)
Table of contents :
: in the Po Valley, Italy, 40% of municipalities have wells whose atrazine
contents exceeds Italian laws due to intensive herbicide use in crop fields,
arsenic,
lead,
dioxins,
mercury,
....
and SO2
and NO2
and CO2,
concentration difficulties, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, irritation of the
eyes and respiratory tract that are believed to be related to negative
ambient factors at the workplace. The etiology is multifactorial. In persons
showing typical anxiety about the environment, SBS may also be considered
a variant of a somatoform disorder.
(from cosmetics, washed clothes, furnitures ...) : urea-formaldehyde
(UF) resins and adhesives (thermosetting polymers) and other solvents,
etc.,
fibreglass, dirt
bioaerosols in carpets, humidifiers, ...,
Legionella
pneumophila
mycotoxins
and MVC
from sprays)
:
: Pseudomonas
putida (Putidoil®)
and mercury.
The binding is cooperative and pH-sensitive.
: cleaning up contaminated soil around defunct asbestos mines and factories
is a lot harder than removing asbestos sheets from buildings. The widely-dispersed
fibres can easily become airborne if disturbed. Asbestos fibres are toxic
partly because they contain iron. This can cause the formation of highly
reactive chemicals called free radicals that damage DNA and trigger cancers.
Remove the iron and the asbestos becomes considerably less hazardous. Most
soil microorganisms grab hold of iron atoms in soil minerals and concentrate
it using siderophores. Fusarium
oxysporum (a common cause of plant rot), Mortierella
hyalina and Oidiodendron
maius (a fungus that attacks trees and shrubs) steal iron from
crocidolite, one of the most potently carcinogenic forms of asbestos, for
> 7 weeks. Moreover, the fungi bind asbestos fibres in a kind of web of
thin strands called hyphae, making them less liable to escape into the
air if the soil is disturbed. The far-reaching hyphae networks that fungi
spin throughout large areas of soil could immobilize asbestos fibres. To
use such microorganisms in field operations generally involves 'seeding'
the soil with a few spores and adding the nutrients that they need to grow.
: phytofiltration :
: genetically modified Indian
mustard (Brassica juncea) plants have successfully cleaned up
excessive selenium
in a California field. This is the first field trial for a pollution-busting
transgenic plant, and it proves that the technology can work outside the
laboratory, say the researchers who carried out the test. Farmland in certain
parts of California is heavily irrigated, and the water dissolves selenium
in shale found in the region. As the water evaporates on the surface soil,
selenium is concentrated to levels that are toxic to plants. But Indian
mustard has a natural resistance to the element, and absorbs it as it takes
in water through its roots. Indian mustard is able to grow fast and attain
a high biomass even under environmentally stressful conditions. The researchers
boosted Indian mustard's abilities by adding extra genes that produce selenium-hungry
enzymes. The transgenic plants could accumulate up to 4.3 times as much
selenium as conventional, wild-type Indian mustardref.
The researchers created 3 different strains of the transgenic mustard plants,
each producing different enzymes to soak up selenium, and tested them in
selenium-contaminated soils alongside wild-type Indian mustard. The transgenic
plants showed up to 80% of the growth expected in uncontaminated soil,
whereas the wild-type plants had their growth halved by the selenium. They
were harvested after 45 days in the field, but the researchers expect that
longer growth periods could remove more selenium, and estimate that the
most effective plants removed about 4.4% of the element in the top 25 cm
of soil. It's important to test these plants in the field, because
the results can often vary from those of greenhouse or laboratory surveys.
Dealing with toxic chemicals in soil is still a decidedly low-tech process.
The major way is to dig up the soil and bury it somewhere else. Chemical
treatments are also used for soil washing, but all of these options are
expensive and labour-intensive. They're also quite environmentally damaging.
The soil they leave is of very poor quality, and it takes a long time for
the site to regenerate. The science of using plants to remove unwanted
chemicals from soils, known as phytoremediation, has the potential to be
much cheaper, but it can take many years. The possibility of the transgenic
plants crossbreeding with food crops is a worry : if you're going to engineer
a plant to take up high quantities of metals, you must ensure it doesn't
get into food crops. They would have to be carefully contained with measures
above and beyond those for genetically modified food crops. The field trial
was carefully planned to ensure that there were no close relatives of Indian
mustard nearby, and that flowers were picked as soon as they appeared.
Ideally, the plants would be allowed to grow for much longer, so further
genetic engineering may be required to ensure that the pollen does not
contain the transgene. In a useful spin-off, the Indian mustard plants
could eventually be used as feed for cattle with insufficient selenium
in their diet. The team is now trying to boost the plants' power even more.
