Short-term health effects in the general population following a major train accident with acrylonitrile in Belgium

Background: Following a train derailment, several tons of acrylonitrile (ACN) exploded, inflamed and part of the ACN ended up in the sewage system of the village of Wetteren. More than 2000 residents living in the close vicinity of the accident and along the sewage system were evacuated. A human biomonitoring study of the adduct N-2-cyanoethylvaline (CEV) was carried out days 14-21 after the accident. Objectives: (1) To describe the short-term health effects that were reported by the evacuated residents following the train accident, and (2) to explore the association between the CEV concentrations, extrapolated at the time of the accident, and the self-reported short-term health effects. Methods: Short-term health effects were reported in a questionnaire (n=191). An omnibus test of independence was used to investigate the association between the CEV concentrations and the symptoms. Dose-response relationships were quantified by Generalized Additive Models (GAMs). Results: The most frequently reported symptoms were local symptoms of irritation. In non-smokers, dose-dependency was observed between the CEV levels and the self-reporting of irritation (p=0.007) and nausea (p=0.007). Almost all non-smokers with CEV concentrations above 100 pmol/g globin reported irritation symptoms. Both absence and presence of symptoms was reported by non-smokers with CEV concentrations below the reference value and up to 10 times the reference value. Residents who visited the emergency services reported more symptoms. This trend was seen for the whole range of CEV concentrations, and thus independently of the dose. Discussion and conclusion: The present study is one of the first to relate exposure levels to a chemical released during a chemical incident to short-term (self-reported) health effects. A dose-response relation was observed between the CEV concentrations and the reporting of short-term health effects in the non-smokers. Overall, the value of self-reported symptoms to assess exposure showed to be limited. The results of this study confirm that a critical view should be taken when considering self-reported health complaints and that ideally biomarkers are monitored to allow an objective assessment of exposure

From inequitable to sustainable e-waste processing for reduction of impact on human health and the environment

Scheepers, Paul/0000-0002-8546-2161; Teixeira, Joao Paulo/0000-0001-8693-5250; Ghosh, Manosij/0000-0001-5034-001X; Godderis, Lode/0000-0003-4764-8835; Duca, Radu - Corneliu/0000-0002-9350-3816; Batinic, Bojan/0000-0003-1099-4224WOS:000632603100005PubMed: 33444608Recycling of electric and electronic waste products (e-waste) which amounted to more than 50 million metric tonnes per year worldwide is a massive and global operation. Unfortunately, an estimated 70 & ndash;80% of this waste has not been properly managed because the waste went from developed to low-income countries to be dumped into landfills or informally recycled. Such recycling has been carried out either directly on landfill sites or in small, often family-run recycling shops without much regulations or oversights. The process traditionally involved manual dismantling, cleaning with hazardous solvents, burning and melting on open fires, etc., which would generate a variety of toxic substances and exposure/hazards to applicators, family members, proximate residents and the environment. The situation clearly calls for global responsibility to reduce the impact on human health and the environment, especially in developing countries where poor residents have been shouldering the hazardous burden. on the other hand, formal e-waste recycling has been mainly conducted in small scales in industrialized countries. Whether the latter process would impose less risk to populations and environment has not been determined yet. Therefore, the main objectives of this review are: 1. to address current trends and emerging threats of not only informal but also formal e-waste management practices, and 2. to propose adequate measures and interventions. A major recommendation is to conduct independent surveillance of compliance with e-waste trading and processing according to the Basel Ban Amendment. The recycling industry needs to be carefully evaluated by joint effort from international agencies, producing industries and other stakeholders to develop better processes. Subsequent transition to more sustainable and equitable e-waste management solutions should result in more effective use of natural resources, and in prevention of adverse effects on health and the environment.Diagnosis, Monitoring and Prevention of Exposure-Related Noncommunicable Diseases (DiMoPEx) COST Action project [CA15129]; European UnionEuropean CommissionThis work was supported by the Diagnosis, Monitoring and Prevention of Exposure-Related Noncommunicable Diseases (DiMoPEx) COST Action project (CA15129) and its Final Action Dissemination Grant from the European Union

Entwicklung und Erprobung von Standard-Messverfahren fuer die Bewertung des fahrzeugeigenen Beitrages zu organischen Luftverunreinigungen in Fahrgastraeumen von Personenkraftwagen. Bd. I Zusammenfassung. Abschlussbericht

Untersucht wurden fluechtige organisch-chemische Emissionen in der Luft in Innenraeumen von Personenkraftwagen sowie aus Bauteilen und Werkstoffen ihrer Innenausstattung. Zunaechst wurden Pruefstaende gebaut und erprobt, mit denen die genannten Objekte unter standardisierten Bedingungen konditioniert und nach einem definierten Programm beprobt werden konnten. Dann wurden chemisch-analytische Messverfahren fuer die quantitative Bestimmung von ueber 60 Einzelverbindungen aus den Stoffklassen der aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffe, Aldehyde/Ketone, Glycolether, Phthalate, Amine und Nitrosamine validiert und als Standard-Verfahrensvorschriften formuliert. Daneben wurden auch Verfahren fuer halbquantitative Uebersichtsanalysen, Identifizierungen und Fogging-Analysen der organischen Emissionen installiert. Als wesentliche Messmethoden dienten die Gaschromatographie und die Hochdruck-Fluessigkeits-Chromatographie mit verschiedenen Detektoren. Abschliessend erfolgte die Anwendung der Standardverfahren (Pruefstaende, Pruefprogramm, Analysenverfahren) an sechs neuen, in Deutschland produzierten Personenkraftwagen sowie getrennt davon an den wesentlichen Bauteilen und Werkstoffen ihrer Innenausstattung. Ueber 3.000 Analysen, bei denen jede einzelne eine Fuelle von qualitativen, halbquantitativen und/oder quantitativen einzelstofflichen Informationen lieferte, wurden ausgewertet. Auf der Basis dieses Datenmaterials wurde der Einfluss fahrzeugeigener Quellen auf die Luftbeschaffenheit von Fahrzeuginnenraeumen betrieben. (orig.)Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) from automotive interior components, materials as well as inside production new cars have been investigated. For this purpose test cabinets were developed at first and runned under standardized climatic parameters to provide constant sampling conditions. Furthermore analytical methods for precise determinations of more than 60 organic compounds comprising of Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Carbonyl compounds, Glycolethers, Phthalates, Amines and N-Nitrosamines were validated and fixed in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Beside this semi-quantitative screening tests and procedures for the identification of organic compounds in fogging films were installed. Analytical instrumentation based mainly on chromatographic seperation techniques (i.e. GC, HPLC) in combination with suitable detectors. The reliability of standard methods (i.e. test cabinets, test cycles, analytical procedures) was tested by the investigation of six different production new german cars and apart from this by investigation of essential automotive interior components and materials. More than 3000 samples were analysed. Each of them provided numerous qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative informations. The contributions of vehicles' own sources to interior air quality of passenger compartments was described and evaluated using this data. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F97B1138+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman