Nitrogen Dynamics and Nitrate Leaching in Intensive Vegetable Rotations in Highlands of Central Java, Indonesia

High rainfall intensity is major factor governing leaching process, where leaching is often the most important process of N loss from the field and lead to agricultural environmental pollution. In order to measure the movement of mineral-N in soil profile, a field research had been conducted in two sites of center vegetable farming area with six farmer cooperators in Central Java, Indonesia. Regular soil sampling was done from Improve Practice (IP) and Farmer Practice (FP) treatment for three planting seasons during 2007. Almost all treatments FP applied higher rate of N fertilizer compare to IP, but it was not reflected in N profile.  Comparison of predicted and measured mineral N content was simulated using Burns α  model, then the closeness of the estimation and measured calculated using Coefficient of Residual Mass (CRM) calculation as an indicator with 0 as ideal value.  Out of 9 measurements of IP and FP treatment, eight and seven measurements had negative CRM  representinga slight overestimation. The NO3-N loss estimated using the Burns α model for IP and FP was in average of 67% for IP and  71% for FP of total N fertilizer added or 67% for IP and 76% for FP of total-N surplus, respectively. The calculation of potential nitrate concentration (PNC) at 1 m soil depth at the end of the third season showed a high concentration with significant different of IP and FP having mean value of 59.8 and 82.5 mg N L-1. From the gathered data it was obvious that over N fertilization had negative effect to agricultural environment

Harmonisation of food categorisation systems for dietary exposure assessments among European children

Within the European project called EXPOCHI (Individual Food Consumption Data and Exposure Assessment Studies for Children), 14 different European individual food consumption databases of children were used to conduct harmonised dietary exposure assessments for lead, chromium, selenium and food colours. For this, two food categorisation systems were developed to classify the food consumption data in such a way that these could be linked to occurrence data of the considered compounds. One system served for the exposure calculations of lead, chromium and selenium. The second system was developed for the exposure assessment of food colours. The food categories defined for the lead, chromium and selenium exposure calculations were used as a basis for the food colour categorisation, with adaptations to optimise the linkage with the food colour occurrence data. With this work, an initial impetus was given to make user-friendly food categorisation systems for contaminants and food colours applicable on a pan-European level. However, a set of difficulties were encountered in creating a common food categorisation system for 14 individual food consumption databases that differ in the type and number of foods coded and in level of detail provided about the consumed foods. The work done and the problems encountered in this project can be of interest for future projects in which food consumption data will be collected on a pan-European level and used for common exposure assessments