The Retrospective Study on the Ethio-Pathogenic Factors of the Congenital Malformations in the Bihor district

Malformaţiile congenitale reprezintă o cauză majoră de mortalitate şi morbiditate în copilărie, pentru prevenirea acestora impunându-se cunoaşterea nivelului de morbiditate şi a etiologiei lor. Cunoaşterea nivelului prevalenţei bolii şi a factorilor etio-patogenetici este necesară pentru construirea unei imagini reale a fenomenului malformaţiilor congenitale, imagine care va avea rolul de a sta la baza strategiilor şi măsurilor ce se impun în acest domeniu.Studiul de faţă a fost proiectat în vederea furnizării de repere ştiinţifice (evidenţe) pentru formularea ipotezelor de lucru privind abordarea strategică a problemei determinate de malformaţiile congenitale în rândul populaţiei infantile din judeţul Bihor şi pentru aprecierea impactului (social, economic etc) pe care malformaţiile congenitale îl au asupra stării de sănătate a populaţiei. Cuvinte cheie: anomalii congenitale, factori etio-patogenici, promovarea sănătăţii.The congenital malformations represent a major cause of mortality and morbidity in childhood; to prevent this, it is important to know the level of morbidity and its etiology.Knowing the level of the diseases prevalence as well as the ethiopathogenetic factors is necessary to obtain a real image of the congenital malformation phenomenon, image which will have the role of creating the strategies and measures to be used in this field.This study was designed to provide scientific evidence in order to formulate hypothesis regarding the strategical approach of the problem caused by the congenital malformations among of the underage population from the Bihor district as well as to apreciate the impact which the congenital malformations have upon the people’s health.Key words: congenital anomalies, ethiopathogenetic factors, health promotion

Sewage sludge for sustainable agriculture: contaminants' contents and potential use as fertilizer

Abstract Background Sewage sludge, the inevitable byproduct of municipal wastewater-treatment plant operation, is a key issue in many countries due to its increasing volume and the impacts associated with its disposal. According to the report of European Commission published in 2010, 39% of sewage sludge produced in the European Union is recycled into agriculture. Management options require extensive waste characterization, since many of them may contain compounds, which could be harmful to the ecosystem, such as heavy metals, organic pollutants, etc. The present study aims to show the results of 2 years' sampling of sewage sludge—based on 130 samples collected from 35 wastewater-treatment plants situated in the North of Italy—and to assess its suitability as soil fertilizer regarding contents of nonylphenol (NP), nonylphenolethoxylates (NPnEOs), and phthalates (DEHP). Results An effective analytic method for organic pollutants detection in the sewage sludge has been developed, showing an excellent repeatability and recoveries. Ecotoxicological risk assessment was evaluated using risk quotients (RQs) for sludge-amended soil. Most of the analyzed samples do not contain NP, NPnEOs, and DEHP at levels higher than the limit established by the draft-working document of the European Commission on Sludge. The assessment using RQs reports that NP and NPnEOs never give values higher than 1, and for DEHP the obtained RQs exceed the value of 1 just three times. Data obtained were compared to the data from other European and Asiatic countries, showing a huge variability for all the compounds considered. Conclusions Based on the obtained results, it appears that the proposed EU limits for the selected substances on sewage sludge intended to be used as soil fertilizer in agriculture are sufficiently conservative to avoid negative effects on soil fauna

VENTRICULOMEGALIA CEREBRALĂ FETALĂ „BORDERLINE“

Ventriculomegalia reprezintă dilatarea ventriculilor cerebrali peste 10 mm, fiind clasificată în uşoară sau „borderline“ (10-12 mm), moderată (13-15 mm) şi severă (peste 15 mm). Incidenţa variază foarte mult în funcţie de tehnica utilizată şi de vârsta gestaţională. Locul de elecţie pentru măsurarea cea mai exactă a diametrului ventricular este la nivelul glomusului plexului coroid. RMN-ul este o altă metodă de evaluare a creierului fetal care permite, de asemenea, vizualizarea suprafeţei cerebrale. Ventriculomegalia unilaterală este cauzată de obstrucţia morfologică, fizică sau funcţională a orificiului Monro. Ventriculomegalia „borderline“ poate fi asociată cu anomalii cromozomiale, infecţii congenitale, accidente vasculare cerebrale sau hemoragie, precum şi cu alte anomalii extracerebrale. Factori care influenţează prognosticul copiilor diagnosticaţi cu ventriculomegalie uşoară sunt: sexul, vârsta gestaţională, dimensiunea ventriculilor, afectarea uni- sau bilaterală, ventriculomegalie bilaterală simetrică sau asimetrică, progresia ventriculomegaliei – probabil cel mai important factor al prognosticului, regresia ventriculomegaliei. Părinţii trebuie informaţi despre faptul că există limitări ultrasonografice în diferenţierea unei ventriculomegalii „borderline“ izolate şi ventriculomegalie asociată unor altor anomalii oculte, care nu pot fi identificate iniţial în vederea luării unei decizii adecvate. Ecografia fetală de control este de preferat a se efectuat după aproximativ 1-2 săptămâni de la diagnosticul iniţial de „ventriculomegalie“

Evaluation of groundwater contamination sources by plant protection products in hilly vineyards of Northern Italy

Abstract In Europe, 25% of groundwater has poor chemical status. One of the main stressors is agriculture, with nitrates and plant protection products (PPPs) causing failure in 18% and 6.5%, respectively, of groundwater bodies (by area). EU legislation for the placement of the PPPs on the market is one of the most stringent in the world. However, recent monitoring studies in hilly vineyards of Tidone Valley, north-west of Italy, show presence of PPPs used for grapevine cultivation in 15 out of 26 groundwater wells monitored, at values above the Environment Quality Standard (EQS) for groundwater (0.1 μg/L). However, no information about the contamination sources are available. Therefore, the objective of the present work is to evaluate the groundwater contamination sources by PPPs, in a small catchment with intensive viticulture, by collecting and integrating monitoring data, sub-surface water movement data and territorial characteristics. The results show that in wells used for PPP's mixture preparation and sprayer washing located at the top of hilly vineyards, with low slope and no water movement in the surrounding soil, the contamination is most likely from point sources. On the contrary, for wells located in a fenced area at the bottom of the hill, far away from vineyards and being used for drinking water production, the contamination is most likely from diffuse sources. Our results were used to raise awareness on groundwater contamination from PPPs among farmers in the study area; moreover a waterproof platform for sprayers washing, equipped with wastewater recovery and disposal system, able to avoid point-source contamination, was implemented in a local demonstration farm. Several demonstration activities were then organised with the farmers of the entire Valley in order to show its functionality and promote its diffuse use

Ecological status and sources of anthropogenic contaminants in mangroves of the Wouri River Estuary (Cameroon)

Mangroves are critically threatened by human activities, despite the important ecosystem functions and services they provide. Mangroves in Cameroon represent no exception to the worldwide trend of mangrove destruction, especially around Douala, on the Wouri river estuary. In two sites around Douala, we assessed the presence of sterols, PAHs, PCBs, DEHP, DDT and its metabolite p,p'-DDE and potentially toxic metals in sediment samples. As a proxy of ecological quality, we measured the diversity and abundance of macrobenthos assemblages. We detected p,p'-DDE contamination, with concentrations higher than 3 ?g kg? 1 in 16 out of 26 samples which were attributed to recent widespread use of DDT. The detection of sterols revealed faecal contamination. Significant sensitivity of the macrobenthos to contaminants was revealed, with possible implications on the overall mangrove vulnerability to climate change and on the provision of ecosystem services to local populations