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Biomedical subjects

D C Muir

Publications and source records attributed to D C Muir.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Mortality experience of glass fibre workers.

A historical prospective mortality study was conducted at an insulating wool plant in Ontario, Canada, on 2576 men who had worked for at least 90 days and were employed between 1955 and 1977. Eighty eight deaths were found in the 97.2% of men traced. Mortality was compared by the person-years method with that of the Ontario population. Measurements taken since 1977 show very low fibre concentrations. The overall standardised mortality ratio (SMR) was 78%, significantly below 100. Among plant only employees, seven deaths were attributed to lung cancer compared with 4.22 expected, a non-significant excess (SMR = 166; 95% confidence limits 67 to 342). No confirmed cases of mesothelioma were observed and no other disease was significantly increased in plant workers.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Cancer mortality associated with the high-temperature oxidation of nickel subsulfide.

An historical prospective mortality study of INCO's Ontario work-force has been conducted. A cohort of approximately 54 000 men, employed in all aspects of the extraction and refining of copper and nickel from the Sudbury ore deposit, have been followed for mortality between 1950 and 1976. A total of 5 283 deaths were identified by computerized record-linkage to the Canadian Mortality Data Base of death certificates. The analysis focuses on mortality from cancer of the nasal sinuses, larynx, lung, and kidney. Little evidence was found for increased mortality from laryngeal or kidney cancer, but lung and nasal cancer deaths were clearly elevated in men exposed to the two Sudbury area sinter plants and at Port Colborne in the leaching, calcining, and sintering department. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for lung cancer increases linearly with increasing duration of exposure and there is no evidence of a threshold. The nasal cancer mortality rate also rises linearly with duration of exposure. While lung cancer has a greater excess in the Sudbury sinter plant than at Port Colborne, the reverse is true for mortality from nasal cancer, which is ten times more frequent at Port Colborne than at Sudbury.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Extraction and cleanup procedures for determination of diarylphosphates in fish, sediment, and water samples.

Methods for determination of triaryl/alkylphosphates (TAPs) in water, fish, and sediment have been extended to determination of the diarylphosphate (DAP) degradation products. DAPs were extracted from water (adjusted to pH 0.5) by use of XAD-2 resin and determined by gas-liquid chromatography as butyl esters. Recovery of diphenylphosphate (DPP) and o-, m-, p-dicresylphosphates (DoCP, DmCP, DpCP) were greater than 95% in water samples fortified at 1, 10, and 50 micrograms/L. DAPs were extracted from fish with methanol and the extracts were cleaned up on reverse phase (C18) silica cartridges. Recoveries were greater than 87% for DPP, DoCP, DmCP, and DpCP in fish muscle fortified at 50, 100, and 500 ng/g. Sediments were refluxed with aqueous methanol and DAPs were recovered by use of XAD-2 resin. Recoveries of DAPs from sediments fortified at 50 and 100 ng/g were greater than 76%. Interferences (1-10 ng/g) from phosphorus or nitrogen-containing GLC peaks prevented sub- ng/g level analysis for DAPs in sediment and fish extracts.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Degradation of terbutryn in sediments and water under various redox conditions.

A laboratory study was conducted to examine the degradation of terbutryn [2-(t-butylamino)-4-(ethylamino)-6-(methylthio)-s-triazine] in sediment and water under different redox conditions. Terbutryn degraded slowly in static aerobic systems (loosely capped flask, 25 degrees C) with half-lives of 240 and 180 days in pond and river sediment, respectively. Degradation products, identified by co-chromatography on TLC and HPLC systems, included hydroxy-terbutryn, terbutryn-sulfoxide and N-deethyl terbutryn. Hydroxyterbutryn was the major degradation product in sediments and water representing 60-70% of the extractable radioactivity after 515 days incubation. Under nitrogen aeration in respirometer flasks (redox potential -46 to +210 mv) degradation of terbutryn was very slow with half lives greater than 650 days.

Chromatography, Gas↗
PubMed1982

Fate of permethrin in model outdoor ponds.

In 1979 and 1980, outdoor artificial ponds were treated with 14C-permethrin (labelled at either the cyclopropyl or methylene position) at 0.028 kg/ha (15 ug/L). Uptake of permethrin by duckweed and hydrosoil was monitored by direct combustion, TLC-autoradiography, HPLC, and liquid scintillation counting. Rapid loss of permethrin from the water coincided with the detection of five degradation products in the water at concentrations below 2.0 ug/L. The products were cis- and trans-cyclopropyl acid, phenoxybenzoic acid, and phenoxybenzyl alcohol, and an unknown non-cleaved product of permethrin. Permethrin was readily sorbed by duckweed but was not persistent. Permethrin residues in the hydrosoil, which was the major sink for permethrin added to the ponds, were persistent and were detected at 420 days post-treatment. Cis-permethrin was more persistent in the hydrosoil than the trans-permethrin. The results indicated that permethrin in water was short-lived at an application rate of 15 ug/L because of the rapid degradation of permethrin in the water and sorption of permethrin by the hydrosoil and vegetation. However, at one year post-treatment, permethrin residues were still detected in the hydrosoil at 1.0 ug/kg.

