PubMed · 14159501
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D F WEBER. 1964-05-01. GENETIC ERRORS AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14159501/
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In north-east of Portugal, the serpentinized area is about 8000 ha with a characteristic geology and flora. The serpentine plant community and respective soils were analyzed to examine the trace metal budget in different tissues of the plants exhibiting resistance to trace metals. One hundred and thirty five plant species belonging to 39 families and respective soils have been analyzed for total Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Substantial amounts of Ni, Cr, Co and Mn were detected in plant tissues which are listed below: NI: Alyssum serpyllifolium (38105); Bromus hordeaceus (1467); Linaria spartea (492); Plantago radicata (140); Lavandula stoechas (118) and Cistus salvifolius (114); CR: L. spartea (706.7); Ulmus procera (173.4); A. serpyllifolium (129.3); Cistus ladanifer (40.8); L. stoechas (29.5); P. radicata (27.81); Setariopsis verticillata (25.7); Plantago lanceolata (24); Digitalis purpurea (23.4); Logfia minima (23.1); Arenaria querioides (23); Hieracium peleteranum (22.7); Arenaria montana (14.5); CO: A. serpyllifolium (145.1); L. spartea (63.2); P. radicata (10.4); H. peleteranum (7.3); Lepidium heterophyllum (6.9); A. querioides (6.6); C. salvifolius (6.5); C. ladanifer (6.3); L. stoechas (6.1); Anthyllis lotoides (6.1); L. minima (6.1); Euphorbia falcata (5.7) and B. hordeaceus (5.6); MN: A. serpyllifolium (830); L. spartea (339); L. stoechas (187.1); L. minima (182.7); Castanea sativa (125); Spergula pentandra (124); P. radicata (119); Cytisus striatus (115.4); Quercus pyrenaica (110); Teucrium scorodonia (109.4); Fraxinus vulgaris (109); Anthyllis sampaiana (108); Quercus ilex (108). The significance of serpentine flora, need for conservation of these fragile and environmentally invaluable plant resources for possible use for in situ remediation of metalliferous substrates are presented in this paper.
General measures summarizing the shapes of mortality and fecundity schedules are proposed. These measures are derived from moments of probability distributions related to mortality and fecundity schedules. Like moments, these measures form infinite sequences, but the first terms of these sequences are of particular value in approximating the long-term growth rate of an age- structured population that is growing slowly. Higher order terms are needed for approximating faster growing populations. These approximations offer a general nonparametric approach to the study of life-history evolution in both constant and variable environments. These techniques provide simple quantitative representations of the classical findings that, with fixed expected lifetime and net reproductive rate, type I mortality and early peak reproduction increase the absolute magnitude of the population growth rate, while type III mortality and delayed peak reproduction reduce this absolute magnitude.
With a background in biochemistry and radiation biology, I started to get involved in the control of chemicals area by battling the use of alkyl-mercury compounds in Swedish agriculture during the years 1964-1965 (C.-G. Rosén, H. Ackefors, and R. Nilsson, 1966, Seed dressing compounds based on organic mercury-economic aspects and health hazards, Svensk Kemisk Tidskrift 78, 8-19), and subsequently I acted as the sole technical advisor to the plaintiffs for the thalidomide children in Sweden for 4 years, ending in a 100 million US dollar (present value) settlement with the producers in 1969 (H. Sjöström and R. Nilsson, 1991, Thalidomide and the Power of the Drug Companies, Penguin, London, Feltrinelli, Milano, Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo Fisher Verlag, Berlin). I joined the Swedish EPA in 1974 and became head of the toxicological unit of the Products Control Division, where I was instrumental inter alia in pushing through regulations on reductions of lead in gasoline as well as the first general restrictions in world on the use of cadmium (R. Nilsson, 1989, Cadmium-an Analysis of Swedish Regulatory Experience, Report to the OECD Chemicals Group and Management Committee, January 1989). Since 1986 responsibility for control of chemicals was largely taken over from the Swedish EPA by the newly created National Chemicals Inspectorate (KEMI), an agency that employs me in the capacity of toxicologist. In between, I have been working for the OECD Chemicals Program as well as for WHO (IPCS) in various capacities and as a consultant in risk assessment for the US chemical industry under the Superfund Program. I was also associated with the Ministries of Environment of the governments of Iran and India. With respect to the latter, part of my recommendations were incorporated in the new Indian laws and regulations on chemicals that were issued subsequent to the Bhopal disaster (R. Nilsson, 1988, Procedures and Safeguards for Notification and Handling of Hazardous Chemicals in India, Report to WHO South-East Asia Region, SEA/EH/391, April 1988). As a consequence of a decreasing role for science in regulatory affairs, and a corresponding increasing influence from politics, for the past 8 years I have devoted myself mainly to research-oriented activities in my capacity as adjunct professor of molecular toxicology and risk assessment at the Stockholm University. In international collaboration, my projects have been supported by the Directorate General for Science, Research and Development of the Commission of the European Communities, the US Chemical Manufacturers' Association, the Coulston Foundation (Alamogordo, State of New Mexico), L'Oreal, Merck Co., and in the past to a limited extent also by my own agency, the National Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate. However, my position as member of the executive board for the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology in the United States, which I held for 5 years, as well as my role as technical advisor in products liability litigation, reflects my continued interest in the "politics of chemical risk." In this context my critical comments with respect to the current regulatory policy for control of chemicals have caused considerable concern within the Swedish regulatory establishment (R. Nilsson, M. Tasheva, and B. Jaeger, 1993. Why different regulatory decisions when the scientific information base is similar? I. Human risk assessment, Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 17, 292-332; R. Nilsson, 1994, Problems in the regulation of carcinogenic chemicals in an international perspective. III. Critical assessment of regulatory approaches. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambiental, México City, 10, 99-199; R. Nilsson, 1998, Integrating Sweden into the European Union: Problems concerning chemicals control. In The Politics of Chemical Risk-Scenarios for a Regulatory Future, R. Bal and Halffman, Eds, pp. 159-171, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht).