Extremely cold and hot temperatures increase the risk of ischaemic heart disease mortality: epidemiological evidence from China.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of extremely cold and hot temperatures on ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality in five cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou) in China; and to examine the time relationships between cold and hot temperatures and IHD mortality for each city. DESIGN: A negative binomial regression model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to examine city-specific temperature effects on IHD mortality up to 20 lag days. A meta-analysis was used to pool the cold effects and hot effects across the five cities. PATIENTS: 16 559 IHD deaths were monitored by a sentinel surveillance system in five cities during 2004-2008. RESULTS: The relationships between temperature and IHD mortality were non-linear in all five cities. The minimum-mortality temperatures in northern cities were lower than in southern cities. In Beijing, Tianjin and Guangzhou, the effects of extremely cold temperatures were delayed, while Shanghai and Wuhan had immediate cold effects. The effects of extremely hot temperatures appeared immediately in all the cities except Wuhan. Meta-analysis showed that IHD mortality increased 48% at the 1st percentile of temperature (extremely cold temperature) compared with the 10th percentile, while IHD mortality increased 18% at the 99th percentile of temperature (extremely hot temperature) compared with the 90th percentile. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that both extremely cold and hot temperatures increase IHD mortality in China. Each city has its characteristics of heat effects on IHD mortality. The policy for response to climate change should consider local climate-IHD mortality relationships

Public health and landfill sites

Landfill management is a complex discipline, requiring very high levels of organisation, and considerable investment. Until the early 1990’s most Irish landfill sites were not managed to modern standards. Illegal landfill sites are, of course, usually not managed at all. Landfills are very active. The traditional idea of ‘put it in the ground and forget about it’ is entirely misleading. There is a lot of chemical and biological activity underground. This produces complex changes in the chemistry of the landfill, and of the emissions from the site. The main emissions of concern are landfill gases and contaminated water (which is known as leachate). Both of these emissions have complex and changing chemical compositions, and both depend critically on what has been put into the landfill. The gases spread mainly through the atmosphere, but also through the soil, while the leachate (the water) spreads through surface waters and the local groundwater. Essentially all unmanaged landfills will discharge large volumes of leachate into the local groundwater. In sites where the waste accepted has been properly regulated, and where no hazardous wastes are present, there is a lot known about the likely composition of this leachate and there is some knowledge of its likely biological and health effects. This is not the case for poorly regulated sites, where the composition of the waste accepted is unknown. It is possible to monitor the emissions from landfills, and to reduce some of the adverse health and environmental effects of these. These emissions, and hence the possible health effects, depend greatly on the content of the landfill, and on the details of the local geology and landscape. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate a clear link between cancers and exposure to landfill, however, it is noted that there may be an association with adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight and birth defects. It should be noted, however, that modern landfills, run in strict accordance with standard operation procedures, would have much less impact on the health of residents living in proximity to the site

Chemical and Toxicological Analyses of Lake Calumet (Cook County, Illinois) Sediments

HWRIC Project 88-048NTIS PB90-16072

Development of an atmospheric monitoring plan for space station

An environmental health monitoring plan for Space Station will ensure crew health during prolonged habitation. The Space Station, Freedom, will operate for extended periods, 90+ days, without resupply. A regenerative, closed loop life support system will be utilized in order to minimize resupply logistics and costs. Overboard disposal of wastes and venting of gases to space will be minimal. All waste material will be treated and recycled. The concentrated wastes will be stabilized and stored for ground disposal. The expected useful life of the station (decades) and the diversity of materials brought aboard for experimental or manufacturing purposes, increases the likelihood of cabin contamination. Processes by which cabin contamination can occur include: biological waste production, material off-gassing, process leakage, accidental containment breach, and accumulation due to poor removal efficiencies of the purification units. An industrial hygiene approach was taken to rationalize monitoring needs and to identify the substances likely to be present, the amount, and their hazard

Organic compounds in hydraulic fracturing fluids and wastewaters: A review

High volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) of shale to stimulate the release of natural gas produces a large quantity of wastewater in the form of flowback fluids and produced water. These wastewaters are highly variable in their composition and contain a mixture of fracturing fluid additives, geogenic inorganic and organic substances, and transformation products. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of organic compounds identified in HVHF fluids, flowback fluids, and produced waters are reviewed here to communicate knowledge gaps that exist in the composition of HVHF wastewaters. In general, analyses of organic compounds have focused on those amenable to gas chromatography, focusing on volatile and semi-volatile oil and gas compounds. Studies of more polar and non-volatile organic compounds have been limited by a lack of knowledge of what compounds may be present as well as quantitative methods and standards available for analyzing these complex mixtures. Liquid chromatography paired with high-resolution mass spectrometry has been used to investigate a number of additives and will be a key tool to further research on transformation products that are increasingly solubilized through physical, chemical, and biological processes in situ and during environmental contamination events. Diverse treatments have been tested and applied to HVHF wastewaters but limited information has been published on the quantitative removal of individual organic compounds. This review focuses on recently published information on organic compounds identified in flowback fluids and produced waters from HVHF

Review of technologies for the rapid detection of chemical and biological contaminants in drinking water

