Effect of pretreatment on a platinized tin oxide catalyst used for low-temperature CO-oxidation

A commercial platinized tin oxide catalyst used for low-temperature CO oxidation has been characterized using ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) before and after reduction in 40 Torr of CO for 1 hour at various temperatures from 75 to 175 C. The reduction results in loss of surface oxygen, formation of metallic tin, conversion of platinum oxides to Pt-O-Sn and Pt(OH)2 and a small amount of metallic Pt which alloys with the tin. These results should be useful in understanding how the pretreatment temperature affects the catalytic activity of platinized tin oxide toward CO oxidation

Chemicals from Marine Fish Farms : Monitoring of chemicals from marine fish farms in Nordic environments - veterinary medicines, biocides and persistent organic contaminants

Fish from Nordic fish farms have been criticized for containing "too high" concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) among others dioxin and PCB. These allegations have caused debate and may have a negative effect on the sale of products from Nordic fish farms in addition to giving a generally bad reputation that affects more or less all Nordic fish farms. It is generally agreed that the relatively high concentrations of POPs detected in fish from Nordic fish farms are caused by the high concentrations of POPs in the fish feed produced and used in the Nordic countries. Beside potential health effects caused by high POP contents in the fish fillet, the surrounding environment may be impacted as well, not only by excreted POPs but also by veterinary medicines used in the fish farms. In Nordic fish farms, veterinary medicines are mainly used therapeutically against different infectious diseases. The amount of veterinary medicines used varies from year to year and in some years, considerable amounts have been used. The major environmental concern in relation to the use of veterinary medicines is the potential occurrence of antibiotic resistance in the naturally occurring micro flora

SENSE tool deployment: Report on the testing of SENSE-tool and EID scheme in food chains - SENSE Deliverable 4.2

This report is part of the SENSE project (www.senseproject.eu) The aim was to develop a web based tool aimed at facilitating a harmonized sustainability assessment for the life cycle of products for SMEs in the food sector. The SENSE tool is designed with a user-friendly data entry and harmonized life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies to calculate environmental impacts. The assessment when using the SENSE tool is simplified for SMEs by applying selected input data defined as Key Environmental Performance Indicators (KEPIs). The reporting includes the Phase 3 validation during pilot implementation of the SENSE tool in external companies in the fruit juice, meat and dairy and salmonid aquaculture food sectors.Project co-funded by European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme, Project no. 288974. SENSE ‘HarmoniSed Environmental Sustainability in the European food and drink chain