Search results for " pollution"
showing 10 items of 1010 documents
Third-hand smoke exposure and health hazards in children
2013
Smoking still represents a huge public health problem. Millions of children suffer the detrimental effects of passive smoking. An increasing number of countries have recently issued laws to regulate smoking in public places. Instead, homes remain a site where children are dangerously exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The combination of tobacco smoke pollutants which remain in an indoor environment, the so-called ‘third-hand smoke’ (THS), represent a new concept in the field of tobacco control. THS consists of pollutants that remain on surfaces and in dust after tobacco has been smoked, are re-emitted into the gas-phase, or react with other compounds in the environment to form se…
The value of FeNO measurement in childhood asthma: uncertainties and perspectives
2013
Asthma is considered an heterogeneous disease, requiring multiple biomarkers for diagnosis and management. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide in exhaled breath (FeNO) was the first useful non-invasive marker of airway inflammation in asthma and still is the most widely used. The non-invasive nature and the relatively easy use of FeNO technique make it an interesting tool to monitor airway inflammation and rationalize corticosteroid therapy in asthmatic patients, together with the traditional clinical tools (history, physical examination and lung function tests), even if some controversies have been published regarding the use of FeNO to support the management of asthma in children. The problem…
Transport of high molecular mass lignin material in the receiving water system of a mechanical pulp mill
1998
High molecular mass material (HMM) of water samples collected from the receiving water system of a mechanical pulp mill was characterized applying cupric oxide oxidation combined with GC and HPLC analysis of the oxidation products. This qualitative method was used to follow the transport of organic HMM discharged by the mill. The interpretation of results was complicated by degradation reactions of HMM in the water system and the assimilation of HMM produced by the mill to natural humic compounds. The analytical data was subjected to the principal component analysis (PCA) to verify the results obtained.
Changes in water quality in Lake Päijänne following decrease of effluent load from the pulp and paper industry in 1969–1989
1992
Lake Paijanne, the second largest lake in Finland, has been seriously polluted since the 1960s due to the effluents from pulp and paper mills, notably the Aanekoski sulphate and sulphite pulp mills situated about 50 km north of the lake, and the sulphite pulp mill and paper mills of Jamsankoski and Kaipola on Central Lake Paijanne.
Lipid-containing semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) as concentrators of toxic chemicals in the lower Fraser River, Vancouver, British Columbia.
1998
Abstract Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed in the water column and in the sediments of the Lower Fraser River (B.C., Canada) to compare the levels and the congener profiles of polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and non- ortho -chlorinated biphenyls (N-o,o′-PCBs) against those sampled by an Infiltrex resin column water sampler. Also the relationship between what was present in the ecosystem as sampled by SPMDs and what was accumulated in the tissue of resident benthic-feeding fish was explored. Only the lipid portion of the SPMDs was prepared for analysis, due to some technical difficulties in cleaning the polyethene tubing. The calculated w…
Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil of a Natural Reserve (Isola delle Femmine) (Italy) located in front of a plant for the …
2009
Isola delle Femmine Natural Reserve is a very little isle about 15 km from the centre of Palermo, in front of a plant for the production of cement and about 600 m from coast. In the present research, profiles soil PAHs were obtained for 16 sites within the reserve and for 8 stations on the rural soil taken as reference. summation Sigma PAHs, in the soil of investigated area, ranged from 35 to 545 microg/kg. With the aim to find the origin of PAHs in the soil of Isola delle Femmine, we compare the distribution of single analytes in the investigated area with those of the reference rural area (Monte Raffo Rosso), with those of atmospheric urban particulate collected at Palermo along with repo…
Uncertainty in urban stormwater quality modelling: The influence of likelihood measure formulation in the GLUE methodology
2009
In the last years, the attention on integrated analysis of sewer networks, wastewater treatment plants and receiving waters has been growing. However, the common lack of data in the urban water-quality field and the incomplete knowledge regarding the interpretation of the main phenomena taking part in integrated urban water systems draw attention to the necessity of evaluating the reliability of model results. Uncertainty analysis can provide useful hints and information regarding the best model approach to be used by assessing its degrees of significance and reliability. Few studies deal with uncertainty assessment in the integrated urban-drainage field. In order to fill this gap, there ha…
Quantifying the health impacts of outdoor air pollution: useful estimations for public health action
2013
According to WHO,1 health impact assessment (HIA) is A combination of procedures, methods and tools used to evaluate the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project. Using qualitative, quantitative and participatory techniques, HIA aims to produce recommendations that will help decision makers and other stakeholders make choices about alternatives and improvements to prevent disease/injury, and to actively promote health. The typical procedural steps in HIA include screening, scoping, assessment of health effects, recommending alternatives and mitigations, reporting and monitoring.2 Each step helps predict or foresee potential effects of policy decisions on a population's hea…
Residential Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution during Pregnancy and Anthropometric Measures at Birth in a Multicenter Cohort in Spain
2011
Background: A growing body of research suggests that prenatal exposure to air pollution may be harmful to fetal development. We assessed the association between exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and anthropometric measures at birth in four areas within the Spanish Children’s Health and Environment (INMA) mother and child cohort study. Methods: Exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and benzene was estimated for the residence of each woman (n = 2,337) for each trimester and for the entire pregnancy. Outcomes included birth weight, length, and head circumference. The association between residential outdoor air pollution exposure and birth outcomes was assessed with linear regress…
Infection risks of city canal swimming events in the Netherlands in 2016.
2018
Introduction Swimming events in city canals are gaining popularity in the Netherlands, even though canal water is usually not officially designated for recreational use. Knowledge regarding the risk of infection after swimming in canals is limited. An outbreak was reported in 2015 following a canal swimming event in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Local governments were concerned about the health risks of such events. In order to assess the safety of canal swimming, the Public Health Service (PHS) prospectively investigated two city canal swimming events in 2015. In 2016, we repeated this study, aiming to prospectively determine the risks of infection during two urban swimming events, the Utrecht…