Bulletin Board December 22, 2006

Public Health
Effects of residues of organochlorine pesticides on

reproductive endocrine in human

2006-11-29

This study examined the effects of residues of organochlorine pesticides

on reproductive endocrine in humans. The accumulative levels of the

pesticides in the pregnant women’s venous blood were detected and

grouped to understand the associations among the pesticides, hormones,

and genes. The results demonstrated with the increase of blood burden of

organochlorine pesticides, levels of the hormones such as FSH, estradiol

(E2), and progesterone (P) in the maternal blood and FSH, LH, and E2 in

the umbilical cord blood were increased in dose-effect manner. However,

the hormones, LH in the maternal blood and P in the cords blood were

decreased with the rising pesticides’ levels and an obvious dose-effect

relationship was found. There was an expressional abundances of alpha-

estrogen receptor, ‚-endorphin (‚-EP), and gonadotropin releasing hormone

(GnRH) in the placenta and R-ER and ‚-EP in the cord tissues, in dose-

effect manner following the rising pesticides’ burdens. The times of the

previous adverse pregnancy outcomes was increased with the increase of

the residues’ burdens and there were significant differences between the

control and various residue groups, but the times in the high-residue was

smaller than that in the mid-residue group. The average weights of the

newborn in various residue groups were heavier than those in the control. No

statistically significant association was observed between the high residue

group and the control. However, there was a significant association between

the low, intermediate, and control group. Moreover, the rank from high to

low was the low-residue, mid-residue, and high residue group. The authors

concluded that residues of organochlorine pesticides (DDT and BHC and

their metabolites) possess reproductive and developmental toxicities, and

present mostly the estrogenic activity under the joint exposure in which the

total BHC concentration was higher than that of the total DDT in maternal

blood.

Authors: Liu, Guohong; Yang, Kedi; Liu, Xiping; Qin, Qifa; Liu, Sihai;

Chen, Li

Full Source: Weisheng Yanjiu 2005, 34(5), 524-528 (Ch)
Concentrations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Indoor

Air and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Indoor Air and

Dust in Birmingham, United Kingdom: Implications for

Human Exposure

2006-11-29

This study investigated the concentrations of polybrominated di-Ph ethers

(PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air of 31 homes, 33 offices,

25 cars, and 3 public microenvironments using PUF disk passive samplers.

The average concentration of TMBDE and TMPCB were an order of magnitude

higher than those previously reported for outdoor air. Cars were the most

contaminated microenvironment for TMBDE with an average concentration

of 709 pg/m3, but the least for TMPCB with the average concentration of

1391 pg/m3. The authors compared the findings to data from previous

studies and found that there was no significant reduction in concentrations

of TMPCB in indoor air since 1997-98. Concentrations in indoor dust from 8

homes were slightly higher than other European dust samples, but twenty

times lower than Canadian samples. The authors concluded that inhalation

makes an important contribution (between 4.2 and 63% for adults) to overall

UK exposure to TMPCB. For TMBDE, dust ingestion makes a significant,

but, in contrast to Canada, a not overwhelming contribution (up to 37% for

adults, and 69% for toddlers). Comparison of UK and Canadian estimates of

abs. exposure to TMBDE suggest that differences in dust contamination are

the likely cause of higher PBDE body burdens in North Americans compared

to Europeans.

Authors: Harrad, Stuart; Hazrati, Sadegh; Ibarra, Catalina

Full Source: Environmental Science & Technology 2006, 40(15), 4633-4638

(Eng)
Residential mercury spills from gas regulators

2006-11-29

Many older homes are equipped with mercury-containing gas regulators that

reduce the pressure of natural gas in the mains to the low pressure used in

home gas piping. Removal of these regulators can result in elemental mercury

spills inside the home. In the summer of 2000, gas company contractors

discovered mercury spills in the basements of several Chicago-area homes

after removal of gas regulators. Subsequent inspections of approximately

361,000 homes by two northern Illinois gas companies showed that 1,363

homes had residential mercury contamination. Concerned residents were

offered urine mercury screening, and results of urine bioassays and indoor

mercury air measurements were available for 171 homes. It was found that

six of these 171 homes (3.5%) had a cumulative total of nine residents

with a urine mercury g 10µg/L. The highest urine mercury concentration

observed in a resident was 26 µg/L. The bioassays that were most strongly

associated with mercury air concentrations were those obtained on the first

floor rather than in the basement. First-floor air samples were also more

predictive of positive bioassays than were basement samples. The authors

concluded that overall, the results demonstrated that the risk of residential

mercury contamination after gas regulator removal ranged from 0.9/1,000

to 4.3/1,000 homes, depending on the gas company, although the risk was

considerably higher (20 of 120 homes, 16.7%) for one of the contractors

performing removal work for one of the gas companies. Gas companies,

their contractors, and residents should be aware of these risks and should

take appropriate actions to prevent these spills from occurring and remediate

them if they occur.

