Experts discuss how to further standardise the assessment for safe use of plant protection products

Assessment of the health risks posed to operators and uninvolved third parties during and after application of plant protection products is to be further standardised in the zonal authorisation procedure within the European Union. In the opinion of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), this is an important outcome of the “European Conference on Safe Use of Plant Protection Products”, which the BfR organised together with the European Commission, Directorate General for Health and Consumers in Berlin on 18 and 19 June 2014. As an important step towards harmonisation, the new draft of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) “Guidance on the Assessment of Exposure for Operators, Workers, Residents and Bystanders in Risk Assessment of Plant Protection Products” was discussed during the conference. In addition to exposure, i.e. type and extent of absorption of active substances, the experts exchanged views on additional aspects relevant to the assessment such as standardised derivation of the amount of active substance potentially absorbed through the skin and better harmonised measures to minimise risks. The more than 50 participants represented the European Commission, EFSA, and the competent authorities from the Member States and European associations

Optimization and Validation of HS-GC/MS Method for the Controlled Release Study of Microencapsulated Specific Bioattractants for Target-Plaguicide Production

Insect plagues are a problem often hard to solve due to the harmful effects caused by the pesticides used to combat them. Consequently, the pesticide market is increasingly trying to develop new technologies to prevent the unwanted effects that common plague treatments usually bring with them. In this work, four specific bioattractants of Musca domestica, extracted from fungi (β-ocimene, phenol, p-cresol, and indole) were microencapsulated with β-cyclodextrin in order to produce an economically and environmentally sustainable bait containing biocides in the near future. Cyclodextrins will retain these volatile compounds until their use by the consumer when the product comes into contact with water. Then, the bioattractants will be released in the medium in a controlled manner. An analytical methodology based on headspace extraction coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) has been developed and validated following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and European Commission Directorate General for Health and Food Safety guidelines for the bioattractants controlled release study from the microencapsulated product. The analytical method has been shown to be accurate and precise and has the sensitivity required for controlled release studies of the four bioattractants analyzed. The release of the bioattractants from microencapsulated products achieved the “plateau” after 3 h in all cases.This research was funded by University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (project GIU19/068)

Pasteurised eggs - a food safety solution against Salmonella backed by sensorial analysis of dishes traditionally containing raw or undercooked eggs

This study evaluates the potential of pasteurised eggs to be used as a replacement for raw eggs in recipes where eggs remain uncooked or undercooked. Sensory tests were performed by 178 untrained panellists (143 from Portugal and 35 from Romania) using a 9-point hedonic scale. The tested recipes were tiramisu, chocolate mousse, eggnog, hollandaise sauce, and condensed milk mousse (Baba de camelo). While in Portugal the colour and texture of the chocolate mousse prepared with pasteurised and unpasteurised eggs differed significantly, no significant differences in regards to the organoleptic attributes were recorded in Romania. Nonetheless, the results revealed comparable distribution scores regarding the overall acceptability for all the recipes indicating an agreement among panellists for both raw and pasteurised eggs dishes in both countries. The regression analysis showed that the main drivers of consumers’ acceptance of dishes made with pasteurised eggs are flavour and texture. This research demonstrates that five dishes prepared with liquid pasteurised eggs are accepted by consumers as they cannot clearly be distinguished from their counterparts prepared with raw eggs. As Salmonella-contaminated eggs are the most frequent cause of salmonellosis, pasteurised eggs can be used as a safer ingredient to substitute shell eggs in raw egg-based dishes without significant reduction of the sensory quality of the dish. Since liquid pasteurised eggs are already widely used, especially by industry and restaurants, we provide reasons supporting pasteurisation of eggs in shell as a more convenient solution for consumers. Pasteurised eggs, either liquid or in shell, constitute a way to reduce the burden of foodborne diseases by diminishing the number of cases of salmonellosis associated with cooking at home. Researchers and food safety authorities can use our results as a starting point for future studies or intervention strategies.CC BY-NC-NDinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development and validation of an analytical methodology based on solvent extraction and gas chromatography for determining pesticides in royal jelly and propolis

Producción CientíficaWe propose a new analytical methodology to determine seven pesticides (atrazine, chlorpyrifos, chlorfenvinphos, α-endosulfan, bromopropylate, coumaphos, and τ-fluvalinate) in royal jelly and propolis products using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sample treatment, with minor modifications for propolis, consisted of a solvent extraction with a hexane and isopropanol mixture, and a further clean-up step. Meanwhile, chromatographic analysis (<25 min) was performed in a DB-5MS column under programmed temperature conditions. In all cases we validated the method in terms of selectivity, limits of detection (0.1–2.8 μg kg−1) and quantification (0.3–9.2 μg kg−1), linearity, matrix effect (<±20 %), trueness (recoveries between 93 % and 118 %), and precision (relative standard deviation < 11 %). All royal jelly liquid dietary supplements were positive for chlorfenvinphos and, in the case of one of them, for α-endosulfan; chlorfenvinphos was determined in some fresh royal jelly samples, and no pesticide residues were detected in the propolis samples analysedPlan Nacional de Investigación e Innovación Científica y Técnica, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-INIA-FEDER (grant number RTA2017-00004-C02-02

The future of public health practice in Europe

The European Public Health Association (EUPHA) identifies research, training, policy and practice as the four pillars for all its work. At a conference organised by the Association of School of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) in May 2016, an interesting session setting out a vision for these four areas for the coming years was organised. Josep Figueras and John Middelton outlined the challenges facing training and policy respectively in this session. They invited us to think outside the box and in a sense to reinvent public health in the 21st century. In this contribution, I focus on public health practice. Public health practitioners, who constitute an important part of EUPHA’s membership, are persons who typically work at the front line to translate research and policy into meaningful initiatives at local level.peer-reviewe

Development and validation of a new method for the simultaneous determination of spinetoram J and L in honey from different botanical origins employing solid-phase extraction with a polymeric sorbent and liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Producción CientíficaThe objective of this study was to propose a novel method to determine residues of the bio-insecticide spinetoram, which is a mixture of two components (spinetoram J and L), in honey from multifloral, rosemary and heather botanical origins; liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was the technique employed. An efficient sample treatment (recoveries between 82% and 95%) involving a solid phase extraction with a polymeric sorbent has been recommended, and no matrix effect was observed. Chromatographic analysis (4 min) was performed in reverse phase mode by using a fused-core column (Kinetex® EVO C18) with acetonitrile and ammonium formate as the mobile phase components, which was applied in isocratic elution mode. Method was validated according to the current European legislation. Not only was it selective, but it also displayed a wide linear range, good precision (relative standard deviation values lower than 9%) and sensitivity (low limits of detection (spinetoram J, 0.1–0.3 μg/kg; spinetoram L, 0.1–0.2 μg/kg) and quantification (spinetoram J, 0.3–1.2 μg/kg; spinetoram L, 0.4–0.7 μg/kg). Several honey samples were analyzed with this method and no spinetoram residues were found above the limits of detection.Este trabajo forma parte de los proyectos de investigación financiados por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad e INIA-FEDER (RTA2013-00042-C10-03 y 06

Employment status and income as potential mediators of educational inequalities in population mental health

We assessed whether educational inequalities in mental health may be mediated by employment status and household income. Poor mental health was assessed using General Health Questionnaire ‘caseness’ in working age adult participants (N = 48 654) of the Health Survey for England (2001–10). Relative indices of inequality by education level were calculated. Substantial inequalities were apparent, with adjustment for employment status and household income markedly reducing their magnitude. Educational inequalities in mental health were attenuated by employment status. Policy responses to economic recession (such as active labour market interventions) might reduce mental health inequalities but longitudinal research is needed to exclude reverse causation

Electronic cigarette and oral implications: a narrative review

Electronic cigarette have become increasingly popular in alternative to tobacco smoking that is one of the most common cause of mortality and mobility worldwide. The aim of this study is to analyze why the electronic cigarette has become so widespread both among young people and among adult smokers and analyze its implications on the oral health. It is essential, for the dental praticioner to understand the risks that the prolonged use of these devices can cause, at the level of general health for example in the respiratory system, and oral cavity. The effects in the oral cavity can vary form modifications in the oral microbiome and saliva, periodontal consequences to development of mouth cancer in the worst cases

Infectious Risks on Different Types of Ships with Reference to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Due to nature of their profession, seafarers visit many ports in different parts of the world and are thus exposed to various infectious diseases. And yet, chronic non-communicable diseases, malignant illnesses and accidents have lately become an important cause of death among the seafarers. Although before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak the communicable disease outbreaks were becoming less common, their share in seafarer morbidity remains significant. The aim of this research is to determine the most common infectious risks/contagious diseases on ships. The Medline and Scopus databases have been searched using the following key words: seafarers, infectious diseases, morbidity, mortality. The information sources include relevant literature, as well as national and international regulations on preventive measures against infectious diseases. At the global level no national or international surveillance systems exist on infectious disease occurrences on ships. There are only a few exceptions. However, based on some available individual and group research, conclusions may be drawn concerning the most important diseases in seafarer pathology. Of communicable/infectious diseases on ships, the most important ones are the acute respiratory illnesses, including the COVID-19 disease, followed by food poisoning/acute gastroenteritis, vector-borne diseases and HIV as the most common sexually transmitted disease in the past 20 years. Estimating the threat from infectious diseases in seafarers depends on the type and trade of vessels. For COVID 19 and other respiratory infections, as well as food poisoning, risks are higher on cruise ships and passenger ships than on cargo ships. For better understanding of the issue, we need internationally co-ordinated studies and well organised surveillance systems