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PubMed2002

Harmful azo colorants in leather. Determination based on their cleavage and extraction of corresponding carcinogenic aromatic amines using modern extraction techniques.

This study concerns the possibilities of using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) or supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for detection of harmful azo colorants in leather. After degreasing of the leather sample with SFE there follows a reductive cleavage of the azo colorants to their corresponding aromatic amines in the MAE or SFE equipment. The aromatic amines are subsequently extracted using either MAE or SFE and then finally determined by liquid chromatography with diode-array detection. The results have been compared with recoveries obtained using the German DIN method 53316. This standard method, based on conventional solvent extraction, is used in several European countries. Overall much better recoveries were obtained using MAE or SFE. With both MAE and SFE the amine recoveries of spiked leather samples were generally above 50%. The average recoveries were 62% for MAE and 60% for SFE (solvent collection) compared to 24% with the DIN method. For genuine leather samples the recoveries decreased, especially for benzidine. In this case the average values for MAE, SFE and DIN were 54, 38 and 19%, respectively. The quantification limits in leather samples using MAE or SFE were below 1 mg/kg for all amines investigated. The within-laboratory precision was generally better than 10%, varying somewhat with the analyte considered. With the proposed methodology, the amount of hazardous organic solvents used could be decreased and the sample throughput increased with at least a factor of two with less manual handling compared to the DIN method.

Amines↗

PubMed1977

Hypertension in the elderly.

The available data indicate that classical hypertension, defined here as a diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg, is a widely prevalent and as important a risk factor for the cardiovascular diseases in those aged 65 and over as it is in those under 65. The limited available data also indicate that pure systolic hypertension, defined here as a systolic blood pressure exceeding 160 mm Hg with a diastolic pressure under 95 mm Hg, also very common at age 65 and over, is also related to excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the elderly. However, it is not clear whether this latter relationship is indicative of cause and effect, or merely reflects the fact that in the elderly pure systolic hypertension is a sign of extensive sclerosis of large arteries. The results of Veterans Administration studies on antihypertensive therapy indicate that the elderly patient with classical hypertension is amenable to effective treatment, and that the benefits of such treatment significantly outweigh the risks. Great care is needed in the use of drugs for the management of hypertension in elderly patients, especially to minimize risk of hypotensive episodes and their possible harmful consequences; but with judicious and careful therapy, hypertension of this type can be controlled with reduction in excess risk of morbidity and mortality, at least for those with average diastolic pressures greater than or equal to 105 mm Hg. The lack of data on the benefits of treatment for those with pure systolic hypertension precludes any recommendations in regard to pharmacologic treatment of this condition.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Practitioner's Trial on the Efficacy of Antihypertensive Treatment in the Elderly Hypertension (The PATE-Hypertension Study) in Japan.

Patients aged 60 years and older with essential hypertension were treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I), delapril (Adecut) or a long-acting calcium (Ca)-antagonist, manidipine (Calslot) for 3 years. The incidences of cardiovascular events as well as drug-related side effects were compared between the two groups to investigate whether both classes of antihypertensive drugs are beneficial in elderly hypertensive patients. There were no significant differences in characteristics of patients between the two intervention groups, except for slightly lower blood pressure (P = .08) in the Ca-antagonist group at the initiation of the study. There were no significant differences in total death between the two groups. Cardiovascular events (both fatal and nonfatal) were noted in 34 of 699 patients (22.5/1000 patient-years) in the ACE-I group and 50 of 1049 patients (19.7/1000 patient-years) in the Ca-antagonist group, with no significant difference found between the two groups. The correlation between cardiovascular incidence and the blood pressure attained during treatment showed a J-shaped phenomenon and suggests that an excessive reduction less than 120 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (SBP) is unnecessary and may be harmful in certain cases. Side effects were more frequent in the ACE-I group than in the Ca-antagonist group (P = .01). Cough was the major adverse event, occurring in 5.0% of patients in the ACE-I group. In conclusion, the study indicates that both ACE-I (delapril) and Ca-antagonist (manidipine) were equally beneficial for reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in elderly hypertensive patients. However, tolerability of ACE-I was lower due to the adverse event of coughing.