We'd like to see increases in accumulation of 10 to 100 times that possible
with wild-type plants| Pollution news
|
control products just prevent the fleas from reproducing, they don't kill
the fleas that are on the animal. In areas where plague is a concern, owners
should be sure to use a product that kills fleas. Also, make sure the product
you select is safe for cats if you intend to use the product on your cats.-laced
blood are about twice as susceptible to 3 common pesticides as those fed
untainted blood due to competitive inhibition of ABCB1
/ P-glycoprotein (P-GP) / MDR.
But in other contexts the insecticide-drug interaction is detrimental :
quinine-fed mosquitoes are more resistant to organophosphates,
the pesticides most widely used to control malaria-carrying insects. As
yet, the difference is a mystery. Since medicines for other parasitic diseases
such as lymphatic filariasis also inhibit P-gp activity, the pests that
cause these diseases - including tsetse flies, sand flies, ticks and bed
bugs - may similarly vary in their susceptibility to insecticides depending
on the contents of their blood meals.
bite late at night (mainly from 2300 - 0400 hrs), mosquito nets can
afford good protection. When nets are impregnated with the insecticide
permethrin
or some other pyrethroid, torn nets also become effective in protecting
against malaria. Insecticide-treated nets remain effective for 3-12 months
depending on what insecticide is used. They then need to re-impregnated,
which can be done simply by dipping them in an insecticidal solution.
However, the latest development involves impregnating the fibres
used to make nets with permethrin during their manufacture. Nets
made with such insecticide-impregnated fibres give protection against
bites from malaria mosquitoes for up to 4 years.
mosquitoes.|
|
|
|
| admissions |
|
|
| patient-days |
|
|
| average length of stay (days) |
|
|
| inpatient surgical procedures |
|
|
| nosocomial infections |
|
|
| incidence of nosocomial infections (no. per 1,000 patient-days) |
|
|
(25%)
(17%)
(12%)
(40%)
(15-20% : they are responsible for 24% of extra hospital days and 39% of
extra cost; in ICUs prevalence is 30-40% and mortality rate is 50%). Laboratory
examinations : bronchoscopy/BAL i important for immunocompromised patients,
open lung biopsy in patients who deteriorate despite "proper" therapy (aspergillosis
?), thoracocentesis
(18%) : in the USA :
(6%),
....
,
used to alter and control the acidity or alkalinity levels for different
desired effects, which can include preservation, added/altered tartness,
colour retention and to assist raising agents.,
used to ensure the free flow in products such as dried milks, icing sugar
and table salt.,
used to protect food against deterioration caused by exposure to air (oxidation),
such as fat rancidity, flavour deterioration or colour changes.,
used to restore or reinforce colour lost during processing or storage,
to give colour to foods which otherwise would be virtually colourless (such
as soft drinks) and to ensure uniformity from batch to batch.,
used to aid in the formation and maintenance of the dispersion of two or
more substances which would normally separate and not normally mix, such
as oil and water. Milk, mayonnaise and salad dressings are typical oil
in water emulsions, butter and margarine water in oil emulsions.,
used to provide a uniform dispersion of gas in a food.,
used to produce a protective coating or to impart a polish/sheen on the
surface of a food such as confectionery or citrus fruit.,
used to replace air in the packaging of foodstuffs susceptible to oxidation
but not necessarily shown on food labels.,
used to extend the shelf-life of products by preventing the growth of micro-organisms
which could otherwise cause food decay and, in some cases, food poisoning.,
a gas or volatile liquid used to expel foodstuffs from aerosols.,
used to maintain the physical state of a food and to stabilise, retain
or intensify the existing colour of a food, particularly emulsions, and
therefore often used with emulsifiers.,
there are two different types of sweeteners:
of infectious agents. Food-borne
diseases
account for 76 million infections, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,200
deaths per year in the USA.
and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA PCR
= 6-0-7.5
= 6.8-7.5
= 6-8
can expose the level of household wastewater (and of accompanying impurities
such as detergents and solvents) gushing into lakes and oceans to distinguish
domestic water flushed down sinks and toilets from agricultural effluent.
Copious amounts of caffeine end up down the drain in coffee-cup dregs and
urine. Although sewage treatment removes up to 99.9% of it, caffeine is
so abundant and chemically stable that it remains detectable. Other chemical
signatures of humans - such as prescription drugs, cosmetics
and toothpaste whiteners - are less useful because they break down
during water treatment and their use can change with time.
,
vegetative forms, most viruses and fungi, and not necessarily spores
nor bacterial spores