Fresh Water↗
PubMed1981

Extraction and cleanup of fish, sediment, and water for determination of triaryl phosphates by gas-liquid chromatography.

Several techniques were evaluated for extracting triphenyl phosphate (TPP), 14C-labeled TPP, cresyl diphenyl phosphate, and tricresyl phosphate isomers (o-TCP, m-TCP, and p-TCP) from fish and sediment samples. Extracts of fish samples were cleaned up by gel permeation chromatography/alumina column chromatography; sediment extracts received alumina treatment only. Compounds were determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. Methanol/Polytron and hexane/ball mill extraction of fish samples fortified at 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 microgram/g levels gave overall recoveries of the 5 compounds of 89 and 97%, respectively. Methanol recovered more radioactivity (97%) from fish exposed to 14C-TPP in aquaria for 24 h than did hexane from fish exposed for 16 h (79%). Refluxing fortified sediment (0.05 and 0.5 microgram/g) with methanol-water (9 + 1) gave significantly higher recoveries (88%) of the 5 triaryl phosphates than did dichloromethane-methanol (1 + 1) reflux or acetone-hexane (1 + 1) Soxhlet extraction. Recoveries of TPP and o-, m- and p-TCP from fortified river water (0.5, 5.0, and 50 microgram/L) by shaking with dichloromethane ranged from 91 to 118%. Some problems were encountered with interfering GLC peaks at low (microgram/g) levels in fish and sediment extracts despite the use of nitrogen-phosphorus specific detectors.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Organochlorine residues in harp seal (Phagophilus groenlandicus) tissues, Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1971, 1973.

Levels of p,p'-DDT, p,p'-TDE, p,p'-DDE, dieldrin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and HCB were determined in certain tissues of 31 harp seals (P hagophilus groenlandicus) taken from the Gulf of St. Lawrence during 1971 and 1973. The seals ranged in age from less than two weeks to 18 years. Mean concentrations of PCBs and sigma DDT in the various tissues were about the same sigma DDT levels were 1.64--9.88 ppm in adult seal blubber and 1.08--3.73 ppm in seal pup blubber. Organochlorine levels in harp seal samples taken in 1973 were similar to those reported by other workers for samples collected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during 1967-71.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1978

Residues of atrazine and N-deethylated atrazine in water from five agricultural watersheds in Québec.

Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) and N-deethylated atrazine (2-chloro-4-amino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) were monitored (1974 and 1975) in five rivers which drained agricultural areas in the Yamaska river basin of Québec. Water samples were collected frequently from April to December each year from sites near the outflow of each river. The water samples were extracted with benzene, chloroform, or ethyl acetate and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography using a Hall electrolytic conductivity detector and an alkali-flame detector. Atrazine and N-deethylated atrazine residues ranged in concentration from 0.01 to 26.6 microgram/L and less than 0.01 to 1.34 microgram/L, respectively, over the monitoring period. The highest levels of atrazine were observed in July each year and they coincided with the herbicide spraying season in this region and with occasional heavy rainfall events. Discharges (kg/yr) of atrazine from the five rivers were related to corn-growing area in each watershed. Losses of atrazine ranged from 0.1 to 2.9% of the atrazine that was estimated to have been applied in each watershed.

Atrazine↗
PubMed1977

Pneumoconiosis and chronic bronchitis.

Data from a major long-term epidemiological survey in the British coalmining industry were examined to determine whether bronchitis offered any protective action against the development of pneumoconiosis. No evidence of such an effect was found.

Bronchitis↗
PubMed1977

Acceptable levels for the breathing resistance of respiratory apparatus: results for men over the age of 45.

Tolerance of additional external resistance to inspiration has been investigated in a group of coalworkers older than 45 years. Peak inspiratory pressure, external respiratory work rate, ventilation, and gas exchange were measured, during periods with and without one of four inspiratory resistances, on 41 subjects walking on a treadmill. Minute volume was reduced, breathing frequency was unchanged and oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide elimination were reduced by the presence of resistance. It was established that, at the workload studied, older men were able to tolerate inspiratory resistance to at least the same extent as younger men, when the respiratory work was expressed in terms of unit ventilation. It is suggested that the acceptable level of breathing resistance established for younger men can also be applied to older workers.

Age Factors↗