Flame retardants: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Para melhorar a qualidade de vida do Homem foram desenvolvidos durante as últimas décadas muitos produtos químicos, como por exemplo os retardantes de chama. Estes compostos são adicionados a uma grande variedade de materiais cuja finalidade é evitar ou retardar a propagação de incêndios.Os éteres difenílicos polibromados (PBDEs, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) pertencem ao grupo de retardantes de chama bromados. Estes compostos são misturados com os polímeros e tendem a libertarem-se por acção do tempo, do calor e da luz para o meio ambiente. Os PBDEs são compostos lipofílicos e são classificados como poluentes orgânicos persistentes (POPs, Persistent Organic Pollutants) por serem persistentes, tóxicos e bioacumuláveis. Por serem POPs, os PBDEs ganharam relevo nos estudos efetuados em diversas matrizes ambientais e no Homem (fluidos fsisiológicos, tecidos, órgãos), com o objetivo de estudar e identificar a sua ocorrência, assim como, evitar a sua dispersão.Este artigo tem como objetivo abordar o problema dos retardantes de chama, mais concretamente dos PBDEs, no que se refere à sua utilização, propriedades físico-químicas, toxicidade e ocorrência no meio ambiente, dando enfase aos estudos e problemas em Portugal. To improve the quality of life of people have been developed during the last decades many chemicals such as flame retardants. These compounds are added to a wide variety of materials whose purpose is to prevent or slow the spread of fire.Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) belong to the group of brominated flame retardants. These compounds are blended with polymers and tend to free themselves by weathering, heat and light to the environment. PBDEs are lipophilic compounds and are classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to be persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. As belonging to the class of POPs, PBDE gained importance in the studies on various environmental matrices and in humans (physiological fluids, tissues, organs) in order to study and identify their occurrence, as well as to prevent its spread.This article aims to address the problem of flame retardants, in particular of PBDE in relation to its use, physico-chemical properties, toxicity and incidence on the environment, and studies focusing on the problems in Portugal

New insights concerning the occurrence of fungi in water sources and their potential pathogenicity

Fungi are known to occur ubiquitously in the environment. In the past years, the occurrence of filamentous fungi in the aquatic environment has been a subject of growing interest. This study describes the occurrence of various fungal genera in different drinking water sources being Penicillium and Trichoderma the most representative ones (30% and 17%, respectively). Also, 24 fungal species that have not been previously described in the aquatic environment are reported in this study, being once again the major species from the Penicillium genera. This study therefore contributes to the knowledge on the richness of fungi diversity in water. 68% of the described species were found to be able to grow at 30°C but only Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus viridinutans and Cunninghamella bertholletiae were able to grow at the higher temperature tested (42°C). 66% of the species that were able to grow at 30°C have spore sizes below 5μm which enables them to cause breathing infections. These were therefore identified as potential pathogenic species. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

O CORONARIOPATA E O AMBIENTE DA UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA: Estudo da influência dos procedimentos invasivos

Trata-se de um estudo sobre a influencia da quantidade de procedimentos invasivos aos quais é submetido um paciente assistido em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva e sua relação quanto à percepção desse ambiente. Foram entrevistados 100 pacientes com diagnóstico médico de Insuficiência Coronariana Aguda, internados numa mesma UTI e divididos em Grupo A, aqueles com maior número de procedimentos invasivos, e Grupo B, com menor número desses procedimentos. O estuda estatístico não revelou diferença entre os grupos A e B, tanto em relação à quantidade de problemas, quanto à sua natureza. A maioria dos pacientes dos dois grupos referiu problemas relacionados com a internação e, inversamente, a minoria percebeu sons e imagens que chamaram a sua atenção no ambiente da UTI. Dos problemas referidos pelos pacientes, a maioria foi de origem ambiental, com predomínio daqueles relativos à separação da família.This is a study about the influence of the quantity of invasive procedures to which the patient of an intensive care unit is submitted, and its relation to his perception of his environment. A hundreed patients with medical diagnosis of acute heart insufficiency, all of the same unit, have been interviewed. They were divided into 2 groups: Group A (submitted to more invasive procedures) and group B (submitted to a lesser number of invasive procedures). The statistical analysis showed that there was no difference between Group A and Group B in the quantity and nature of problems. The majority of the patients of the two groups felt mostly the problem of being inside a hospital, away from home. Only a minority described problems referring to sounds and images of their environment