Carry-over of dietary organochlorine pesticides, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and brominated flame retardants to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fillets

Information on carry-over of contaminants from feed to animal food products is essential for appropriate human risk assessment of feed contaminants. The carry-over of potentially hazardous persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from feed to fillet was assessed in consumption sized Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Relative carry-over (defined as the fraction of a certain dietary POP retained in the fillet) was assessed in a controlled feeding trial, which provided fillet retention of dietary organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), dioxins (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Highest retention was found for OCPs, BFRs and PCBs (31-58%), and the lowest retentions were observed for PCDD/Fs congeners (10-34%). National monitoring data on commercial fish feed and farmed Atlantic salmon on the Norwegian market were used to provide commercially relevant feed-to-fillet transfer factors (calculated as fillet POP level divided by feed POP level), which ranged from 0.4 to 0.5, which is a factor 5-10 times higher than reported for terrestrial meat products. For the OCP with one of the highest relative carry-over, toxaphene, uptake and elimination kinetics were established. Model simulations that are based on the uptake and elimination kinetics gave predicted levels that were in agreement with the measured values. Application of the model to the current EU upper limit for toxaphene in feed (50 μg kg⁻¹) gave maximum fillet levels of 22 μg kg⁻¹, which exceeds the estimated permissible level (21 μg kg⁻¹) for toxaphene in fish food samples in Norway.     

Experimental investigation of outdoor and indoor mean concentrations and concentration fluctuations of pollutants

Tracer gas was released upwind of a two-compartment complex shaped building under unstable atmospheric conditions. The mean wind direction was normal to or at 45° to the long face of the building. The general patterns of concentration distribution on the building external walls and inside the building were analysed and the influence of natural and mechanical ventilation on indoor concentration distributions was discussed. Mean concentration levels, as well as the concentration fluctuation intensity, were higher on the windward walls of the building, although concentration levels varied along each wall. Concentration fluctuations measured inside the building were lower than those measured outside. Inside the two compartments of the building, the time series of concentrations had a similar general behaviour; however, gas concentrations took approximately 1.5 times longer to reach the mean maximum concentration value at the downwind compartment 02 while they also decreased more rapidly in the upwind compartment 01 after the source was turned off. The highest indoor concentration and concentration fluctuation values were observed at the detectors located close to the windward walls, especially when the building windows were open. Experiments with and without natural ventilation suggested that infiltration and exfiltration of contaminants is much faster when the building windows are open, resulting to higher indoor concentration levels. Furthermore, mechanical ventilation tends to homogenize concentrations and suppress concentration fluctuations, leading to lower maximum concentration values.     

A biology-based dynamic approach for the reconciliation of acute and chronic toxicity tests: application to Daphnia magna

There is the need to integrate existing toxicity data in a coherent framework for extending their domain of applicability as well as their extrapolation potential. This integration would also reduce time and cost-consuming aspects of these tests and reduce animal usage. In this work, based on data extracted from literature, we have assessed the advantages that a dynamic biology-toxicant fate coupled model for Daphnia magna could provide when assessing toxicity data, in particular, the possibility to obtain from short-term (acute) toxicity test long-term (chronic) toxicity values taking into account the inherent variability of D. magna populations and the multiple sources of data. The results show that this approach overcomes some of the limitations of existing toxicity tests and that the prediction errors are considerably reduced when compared with the factor from 2 to 5 obtained using acute-to-chronic ratios.     

Structural equation model analysis for the evaluation of overall driving performance: A driving simulator study focusing on driver distraction

Objective: The present research relies on 2 main objectives. The first is to investigate whether latent model analysis through a structural equation model can be implemented on driving simulator data in order to define an unobserved driving performance variable. Subsequently, the second objective is to investigate and quantify the effect of several risk factors including distraction sources, driver characteristics, and road and traffic environment on the overall driving performance and not in independent driving performance measures.

Methods: For the scope of the present research, 95 participants from all age groups were asked to drive under different types of distraction (conversation with passenger, cell phone use) in urban and rural road environments with low and high traffic volume in a driving simulator experiment. Then, in the framework of the statistical analysis, a correlation table is presented investigating any of a broad class of statistical relationships between driving simulator measures and a structural equation model is developed in which overall driving performance is estimated as a latent variable based on several individual driving simulator measures.

Results: Results confirm the suitability of the structural equation model and indicate that the selection of the specific performance measures that define overall performance should be guided by a rule of representativeness between the selected variables. Moreover, results indicate that conversation with the passenger was not found to have a statistically significant effect, indicating that drivers do not change their performance while conversing with a passenger compared to undistracted driving. On the other hand, results support the hypothesis that cell phone use has a negative effect on driving performance. Furthermore, regarding driver characteristics, age, gender, and experience all have a significant effect on driving performance, indicating that driver-related characteristics play the most crucial role in overall driving performance.

