TOXIC EFFECTS OF PETROLEUM AND SHALE JP-4 AND JP-8 AVIATION FUELS ON FATHEAD MINNOWS1

ABSTRACT: Static 96-hour median lethal concentrations were determined for the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of both petroleum-derived and shale-derived avaiation fuels (JP-4 and JP-8) using fathead minnows. JP-8 was more toxic than JP-4 except for one shale JP-4 sample that was as toxic as the JP-8. Petroleum and shale JP-8 were similar in toxicity. The toxicity of shale JP-4 was less clear. Shale JP-4 from three vendor sources revealed differing toxicity values. One shale JP-4 sample was more toxic and one less toxic than its petroleum analogue, with the third being equally toxic. Toxicity of the fuels may be enhanced by compounds in the WSF that correspond to chemicals containing 10 or more carbon atoms.     

Setting the stage for the review of the international estimate of short-term intake (IESTI) equation

ABSTRACT

In the framework of setting Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides, both chronic and acute health risks to consumers arising from the long-term and short-term dietary exposure to pesticide residues have to be assessed. The current internationally harmonized approach for assessing the acute dietary exposure is based on deterministic methods for calculating the IESTI (International Estimate of Short-Term Intake). Recently, it became apparent that the IESTI approach needs a revision in the light of new scientific and political aspects. The main reasons that require this review were the lack of an international harmonization of the methodology which implies trade barriers as well as difficulties in risk communication concerning the public trust in regulatory systems. The most recent milestone in the scientific debate on a possible revision of the IESTI equation was an international scientific workshop held in Geneva in September 2015. The main objectives of this meeting were the re-evaluation, and where possible, the international harmonization of the input parameters for the IESTI equations as well as the equations themselves. The main recommendations from the workshop were (i) to replace the highest residue and supervised trials median residue with the maximum residue limit (MRL), (ii) to use a standard variability factor of three, (iii) to derive the P97.5 large portion value from the distribution of consumption values of dietary surveys expressed as kg food/kg bw/d, and (iv) to remove the commodity unit weight from the equations. In addition, the application of conversion factors and processing factors was addressed. On the initiative of the (World Health Organization) WHO Collaborating Centre on Chemical Food Safety at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands, an international working group with members from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, France (ANSES), Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Australia (APVMA), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Germany (BfR), Chemical Regulation Division, the United Kingdom (CRD), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and RIVM, the Netherlands was formed after the IESTI workshop to conduct a comprehensive impact assessment of the proposed changes of the IESTI equations.     

Determination of the mechanism of photoinduced toxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles (ZnO, CuO, Co3O4 and TiO2) to E. coli bacteria

Cytotoxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles(MNPs)(ZnO,CuO,Co 3 O 4 and TiO 2)was investigated in Escherichia coli both under light and dark conditions.Cytotoxicity experiments were conducted with spread plate counting and the LC 50 values were calculated.We determined the mechanism of toxicity via measurements of oxidative stress,reduced glutathione,lipid peroxidation,and metal ions.The overall ranking of the LC 50 values was in the order of ZnO < CuO < Co 3 O 4 < TiO 2 under dark condition and ZnO < CuO < TiO 2 < Co 3 O 4 under light condition.ZnO MNPs were the most toxic among the tested nanoparticles.Our results indicate depletion of reduced glutathione level and elevation of malondialdehyde level correlated with the increase in oxidative stress.Released metal ions were found to have partial effect on the toxicity of MNPs to E.coli.In summary,the dynamic interactions of multiple mechanisms lead to the toxicity of the tested MNPs to E.coli.     

采矿业污染河流底泥及河漫滩沉积物的粒径组成与砷形态分布特征

采用连续提取法分析了刁江底泥和河漫滩沉积物中砷的形态变化规律及其与沉积物粒径组成的关系.结果表明,刁江流域底泥和河漫滩沉积物中As含量分布存在差异,底泥中As主要赋存在63～170μm粒级颗粒中,河漫滩沉积物中As主要赋存在63μm粒级颗粒中.底泥和河漫滩沉积物中砷主要以铁合态、钙合态和残渣态的形式存在,且残渣态比例相对较高,表现出典型的尾砂污染特征.底泥中残渣态砷(Res-As)组成比例总体较高,主要赋存在63～170μm粒级颗粒中,而洪水水位河漫滩沉积物中Res-As组成比例相对较低,这与不同沉积物中硫化态砷的氧化反应差异有关.对于中下游河段,底泥和中水水位河漫滩沉积物中Res-As总体上呈逐渐降低的趋势,铁合态砷(Fe-As)组成比例的分布与Res-As呈相反的趋势.     

制浆造纸废水对水生生物急性毒性研究

目前我国工业废水排放的监督和管理主要以理化监测为主,而理化分析并不能实际反映出水污染源对水体中受害生物的综合毒害强度。该研究同时采用鱼类急性毒性试验、溞类急性毒性试验、发光细菌急性毒性试验和藻类生长抑制试验测定制浆造纸排放废水的生物毒性大小,根据上述毒性实验所测定的半数效应的体积百分比浓度,筛选出对该行业废水最为敏感的毒性试验方法和试验生物,同时结合毒性单位法和废水中的常规污染物浓度与特征污染物对该排放废水进行了综合评价。试验结果表明:该制浆造纸废水对斑马鱼的96 h LC50为33.24%、33.33%和32.96%,属中毒;对大型溞的48 h LC50为27.01%和37.47%,属中毒;对青海弧菌Q67的15 min EC50远远小于10%,属高毒或剧毒;对斜生栅藻的96 h EC50为50%~100%,属低毒。可见,发光细菌毒性试验方法对制浆造纸废水最为灵敏;同时测定4类生物急性毒性的方法为建立我国重点废水排放行业的生物毒性监测方法体系和适合不同污染源废水的试验生物目录库奠定了基础;虽然部分制浆造纸废水的理化指标已经达标,但是其生物毒性较强,这说明采用生物毒性监测配合理化监测方法监测水污染源排放的废水,才能更深刻了解污染物对水生态环境的实际影响,水生生物毒性试验是化学试验的必要补充。     

城市污水处理厂生成的微生物气溶胶的污染特性

为探明城市污水厂生成的微生物气溶胶的污染特性,于2011年6～7月利用Andersen六级撞击式采样器对西安市第三污水处理厂不同污水处理单元的微生物气溶胶进行现场采样,利用平皿培养和菌落计数法检测分析了细菌、真菌和放线菌这3类微生物气溶胶的浓度、粒径分布和中值直径.结果表明,污水处理厂污泥脱水车间的细菌和放线菌气溶胶浓度最高,分别为7 866 CFU.m-3±960 CFU.m-3和2 139 CFU.m-3±227 CFU.m-3,而真菌气溶胶浓度最高出现在氧化沟,为2 156 CFU.m-3±119 CFU.m-3.细菌、真菌和放线菌气溶胶粒径分布均呈偏态型,其中细菌和真菌的粒径分布峰值出现在2.1～3.3μm范围,而放线菌气溶胶粒径分布峰值出现在1.1～2.1μm范围.总体上,污水厂中细菌气溶胶中值直径>真菌气溶胶中值直径>放线菌气溶胶中值直径.另外,微生物气溶胶的空间变化特征表现为粒径大的微生物气溶胶浓度减少率大.3类微生物气溶胶浓度减少率的变化程度从大到小依次为细菌>真菌>放线菌.     

Investigating the influence on safety of retrofitting Italian motorways with barriers meeting a new EU standard

Objective: A new European Union (EU) regulation for safety barriers, which is based on performance, has encouraged road agencies to perform an upgrade of old barriers, with the expectation that there will be safety benefits at the retrofitted sites. The new class of barriers was designed and installed in compliance with the 1998 (European Norm) EN 1317 standards for road restraint systems, which lays down common requirements for the testing and certification of road restraint systems in all countries of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Both the older and new barriers are made of steel and are installed in such a way as to avoid vehicle intrusion, but the older ones are thought to be only effective at low speeds and large angles of impact. The new standard seeks to remedy this by providing better protection at higher speeds. This article seeks to quantify the effect on the frequency of fatal and injury crashes of retrofitting motorways with barriers meeting the new standards.

Methods: The estimation of the crash modification was carried out by performing an empirical Bayes before–after analysis based on data from the A18 Messina–Catania motorway in Italy. The methodology has the great advantage to account for the regression to the mean effects. Besides, to account for time trend effects and dispersion of crash data, a modified calibration methodology of safety performance was used.

Results: This study, based on data collected on 76 km of motorway in the period 2000–2012, derived Crash Modification Factor point estimates that indicate reductions of 72% for run-off-road fatal and injury crashes and 38% in total fatal and injury crashes that could be expected by upgrading an old safety barrier by complying with new EU 1317 standards. The estimated benefit-cost ratio of 5.57 for total crashes indicates that the treatment is cost effective.

Conclusions: The magnitude of this benefit indicates that the retrofits are cost-effective even for total crashes and should continue in any European country inasmuch as the estimated Crash Modification Factors are based on treatment sites that are reasonably representative of all European motorways.     

