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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

The response of industry to environmental regulations in Alexandria, Egypt.

The response of industry to current environmental regulations in Alexandria, Egypt was investigated. Environmental officers in 55 industrial firms completed a questionnaire examining their opinions about current environmental regulations, the statuses of their companies' compliance with those regulations, and the environmental management progress and problems in their companies. Although Egyptian industrialists had positive opinions about environmental regulations, their companies were not in satisfactory compliance with those regulations. The context in which environmental concern started in Egypt and the economic environment of Egyptian industry had lead to 'soft' enforcement and implementation of environmental regulations. The response of Alexandria's industrial firms to the issued environmental regulations was limited to adopting symbolic 'end-of-pipe' environmental protection measures. Progress in environmental management and problems in industries of Alexandria were also investigated.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2003

Is there a relationship between soil and groundwater toxicity?

Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires environmental regulators to assess the risk of contaminants leaching from soils into groundwater (DETR, 1999). This newly introduced legislation assumes a link between soil and groundwater chemistry, in which rainwater leaches contaminants from soil into the saturated zone. As the toxicity of both groundwater and overlying soils is dependent upon the chemicals present, their partitioning and their bioavailability, similar patterns of soil, leachates and groundwater toxicity should be observed at contaminated sites. Soil and groundwater samples were collected from different contaminated land sites in an urban area, and used to determine relationships between soil chemistry and toxicity, mobility of contaminants, and groundwater chemistry and toxicity. Soils were leached using water to mimic rainfall, and both the soils and leachates tested using bioassays. Soil bioassays were carried out using Eisenia fetida, whilst groundwater and leachates were tested using the Microtox test system and Daphnia magna 48 h acute tests. Analysis of the bioassay responses demonstrated that a number of the samples were toxic to test organisms, however, there were no significant statistical relationships between soil, groundwater and leachate toxicity. Nor were there significant correlations between soil, leachates and groundwater chemistry.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Are ruminal bacteria protected against environmental stress by plant antioxidants?

AIMS: To investigate the activity response of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) of the rumen bacterium Streptococcus bovis following exposure to mercury(II) chloride (HgCl(2) in the presence of plant antioxidants. METHODS AND RESULTS: Streptococcus bovis was grown with 0 or 5 microg ml(-1) of HgCl(2) alone or together with antioxidant substances (AOS): seleno-l-methionine (Se), alpha-tocopherol (alpha toc), beta-carotene (beta car), melatonin (mel). The activities of SOD and GHPx were estimated in supernatants of disrupted bacterial cells. A significant decrease in the Strep. bovis SOD activity in the presence of HgCl(2) and tested AOS, except mel, was observed. The GSHPx activity of Strep. bovis was under the same cultivation conditions nonsignificantly changed and a significant decrease in the GSHPx activity was recorded only in the presence of beta car. CONCLUSIONS: The positive effect of Se, alpha toc and beta car on the elimination of environmental stress, evoked by mercury, in ruminal bacterium Strep. bovis in vitro was documented. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The potential role of plant antioxidants in elimination of the environmental stress of ruminal bacteria evoked by heavy metals is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Law and science policy in federal regulation of formaldehyde.

An examination of the way in which the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Consumer Product Safety Commission each responded to evidence of formaldehyde's carcinogenicity in animal systems reveals the interplay between politics and science policy in regulatory determinations. In some cases there were significant and unjustified departures from reasoned decision-making. Agency decisions not to take action deserve special attention by citizens, the Congress, and the judiciary to ensure that federal regulatory agencies take the necessary steps to protect the public from significant health, safety, and environmental risks.

Carcinogens↗
PubMed1993

Inhalation of sidestream cigarette smoke accelerates development of arteriosclerotic plaques.

