Carbon dioxide tolerance studies

Human tolerance to exposure of carbon dioxide environmen

Relative luminosity measurement of the LHC with the ATLAS forward calorimeter

In this paper it is shown that a measurement of the relative luminosity changes at the LHC may be obtained by analysing the currents drawn from the high voltage power supplies of the electromagnetic section of the forward calorimeter of the ATLAS detector. The method was verified with a reproduction of a small section of the ATLAS forward calorimeter using proton beams of known beam energies and variable intensities at the U-70 accelerator at IHEP in Protvino, Russia. The experimental setup and the data taking during a test beam run in April 2008 are described in detail. A comparison of the measured high voltage currents with reference measurements from beam intensity monitors shows a linear dependence on the beam intensity. The non-linearities are measured to be less than 0.5 % combining statistical and systematic uncertainties.Comment: 16 page

Geochemistry of european bottled water

In Europe, ca. 1900 "mineral water" brands are officially registered and bottled for drinking. Bottled water is groundwater and is rapidly developing into the main supply of drinking water for the general population of large parts of Europe. This book is the first state of the art overview of the chemistry of groundwaters from 40 European countries from Portugal to Russia, measured on 1785 bottled water samples from 1247 wells representing 884 locations plus additional 500 tap water samples acquired in 2008 by the network of EuroGeoSurveys experts all across Europe. In contrast to previously available data sets, all chemical data were measured in a single laboratory, under strict quality control with high internal and external reproducibility, affording a single high quality, internally consistent dataset. More than 70 parameters were determined on every sample using state of the art analytical techniques with ultra low detection limits (ICPMS, ICPOES, IC) at a single hydrochemical lab facility. Because of the wide geographical distribution of the water sources, the bottled mineral, drinking and tap waters characterized herein may be used for obtaining a first estimate of "groundwater geochemistry" at the scale of the European Continent, a dataset previously unavailable in this completeness, quality and coverage. This new data set allows, for the first time, to present a comprehensive internally consistent, overview of the natural distribution and variation of the determined chemical elements and additional state parameters of groundwater at the European scale. Most elements show a very wide range \u2013 usually 3 to 4 but up to 7 orders of magnitude \u2013 of natural variation of their concentration. Data are interpreted in terms of their origin, considering hydrochemical parameters, such as the influence of soil, vegetation cover and mixing with deep waters, as well as other factors (bottling effects, leaching from bottles). Chapters are devoted to comparing the bottled water data with those of European tap water and previously published datasets and discussing the implications of water chemistry for health. The authors also provide an overview of the legal framework, that any bottled water sold in the European Union must comply with. It includes a comprehensive compilation of current drinking water action levels in European countries, limiting values of the European Drinking/Mineral/Natural Mineral Water directives (1998/83/EC, 2003/40/EC, 2009/54/EC) and legislation in effect in 26 individual European Countries, and for comparison those of the FAO and in effect in the US (EPA, maximum contaminant level)