气相色谱法估算多环芳烃半数致死浓度

 用气相色谱相对比保留体积Vg（r）估算多环芳烃PAHs在鱼体内96h的半数致死浓度（LC₅₀）.测定了麦穗鱼对萘、联苯、β－甲基萘、2，3一二甲基萘、2，7一二甲基萘、苊、菲7种PAHs的LC₅₀，建立了6种不同极性色谱固定相上的LC₅₀与Vg（r）的一元回归方程和LC₅₀、Vg（r）、一阶分子连接性指数'Ｘ的二元回归方程，统计检验表明，两类回归方程总体显著相关，巨相关性不受固定相极性的影响用Vg（r）估算PAHs对水生生物LC₅₀是一种估算精度高，可操作性强的好方法．     

Safety performance evaluation of cable median barriers on freeways in Florida

Objective: This article aims to evaluate the safety performance of cable median barriers on freeways in Florida.

Method: The safety performance evaluation was based on the percentages of barrier and median crossovers by vehicle type, crash severity, and cable median barrier type (Trinity Cable Safety System [CASS] and Gibraltar system). Twenty-three locations with cable median barriers totaling about 101 miles were identified. Police reports of 6,524 crashes from years 2005–2010 at these locations were reviewed to verify and obtain detailed crash information. A total of 549 crashes were determined to be barrier related (i.e., crashes involving vehicles hitting the cable median barrier) and were reviewed in further detail to identify crossover crashes and the manner in which the vehicles crossed the barriers; that is, by either overriding, underriding, or penetrating the barriers.

Results: Overall, 2.6% of vehicles that hit the cable median barrier crossed the median and traversed into the opposite travel lane. Overall, 98.1% of cars and 95.5% of light trucks that hit the barrier were prevented from crossing the median. In other words, 1.9% of cars and 4.5% of light trucks that hit the barrier had crossed the median and encroached on the opposite travel lanes. There is no significant difference in the performance of cable median barrier for cars versus light trucks in terms of crossover crashes. In terms of severity, overrides were more severe compared to underrides and penetrations. The statistics showed that the CASS and Gibraltar systems performed similarly in terms of crossover crashes. However, the Gibraltar system experienced a higher proportion of penetrations compared to the CASS system. The CASS system resulted in a slightly higher percentage of moderate and minor injury crashes compared to the Gibraltar system.

Conclusions: Cable median barriers are successful in preventing median crossover crashes; 97.4% of the cable median barrier crashes were prevented from crossing over the median. Of all of the vehicles that hit the barrier, 83.6% were either redirected or contained by the cable barrier system. Barrier crossover crashes were found to be more severe compared to barrier noncrossover crashes. In addition, overrides were found to be more severe compared to underrides and penetrations.     

Effect of humic acids and sunlight on the cytotoxicity of engineered zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles to a river bacterial assemblage

The effect of a terrestrial humic acid (HA) and Suwannee River HA on the cytotoxicity of engineered zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) to natural aquatic bacterial assemblages was measured with spread plate counting. The effect of HA (10 and 40 ppm) on the cytotoxicity of ZnONPs and TiO2NPs was tested factorially in the presence and absence of natural sunlight (light irradiation (LI)). The experiment was of full factorial, completely randomized design and the results were analyzed using the General Linear Model in SAS analytical software. The method of least squares means was used to separate the means or combinations of means. We determined the mechanism of toxicity via measurements of oxidative stress and metal ions. The toxicity of ZnONPs and TiO2NPs to natural aquatic bacterial assemblages appears to be concentration dependent. Moreover, the cytotoxicity of ZnONPs and TiO2NPs appeared to be affected by HA concentration, the presence of sunlight irradiation, and the dynamic multiple interactions among these factors. With respect to light versus darkness in the control group, the data indicate that bacterial viability was inhibited more in the light exposure than in the darkness exposure. The same was true in the HA treatment groups. With respect to terrestrial versus Suwanee River HA for a given nanoparticle, in light versus darkness, bacterial viability was more inhibited in the light treatment groups containing the terrestrial HA than in those containing Suwanee River HA. Differences in the extent of reactive oxygen species formation, adsorption/binding of ZnONPs/TiO2NPs by HA, and the levels of free metal ions were speculated to account for the observed cytotoxicity. TEM images indicate the attachment and binding of the tested nanoparticles to natural bacterial assemblages. Besides the individual parameter, significant effects on bacterial viability count were also observed in the following combined treatments: HA-ZnONPs, HA-LI, ZnONPs-LI, and HA-ZnONPs-LI. The main effects of all independent variables, plus interaction effects in all cases were significant with TiO2NPs.