European achievements in soil remediation and brownfield redevelopment

With the aim of sharing best practices of soil restoration and management of contaminated sites among European countries and to raise awareness of the enormous efforts made to succeed in such difficult commitment, the experts of the EIONET Soil working group on contaminated sites and brownfields agreed to gather their country's interesting cases and successful stories of recovery of contaminated areas. This second edition of the monograph presents seventeen new cases from eight European countries and its Regions of how polluted sites and brownfields have been remediated like new methodologies of sustainable restoration of the subsoil, development of innovative technologies, and funding mechanisms etc. These stories have been compiled to present what national, regional or local governments are doing to improve the quality of the environment and the living conditions of their population. A second aim is the promotion of best practices among industry, consultancies and business operators.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

A comparison of secretory antibodies in breast-fed and formula-fed infants over the first six months of life.

In the present study salivary IgA, anti-Escherichia coli, anti-beta-lactoglobulin and anti-poliovirus type 1 IgA and IgM in serum and saliva were evaluated longitudinally in 13 breast-fed and 14 formula-fed infants over the first six months of life. Salivary IgA was quantified by electroimmunodiffusion; specific IgA and IgM antibodies were determined in serum and saliva by ELISA. Salivary IgA was significantly lower at age one month in breast-fed compared with formula-fed infants but in breast-fed infants salivary IgA increased with age and was significantly higher at six months than at one month. In both groups of infants, at the age of six months, salivary IgA levels were significantly lower than in adult controls. No significant differences in secretory anti-E. coli were observed between the two groups of infants. Salivary anti-poliovirus IgA and IgM antibodies increased transiently only to disappear in most babies at age six months, while anti-beta lactoglobulin IgA and IgM, present in saliva at all ages, showed a wide scatter. No important differences in specific serum IgA or IgM antibodies were observed either between the groups or at different times within the groups