PCDD/F, PCB, PBDE, HBCD and chlorinated pesticides in a Swedish market basket from 2005--levels and dietary intake estimations

Based on consumption data statistics, food items from four regions in Sweden were sampled in a so-called market basket study. Food items from five food groups, i.e. fish, meat, dairy products, eggs and fat/oils, were analyzed for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) followed by per capita intake calculations. The highest levels of PCDD/F, PCB, PBDE, HBCD and chlorinated pesticides were found in the fish/fish products. The estimated market basket per capita intake of PCDD/F and dl-PCB was 0.7 pg WHO-TEQ kg bw⁻¹ d⁻¹ (TEFs from 1998). The intake of ∑PCB was estimated to 4.9 ng kg bw⁻¹ d⁻¹ and fish was found to be the major contributor with 64%. The intake of ∑PBDE was found to be 0.7 ng kg bw⁻¹ d⁻¹. Fish (38%) and dairy products (31%) were the largest contributors to the total PBDE intake. The intake of HBCD was estimated to 0.14 ng kg bw⁻¹ d⁻¹. HBCD mainly came from fish (65%), but also dairy products (24%) and meat (10%) contributed. Also regarding the chlorinated pesticides, fish was found to be the major contributor, with 51% of the ∑DDT coming from fish. The intake of ∑DDT, ∑HCH and HCB was 4.0, 1.0 and 1.1 ng kg bw⁻¹ d⁻¹, respectively. Most of the ∑HCH and HCB originate from dairy products (43% and 55%, respectively). This study shows that the levels, and intake, of different POPs from food of animal origin in the market basket of 2005 seem to have decreased since the market basket study in 1999.     

Linking chemical elements in forest floor humus (Oh-horizon) in the Czech Republic to contamination sources

While terrestrial moss and other plants are frequently used for environmental mapping and monitoring projects, data on the regional geochemistry of humus are scarce. Humus, however, has a much larger life span than any plant material. It can be seen as the “environmental memory” of an area for at least the last 60-100 years. Here concentrations of 39 elements determined by ICP-MS and ICP AES, pH and ash content are presented for 259 samples of forest floor humus collected at an average sample density of 1 site/300 km² in the Czech Republic. The scale of anomalies linked to known contamination sources (e.g., lignite mining and burning, metallurgical industry, coal fired power plants, metal smelters) is documented and discussed versus natural processes influencing humus quality. Most maps indicate a local impact from individual contamination sources: often more detailed sampling than used here would be needed to differentiate between likely sources.     

Dissolving Feather Keratin Using Sodium Sulfide for Bio-Polymer Applications

Feather keratin has been widely studied for use as a bio-based material. In this paper, we dissolve feather keratin using industrial sodium sulfide to investigate the yield, dissolved keratin characteristics, and properties of regenerated products to assess the potential of using sodium sulfide as a means of converting waste feathers into a bio-polymer. Optimal conditions appeared to require short incubation times in order to give maximum strength in the regenerated product. This limits the yield to approximately 55%. Air-dried films and acid-precipitated samples are all readily re-crosslinked, suggesting the re-crosslinking process is robust. Minimizing exposure to the highly alkaline conditions appears favorable to final product strength through minimizing alkaline chain damage. The β-sheet structure of the parent keratin is largely maintained. The regenerated keratin was shown to have potentially attractive physical properties for use as a bio-polymer.     

Use of ethylenediurea (EDU) to ameliorate ozone effects on purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Purple coneflower plants (Echinacea purpurea) were placed into open-top chambers (OTCs) for 6 and 12 weeks in 2003 and 2004, respectively, and exposed to charcoal-filtered air (CF) or twice-ambient (2x) ozone (O3) in 2003, and to CF, 2x or non-filtered (NF), ambient air in 2004. Plants were treated with ethylenediurea (EDU) weekly as a foliar spray. Foliar symptoms were observed in >95% of the plants in 2x-treated OTCs in both years. Above-ground biomass was not affected by 2x treatments in 2003, but root and total-plant biomass decreased in 2004. As a result of higher concentrations of select cell wall constituents (% ADF, NDF and lignin) nutritive quality was lower for plants exposed to 2x-O3 in 2003 and 2004 (26% and 17%, respectively). Significant EDU x O3 interactions for concentrations of cell wall constituents in 2003 indicated that EDU ameliorated O3 effects on nutritive quality. Interactions observed in 2004 were inconsistent.     

