Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Hair and Nails of Young Pakistanis: Correlation with Dietary Elements

Hair and nail samples from young Pakistani adults were separately analyzed for quantification of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations. The concentrations of these metals were also analyzed in commonly consumed local foods to evaluate potential correlation of hair and nail concentrations with diet. Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from 0.349 to 0.999, demonstrating diet to be a significant contributor for accumulation of heavy metals in humans.     

大豆膳食纤维改性及其对阳离子染料吸附特性

对大豆膳食纤维进行了羧甲基化改性,并利用红外光谱(FT-IR)和扫描电镜(SEM)对其结构进行了表征.研究了羧甲基化大豆膳食纤维用量、吸附时间、吸附温度、溶液pH值等因素对其吸附亚甲基蓝、结晶紫和品红效果的影响.结果表明,当吸附温度为25℃、羧甲基化大豆膳食纤维浓度为20 mg/L、溶液pH值为6.8和吸附时间为60 min时,羧甲基化大豆膳食纤维对亚甲基蓝、结晶紫和品红的去除率分别达到96.4％、95.6％和94.7％.另外,此吸附过程较好地符合Langmuir和Freundlich等温吸附模型.     

广州市不同人群硒摄入量研究

通过酸消解、原子荧光-氢化物发生法测定了广州市市售109种常见食物中硒的含量,结合膳食结构计算了广州市不同人群的每日硒摄入量.结果表明,广州市不同食品硒含量有较大差异,均值为4.97～457.3 μg·kg-1,其中动物性食品硒含量明显高于植物性食品硒含量,硒含量较高的食品有动物内脏、鱼虾类、蛋及蛋制品、猪肉等,均大于150 μg·kg-1.广州市不同人群膳食硒摄入量有明显差别,不同收入人群的摄入量为高收入人群(102.6 μg·d-1)＞中收入人群(83.8 μg·d-1)＞低收入人群(66.6 μg·d-1);老人硒摄入量为73.3 μg·d-1,儿童为44.3 μg·d-1,大学生为86.8 μg·d-1,工人为69.7 μg·d-1;标准人摄入量为98.5 μg·d-1.动物性食品是广州居民硒摄入量的主要来源;其次是大米;蔬菜、水果和豆类及制品等植物性食品贡献很小.广州市不同人群每日硒摄入量处于良好水平.     

Estimating health damage cost from secondary sulfate particles--a case study of Hunan Province, China

IntroductionChina’senergyusepattern ,characterizedbyadominatingrelianceoncoal,hasledtosevereSO2pollutionandresultinghealthdamage .Withconsumptionsoffossilfuelsstilltogrow ,totalhealthdamageisanticipatedtoincrease ,whichwillbeagreatchallengetoChina.Thischallengerequirescomprehensivehealthimpactassessmenttoguideenvironmentalpolicyandreorientpublicopinioninfavorofeffectivepreventiveaction .Generally,the“ImpactPathwayApproach”(Krewit,1 999;Thanh ,2 0 0 0 ) ,whichlinkstheemissiontoconcentrat…     

Cadmium status in Egypt

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Feeding over the 24-h cycle: dietary flexibility of cathemeral collared lemurs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eulemur collaris</Emphasis>)

Animals show specific morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations to diurnal or nocturnal activity. Cathemeral species, i.e. animals with activities distributed over the 24-h period, have to compromise between these specific adaptations. The driving evolutionary forces and the proximate costs and benefits of cathemerality are still poorly understood. Our goal was to evaluate the role of predator avoidance, food availability and diet quality in shaping cathemeral activity of arboreal mammals using a lemur species as an example. For this, two groups of collared lemurs, Eulemur collaris, were studied for 14 months in the littoral forest of southeastern Madagascar. Data on feeding behaviour were collected during all-day and all-night follows by direct observation. A phenological transect containing 78 plant species was established and monitored every 2 weeks to evaluate food availability during the study period. Characteristics of food items and animal nutritional intake were determined via biochemical analyses. The ratio of diurnal to nocturnal feeding was used as response variable in the analyses. The effects of abiotic environmental variables were removed statistically before the analyses of the biotic variables. We found that diurnal feeding lasted longer during the hot–wet season (December–February), whereas nocturnal feeding peaked during the hot–dry and cool–wet seasons (March–August). Although the lemurs foraged mostly in lower forest strata during daylight and used emergent trees preferably at night, the variables which measured animal exposure to birds of prey failed to predict the variation of the ratio of diurnal/nocturnal feeding. Ripe fruit availability and fiber intake are the two variables which best predicted the annual variation of the lemur diurnality. The data indicate that feeding over the whole 24-h cycle is advantageous during lean periods when animals have a fibre-rich, low-quality diet.     

