Antenatal diagnosis and palliative treatment of non-immune hydrops fetalis secondary to fetal parvovirus B19 infection

Hydrops fetalis was diagnosed at 22 weeks. An ultrasound examination demonstrated cardiomegaly and a fetal blood specimen obtained by cordocentesis revealed thrombocytopenia, anaemia, and neutropenia. Fetal paracentesis yielded straw-coloured fluid with electrolytes indicative of a transudate. Non-enveloped icosahedral viral particles approximately 23 mm in diameter were visualized in the ascitic fluid by electron microscopy. Immune electron microscopy confirmed human parvovirus B19. Direct fetal digitalization led to a reduction in umbilical artery resistance, a decline in the abdominal circumference from 20·3 to 17·8 cm, and resolution of the ascites within 72 h. Despite this dramatic response to therapy, fetal death occurred on day 5 of treatment. The initial maternal serum was positive for anti-B19 IgM and IgG antibodies. Electron microscopy of fetal cardiac tissue obtained post-mortem revealed intranuclear viral particles typical of B19, confirming the antenatal diagnosis of myocarditis. This case demonstrates that direct viral identification is applicable to prenatal diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of the antenatal diagnosis and palliative treatment of fetal viral infection.     

Phosphorus leaching in sandy outwash soils following potato-processing wastewater application

Land application of wastewater presents potential for ground water pollution if not properly managed. In situ breakthrough tests were conducted using potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)-processing wastewater and a Br tracer to characterize P leaching in seasonally frozen sandy outwash soils. In the first test, P and Br breakthrough were measured in a 7-m deep well following wastewater [2.94 mg L(-1) total P (TP); 280 mg L(-1) Br] application at the site that had 13.1 mg water-extractable P (WEP) kg(-1)and 94.4 mg Bray-1 P kg(-1). Bromide was detected in the well after approximately 0.4 pore volumes, but there was no P break-through after 7 pore volumes. In the second breakthrough test, wastewater containing 3.6 mg L(-1) TP and 259 mg L(-1) Br was applied on 1.5-m deep lysimeters at low (0.8 mg WEP kg(-1); 12.1 mg Bray-1 P kg(-1)) and high soil test P sites (104 mg WEP kg(-1); 585 mg Bray-1 P kg(-1)). Leachate TP concentration during the test remained constant (0.04 mg L(-1)) at the low P sites but increased from approximately 3.5 to 5.6 mg L(-1) at the high P sites. These results indicate no P leaching in low P soils, but leaching in high P soils, thus suggesting that most of the P leached at the high P sites was mainly due to desorption and dissolution of weakly adsorbed P from prior P applications. This was consistent with P transport simulations using the convective-dispersive equation. We conclude that P concentration in land-applied wastewater should be regulated based on soil test-P level plus wastewater P loading.     

Health Effects of Waste Incineration: A Review of Epidemiologic Studies

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing trend toward using incineration to solve the problem of waste management; thus, there are concerns about the potential health impact of waste incineration. A critical review of epidemiologic studies will enhance understanding of the potential health effects of waste incineration and will provide important information regarding what needs to be investigated further. This study reviews the epidemiologic research on the potential health impact of waste incineration. Previous studies are discussed and presented according to their study population, incinerator workers or community residents, and health end points. Several studies showed significant associations between waste incineration and lower male-to-female ratio, twinning, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, ischemic heart disease, urinary mutagens and pro-mutagens, or blood levels of certain organic compounds and heavy metals. Other studies found no significant effects on respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function,twinning, cleft lip and palate, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer,or esophageal cancer. In conclusion, these epidemiologic studies consistently observed higher body levels of some organic chemicals and heavy metals, and no effects on respiratory symptoms or pulmonary function. The findings for cancer and reproductive outcomes were inconsistent. More hypothesis-testing epidemiologic studies are needed to investigate the potential health effects of waste incineration on incinerator workers and community residents.     

