Uranium isotopes in Tunisian bottled mineral waters

²³⁴U and ²³⁸U activity concentrations and their relative effective doses have been determined in 10 bottled mineral waters in Tunisia. Alpha spectrometry was used as technique to measure uranium isotopes. The obtained isotopic ratio ²³⁴U/²³⁸U varies between 1.1 and 3 which means that the two isotopes are not in radioactive equilibrium. Measured activity concentration varies between 3.2 and 40 mBq/l for ²³⁴U and between 1.5 and 26.3 mBq/l for ²³⁸U. Effective doses (assuming 2 litres per day of water consumption) coming from this two isotopes are found to vary between 0.16 and 2.02 μSv/a which is lower than the maximum recommended dose level by the WHO.     

Validation of I ecological transfer models and thyroid dose assessments using Chernobyl fallout data from the Plavsk district, Russia

Within the project “Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety” (EMRAS) organized by the IAEA in 2003 experimental data of ¹³¹I measurements following the Chernobyl accident in the Plavsk district of Tula region, Russia were used to validate the calculations of some radioecological transfer models. Nine models participated in the inter-comparison. Levels of ¹³⁷Cs soil contamination in all the settlements and ¹³¹I/¹³⁷Cs isotopic ratios in the depositions in some locations were used as the main input information. 370 measurements of ¹³¹I content in thyroid of townspeople and villagers, and 90 measurements of ¹³¹I concentration in milk were used for validation of the model predictions.A remarkable improvement in models performance comparing with previous inter-comparison exercise was demonstrated. Predictions of the various models were within a factor of three relative to the observations, discrepancies between the estimates of average doses to thyroid produced by most participant not exceeded a factor of ten.     

Tissue radionuclide concentrations in water birds and upland birds on the Hanford Site (USA) from 1971-2009

Historical operations at the Hanford Site (Washington State, USA) have released a wide array of non-radionuclide and radionuclide contaminants into the environment. As a result, there is a need to characterize contaminant effects on site biota. Within this framework, the main purpose of our study was to evaluate radionuclide concentrations in bird tissue, obtained from the Hanford Environmental Information System (HEIS). The database was sorted by avian group (water bird vs. upland bird), radionuclide (over 20 analytes), tissue (muscle, bone, liver), location (onsite vs. offsite), and time period (1971-1990 vs. 1991-2009). Onsite median concentrations in water birds were significantly higher (Bonferroni P < 0.05) than those in onsite upland birds for Cs-137 in muscle (1971-1990) and Sr-90 in bone (1991-2009), perhaps due to behavioral, habitat, or trophic species differences. Onsite median concentrations in water birds were higher (borderline significance with Bonferroni P = 0.05) than those in offsite birds for Cs-137 in muscle (1971-1990). Onsite median concentrations in the earlier time period were significantly higher (Bonferroni P < 0.05) than those in the later time period for Co-60, Cs-137, Eu-152, and Sr-90 in water bird muscle and for Cs-137 in upland bird muscle tissue. Median concentrations of Sr-90 in bone were significantly higher (Bonferroni P < 0.05) than those in muscle for both avian groups and both locations. Over the time period, 1971-2009, onsite median internal dose was estimated for each radionuclide in water bird and upland bird tissues. However, a meaningful dose comparison between bird groups was not possible, due to a dissimilar radionuclide inventory, mismatch of time periods for input radionuclides, and lack of an external dose estimate. Despite these limitations, our results contribute toward ongoing efforts to characterize ecological risk at the Hanford Site.     

广东省清远市PM2.5污染天气分型及污染潜在源区分析

利用2016—2021年清远市逐时空气质量监测数据和相关气象资料,基于统计分析、主观天气分型方法和后向轨迹模式（HYSPLIT）,归纳总结粤北代表城市清远市在不同细颗粒物（PM_2.5 ）污染天气分型下的气象要素特征及污染潜在源区特征,为大气污染精细化防控提供有效参考。结果表明：在日均风速＜2m/s、日均相对湿度为75%～90%、日均气温为18～22℃时的无降水或微量降水天气下,清远市易出现PM_2.5 污染。变性高压脊型、脊后槽前型、冷锋前型、弱冷高压脊型、高压底后部型、台风外围型是造成清远市PM_2.5 污染的典型天气型,其中PM_2.5 重度污染均出现在秋、冬季弱冷高压脊型控制下;变性高压脊型下出现PM_2.5 轻度和中度污染的频率最高;脊后槽前型是清远市春季PM_2.5 污染的主要天气型;冷锋前型、高压底后部型和台风外围型下的PM_2.5 污染程度较轻。加剧清远市PM_2.5 污染的主要气流轨迹为弱偏南气流和南北气流辐合,当弱偏南气流控制时,污染潜在源区主要位于清远市辖区及广州、佛山、东莞、江门等珠三角城市;当南北气流辐合时,潜在源区主要位于清远市南部、韶关及珠三角,南岭山脉阻挡作用削弱了偏北方向长距离输送的PM_2.5 污染。     

