COVID-19's unsustainable waste management

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COVID-19: resource recovery from plastic waste against plastic pollution

To combat with the challenge of plastic pollution, a sustainable, systematic, and hierarchical plastic management roadmap that clearly defines the relative roles and socioeconomic and environmental impacts of these measures is needed. It requires plastic waste type-specific and country demand-specific action plans as well as greater support from policymakers and the more general public. Finally, disaster resilience needs to be considered in consistent with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030

Blood lactate and glucose concentrations in the femoral artery and three different veins during anaesthesia of healthy laboratory pigs

Blood lactate is a parameter used for monitoring pigs during prolonged anaesthesia. Here we compared blood lactate and glucose concentrations in nine anaesthetised laboratory pigs. Seventeen of the samples originated from a liver project and 15 from a kidney project. Mean and standard deviations of arterial blood lactate and glucose were compared with values for portal, renal and femoral veins by using paired Student’s t-test, paired Wilcoxon test as well as Spearman rank-order correlation. The study showed that lactate concentration was constant whether measured in blood from the femoral artery, portal vein, renal vein or femoral vein. The study showed that the origin of the blood sampled is not important and that changes in blood lactate concentration are likely to be the same throughout the cardiovascular system in healthy pigs

Are liver and renal lesions in East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) associated with high mercury levels?

BACKGROUND: In the Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) bio-accumulate mercury as they prey on polluted ringed seals (Phoca hispida) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus). Studies have shown that polar bears from East Greenland are among the most mercury polluted species in the Arctic. It is unknown whether these levels are toxic to liver and kidney tissue. METHODS: We investigated the histopathological impact from anthropogenic long-range transported mercury on East Greenland polar bear liver (n = 59) and kidney (n = 57) tissues. RESULTS: Liver mercury levels ranged from 1.1–35.6 μg/g wet weight and renal levels ranged from 1–50 μg/g wet weight, of which 2 liver values and 9 kidney values were above known toxic threshold level of 30 μg/g wet weight in terrestrial mammals. Evaluated from age-correcting ANCOVA analyses, liver mercury levels were significantly higher in individuals with visible Ito cells (p < 0.02) and a similar trend was found for lipid granulomas (p = 0.07). Liver mercury levels were significantly lower in individuals with portal bile duct proliferation/fibrosis (p = 0.007) and a similar trend was found for proximal convoluted tubular hyalinisation in renal tissue (p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Based on these relationships and the nature of the chronic inflammation we conclude that the lesions were likely a result of recurrent infections and ageing but that long-term exposure to mercury could not be excluded as a co-factor. The information is important as it is likely that tropospheric mercury depletion events will continue to increase the concentrations of this toxic heavy metal in the Sub Arctic and Arctic marine food webs