Vurdering af risiko for introduktion af smitsomme sygdomme til dyrerum med specifikt patogenfrie dyr

No abstract availabl

Estimated N leaching losses for organic and conventional farming in Denmark

The impact of organic compared to conventional farming practices on N leaching loss was studied for Danish mixed dairy and arable farms using an N balance approach based on representative data. On mixed dairy farms a simple N balance method was used to estimate N surplus and N leaching loss. On arable farms the simple N balance method was unreliable due to changes in the soil N pool. Consequently, the FASSET simulation model was used to estimate N surplus, N leaching loss and the changes in the soil N pool. The study found a lower N leaching loss from organic than conventional mixed dairy farms, primarily due to lower N inputs. On organic arable farms the soil N pool was increasing over years but the N leaching loss was comparable to conventional arable farms. The soil N pool was primarily increased by organic farming practices and incorporation of straw. The highest increase in the soil N pool was seen on soils with a low level of soil organic matter. The level of N leaching loss was dependent on soil type, the use of catch crops and the level of soil organic matter, whereas incorporation of straw had a minor effect. N leaching was highest on sandy soils with a high level of soil organic matter and no catch crops. The study stresses the importance of using representative data of organic and conventional farming practices in comparative studies of N leaching loss

Risk assessment and risk management of novel plant foods:Concepts and principles

Novel food regulation is already in force in the European Community, Australia/New Zealand and in Canada. These regulations distinguish between traditional plant foods and novel plant foods, as the novel plant foods need to go through a premarket assessment procedure. This report focus on developing a proposal for definitions and criteria for determining if a plant food is traditional or novel and a proposal for an approach for the safety assessment of such plant foods with no or limited documented history of safe consumption. The report recommend to introduce a 2-step management procedure, first to establish the novelty and secondly to define and commit resources for the safety assessment, and recommend to generate and use a worldwide net of global, regional, local and ethnobotanical positive lists for food plants to guide both the decision on novelty and the safety assessment. The report recommends using the "history of use"-concept and if the data submitted can support the claim that a product has a history of safe use, the approval can be straightforward. In Europe around 300 food plants deliver near 100% of human daily intake of plant food calories while nearly 7,000 other food plant species are used in other parts of the world. This report focuses on the situation when novel food items from these 7,000 plants are to enter the European or other regional market

Report from the working group on diet and cancer.

No abstract available

Environmental life cycle assessments of producing maize, grass-clover, ryegrass and winter wheat straw for biorefinery

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552The aim of this study is to assess the potential environmental impacts of producing maize, grass-clover, ryegrass, and straw from winter wheat as biomass feedstocks for biorefinery. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method included the following impact categories: Global Warming Potential (GWP100), Eutrophication Potential (EP), Non-Renewable Energy use (NRE), Potential Fresh Water Ecotoxicity (PFWTox) and Potential Biodiversity Damages (PBD). The results showed that GWP100 (in kg CO2 eq, including contribution from soil carbon change) for producing 1 ton of dry matter (t DM) was highest for ryegrass, grass-clover and maize, and lowest for straw. The carbon footprints of ryegrass, grass-clover and maize were affected by including the contribution from soil organic carbon (SOC) changes. Nitrous oxide emissions and emissions related to the production of agro-chemicals (including N-fertilizer) were other hotspots in the carbon footprint. The EP calculated per t DM was highest for grass-clover, ryegrass and maize, and was lowest for straw. NRE use (MJ eq/t DM) was highest for ryegrass, grass-clover and maize and lowest for straw. Major hotspots were diesel use for field operations and agro-chemicals production. The PBD, expressed as Potentially Disappeared Fraction (PDF) showed the highest adverse impact to biodiversity in maize, followed by straw, whereas the results showed relatively lower impact for ryegrass and grass-clover. The PFWTox (CTUe/t DM), at farm level was highest for straw, followed by maize, whereas the values were significantly lower for grass-clover and ryegrass. These variations in ranking of the different biomasses productions using different impact categories for environmental performance showed that it is important to consider a wider range of impact categories for assessing environmental sustainability

Thyroid Function and Body Weight: A Community-Based Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE: Body weight and overt thyroid dysfunction are associated. Cross-sectional population-based studies have repeatedly found that thyroid hormone levels, even within the normal reference range, might be associated with body weight. However, for longitudinal data, the association is less clear. Thus, we tested the association between serum thyrotropin (TSH) and body weight in a community-based sample of adult persons followed for 11 years. METHODS: A random sample of 4,649 persons aged 18-65 years from a general population participated in the DanThyr study in 1997-8. We included 2,102 individuals who participated at 11-year follow-up, without current or former treatment for thyroid disease and with measurements of TSH and weight at both examinations. Multiple linear regression models were used, stratified by sex and adjusted for age, smoking status, and leisure time physical activity. RESULTS: Baseline TSH concentration was not associated with change in weight (women, P = 0.17; men, P = 0.72), and baseline body mass index (BMI) was not associated with change in TSH (women, P = 0.21; men, P = 0.85). Change in serum TSH and change in weight were significantly associated in both sexes. Weight increased by 0.3 kg (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1, 0.4, P = 0.005) in women and 0.8 kg (95% CI 0.1, 1.4, P = 0.02) in men for every one unit TSH (mU/L) increase. CONCLUSIONS: TSH levels were not a determinant of future weight changes, and BMI was not a determinant for TSH changes, but an association between weight change and TSH change was present

Shift Work Disorder in Nurses – Assessment, Prevalence and Related Health Problems

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the prevalence of symptoms of shift work disorder in a sample of nurses, and its association to individual, health and work variables. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated three different shift work disorder assessment procedures all based on current diagnostic criteria and employing symptom based questions. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed with symptoms of shift work disorder as the dependent variable. Participants (n = 1968) reported age, gender, work schedule, commuting time, weekly work hours, children in household, number of nights and number of shifts separated by less than 11 hours worked the last year, use of bright light therapy, melatonin and sleep medication, and completed the Bergen Insomnia Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Global Sleep Assessment Questionnaire, Diurnal Scale, Revised Circadian Type Inventory, Dispositional Resilience (Hardiness) Scale--Revised, Fatigue Questionnaire, questions about alcohol and caffeine consumption, as well as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Prevalence rates of symptoms of shift work disorder varied from 32.4-37.6% depending on the assessment method and from 4.8-44.3% depending on the work schedule. Associations were found between symptoms of shift work disorder and age, gender, circadian type, night work, number of shifts separated by less than 11 hours and number of nights worked the last year, insomnia and anxiety. The different assessment procedures yielded similar results (prevalence and logistic regression analyses). The prevalence of symptoms indicative of shift work disorder was high. We argue that three symptom-based questions used in the present study adequately assess shift work disorder in epidemiological studies