Software sensor design based on empirical data

Software sensor design consists of building an estimate of some quantity of interest. This estimate can be used either to replace a physical measurement, or to validate an existing one. This paper provides some general guidelines for the design of software sensors based on empirical data. When the model is a priori unknown, the problem can be stated in terms of non-parametric regression or black-box modelling. Complexity control is the main difficulty in this setting. A trade-off must be achieved between two antagonist goals: the model should not be too simple, and model identification should not be too variable. We propose to address this issue by a penalization algorithm, which also estimates the relevance of input features in the identification process. A data-driven software sensor should also provide accuracy and validity indexes of its prediction. We show how these indexes can be estimated for complex non-parametric methods, such as neural networks. An application in environmental monitoring, the design of an ammonia software sensor, illustrates each step of the approach.     

Interlaboratory comparison exercise for the analysis of PCDD/Fs in samples of digested sewage sludge

Five UK laboratories participated in a study designed to explore the principal sources of interlaboratory variation in the analysis of PCDD/Fs in sewage sludge. Samples of wet sludge, dry sludge, toluene extract of sludge and cleaned extract of sludge were prepared by an organising laboratory. The samples were analysed in duplicate by each laboratory along with a solution of PCDD/F standards and reference sediment. Mean coefficients of variation between laboratories were 45% for the wet sludge, 33% for the dry sludge, 32% for the extract of sludge, 36% for the cleaned extract of sludge, 32% for the reference sediment and 28% for the standard solution. The results were subjected to statistical analysis, which showed that there was no specific part of the analysis that introduced a dominant part of the variation. The spread of data generated from the analysis of wet sludge samples was not appreciably greater than the spread for the analysis of cleaned extracts. Thus the drying, extraction and clean up processes in the PCDD/F analysis of wet sludge did not have a dramatic effect on the interlaboratory variation.     

Fiji's worst natural disaster: the 1931 hurricane and flood

At least 225 people in the Fiji Islands died as a result of the 1931 hurricane and flood, representing the largest loss of life from a natural disaster in Fiji's recent history. This paper explores the causes of disaster and the potential for recurrence. The disaster occurred because a rare event surprised hundreds of people—especially recently settled Indian farmers—occupying highly exposed floodplains in north‐west Viti Levu island. The likelihood of a flood disaster of such proportions occurring today has been diminished by changed settlement patterns and building materials; however, a trend towards re‐occupancy of floodplains, sometimes in fragile dwellings, is exposing new generations to flood risks. The contribution of this paper to the global hazards literature is set out in three sections: the ethnicity, gender and age of flood fatalities; the naturalness of disasters; and the merit of choice and constraint as explanations for patterns of vulnerability.     

Significant work events and counterproductive work behavior: The role of fairness,emotions, and emotion regulation

In this diary study, we investigated multi‐level predictors of daily counterproductive work behavior (CWB) relying on the theoretical frameworks of affective events theory and the emotion‐centered model of CWB. We assessed significant work events, event‐based fairness perceptions, negative emotional reactions to work events, and employee CWB over a 10‐day period. We tested within‐person relations predicting CWB, and cross‐level moderating effects of two emotion regulation strategies (suppression and reappraisal). Results from a multi‐level path analysis revealed that significant work events had both direct and indirect effects on negative emotional reactions. Further, negative emotional reactions in turn mediated the relationships between significant work events and all forms of daily CWB as well as the relationship between event‐based fairness perceptions and daily CWB‐O. Results also supported the moderating role of reappraisal emotion regulation strategy on relations between significant work events and negative emotional reactions. Less support, however, was found for the moderating influence of suppression on the link between negative emotional reactions and CWB. Among the broad work event categories we identified, our supplemental analyses revealed that negative work events involving interactions with supervisors elicited the highest levels of employee negative emotional reactions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.