Determination of polychlorobiphenyls in Venice Lagoon sediments

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) congeners were measured in 14 sediment samples collected at five sites in the Venice Lagoon selected on the basis of a supposed diversity of inputs and of pollution levels. The PCBs were determined after a sonication assisted extraction by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). The sum of the congener concentrations determined in the samples range from 4.05 to 239.15 ng/g on a dry weight basis. The concentration values are very variable both comparing the sites and comparing different samples from the same site and can be connected to the sand percentage in the sediment samples. The correlation matrix obtained from data matrix using the congener concentrations as variables shows high values, mostly between 0.964 and 1, suggesting that the pattern of the PCB congeners and the ratios among the concentrations in Venice Lagoon sediments are more or less constant; the samples differ only in the concentration level.     

Soil quality and vulnerability in a Mediterranean natural ecosystem of Central Italy

Wet and dry atmospheric depositions and soil chemical and microbiological properties were determined in a Mediterranean natural ecosystem of Central Italy near Rome (Castelporziano Estate). The monitoring of depositions permitted us to quantify the exceedances of S and N compounds (expressed as eqH(+)ha(-1)year(-1)) over the critical loads of acidity. Critical loads, i.e. the quantity of a substance which a part of the environment can tolerate without adverse effects occurring, were determined adopting the level 0 methodology following the UN/ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Deposition data were available for the period 1992-1997, and acidity exceedances were referred to the main vegetation types present in the area. Results showed that most part of the Estate has a medium degree of vulnerability to acidification, and the corresponding risk of acidification deriving from the exceedances of atmospheric deposition was rather low. The study of soil chemical and microbiological properties included mainly total soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass-C, biomass-C/SOC, soil respiration, and metabolic quotient (qCO2). Soil organic C metabolism has been discussed on the basis of the results from eight sampling sites.     

Rating child passenger safety laws relative to best practice recommendations for occupant protection

Background: State laws regarding child passenger protection vary substantially.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop a scoring system to rate child passenger safety laws relative to best practice recommendations for each age of child.

Methods: State child passenger safety and seat belt laws were retrieved from the LexisNexis database for the years 2002–2015. Text of the laws was reviewed and compared to current best practice recommendations for child occupant protection for each age of child.

Results: A 0–4 scale was developed to rate the strength of the state law relative to current best practice recommendations. A rating of 3 corresponds to a law that requires a restraint that is sufficient to meet best practice, and a rating of 4 is given to a law that specifies several options that would meet best practice. Scores of 0, 1, or 2 are given to laws requiring less than best practice to different degrees. The same scale is used for each age of child despite different restraint recommendations for each age. Legislation that receives a score of 3 requires rear-facing child restraints for children under age 2, forward-facing harnessed child restraints for children aged 2 to 4, booster seats for children 5 to 10, and primary enforcement of seat belt use in all positions for children aged 11–13. Legislation requiring use of a “child restraint system according to instructions” would receive a score of 1 for children under age 2 and a 2 for children aged 2–4 because it would allow premature use of a booster for children weighing more than 13.6 kg (30 lb).

Conclusions: The scoring system developed in this study can be used in mathematical models to predict how child passenger safety legislation affects child restraint practices.     

P450酶系对污染物的生物指示和催化降解机制

细胞色素P450酶系是广泛存在于不同生物体内的含有多种超家族CYP450血红素蛋白或相同结构域的一系列酶,是多组分电子传递链的终端氧化还原酶。最新研究发现,利用P450在生物体内的含量/活性与污染物浓度的定量响应关系可实现环境污染的早期预警和诊断,对环境污染的监测和预报具有重要意义。更重要的是,P450酶系被认为是生物对内源或外生污染物代谢途径的启动催化因子。P450的脱卤化、羧基化、脱烷基化、环氧化等催化作用在诱导污染物的分解代谢过程中起核心作用。本文综述了P450酶系的结构、催化过程和诱导抑制机理,分析了其在环境污染物的生物指示和催化降解中的应用进展,以便为利用P450进行环境预警和生物修复提供系统的理论和技术支持。     

Assessment of nitrous oxide emission from cement plants: Real data measured with both Fourier transform infrared and nondispersive infrared techniques

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is the third most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane, and contributes about 6% to the greenhouse effect. Nitrous oxide is a minor component of the atmosphere, and it is a thousand times less than carbon dioxide (CO₂). Nevertheless, it is much more potent than CO₂ and methane, owing to its long stay in the atmosphere of approximately 120 yr and the high global warming potential (GWP) of 298 times that of CO₂. Although greenhouse gases are natural in the atmosphere, human activities have changed the atmospheric concentrations. Most of the values of emission of nitrous oxide are still obtained by means of emission factors and not actually measured; the lack of real data may result in an underestimation of current emissions. The emission factors used for the calculation of N₂O can be obtained from the “Guidelines for the implementation of the national inventory of emissions” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which refer to all nations for the realization of their inventory. This study will present real data, measured in several Italian cement plants with different characteristics. The work also shows a comparison between N₂O concentration measured with in situ Fourier transform IR (FTIR) and the reference method EN ISO 21258 based on nondispersive IR (NDIR), in order to investigate the interfering compounds in the measurement with NDIR.

