Influence of seasonal climate differences on the pharmaceutical,hormone and personal care product removal efficiency of a drinking water treatment plant

The potential presence of pharmaceuticals, hormones and personal care products in drinking water supplies has raised concerned over the efficiency with which these substances are removed by water treatment processes. In this work, we analyzed samples of raw, unprocessed water collected in different periods and found them to contain higher levels of these contaminants in the colder periods (viz. 12–314 ng L⁻¹ in autumn and winter as compared to 8–127 ng L⁻¹ in spring and summer) as a result of their biodegradation being favoured by high temperatures and solar irradiance. We also assessed the efficiency with which these contaminants are removed from drinking water by a water treatment plant operating in south-eastern Spain. Preoxidation with potassium permanganate and chloramination with sodium hypochlorite in the presence of highly concentrated ammonia were found to be the treatment steps most markedly contributing to the removal of pharmaceuticals, hormones and personal care products from drinking water (especially in the warmer periods, where these contaminants were completely removed from the water). By contrast, water treated in the colder periods (autumn and winter) still contained small amounts of ibuprofen and carbamazepine (0.09–0.5 ng L⁻¹) which, however, accounted for less than 0.2% of their original concentrations in the water prior to treatment.     

Analysing workplace violence towards health care staff in public hospitals using alternative ordered response models: the case of north-eastern Turkey

The main objective of this article is to determine key factors that may have a significant effect on the verbal abuse, emotional abuse and physical assault of health care workers in north-eastern Turkey. A self-administered survey was completed by 450 health care workers in three well-established hospitals in Erzurum, Turkey. Because of the discrete and ordered nature of the dependent variable of the survey, the data were analysed using four distinctive ordered response models. Results revealed that several key variables were found to be a significant determinant of workplace violence, such as the type of health institution, occupational position, weekly working hours, weekly shift hours, number of daily patient contacts, age group of the respondents, experience in the health sector, training against workplace violence and current policies of the hospitals and the Turkish Ministry of Health.     

Percutaneous Exposure Incidents Among Australian Hospital Staff

We investigated all reported percutaneous exposure incidents (PEI) among staff from a large Australian hospital in the 3-year period, 2001-2003. There were a total of 373 PEI, of which 38.9% were needlestick injuries, 32.7% were cutaneous exposures and 28.4% sharps-related injuries. Nurses were the most commonly affected staff members, accounting for 63.5% of the total, followed by doctors (18.8%) and other staff ( 17.7%). Needlestick injuries were responsible for the majority of nurses’ PEI (44.7%). Sharps injuries constituted the major category for doctors (44.3%). Most needlestick injuries (67.6%) were caused by hollow-bore needles, while the majority of cutaneous exposures involved blood or serum (55.8%). Most sharps injures were caused by unknown devices (35.9%) or suture needles (34.9%). Overall, our investigation suggests that PEI is a considerable burden for health care workers in Australia. Further research is now required to determine the relationships, if any, between workers who suffer PEI and those who do not.     

Rethinking remediation: mine reclamation,environmental justice,and relations of care

ABSTRACT

To date, research on mine remediation in North America has focused primarily on technical management; relatively less is known about the historical, political and social dimensions of remediation. Remediation, as a continuation of the mining process, alters local landscapes and economies and can be both dangerous and beneficial for surrounding communities. Because remediation projects tend to focus on the technical aspects of clean-up, such projects risk overlooking the environmental injustices associated with past development and obscuring blame or responsibility from industry and government for environmental degradation. Insofar as it is understood as cleaning up or repairing environmental damage, remediation is generally seen as “doing the good” and is less amenable to political or ethical challenges based on community concerns or values. This paper argues that greater attention needs to be paid to public participation and justice concerns associated with cleaning up mine sites. Drawing from the literatures on ecological restoration, environmental justice, reconciliation, discard studies, and matters of care, we highlight critical, yet overlooked issues in the remediation of post-mining landscapes. We argue that remediation projects present a unique opportunity for the negotiation and articulation of morals, values, histories, and physical experiences associated with mine sites and we seek to re-frame remediation as an ongoing, creative process of community healing.     