Authors: Hryhorczuk, Daniel; Persky, Victoria; Piorkowski, Julie; Davis,

Jennifer; Moomey, C. Michael; Krantz, Anne; Runkle, Ken D.; Saxer, Tiffanie;

Baughman, Thomas; McCann, Ken

Full Source: Environmental Health Perspectives 2006, 114(6), 848-852

(Eng)
A pilot study of children’s exposure to CCA treated wood

from playground equipment

2006-11-29

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA)is used to treat wood that is widely used in

playgrounds and other outdoor equipment. It can persist as surface residues

on wood. This has lead to concerns over the possible health risks associated

with children playing on CCA-treated playgrounds. This study examined 11

children, (13-71 mo) in homes with and without CCA-treated playgrounds,

with post-exposure hand rinses and urine for total As. Wood, soil, and mulch

samples and synthetic wipes were sampled for total As. The results showed

in non-CCA-treated playgrounds vs. CCA-treated playgrounds, respectively,

wood As was < 22.0 mg/kg vs. mean As of 237mg/kg; soil As was <3.0 mg/

kg vs. mean As of 19 mg/kg; mulch As at one non-CCA treated playground

was 0.4 mg/kg vs. two CCA-treated playgrounds of 0.6 and 69 mg/kg. As

removed using a synthetic wipe at non-CCA-treated playgrounds was <0.5µg;

mean As from CCA-treated wood was 117µg (range, 1.0-313). The As mass

from hand rinses for children who played at non-CCA-treated playgrounds

was <0.2µg; mean As mass was 0.6 µg at CCA-treated playgrounds. Mean

urinary total As concentrations were 13.6 pg/mL for all children evaluated; no

association was observed between access to CCA-playgrounds and urinary

As concentrations. As speciation was not performed. The authors concluded

that these finding indicate that dislodgeable As on the hands of 11 children

following brief periods of play exposure on CCA treated playgrounds. Future

effort should increase the number of children, play exposure periods, and

incorporate speciation to discriminate among various As sources.

Authors: Shalat, S. L.; Solo-Gabriele, H. M.; Fleming, L. E.; Buckley, B. T.;

Black, K.; Jimenez, M.; Shibata, T.; Durbin, M.; Graygo, J.; Stephan, W.; Van

De Bogart, G.

Full Source: Science of the Total Environment 2006, 367(1), 80-88 (Eng)
Evaluation of potential human exposures to airborne

particulate matter following the collapse of the World

Trade Center towers

2006-11-29

The World Trade Center (WTC) attack on September 11, 2001, dispersed

numerous potentially toxic materials in the dust and smoke cloud, which

enveloped lower Manhattan and extended over other New York City areas.

This study analyses the approaches used to evaluate human exposure of the

general population to WTC-derived airborne particulate matter and potential

human health impacts associated, based on integrating information derived

from: analyses of composition and toxicity of deposited dust; ambient air

monitoring at Ground Zero and sites in lower Manhattan and elsewhere in

the metropolitan area; atmospheric dispersion modeling of the WTC plume

movement/dispersal; and comparison of concentrations with peak urban

pollutant levels and with health benchmark values judged indicative of risk

for adverse effects due to short-term

and/or prolonged particulate exposure.

Authors: Pinto, Joseph P.; Grant, Lester D.; Vette, Alan F.; Huber, Alan H.

Full Source: ACS Symposium Series 2006, 919(Urban Aerosols and Their

Impacts), 190-237 (Eng)

Safety
Estimation approach for predicting fire visibility in mine

fires

2006-11-30

A series of equations were presented to describe the relationship among the

smoke velocity, the volume concentration of toxic gases, the heat release

rate and the visibility in mine fires. These equations were deduced from

the definition of the extinction coefficient of smoke and its parameters. A

simplified approach was represented to evaluate the visibility in mine

fires. Combined with cone calorimeter test results for conveyor belts, the

volume concentration of CO, CO2 and the corresponding fire visibility were

calculated when the heat release rate grew up according to bt2 correlation.

In addition, the wind speed for 5 m and 10 m visibility in a rubber conveyor

belts fire was calculated. The results indicated that the ventilation velocity

calculated from the visibility index could ensure CO and CO2 concentration

of the smoke to be much lower than the critical value for human safety.

Authors: Jin, Jing-wei; Cheng, Yuan-ping

Full Source: Zhongguo Kuangye Daxue Xuebao 2006, 35(2), 149-152, 156

(China)
Development of a methodology for assessing inherent

occupational health hazards

2006-11-30

In the preliminary stages of chemical plant design, selecting the chemical

process route is one of the main design decisions. Previously, the most

important factor in selecting the best chemical process route was economics.

Now safety, environmental and occupational health issues have become

important considerations. Health risks to workers could be reduced by better

selection of the chemical process route during the initial stages of process

design. The chemical process route may be defined as the raw material(s)

and the sequence of reactions that converts them to the desired product(s).

In order to choose the ‘healthiest’ one from a number of alternative routes,

the potential health hazards must be quantified. Ranking of alternative

chemical process routes based on the severity of potential health effects

to the workers exposed could provide an assessment method for avoiding

potential harm to humans. The Process Route Healthiness Index (PRHI)

has been developed to quantify the health hazards that might arise from

chemical processes; the higher the index, the higher the hazards. The PRHI

is influenced by the health impacts due to potential chemical releases and

the concentration of airborne chemicals inhaled by workers. The index

has been applied to six alternative routes to Me methacrylate (MMA). The

resulting ranking is compared to those obtained from an Inherent Safety

Index, an Environmental Hazard Index and production cost estimates for the

same chemical process routes.

Authors: Hassim, M. H.; Edwards, D.W.

Full Source: Process Safety and Environmental Protection 2006, 84(B5),

378-390 (England)