Estimation of pyrethroid pesticide intake using regression modeling of food groups based on composite dietary samples

Population-based estimates of pesticide intake are needed to characterize exposure for particular demographic groups based on their dietary behaviors. Regression modeling performed on measurements of selected pesticides in composited duplicate diet samples allowed (1) estimation of pesticide intakes for a defined demographic community, and (2) comparison of dietary pesticide intakes between the composite and individual samples. Extant databases were useful for assigning individual samples to composites, but they could not provide the breadth of information needed to facilitate measurable levels in every composite. Composite sample measurements were found to be good predictors of pyrethroid pesticide levels in their individual sample constituents where sufficient measurements are available above the method detection limit. Statistical inference shows little evidence of differences between individual and composite measurements and suggests that regression modeling of food groups based on composite dietary samples may provide an effective tool for estimating dietary pesticide intake for a defined population.     

不同工作环境人群多环芳烃的日暴露总量

研究了100名处于不同工作与生活环境人群14种PAHs化合物的24h个体呼吸(PM10和气相)及饮食暴露量.结果表明,参试人群按PAHs暴露量从大到小顺序排列为焦炉炉顶工人>焦炉炉侧工人>焦炉炉底工人>炼钢管理人员>办公室工作人员.焦炉工人BaP日暴露量可达8~25g/d;焦炉工人PAHs日暴露量为一般人群的几十至上百倍,造成差异的原因主要是不同人群日呼吸暴露量的不同,而饮食暴露量的组间差异不大;除二苯并(a,h)蒽外的13种PAHs化合物日暴露量两两呈显著正相关.     

Update of daily intake of PCDDs, PCDFs, and dioxin-like PCBs from food in Japan

Total diet study (TDS) samples of 14 food groups from 16 locations in Japan, collected in 1999 and 2000, were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) to estimate the update of daily intake of these contaminants from food. The mean daily intake of toxic equivalency (TEQ) for an adult weighing 50 kg, calculated at non-detected isomer concentrations equal to zero (ND=0), was estimated to be 2.25 pg TEQ/kg b.w./day. When non-detected isomer concentrations are assumed to be equal to half of the limits of detection (ND=1/2 LOD), the mean daily intake was estimated to be 3.22 pg TEQ/kg b.w./day. These values were below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 4 pg TEQ/kg b.w. for PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs set in Japan. In both the estimates, the mean daily intakes were highest from fish and shellfish (76.9% at ND=0 and 53.9% at ND=1/2 LOD of the total TEQs), followed by those from meat and eggs (15.5% at ND=0 and 11.7% at ND=1/2 LOD of the total TEQs). Congener specific data revealed that these total TEQ levels were dominated by 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 3,3^′,4,4^′,5-PeCB in each case (71.7% at ND=0 and 63.1% at ND=1/2 LOD of the total TEQs). The dioxin-like PCBs (non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs) accounted for about 50% of these total TEQs. These data will be very useful in the risk assessment of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs from food in Japan.     

Toxicity op technical X‐factor∗ to weanling rats. II. A subacute oral study

Abstract

Eighty male weanling rats were fed dietary levels o£ Technical X‐factor (β ‐isomer free BHC, a by‐product obtained during the separation of lindane from Tech. BHC) at dosages of 10, 50, 250, 750, 1500 and 3000 ppm for 90 days. No overt signs of toxicity or mortality were observed at any of the dietary levels. However, a significant reduction in food consumption and growth was evident beyond 750 ppm. Pronounced hepatomegaly observed at 1500 and 3000 ppra was associated with histolo‐gical alterations such as cellular hypertrophy, cyto‐plasmic vacuolisation and focal necrosis. Adrenals showed cortical hypertrophy and highly vacuolated cytoplasm. Though a significant increase in the levels of SGOT was noted at 3000 ppra dosage, no appreciable changes were observed in the levels of SGPT and SLDH. Technical X‐factor appeared to possess low chronic toxicity compared to Tech. BHC as evidenced by the various parameters studied. The observed low chronic toxicity of X‐factor is probably due to the absence of β ‐isomer and altered composition of delta and alpha isomers.