Assessing Sorbents for Mercury Control in Coal-Combustion Flue Gas

Abstract

Sorbent injection for Hg control is one of the most promising technologies for reducing Hg emissions from power-generation facilities, particularly units that do not require wet scrubbers for SO₂ control. Since 1992, EPRI has been assessing the performance of Hg sorbents in pilot-scale systems installed at full-scale facilities. The initial tests were conducted on a 5000-acfm (142-m³/min) pilot baghouse. Screening potential sorbents at this scale required substantial resources for installation and operation and did not provide an opportunity to characterize sor-bents over a wide temperature range.

Data collected in the laboratory and in field tests indicate that sorbents are affected by flue gas composition and temperature. Tests carried out in actual flue gas at a number of power plants also have shown that sorbent performance can be site-specific. In addition, data collected at a field site often are different from data collected in the laboratory, with simulated flue gas mixed to match the major components in the site’s gas. To effectively estimate the costs of Hg sorbent systems at different plants, a measure of sorbent performance in the respective flue gases must be obtained. However, injection testing at multiple facilities with large pilot systems is not practical.

Over the past five years, fixed-bed characterization testing, modeling studies, and bench-scale injection testing have been undertaken to develop a low-cost technique to characterize sorbent performance in actual flue gas and subsequently to project normalized costs for Hg removal prior to full-scale demonstration. This article describes the techniques used and summarizes field-testing results from two plants burning Powder River Basin (PRB) coal for commercial activated carbon and several other sorbent types. Full-scale projections based on the results and data collected on larger-scale systems also are included.     

Assessing the long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials—a combined evaluation of past and future trends

This paper develops a method for identifying and assessing long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials. The method is based on a combined evaluation of past and future supply and demand trends. By analysing raw material boom and bust cycles over the past 50 years, we have quantified indicators and defined benchmarks for identifying critical market situations. By applying the method, risks for supply shortage may be identified at an early stage. In addition, a numerical evaluation model has been developed for better comparison between various mineral raw materials. Compared to other assessment methods this method uses specific benchmarks for each raw material to better assess supply risks. The method is embedded within a systematic and comprehensive analytical approach.     

Linking Climate Trends to Population Dynamics in the Baltic Ringed Seal: Impacts of Historical and Future Winter Temperatures

A global trend of a warming climate may seriously affect species dependent on sea ice. We investigated the impact of climate on the Baltic ringed seals (Phoca hispida botnica), using historical and future climatological time series. Availability of suitable breeding ice is known to affect pup survival. We used detailed information on how winter temperatures affect the extent of breeding ice and a climatological model (RCA3) to project the expected effects on the Baltic ringed seal population. The population comprises of three sub-populations, and our simulations suggest that all of them will experience severely hampered growth rates during the coming 90 years. The projected 30 730 seals at the end of the twenty-first century constitutes only 16 % of the historical population size, and thus reduced ice cover alone will severely limit their growth rate. This adds burden to a species already haunted by other anthropogenic impacts.     

Crushed concrete as a phosphate binding material: a potential new management tool

To avoid eutrophication of receiving waters, effective methods to remove P in urban and agricultural runoff are needed. Crushed concrete may be an effective filter material to remove dissolved and particulate P. Five types of crushed concrete were tested in the laboratory to evaluate the retention capacity of dissolved P. All types removed P very effectively (5.1-19.6 g P kg(-1) concrete), while the possible release of bound P varied between 0.4 and 4.6%. The retention rate was positively related to a decreasing concrete grain size due to an increasing surface area for binding. The P retention was also related to a marked increase in pH (up to pH 12), and the highest retention was observed when pH was high. Under these circumstances, column experiments showed outlet P concentrations <0.0075 mg P L(-1). Furthermore, experiments revealed that release of heavy metals is of no importance for the treated water. We demonstrate that crushed concrete can be an effective tool to remove P in urban and agricultural runoff as filter material in sedimentation/infiltration ponds provided that pH in the treated water is neutralized or the water is diluted before outlet to avoid undesired effects caused by the high pH.