Monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination and estrogenic activity in water, commercial feed and farmed seafood

We evaluated the concentration and congener distribution of seven "target" polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) present in water collected in different aquaculture farms of the Mediterranean area, commercial feeds, and farmed seafood. PCBs were present in feed and in tissues of all the analysed organisms at levels ranging from 1.96 ng g(-1) to 124.00 ng g(-1) wet weight, and in 10.5% of the water samples, at levels from under detection limit to 33.0 ng l(-1) with total PCB concentrations significantly higher in samples from the Tyrrhenian Sea than the Adriatic Sea. PCB congener distribution in tissues resembled that of feed, suggesting that commercial feed is an important source of PCBs. The estrogenicity of organic extracts of the samples was also evaluated by using an in vitro yeast reporter assay. Estrogenic activity higher than 10% of the activity induced by 10 nM 17 beta-estradiol was observed in 20.0% of seafood samples and 15.8% of water samples. Seafood and water samples from the Tyrrhenian Sea were more frequently estrogenic than the Adriatic ones (16.45 versus 4.08%). A significant correlation of total PCB concentrations on biological activity was observed for sea bass and mussels from the Adriatic Sea (p < 0.045 and p < 0.04, respectively), and for sea bass of the Tyrrhenian Sea (p = 0.05). These results indicate the need of an integral approach in the exposure assessment to potential toxic compounds for human via food.     

An assessment of the environmental effects of energy systems, with emphasis on oil

This paper describes the approach of the VESE project undertaken by ENEA to assess the environmental and socioeconomic effects of various energy systems, and it refers to the fundamental choices adopted for the development of the project, to the work plan and to the analytical methods employed. This paper also reports the findings of an oil system case study concerning the Italian province of Piacenza: a set of oil-fired electric power plants, together with industrial and civil installations burning oil products. Fuel consumption and air pollution emissions were characterized through a field survey. The emission inventory of sulfur and nitrogen oxides and particulate matter were estimated with reference to area and point sources. A multisource dispersion model (DIMULA) was developed, which took into account certain meteorological peculiarities of the area (e.g., calm weather and/or fog). The model, first applied to the dispersion of sulfur oxides, has given encouraging results. A study of comparative forced expiratory volumes in elementary school children has been chosen to determine the air pollution health effects in the Piacenza province. Plant and animal resources in the province of Piacenza were identified through a field investigation. Published data on crop damage by air pollutants are discussed and statistically analyzed. A dose-response relationship was obtained for the yield loss of alfalfa caused by SO₂.     

Spatial distribution and partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyl and organochlorine pesticide in water and sediment from Sarno River and Estuary,Southern Italy

The Sarno River is nicknamed “the most polluted river in Europe”. The main goal of this study is to enhance our knowledge on the Sarno River water and sediment quality and on its environmental impact on the gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea) in order to become a useful assessment tool for the regional administrations. For these reasons, 32 selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and aldrin, α-BHC, β-BHC, δ-BHC, γ-BHC (lindane), 4,4′-DDD, 4,4′-DDE, 4,4′-DDT, dieldrin, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulphate, endrin, endrin aldehyde, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide (isomer B) and methoxychlor were determined in the water dissolved phase (DP), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments. Total concentrations of PCBs ranged from 1.4 to 24.9 ng L^?1 in water (sum of DP and SPM) and from 1.01 to 42.54 ng g^?1 in sediment samples. The concentrations of total organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) obtained in water (sum of DP and SPM) ranged from 0.54 to 7.32 ng L^?1 and from 0.08 to 5.99 ng g^?1 in sediment samples. Contaminant discharges of PCBs and OCPs into the sea were calculated in about 1,247 g day^?1 (948 g day^?1 of PCBs and 326 g day^?1 of OCPs), showing that this river should account as one of the main contribution sources of PCBs and OCPs to the Tyrrhenian Sea.     

Health risks analysis of energy systems: Issues and approaches

Health risk analysis of energy systems is affected by various principles of law. In this paper those principles are discussed and linked to measures of risk, such as risk rates and the expected value, and to the cumulative distributions. These measures of risk are related to health decisionmaking, including case law. Uncertainty defeats decisionmaking, although such uncertainty is properly derived from scientific analyses. There is a paradox, in that portraying the uncertainty forestalls decisions. Yet at present, science cannot do better. Risk analysis is the tool to help resolve this problem by identifying irreducible uncertainty, that uncertainty which is present in most human activities.     

Hydroxylated PCB metabolites (OH-PCBs) in archived serum from 1950–60s California mothers: A pilot study

We are studying participants selected from the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), a longitudinal birth cohort of over 20,000 California pregnancies between 1959 and 1967, for associations between maternal body burden of organochlorine contaminants and thyroid function. We designed a pilot study using 30 samples selected among samples with high and low PCB concentrations to evaluate the feasibility of measuring OH-PCBs in the larger study population. GC-ECD and GC-NCI/MS were used to determine PCBs and OH-PCBs as methyl derivatives, respectively. Maternal serum levels of Σ₁₁PCBs and Σ₈OH-PCB metabolites varied from 0.74 to 7.99 ng/mL wet wt. with a median of 3.05 ng/mL, and from 0.12 to 0.98 ng/mL wet wt. with a median of 0.39 ng/mL, respectively. Average concentrations of Σ₈OH-PCB metabolites in the high PCB group were significantly higher than those in the low PCB group (p < 0.05). The levels of OH-PCB metabolites were dependent on PCB levels (r = 0.58, p < 0.05) but approximately an order of magnitude lower (p < 0.05). The average ratio of Σ₈OH-PCBs to Σ₁₁PCBs was 0.14 ± 0.08. The primary metabolite was 4-OH-CB187 followed by 4-OH-CB107. Both of these metabolites interfere with the thyroid system in in vitro, animal, and human studies. OH-PCBs were detectable in all archived sera analyzed, supporting the feasibility to measure OH-PCB metabolites in the entire cohort.     

Assaying organochlorines in archived serum for a large, long-term cohort: implications of combining assay results from multiple laboratories over time

Conserving irreplaceable, archived serum samples may sometimes conflict with the objective of minimizing measurement error due to laboratory effects. We sought to determine whether we could successfully combine assay results for DDT-related compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in serum from the same birth cohort obtained from different laboratories over time. Using the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) serum archive, we compared variability for assays of a quality control pool to variability for assays of subject serum. The quality control pool was created from native archived serum samples that were pooled, then aliquoted, blinded and inserted pair-wise into assay batches along with the subject serum for 5 studies using CHDS samples conducted over a 13year period by three different laboratories. We found that the variability between laboratory and over time within laboratory was small relative to inter-individual variability for p,p'-DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane), p,p'-DDE (1,1'-dichloro-2,2'-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene) and o,p'-DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-2-(o-chlorophenyl)-ethane). Results were also consistent for most PCB congeners which were detectable in 85% or more of samples. Our results suggest that it is possible to combine assays for DDT and PCB congeners measured at positive levels as they are accumulated for cohort subjects without risking meaningful misclassification due to variation stemming from laboratory or time period. This has significant implications for future study costs, conservation of irreplaceable archived samples and for leveraging past investments for future research. For PCB congeners with very low levels, findings caution against pooling of assays without further exploration.     

Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment Working Conference

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Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment Working Conference