Conclusions: The findings of this study allow a new approach to the investigation of driving behavior in driving simulator experiments and in general. By the successful implementation of the structural equation model, driving behavior can be assessed in terms of overall performance and not through individual performance measures, which allows an important scientific step forward from piecemeal analyses to a sound combined analysis of the interrelationship between several risk factors and overall driving performance.     

城市道路机动车尾气污染物扩散模型研究概况

介绍了国外几个主要城市道路机动车尾气污染物扩散模型,以及模型的分类、特点和发展过程。同时,简要介绍了国内学者利用主要扩散模型对于城市道路机动车污染物的研究。     

Evaluating the impacts of global environmental assessments

There are currently no widely accepted procedures for comparing the performance of global environmental assessments (GEAs) and this may be a barrier to improving their methodology. To encourage greater self-reflection within the GEA community, it is proposed to introduce consistent evaluation approaches. Two elements from current evaluation practice are reviewed here that could be particularly useful for evaluating GEAs. The first are logic models which provide a transparent visual mapping of how activities in a GEA are intended to have impacts on policies. The second are performance metrics. It is proposed that GEAs adopt two kinds of metrics: (i) A common generic set for use in all GEAs to provide a basis for comparing the performance of GEAs, and (ii) a specific set of measureable metrics for each particular GEA derived from/linked to the generic set. Although many issues arise in applying these and other elements from evaluation theory and practice to GEAs, the potential benefits are greater comparability of GEA performance and new knowledge about how to improve them. This Short Communication is part of a Special Issue on solution-oriented GEAs.     

A~2/O工艺厌氧池有机物降解动力学模型对比研究

试验考察了东阿县污水处理厂一期A2/O工艺厌氧池去除有机污染物效能,当进水ρ(COD)为548.3 mg/L时,厌氧池平均去除率达78.7%。同时探讨了几种常见数学模型模拟厌氧池去除有机物规律情况,根据实际工程监测数据确定有机底物降解动力学常数,得出Grau模型、Stover-kincannon模型和改进的Monod模型较适合模拟厌氧池去除有机物的规律,并对模型进行了检验。     

烟台市大气臭氧近地面分布特征初探

利用2008年7月-2009年6月烟台市11个子站的大气臭氧自动连续监测数据,时臭氧浓度的区域分布、季节变化、日变化、与二氧化氮浓度相关性等特征进行分析．结果表明：①郊区臭氧浓度高于市中心区;②臭氧浓度季节变化明显,其大小依次排排列为春季、夏季、秋季和冬季;③臭氧浓度具有明显的日变化,一般在午后浓度较高。夜晚较低,早晨...     

城市立体交通系统中污染物传播特性数值模拟

构建了一个包含交通转盘、隧道、高架桥和下沉式公交站的立体交通几何模型,建立了该系统中流体流动与污染物传播的耦合数学模型,数值分析了环境风变化时,该系统中流体流动与气态污染物的传播规律.结果表明,环境风向的变化直接改变了公交站区域流体的流向途径,在公交站区域;北风时的平均污染物浓度是西风时的3.5倍,而在转盘中央区域,北风时平均污染物浓度是西风时的5倍.西风时,环境风速从0.5m/s增加到3.5m/s,东侧公交站区域的平均污染物浓度减少95.21%;交通隧道内,环境风速的增加使空气流通速度增加,污染物浓度迅速降低.     

铬污染土壤超低频复电阻率频散特性

在超低频段(2-5~26Hz)内,研究了铬污染土壤复电阻率在不同含水率、铬含量和孔隙率下的幅值及相位频散特性. 结果显示,铬污染土壤复电阻率的幅值随频率的增大呈单调递减趋势,但相位随频率的变化曲线呈平放的S形. 含水率、铬含量和孔隙率的变化均会引起土壤复电阻率的幅值和相位大小的改变,而相位峰值的位置只对含水率及孔隙率的变化较为敏感,与铬含量变化的关系不大. 含水率从0.08增至0.24时可导致相位峰值的位置产生约8Hz的右移;而当w(Cr6+)从0.5g/kg增至4.0g/kg时,相位峰值的位置基本不发生变化. 表明铬含量和含水率的增大均会引起电阻率减小的异常现象,若单纯地使用电阻率很难区分引起这2种异常现象的原因,但结合土壤复电阻率频散特性特别是相位峰值的位置可以进行有效判别,进而可判定铬污染场地的铬含量分布.