Aged↗

PubMed1999

Medium-sized business employees speak out about smoking.

UNLABELLED: A health promotion study, funded by a state health department to meet objectives 3.4 and 3.11 of Healthy People 2000, was designed to: (1) identify tobacco use; (2) assess employees' beliefs on one's health and family member's health; and (3) assess the type of smoking policies favored. Using the Health Belief Model, it was hypothesized that there were differences in the health beliefs of tobacco users, former users, and never users. A 34-item questionnaire was administered to 1090 employees with a return rate of 603 (55%). RESULTS: tobacco users perceived weight control and reduction of tension as benefits; they accepted warning label as hazardous but reported smokeless not as harmful; they perceived heart disease and cancer as related to tobacco use; and 62% had tried to quit smoking. Former and never users wanted "total ban policies" while, tobacco users wanted "designated areas" for smoking. All perceived their smoking and environmental tobacco smoke hazardous to their health and the health of family.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Effects of chronic hormone replacement on the renin-angiotensin system in cynomolgus monkeys.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the effects of estrogen, estrogen combined with progestin, and no treatment in ovariectomized cynomolgus monkeys during long-term reproductive hormone replacement. METHODS: Forty-five surgically postmenopausal cynomolgus monkeys fed a lipid-lowering diet were administered a conjugated equine estrogen (Premarin, 7.2 micrograms/day for the first 8 months, then 166 micrograms/day for the remaining 22 months), alone or in combination with 650 micrograms/day medroxyprogesterone acetate (Cycrin) for 30 months, or left with no hormone replacement therapy. Animals were anesthetized with ketamine-pentobarbital, and samples were taken for measurements of plasma renin activity, angiotensin converting enzyme activity, and angiotensin peptides, angiotensin I (Ang I), angiotensin II (Ang II), and angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)]. RESULTS: Chronic replacement therapy with estrogen resulted in a significant elevation of the plasma renin activity [11.7 +/- 2.0 ng/ml per h control versus 22.8 +/- 4.6 ng/ml per h with estrogen (P < 0.05) versus 32.8 +/- 4.9 ng/ml per h with combination therapy (P < 0.01)], whereas estrogen or combination therapy caused a significant reduction in angiotensin converting enzyme activity [229 +/- 8 nmol/ml per min control versus 189 +/- 10 nmol/ml per min with estrogen (P < 0.05) versus 196 +/- 11 nmol/ml per min with combination therapy (P < 0.05)]. Both of these changes in angiotensin processing enzymes observed during replacement therapy resulted in significant increases in plasma Ang I levels [46.7 +/- 12.5 pg/ml control versus 175.5 +/- 65.9 pg/ml with estrogen (P < 0.05) and 561.7 +/- 373.6 pg/ml with combination therapy (P < 0.05)]. Plasma Ang II and Ang-(1-7) levels were not significantly changed. The mean blood pressure did not change with either treatment. CONCLUSION: These studies reveal that, although chronic estrogen replacement activates renin activity and Ang I, it causes a shift in the processing of angiotensin peptides such that the concurrent reduction in angiotensin converting enzyme activity leads to unchanged plasma Ang II levels. Thus, the potentially harmful effects of estrogen-induced hyperreninemia are balanced by its actions interfering with the formation of the vasoactive product Ang II.

Angiotensin I↗

PubMed1985

Arachidonic acid cascade and the generation of ischemia- and reperfusion-induced ventricular arrhythmias.

