibenzofurans induced aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase in rats when administered orally at 40 μg/kg body weight. Active inducers included the three congeners with chlorines in all four lateral positions and the 2,7- and 2,8-dichlorodibenzofurans. The findings agree well with other studies involving common congeners, but do not agree with findings in that congeners with three lateral chlorines were inactive .     

Effects of elevated CO2 concentration on the polyamine levels of field-grown soybean at three O3 regimes

Effects of increased ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) on polyamine levels were determined in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv. Clark) grown in open-top field chambers. The chamber treatments consisted of three O3 regimes equal to charcoal filtered (CF), non-filtered (NF), and non-filtered plus 40 nl litre(-1) O3 and CO2 treatments equal to 350, 400 and 500 microl litre(-1) for a total of nine treatments. Leaf samples were taken at three different times during the growing season. Examination of growth and physiological characteristics, such as photosynthesis, stomatal resistance, and shoot weight, revealed that increasing CO2 ameliorated the deleterious effects of increased O3. Results from the initial harvest, at the pre-flowering growth stage (23 days of treatment), showed that increasing O3 at ambient CO2 caused increases in putrescine (Put) and spermidine (Spd) of up to six-fold. These effects were lessened with increased CO2. Elevated CO2 increased polyamines in plants treated with CF air, but had no effect in the presence of ambient or enhanced O3 levels. Leaves harvested during peak flowering (37 days of treatment) showed O3-induced increases in Put and Spd at ambient CO2 concentrations. However, increased CO2 levels inhibited this response by blocking the O3-induced polyamine increase. Leaves harvested during the pod fill stage (57 days of treatment) showed no significant O3 or CO2 effects on polyamine levels. Our results demonstrate that current ambient O3 levels induce the accumulation of Put and Spd early in the growing season and that further increases in O3 could result in even greater polyamine increases. These results are consistent with a possible antiozonant function for polyamines. The ability of increased CO2 to protect soybeans from O3 damage, however, does not appear to involve polyamine accumulation.     

Neurotoxicology of ortho-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls

Ortho-substituted, non-planar PCBs reduce dopamine content in both nonhuman primate brain and pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Planar, dioxin-like, congeners have no effect on dopamine content in PC12 cells. Additional in-vitro results indicate that dopamine reduction by PCBs is due to inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase activity.     

Field studies of ethoprop movement and degradation in two Florida soils

Unsaturated- and saturated-zone field studies were conducted under two different agricultural conditions in Florida, U.S.A., to measure the movement and degradation of ethoprop.When ethoprop was applied to a sand soil in an orange grove located on the Florida central ridge, soil residues declined with a half-life of 13 days to near the limit of detection (0.01 μg g⁻¹ within 2 months. Ethoprop residues were generally contained in the upper 2 m of soil. Although low levels of ethoprop were found in four groundwater samples within the first 3 months after application, the cause of these isolated and transient residues could not be determined. The data show that there was no widespread plume of ethoprop residues beneath or downgradient from the treated area.On a flatwood soil on the west coast of Florida, ethoprop was incorporated into raised beds and protected by a plastic mulch in which tomatoes were grown. When the plastic mulch was present, ethoprop soil residues declined with a half-life of 40 days and were confined to the upper 0.3 m of soil. After the mulch was removed at crop harvest, the remaining ethoprop dissipated with a half-life of 12 days. Groundwater residues in excess of 1 μg L⁻¹ were confined to a single sample collected after the well had been damaged during a rototilling operation. Resides of < 1 μg L⁻¹ were present in three later samples from this well. At the sampling interval where the highest residues were detected in the damaged well, ethoprop residues of < 1 μg L⁻¹ were also found in three other wells but no residues were detected in these wells in later samples.     

Occupational exposure

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), hexachlorobenzene and methylsulphonyl metabolites of PCB were determined in blood plasma from potentially exposed workers and controls. Three of the potentially exposed subjects had worked with cable incineration and two were electricians. Extraction of the organochlorine compounds and lipids were performed using the lipophilic gel Lipidex. Different adsorbents and gel permeation chromatography were applied for further purification of the samples and separation of analytes. Determinations of the chlorinated compounds were made by using gas chromatography with electron-capture detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Only small differences in the concentrations of organochlorine compounds were found in the plasma from the three subject groups. Thus, specific exposure of the workers could not be confirmed.     

Environmental hazard profile of organic chemicals: An experimental method for the assessment of the behaviour of organic chemicals in the ecosphere by means of simple laboratory tests with 14C labelled chemicals

The concept of “Environmental Hazard Profile” developed at this institute has been tested with 100 ¹⁴C-labelled organic compounds. Concentration factors in activated sludge, in algae and fish were determined. The microbial degradation of the chemicals to CO₂ in activated sludge and the decomposition to CO₂ under artificial light were determined. Ranking of compounds is given in the order of falling concentration factors and accumulation in rats respectively, and decreasing rates of decomposition. Relationship between chemical structure and accumulative and degradative behaviours is demonstrated using some selected groups of chemicals, such as benzenes, phenols, biphenyls and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Correlations between the octanol/water partition coefficient, concentration factors and rates of decomposition could be established. Evaluation of test compounds was possible using hazard profiles obtained by the sum of single test results.     

Prediction of ozone concentrations in Oporto city with statistical approaches

The performance of three statistical methods: time-series, multiple linear regression and feedforward artificial neural networks models were compared to predict the daily mean ozone concentrations. The study here reported was based on data from one urban site with traffic influences and one rural background site. The studies were performed for the year 2002 and the respective four trimesters separately. In the multiple linear regression and feedforward artificial neural network models, the concentrations of ozone, the concentrations of its precursors (nitrogen oxides) and some meteorological variables for one and two days before the prediction day were used as predictors. For the application of these models in the validation step, the inputs of ozone concentration for one and two days before were replaced by the ozone concentrations predicted by the models. The results showed that time-series modelling was not profitable. In the development step, similar performances were obtained with multiple linear regression and feedforward artificial neural network. Better performance indexes were achieved with feedforward artificial neural network models in validation step. Concluding, feedforward artificial neural network models were more efficient to predict ozone concentrations.