In the event of potential intentional contamination of drinking water, the risk to public health must be minimised, requiring confirmation of contamination, and, if possible, identification of the contaminant. A crucial step is to determine in the shortest possible time the type of contaminant. This review, developed within the framework of guidance for the production of a Water Security Plan (Teixeira et al. 2019), aims to help water utilities, laboratories and other stakeholders improve their analytical capacities to identify unknown contaminants in drinking water. An insight on sampling procedures in emergency situations is followed by a proposed approach for the use of non-targeted technologies to determine both toxicity and ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). Toxicity analysis quickly detects toxic chemical contaminants, while the measurement of the ATP is a first indicator of a contamination by microorganisms. The non-target technologies to determine toxicity and ATP in water that comply with the required characteristics for emergency response, i.e. quick, reliable, and easy to operate, are available now in the market, and could be adopted by most drinking water utilities and/or laboratories, in conjunction with the establishment of appropriate sampling capabilities. The subsequent step of contaminant identification requires the application of rapid analytical targeted technologies, such as immunological based methods, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing technologies, as well as field analysis by gas chromatography (GC/MS). These targeted technologies are based on tests available on the market with the focus on rapidness and reliability of results. The commercially available analytical tools and methodologies that detect and identify a chemical or biological contaminant are reviewed through a detailed description of the equipment, including the technology, equipment prices, testing cost, expected time to obtain a result, reagents and respective shelf-time and manufacturers. Information is provided on proficiency tests for analysis of unknown contamination events in drinking water that ensure the external quality control of the analytical process. To assist utilities and laboratories in their consideration of targeted and non-targeted technologies, an approach for identifying water contaminants in emergency situations is proposed comprising a series of steps of analysis to be adapted by each water utility in line with its business goals and risk assessment. This review of analytical technologies aims at supporting water utilities, laboratories, health authorities and other stakeholders in planning responses to emergency events in drinking water quality, in particular to enhance the rapid identification of unknown water contaminants. Consideration of these technologies, within the framework of a Water Security Plan, along with appropriate planning and protection measures, will enable water utilities to better respond to unexpected drinking water contaminations.JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

An analysis of factors that influence personal exposure to toluene and xylene in residents of Athens, Greece

BACKGROUND: Personal exposure to pollutants is influenced by various outdoor and indoor sources. The aim of this study was to evaluate the exposure of Athens citizens to toluene and xylene, excluding exposure from active smoking. METHODS: Passive air samplers were used to monitor volunteers, their homes and various urban sites for one year, resulting in 2400 measurements of toluene and xylene levels. Since both indoor and outdoor pollution contribute significantly to human exposure, volunteers were chosen from occupational groups who spend a lot of time in the streets (traffic policemen, bus drivers and postmen), and from groups who spend more time indoors (teachers and students). Data on individual and house characteristics were obtained using a questionnaire completed at the beginning of the study; a time-location-activity diary was also completed daily by the volunteers in each of the six monitoring campaigns. RESULTS: Average personal toluene exposure varied over the six monitoring campaigns from 53 to 80 μg/m(3). Urban and indoor concentrations ranged from 47 – 84 μg/m(3 )and 30 – 51 μg/m(3), respectively. Average personal xylene exposure varied between 56 and 85 μg/m(3 )while urban and indoor concentrations ranged from 53 – 88 μg/m(3 )and 27 – 48 μg/m(3), respectively. Urban pollution, indoor residential concentrations and personal exposures exhibited the same pattern of variation during the measurement periods. This variation among monitoring campaigns might largely be explained by differences in climate parameters, namely wind speed, humidity and amount of sunlight. CONCLUSION: In Athens, Greece, the time spent outdoors in the city center during work or leisure makes a major contribution to exposure to toluene and xylene among non-smoking citizens. Indoor pollution and means of transportation contribute significantly to individual exposure levels. Other indoor residential characteristics such as recent painting and mode of heating used might also contribute significantly to individual levels. Groups who may be subject to higher exposures (e.g. those who spent more time outdoors because of occupational activities) need to be surveyed and protected against possible adverse health effects

Exploiting novel automated analytical methodologies for the monitoring of environmental organic pollutants, and its potential incorporation to environmental monitoring regulations

Se han desarrollado métodos analíticos basados en cromatografía y detección por espectrometría de masas para la detección de múltiples compuestos orgánicos a niveles traza en muestras de interés ambiental. Se han determinado compuestos volátiles en aire atmosférico de Mallorca y varias plantas de tratamiento de residuos y vertederos, y fármacos de consumo humano en muestras del medioambiente acuático de Mallorca, plantas de tratamiento de aguas y lixiviados de vertederos. Con estos datos se ha evaluado la necesidad de modificar los planes de vigilancia ambiental para asegurar la calidad del medioambiente de Mallorca.We have developed analytical methodologies based on chromatography and mass spectrometry for the detection of multiple different organic compounds in the trace levels in samples of environmental interest. Volatile organic compounds have been determined in the atmospheric air of Mallorca as well as some waste treatment plants and landfills. Pharmaceuticals for human consumption have been investigated in several samples of the aquatic environment of Mallorca as well as some wastewater treatment plants and landfill leachates. Based on these data it has been evaluated the necessity to modify the environmental monitoring regulations to save the quality of the Mallorca’s environment