Implications:N₂O may arise as an unwanted by-product of nitrogen oxide (NO_x) abatement systems, in particular selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR). Since it is applied in the cement plants, N₂O emission from cement industry is evaluated, with both FTIR and NDIR instrument. Several considerations emerged from the results. First of all, the emission from this industrial sector is not negligible, and for that reason N₂O concentration should be regulated; another observation is that the reference method based on the NDIR technique is not as selective as FTIR could be.     

Predictors of restraint use among child occupants

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify factors that predict restraint use and optimal restraint use among children aged 0 to 13 years.

Methods: The data set is a national sample of police-reported crashes for years 2010–2014 in which type of child restraint is recorded. The data set was supplemented with demographic census data linked by driver ZIP code, as well as a score for the state child restraint law during the year of the crash relative to best practice recommendations for protecting child occupants. Analysis used linear regression techniques.

Results: The main predictor of unrestrained child occupants was the presence of an unrestrained driver. Among restrained children, children had 1.66 (95% confidence interval, 1.27, 2.17) times higher odds of using the recommended type of restraint system if the state law at the time of the crash included requirements based on best practice recommendations.

Conclusions: Children are more likely to ride in the recommended type of child restraint when their state's child restraint law includes wording that follows best practice recommendations for child occupant protection. However, state child restraint law requirements do not influence when caregivers fail to use an occupant restraint for their child passengers.     

Mechanochemical treatment to recycling asbestos-containing waste

Numerous industrial and experimental facilities have been set up, particularly in the last ten years, as a result of studies and researches on treating asbestos-containing waste (ACW) to stabilise it and to enable its reuse. Some of the stabilisation processes reduce the hazards of ACW by imprisoning in a cement or resonoid matrix. Other processes modify the fibrous structure of asbestos and transform it into an inert substance. One such inactivation process is mechanochemical transformation. This new technology is extremely interesting both economically and industrially, especially in view of the European Directive 1999/3/CE of 24/4/99, which provides for the obligatory treatment of all types of waste material before its disposal.     

Study of the trace metal ion influence on the turnover of soil organic matter in cultivated contaminated soils

The role of metals in the behaviour of soil organic matter (SOM) is not well documented. Therefore, we investigated the influence of metals (Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd) on the dynamic of SOM in contaminated soils where maize (C4 plant) replaced C3 cultures. Three pseudogley brown leached soil profiles under maize with a decreasing gradient in metals concentrations were sampled. On size fractions, stable carbon isotopic ratio (delta13C), metals, organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations were measured in function of depth. The determined sequence for the amount of C4 organic matter in the bulk fractions: M3 (0.9)>M2 (0.4)>M1 (0.3) is in agreement with a significant influence of metals on the SOM turnover. New C4 SOM, mainly present in the labile coarser fractions and less contaminated by metals than the stabilised C3 SOM of the clay fraction, is more easily degraded by microorganisms.     

Lysosomal,genetic and chromosomal damage in haemocytes of the freshwater bivalve (Unio pictorum) exposed to polluted sediments from the River Cecina (Italy)

The response to chemical disturbance of an Italian river (Cecina River) characterised by high levels of trace metals was assessed in the sentinel species freshwater painter’s mussel (Unio pictorum). We exposed U. pictorum in the laboratory to metal, metalloid and other trace element polluted river sediments in order to evaluate genetic and cellular biomarkers. Bivalves exposed to sediments taken from all the impacted sites of the river basin exhibited a significant impairment at the DNA, chromosomal and lysosomal levels. The lysosomal membrane stability of circulating haemocytes, assessed by the Neutral Red Retention Time, was found to be higher in specimens from Lake Maggiore and Berignone, while exhibited a significant decrease in specimens exposed to Ponteginori sediments. An increase of DNA migration in specimens exposed to the two contaminated sites in comparison with controls was found. Moreover, higher micronucleated haemocytes frequencies were observed in bivalves exposed to sediments collected at Possera 1 site. This study suggested that biomarkers evaluating cellular impairment, genetic and chromosomal damages, are highly sensitive and suitably applied to laboratory experiments. The painter’s mussel was confirmed to be an appropriate sentinel species for quality assessment in metal-contaminated freshwater environments.