HALT试验技术的研究

高加速寿命应力试验（HALT）,是一种通过施加阶梯强化应力于试品,达到快速发现产品潜在缺陷,操作设计边际及结构强度极限的试验方法,主要应用于产品研发设计阶段。由于该方法效果明显,目前已越来越多的电子电气产品制造商认可并推广使用,成为研发设计工程师提高产品可靠性的重要试验手段。本文简要介绍HALT试验的目的,并结合实际,探讨了HALT试验设备的关键性能指标。另外,基于日常实践经验,重点分析和讨论了HALT试验过程中应该关注的一些技术处置措施,从而帮助测试人员正确执行HALT。     

Development of inherent safety and health index for formulated product design

The numerous formulated products which are introduced to the market consist of chemical ingredients that may cause various safety and health hazards to the consumers. Therefore, it is extremely important to practice a systematic methodology to formulate products with acceptable safety and health performances. This work presents an index-based methodology to assess the safety and health hazards of the ingredients during the early formulation stage of product design. Hence, new inherent safety and health sub-indexes are introduced to improve the current safety and health hazards that are needed in formulated product design. The inherent safety and health sub-indexes are assigned with scores based on the degree of potential hazards. A higher score indicates a higher safety risk or severe health effect, and vice versa. The proposed methodology will greatly assist the users to identify the adverse safety and health effects caused by the ingredients. Hence, it is pivotal to eliminate or reduce the safety and health impacts from product usage. A case study on common ingredients used in the formulation of paint is presented on this study to describe the proposed method.     

海南岛潜在震源区的研究

本文应用人工神经网络原理,以地震构造和地震活动性为主要特征,对我国海南岛进行了潜在震源区的定量划分。这种划分既反映了当前人们对地震发生规律的认识水平,又为城建部门按照工程重要性和使用年限选取相应的抗震设计参数提供了依据。     

室内尘埃中铅的赋存形态与儿童血铅的相关性研究

有关室内尘埃中铅的赋存形态与儿童血铅的相关性研究尚未见报道。在对某地儿童血铅进行调查期间,发现当地儿童血铅浓度与室内尘埃中铅的水溶态、离子交换态、腐殖酸结合态、铁锰氧化态、强有机结合态和残渣态呈正相关,但不显著,无统计学意义。但与总铅浓度呈显著正相关(R=0.447,P=0.032),与铅的碳酸盐结合态呈高显著相关(R=0.537,P=0.008)。在此基础上,将儿童血铅分别与尘埃中铅暴露量、摄入量和潜在剂量进行相关分析,结果表明,儿童血铅与室内尘总铅摄入量和总铅潜在剂量正相关但无统计意义,与尘总铅暴露量显著相关(R=0.431,P=0.040),与碳酸盐态的暴露量(R=0.537,P=0.008)、摄入量(R=0.538,P=0.008)和潜在剂量(R=0.540,P=0.008)高度显著相关。提示在土壤和尘埃中铅的碳酸盐态含量较高的地区,碳酸盐态铅可能是造成儿童血铅超标的主要原因。     

Spatial distribution and source identification of wet deposition at remote EANET sites in Japan

Wet deposition of major ions was discussed from the viewpoint of its potential sources for six remote EANET sites in Japan (Rishiri, Happo, Oki, Ogasawara, Yusuhara, and Hedo) having sufficiently high data completeness during 2000–2004. The annual deposition for each site ranged from 12.1 to 46.6 meq m⁻² yr⁻¹ for nss-SO₄²⁻, from 5.0 to 21.9 meq m⁻² yr⁻¹ for NO₃⁻. The ranges of annual deposition of the two ions for the sites were lower than those for urban and rural sites in Japanese Acid Deposition Survey by Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and higher than those for global remote marine sites. Factor analysis was performed on log-transformed daily wet deposition of major ions for each site. The obtained two factors were interpreted as (1) acid and soil source (or acid source for some sites), and (2) sea-salt source for all the sites. This indicates that wet deposition of ions over the remote areas in Japan has a similar structure in terms of types of sources. Factor scores of acid and soil source were relatively high during Kosa (Asian dust) events in spring in western Japan. Back-trajectories for high-deposition episodes of acid and soil source (or acid source) for the remote sites showed that episodic air masses frequently came from the northeastern area of Asian Continent in spring and winter, and from central China in summer and autumn. This indicates a large contribution of continental emissions to wet deposition of ions over the remote areas in Japan.     

Multiplicity-adjusted Inferences in Risk Assessment: Benchmark Analysis with Continuous Response Data

We develop and study multiplicity adjustments for low-dose inferences in environmental risk assessment. Application is intended for risk analysis studies where human, animal, or ecological data are used to set safe levels of a hazardous environmental agent. A modern method for making inferences in this setting is known as benchmark analysis, where attention centers on the dose at which a fixed benchmark level of risk is achieved. Both upper confidence limits on the risk and lower confidence limits on the “benchmark dose” are of interest. In practice, a number of possible benchmark risks may be under study; if so, corrections must be applied to adjust the limits for multiplicity. In this note, we discuss approaches for doing so with continuous, nonquantal response data.