Search results for "EXPOSURE"

2019

Ingested soil is a major vector of organic contaminants from environment to free-ranged animals, particularly for grazing herbivores. Therefore, a better understanding of processes driving soil intake may provide new insights to limit animal exposure to contaminants and ensure safety of animal products. To maintain the supply service of livestock farming activities in contaminated areas, it is necessary to design adapted farming practices aiming at controlling the risk for human health. This study was conducted in the French West Indies, where chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide previously used to protect banana plantation against the black weevil and banned since 1993, has polluted …

Seasonal Changes in Urban PM2.5 Hotspots and Sources from Low-Cost Sensors

2022

PM2.5 concentrations in urban areas are highly variable, both spatially and seasonally. To assess these patterns and the underlying sources, we conducted PM2.5 exposure measurements at the adult breath level (1.6 m) along three ~5 km routes in urban districts of Mainz (Germany) using portable low-cost Alphasense OPC-N3 sensors. The survey took place on five consecutive days including four runs each day (38 in total) in September 2020 and March 2021. While the between-sensor accuracy was tested to be good (R² = 0.98), the recorded PM2.5 values underestimated the official measurement station data by up to 25 µg/m3. The collected data showed no consistent PM2.5 hotspots between September and M…

Anorectal malformations and pregnancy-related disorders: a registry-based case-control study in 17 European regions

2013

Objective To identify pregnancy-related risk factors for different manifestations of congenital anorectal malformations (ARMs).Design A population-based case-control study.Setting Seventeen EUROCAT (European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies) registries, 1980-2008.Population The study population consisted of 1417 cases with ARM, including 648 cases of isolated ARM, 601 cases of ARM with additional congenital anomalies, and 168 cases of ARM-VACTERL (vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheo-esophageal, renal, and limb defects), along with 13371 controls with recognised syndromes or chromosomal abnormalities.Methods Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios …

The effects of water absorption and salt fog exposure on agglomerated cork compressive response

2022

The replacement of synthetic foams with agglomerated cork in sandwich composites can meet the increasing environmental concerns. Its peculiar morphology and chemical composition lead to outstanding dimensional recovery that endorsed a broad investigation of its compressive behavior. The knowledge of neat material response is fundamental to obtain a reliable design dataset, but it is necessary to consider all the environmental factors (water, moisture and sunlight) that significantly modify material mechanical properties. In view of this, the present work investigates the effect of distilled and seawater absorption and salt fog exposure on the compressive behavior of two agglomerated corks w…

Evaluation of the vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system in the use of portable harvesters for olives

2017

The use of portable harvesters in olives harvesting is presently widely diffused in Sicily, south Italy, both to reduce the costs of production and to assure the olive oil quality. Nevertheless, it's well known that the use of such tools may involve risk of exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand-arm system which is a potential cause of muscular/skeletal pains, and specific pathologies such as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), Vibration-Induced White Finger (VWF) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The aim of this study was to assess the level of exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand-arm system of the operators during the use of portable harvesters for olives. Two different co…

Exposure assessment of Spanish lactating mothers to acrylamide via human biomonitoring.

2021

Abstract Acrylamide (AA) is an organic compound classified as “Probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2 A) that can be found principally in processed carbohydrate-rich foods and tobacco smoke. In humans, after exposure, AA is rapidly metabolized and excreted in urine, predominantly as N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-l-cysteine (AAMA), N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoyl-2-hydroxyethyl)-l-cysteine (GAMA3) and N-Acetyl-3-[(3-amino-3-oxopropyl)sulfinyl]-L-alanine (AAMA-Sul), which can be used as short-term biomarkers of exposure to AA. In this study, the presence of AA metabolites in urine samples of lactating mothers living in Spain (n = 114) was analyzed by “dilute and shoot” and liquid chromatography co…

Effects of Infrared-A Irradiation on Skin: Discrepancies in Published Data Highlight the Need for an Exact Consideration of Physical and Photobiologi…

2010

Skin exposure to infrared (IR) radiation should be limited in terms of irradiance, exposure time and frequency in order to avoid acute or chronic damage. Recommendations aimed at protecting humans from the risks of skin exposure to IR (e.g. ICNIRP, ACGIH) are only defined in terms of acute effects (e.g. heat pain and cardiovascular collapse), whereas the actual exposure conditions (e.g. spectral distribution, exposure geometry, frequency and number of exposures, thermal exchange with the environment, metabolic energy production and regulatory responses) are not taken into consideration. Since the IR component of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface is mainly IR-A, and considering th…

Assessing drought vulnerability and adaptation among farmers in Gadaref region, Eastern Sudan

2018

Agricultural productivity in rural areas is severely affected by climate variability, and this elevates the vulnerability of rural households to food insecurity. This study examines the socio-economic vulnerability of farmers who are susceptible to droughts in the five agricultural-based regions of Gadaref, Eastern Sudan. A survey was carried out in 500 households to collect data on socio-economic and livelihood indicators. The data analyzed from these indicators were used to generate the three components of drought vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The analysis revealed that the regions deemed to be most vulnerable to both drought and climate variability were also…

The Effect of Natural Allergen Exposure on the Maximal Response Plateau to Adenosine 5′-monophosphate and on Exhaled Nitric Oxide of Alveolar and Bro…

2010

Exposure assessment of fruits contaminated with pesticide residues from Valencia, 2001– 03

2006

A total of 634 samples of oranges, tangerines, peaches, nectarines, khakis and watermelons were collected from an Agricultural Valencia Community Cooperative during the May 2001 to April 2003 campaigns and they were analysed for 15 pesticides among those recommended for pest treatment. A conventional multiresidue analytical procedure based on ethyl acetate extraction was used followed by gas chromatography coupled to a nitrogen phosphorus detector for routine analysis; and mass spectrometry was performed for confirmation. Recovery studies with spiked samples at 0.5 mg kg-1 for each pesticide ranged from 52% for acephate to 87% for fenthion with a standard deviation20%. Limits of quantificat…