BACKGROUND: Environmental tobacco smoke has been blamed for approximately 40,000 excess deaths from heart disease annually in the United States. As yet, no pathophysiological process that could be responsible for these deaths has been identified. Environmental tobacco smoke is composed mainly of aged and diluted sidestream smoke but also contains 15% to 20% exhaled mainstream smoke. Carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, are present in mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke. Carcinogen levels in sidestream smoke, unlike those in mainstream smoke, are not reduced in filtered cigarettes. The US Environmental Protection Agency has designated environmental tobacco smoke as a human (class A) carcinogen. In cockerels, subtumorigenic doses of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons carcinogens accelerate aortic arteriosclerotic plaque development. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine whether sidestream smoke inhalation affects arteriosclerotic plaque development, we exposed cockerels to sidestream smoke (n = 30) or to filtered air (n = 12) in inhalation chambers for 6 hours per day, 5 days a week from 6 to 22 weeks of age (0.4% of projected lifespan). Chamber levels of carbon monoxide, total suspended particulates, and nicotine were measured regularly during the exposures. The abdominal aorta from each cockerel was cut into 10 segments, and the plaque index (mean plaque cross-sectional area [mm2]/mean luminal circumference [mm] x 100) was calculated for each segment. There were no differences in plaque incidence or distribution between sidestream smoke-exposed and control cockerels; however, plaque indexes were significantly greater for sidestream smoke-exposed than control cockerels in all segments. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, relatively brief exposures to sidestream smoke early in life are sufficient to enhance arteriosclerotic plaque development.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Environmental ethics.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the first meeting on environmental ethics sponsored by the Scientific Advisory Panel and Board on 10-11 December 1998 in Arlington, Virginia (1). The report from the meeting will more completely inform scientists and the community of current issues. This editorial should serve as an initial brief of this meeting [which was held on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948)].

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2002

Do we need a "Chair of alternative methods", and where?

During the last two decades, the field of in vitro technology has been successfully developed and its use is continuously growing. Advanced tests avoiding animal experiments will be increasingly required for routine industrial applications e.g. for pharmacological high-throughput screening. Moreover and even more importantly, the availability of human cell based methods is essential for future quality assurance and risk assessment in the fields of health and consumer protection as well as environmental protection. Thereby, the potential of such advanced in vitro methods extends far beyond the mere replacement of regulated tests. In practice, the introduction and expansion of this technology has been achieved predominantly by offering funding and awards to the scientific community. After this initiation phase, the next consequent step to exploit this knowledge clearly consists in academic promotion of this new scientific culture in an institutionalised form. The tasks of such a chair focussed on advanced in vitro tests - most probably the first of its kind world-wide - would cover in addition to (a) research and (b) teaching, (c) the sharpening of social conscience for the topic. (a) While the validation of alternative methods was formally established by founding institutions like ZEBET in Berlin on the national and ECVAM in Ispra on the European level, the development of further new and more sophisticated in vitro methods to date emerge predominantly as a by-product of basic research. A considerable push might now be given by the structured search for new methods with a spill-over for research-based up-to-date teaching. (b) The field of alternative methods is more than a panel of advanced in vitro techniques: A culture of systematic evaluation and validation of in vitro tests has been developed, which has bearing far beyond the replacement of animal experiments. In vitro systems inherently prone to artefacts require the highest level of quality control and assurance. A successful initiative to establish a Good Cell Culture Practice (GCCP) in analogy to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) has evolved out of the field of in vitro alternatives. The concept of validating the relevance of an in vitro test in comparison to the respective in vivo situation represents a consequent translation of evidence-based medicine into in vitro biomedicine. In other words: It does no longer suffice that an in vitro model is plausible - it has to prove its suitability and quality. (c) The broad implementation of advanced in vitro technology into curricula implies development of lectures, courses and other teaching materials including virtual education offers. Such a basis will allow efficient spreading of knowledge and ease transnational acceptance. Last but not least, taking over the leadership for erecting a chair for alternative methods represents a major political signal that demonstrates to the public the willingness to adapt academic education to modern social awareness. A location for such an initiative needs to be found that is in the centre of Europe, has the necessary infrastructure of surrounding biomedical research, international networks for the evaluation and validation of tests, technology transfer to industrial use and access to relevant publication organs. The unequivocal answer to the question in the heading is therefore: we need a chair for in vitro alternatives because (i) the patient is our primary concern but the animal is not just secondary (ii) man's responsibility for the integrity of all creatures including the own species makes it mandatory.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗
PubMed1992

[Waste burdens--hazardous paths, aims of protection, environmental-toxicological assessment].

Contamination of soil by toxic substances, in particular from hazardous waste and air pollution, is not only an important environmental medical problem but also has far-reaching effects on the community. Environmental toxicological assessment is based on the different types of use taking the paths of ingestion into consideration. In the following article the scheme by Eikmann and Kloke systematizes this approach. Orientation values (soil values) for metals and several harmful organic substances for different types of use are presented.

Air Pollutants↗