Residential Care in Los Angeles: evaluating the spatial distribution of facilities and neighbourhood access to care among older adults

ABSTRACT

Residential care has increased in number of facilities and has grown in density in urban areas, yet it is disproportionately dispersed in cities and only beginning to meet the current long-term care need of older adults as an alternative to institutional and in-home care. California State Department of Social Services residential care facility data were linked with Los Angeles County census tract data to examine the spatial distribution of facilities through hot spot analysis of clusters of small and large facilities and zero-inflated negative binomial regression of census tract facility counts on older age and race groups, older disabled adults, and older adults in poverty in the area. The results show clusters of large facilities west of downtown Los Angeles and clusters of small facilities in the northern suburbs of the city in the San Fernando Valley. Increases in pre- and early-retired adults and older Hispanics in census tracts are associated with the greatest decreases in facility tract capacity in the area, whereas increases in the oldest old and older disabled adults are associated with the greatest increases. Understanding spatial disparities in residential care can help local agencies and developers plan and partner in more intentional and equitable development of facilities. The greatest opportunity for such development may lie in institutional tools for eldercare facility development such as the eldercare facility ordinance of Los Angeles and development of board and care facilities in residential zones of Los Angeles and other cities.     

Apparent resource competition among embryos in the brood pouch of a male pipefish

Embryo success was studied in the paternally brooding pipefish Syngnathus typhle. During brooding, which lasts about a month, males provide embryos in their brood pouch with nutrients and oxygen via a placenta-like structure. Egg size depends on female size. In aquaria, males were mated with differently sized females to give the following treatments: M, mixed-egg-size broods of approximately half large and half small eggs; L, single-egg-size broods of large eggs; S, single-egg-size broods of small eggs; and F, field mated males. All males were kept in aquaria for a full brooding period. For each egg-size category, the number of newborn was compared with the number of eggs the male initially fertilized in his brood pouch. Within mixed-egg-size broods, a higher proportion of large eggs survived and large eggs resulted in heavier newborn than small eggs. Indeed, small eggs from a mixed-egg-size brood had significantly lower relative success (proportion of embryos surviving to birth) than those from a brood entirely composed of small eggs. The implication is that embryos compete for resources within the brood pouch, and that competitive success depends on egg size. Given that females produce eggs corresponding in size to their body size, and that females are known to compete indirectly for access to mates (i.e., the sex-roles are reversed), this intrabrood competition could be seen as an extension of female-female competition, but alternative explanations are discussed. Received: 28 April 1995/Accepted after revision: 28 October 1995     

典型药物及个人护理品在黄东海海域水体中的检测、分布规律及其风险评估

目前对沿海地区存在的药物及个人护理品(PPCPs)的了解十分有限,建立能同时精确检测海水样品中多种PPCPs的方法至关重要.本研究选取非甾体类消炎药、抗生素、脂质调节剂和兴奋剂等类别的9种PPCPs作为检测对象,建立固相萃取-高效液相色谱-质谱联用方法(SPE-HPLC-MS),确定了固相萃取柱的填料、洗脱液组成及用量等最佳实验条件.结果表明,萃取柱为CNW HLB,洗脱液为甲醇∶乙腈(1∶1,体积比),洗脱液体积为6 m L,水样pH为7,流速为5 m L·min~(-1),螯合剂EDTA-Na_2添加量为1 g,且浓缩倍数为500倍时,萃取效果最佳.9种PPCPs的线性回归方程均具有良好线性,相关性系数均大于0. 999,回收率在82%～106%之间,相对标准偏差在1. 6%～14%之间,检出限在0. 01～2 ng·L~(-1)之间,满足海水中痕量分析的要求.于2018年夏季对黄东海表层水体中PPCPs的分布特性、来源和分布规律进行研究.9种PPCPs均被检出,主要污染物是NAP、IBU、GEM、CAF和ASA.在空间分布上,PPCPs浓度整体呈现河口近岸高,远海海域较低的趋势,黄海海域中PPCPs浓度高于东海,这与黄海海域污染源多、其水交换能力与东海相比较弱有关.主成分分析结果显示,表层海水中的PPCPs浓度与盐度和pH之间具有负相关性,与叶绿素a具有一定正相关性,表明PPCPs的主要来源为陆源输入.运用风险熵值法对该海域的PPCPs进行环境风险评估,9种PPCPs的RQ均小于1,其中IBU和NAP的RQ大于0. 1,可能对该海域产生中度风险危害,其余PPCPs的RQ均小于0. 1,表明其目前对黄海及东海海域基本没有危害.     

宁夏第三排水沟中药物和个人护理品(PPCPs)的污染特征与生态风险评估

为了探究宁夏第三排水沟中药物和个人护理品（PPCPs）的污染特征与潜在生态风险,采用固相萃取-超高效液相色谱串联质谱法对第三排水沟中14种PPCPs进行检测分析.结果表明,14种PPCPs在第三排水沟和汇入水样中均有所检出,总浓度范围分别为117.74~1947.64 ng·L^-1和63.94~4509.39 ng·L^-1.排水沟中吉非罗齐（GEM）、咖啡因（CAF）、阿伏苯宗（BM-DBM）、二苯甲酮-3（BP-3）、3-（4-甲基苯亚甲基）-樟脑（4-MBC）和避蚊胺（DEET）的检出率均达到100%.药物中检出浓度最高的是GEM （7.78~721.84 ng·L^-1）,其次是CAF （41.74~246.86 ng·L^-1）;个人护理品中检出浓度最高的是DEET （3.17~219.91 ng·L^-1）,其次是BP-3（56.92~150.14 ng·L^-1）.不同采样点的PPCPs浓度呈现一定的空间差异,PPCPs总浓度在流经平罗县城后猛然增加,并在该段处达到最大,随后呈现下降趋势.相关性分析表明,4-MBC与COD呈显著的正相关关系（P<0.01）,IBU、XMTD、TCC和TCS与NH₄⁺-N呈较明显的正相关关系（P<0.05）,DIC、BF、CBZ和DEET与TN呈较明显的正相关关系（P<0.05）,表明PPCPs浓度和水质指标密切相关.生态风险评价结果显示DIC、IBU、GEM、CBZ、CAF和BP-3具有高风险,BM-DBM、TCC和TCS具有中等风险.     

超滤膜负载UiO-66@Fe3O4@UiO-66强化PPCPs去除和膜污染控制

本研究通过聚偏氟乙烯（PVDF）膜内负载具有协同吸附和催化作用的金属有机骨架（MOFs）,吸附去除水中药品及个人护理品（PPCPs）,并且达到膜滤过程中多功能材料吸附能力再生和膜污染控制的双重目的.在膜吸附方面,共混基质膜（MMMs）内MOFs材料UiO-66@Fe₃O₄@UiO-66能够有效吸附以水杨酸（SA）和邻-苯二甲酸二甲酯（DMP）为模板化合物的两种常见PPCPs.在膜催化再生方面,UiO-66@Fe₃O₄@UiO-66中的Fe₃O₄能够催化H₂O₂生成强氧化性的羟基自由基（HO·）,实现对MOFs/PVDF膜吸附能力再生和膜内污染控制的耦合.结果表明,pH=7±0.1条件下,10% MOFs/PVDF膜对0.1 mmol·L^-1 SA和DMP吸附去除率最高,它们的去除率可分别达到64.2%和46.1%.除此之外,膜内UiO-66@Fe₃O₄@UiO-66催化5 mmol·L^-1 H₂O₂,能够使膜通量和膜吸附性能恢复率分别达到91.8%和94.2%.实验设计的这种负载多功能MOFs共混基质膜的特点是它对膜吸附能力再生和膜污染控制过程的耦合.这为生化尾水深度净化过程中PPCPs去除和膜抗污染性能改善提供了新的思路.