Does the evidence about health risks associated with nitrate ingestion warrant an increase of the nitrate standard for drinking water?

Several authors have suggested that it is safe to raise the health standard for nitrate in drinking water, and save money on measures associated with nitrate pollution of drinking water resources. The major argument has been that the epidemiologic evidence for acute and chronic health effects related to drinking water nitrate at concentrations near the health standard is inconclusive. With respect to the chronic effects, the argument was motivated by the absence of evidence for adverse health effects related to ingestion of nitrate from dietary sources. An interdisciplinary discussion of these arguments led to three important observations. First, there have been only a few well-designed epidemiologic studies that evaluated ingestion of nitrate in drinking water and risk of specific cancers or adverse reproductive outcomes among potentially susceptible subgroups likely to have elevated endogenous nitrosation. Positive associations have been observed for some but not all health outcomes evaluated. Second, the epidemiologic studies of cancer do not support an association between ingestion of dietary nitrate (vegetables) and an increased risk of cancer, because intake of dietary nitrate is associated with intake of antioxidants and other beneficial phytochemicals. Third, 2–3 % of the population in Western Europe and the US could be exposed to nitrate levels in drinking water exceeding the WHO standard of 50 mg/l nitrate, particularly those living in rural areas. The health losses due to this exposure cannot be estimated. Therefore, we conclude that it is not possible to weigh the costs and benefits from changing the nitrate standard for drinking water and groundwater resources by considering the potential consequences for human health and by considering the potential savings due to reduced costs for nitrate removal and prevention of nitrate pollution

Role of Kv1 Potassium Channels in Regulating Dopamine Release and Presynaptic D2 Receptor Function

Dopamine (DA) release in the CNS is critical for motor control and motivated behaviors. Dysfunction of its regulation is thought to be implicated in drug abuse and in diseases such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's. Although various potassium channels located in the somatodendritic compartment of DA neurons such as G-protein-gated inward rectifying potassium channels (GIRK) have been shown to regulate cell firing and DA release, little is presently known about the role of potassium channels localized in the axon terminals of these neurons. Here we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to study electrically-evoked DA release in rat dorsal striatal brain slices. We find that although G-protein-gated inward rectifying (GIRK) and ATP-gated (KATP) potassium channels play only a minor role, voltage-gated potassium channels of the Kv1 family play a major role in regulating DA release. The use of Kv subtype-selective blockers confirmed a role for Kv1.2, 1.3 and 1.6, but not Kv1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4 and 4.2. Interestingly, Kv1 blockers also reduced the ability of quinpirole, a D2 receptor agonist, to inhibit evoked DA overflow, thus suggesting that Kv1 channels also regulate presynaptic D2 receptor function. Our work identifies Kv1 potassium channels as key regulators of DA release in the striatum

Nitrificação do nitrogênio amoniacal de dejetos líquidos de suínos em solo sob sistema de plantio direto Nitrification of ammoniacal nitrogen from pig slurry in soil under no-tillage

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a taxa de nitrificação do N amoniacal dos dejetos líquidos de suínos, aplicados ao solo em sistema de plantio direto. O experimento foi realizado durante três anos agrícolas, em um Argissolo Vermelho distrófico arênico. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, em parcelas subdivididas, com três repetições. As parcelas principais foram compostas por dois sistemas de cultura (aveia preta/milho e pousio/milho) e as subparcelas, por doses de dejetos (0, 40 e 80 m³ ha-1 por ano). A nitrificação foi estimada a partir da determinação dos teores de N mineral em diferentes camadas do solo, em diversas épocas, após a aplicação dos dejetos. Na média dos três anos, a taxa líquida de nitrificação no sistema aveia/milho atingiu 4,8 kg ha-1 dia-1 de N na forma de nitrato e superou aquela do sistema pousio/milho em 43%. A aplicação dos dejetos na dose 80 m³ ha-1 resultou em uma taxa de nitrificação superior à verificada na dose de 40 m³ ha-1 em 188%. O N amoniacal dos dejetos líquidos de suínos é rapidamente nitrificado no solo em plantio direto e completamente oxidado a N nítrico entre 15 e 20 dias após a aplicação dos dejetos.<br>The objective of this work was to evaluate the nitrification rate in no-tillaged soil treated with pig slurry. The experiment was carried out during three years in an Arenic Hapludult soil, in a complete randomized block design, with split plots and three replications. The main plots were composed of two crop systems (black oat/maize and fallow/maize) and the split plots were composed of three rates of pig slurry (0, 40 and 80 m³ ha-1). The nitrification was evaluated based on concentrations of mineral N, in different soil layers, in several periods after pig slurry application. On the average of the three years, the nitrification rate in the black oat/maize system reached 4.8 kg ha-1 of NO3--N per day, overcoming that of the fallow/maize system in 43%. The application of 80 m³ ha-1 of pig slurry resulted in 188% greater nitrification rate than that observed for 40 m³ ha-1. The ammoniacal N from pig slurry is rapidly nitrified in soil under no-tillage, being completely oxidized to NO3--N from 15 to 20 days after pig slurry application

Of Reductionism and the Pendulum Swing: Connecting Toxicology and Human Health

In this contribution we will show that research in the field of toxicology, pharmacology and physiology is by and large characterised by a pendulum swing of which the amplitudes represent risks and benefits of exposure. As toxicology usually tests at higher levels than the populace routinely is exposed to, it reverts to mostly linear extrapolative models that express the risks of exposure, irrespective of dosages, only. However, as we will explicate in two examples, depending on dosages, it is less easy to separate risks and benefits than current toxicological research and regulatory efforts suggest. The same chemical compound, in the final analysis, is represented within the boundaries of both amplitudes, that is, show a biphasic, hormetic, dose-response. This is notable, as low-level exposures from the food-matrix are progressively more under scrutiny as a result of increasing analytical capabilities. Presence of low-level concentrations of a chemical in food is a regulatory proxy for human health, but in light of this hormetic dose-response objectionable. Moreover, given that an ecological threshold probably holds for most, if not all, man-made (bio)organic chemicals, these will be found to be naturally present in the food matrix. Both aspects require toxicology to close the gap between reductionist models and its extrapolative deficiencies and real-life scenarios