This article reviews the evidence we found in our study that the local generation of thromboxane and prostacyclin is one important factor involved in determining the severity of the ventricular arrhythmias that result from acute myocardial ischaemia and subsequent reperfusion. The hypothesis examined is that thromboxane release, presumably from platelets, is harmful in the early stages of ischaemia (perhaps because this induces further platelet aggregation and/or a reduction in blood flow as a result of both active vasoconstriction and of mechanical obstruction) and that prostacyclin generation (presumably mainly from endothelial cells) is beneficial at this time. The evidence is that in anaesthetised greyhound dogs, blockade of the thromboxane receptor (AH 23848) or inhibition of thromboxane synthesis (with a variety of "specific" inhibitors of thromboxane synthetase such as dazoxiben, dazmegrel, and "low-dose" aspirin) slightly reduces the severity of ischaemia-induced arrhythmias and markedly increases survival after myocardial reperfusion by reducing reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation (e.g., from 80% in control dogs to less than 20% in treated dogs). The evidence that prostacyclin generation is helpful in this situation comes from studies with locally infused prostacyclin or iloprost and with nafazatrom, a drug that increases the amount of prostacyclin released into local coronary venous blood soon after the onset of myocardial ischaemia; these procedures also reduce the number of ventricular extrasystoles occurring during ischaemia and the incidence of reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation. These findings do not imply that arachidonic acid derivatives are the only, or even the main, biochemical factor involved in the generation of these arrhythmias.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Effect of spin-orbit scattering on the magnetic and superconducting properties of nearly ferromagnetic metals: application to granular Pt.

We calculate the effect of scattering on the static, exchange enhanced, spin susceptibility and show that, in particular, spin-orbit scattering leads to a reduction of the giant moments and spin glass freezing temperature due to dilute magnetic impurities. The harmful spin fluctuation contribution to the intragrain pairing interaction is strongly reduced opening the way for BCS superconductivity. We are thus able to explain the superconducting and magnetic properties recently observed in granular Pt as being due to scattering effects in single small grains.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Silent myocardial ischaemia and haemoglobin concentration: a randomized controlled trial of transfusion strategy in lower limb arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Red cell transfusion is commonly used in orthopaedic surgery. Evidence suggests that a restrictive transfusion strategy may be safe for most patients. However, concern has been raised over the risks of anaemia in those with ischaemic cardiac disease. Perioperative silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI) has a relatively high incidence in the elderly population undergoing elective surgery. This study used Holter monitoring to compare the effect of a restrictive and a liberal red cell transfusion strategy on the incidence of SMI in patients without signs or symptoms of ischaemic heart disease who were undergoing lower limb arthroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a multicentre, controlled trial in which 260 patients undergoing elective hip and knee replacement surgery were enrolled and randomized to transfusion triggers that were either restrictive (8 g/dl) or liberal (10 g/dl). Participants were monitored with continuous ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) (Holter monitoring), preoperatively for 12 h and postoperatively for 72 h. The tapes were analysed for new ischaemia by technicians blinded to treatment. The total ischaemia time in minutes was divided by the recording time in hours and an ischaemic load in min/h was calculated. Haemoglobin levels were measured preoperatively, postoperatively in the recovery room, and on days one, three and five after surgery. RESULTS: The mean postoperative haemoglobin concentration was 9.87 g/dl in the restrictive group and 11.09 g/dl in the liberal group. In the restrictive group, 34% were transfused a total of 89 red cell units, and in the liberal group 43% were given a total of 119 red cell units. A postoperative episode of silent ischaemia was experienced by 21/109 (19%) patients in the restrictive group and by 26/109 (24%) patients in the liberal group [mean difference -4.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI): -15.5% to 6%, P = 0.41). There was no significant difference (P = 0.53) between the overall ischaemic load in the restrictive group (median 0 min/h, range 0-4.18) and the liberal group (median 0 min/h, range 0-19.48). In those patients who did experience postoperative SMI, the mean ischaemic load was 0.48 min/h in the restrictive group and 1.51 min/h in the liberal group (ratio 0.32, 95% CI: 0.14-0.76, P = 0.011). The median postoperative length of hospital stay in the restrictive group was 7.3 days [range 5-11; interquartile range (IQR) 6-8] compared with 7.5 days (range 5-13; IQR 7-8) in the liberal group. The numbers were not large enough to conclude equivalence. CONCLUSIONS: In patients without preoperative evidence of myocardial ischaemia undergoing elective hip and knee replacement surgery, a restrictive transfusion strategy seems unlikely to be associated with an increased incidence of SMI. A proportion of these patients experience moderate SMI, regardless of the transfusion trigger. Use of a restrictive transfusion strategy did not increase length of hospital stay, and use of this strategy would lead to a significant reduction in red cell transfusion in orthopaedic surgery. Our data did not indicate any potential for harm in employing such a strategy in patients with no prior evidence of cardiac ischaemia who were undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reduction of the cerebral protective effect of hypothermia by oligemic hypotension during hypoxia in the rat.

The effect of arterial hypotension on cerebral cortical tissue levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine (PGr), lactate, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) was studied in male Wistar rats with unilateral carotid ligation exposed to arterial by hypoxia (PaO2 25 torr) for 20 min. while the body temperature was maintained at 32 degrees C and 27 degrees C. Brain metabolite levels were normal in normotensive hypothermic animals exposed to hypoxia, but reduction in arterial pressure to 75 torr caused a significant (p less than 0.05) decrease in ATP and PCr values and a significant increase in lactate and NADH levels. These changes were comparable to those of normothermic normotensive, hypoxic animals. Furthermore, there was no significant differences in the brain metabolite levels between the two hypotensive hypoxic groups. These results indicate that arterial hypotension severely alters the cerebral protective effect of hypothermia against injury caused by hypoxia, and that further reduction in body temperature (from 32 degrees C to 27 degrees C) will not prevent the harmful effect of hypoxia upon the brain in hypotensive rats.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2005

Medication errors: a prospective cohort study of hand-written and computerised physician order entry in the intensive care unit.

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to compare the impact of computerised physician order entry (CPOE) without decision support with hand-written prescribing (HWP) on the frequency, type and outcome of medication errors (MEs) in the intensive care unit. METHODS: Details of MEs were collected before, and at several time points after, the change from HWP to CPOE. The study was conducted in a London teaching hospital's 22-bedded general ICU. The sampling periods were 28 weeks before and 2, 10, 25 and 37 weeks after introduction of CPOE. The unit pharmacist prospectively recorded details of MEs and the total number of drugs prescribed daily during the data collection periods, during the course of his normal chart review. RESULTS: The total proportion of MEs was significantly lower with CPOE (117 errors from 2429 prescriptions, 4.8%) than with HWP (69 errors from 1036 prescriptions, 6.7%) (p < 0.04). The proportion of errors reduced with time following the introduction of CPOE (p < 0.001). Two errors with CPOE led to patient harm requiring an increase in length of stay and, if administered, three prescriptions with CPOE could potentially have led to permanent harm or death. Differences in the types of error between systems were noted. There was a reduction in major/moderate patient outcomes with CPOE when non-intercepted and intercepted errors were combined (p = 0.01). The mean baseline APACHE II score did not differ significantly between the HWP and the CPOE periods (19.4 versus 20.0, respectively, p = 0.71). CONCLUSION: Introduction of CPOE was associated with a reduction in the proportion of MEs and an improvement in the overall patient outcome score (if intercepted errors were included). Moderate and major errors, however, remain a significant concern with CPOE.

Chi-Square Distribution↗

PubMed2004

[Waste of medical tests in preoperative evaluation for cataract surgery].

The objective of this clinical trial was to determine the frequency of medical tests considered unnecessary in routine preoperative evaluation for cataract surgery. Unnecessary costs with these tests were also evaluated. For patients assigned to the selective testing group, it was requested that no preoperative testing be performed unless the patient presented a new or worsening medical problem warranting medical evaluation with testing. For patients assigned to the routine testing group, three tests were requested: a 12-lead electrocardiogram, complete blood count, and serum glucose level. The costs of tests considered unnecessary were calculated. The sample of 1,025 patients consisted of 512 assigned to the routine testing group and 513 to the selective testing group. Cumulative rate of medical events was similar in the two groups (p=0.923). The selective group underwent 60.7% fewer tests. The results suggest that selective preoperative testing in cataract surgery does not harm patients in terms of peri-operative clinical complications and also represents a significant cost reduction compared to routine testing.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Effectiveness of methadone maintenance for heroin addiction.

Methadone maintenance programs have effectively reduced heroin dependency and are available in most countries affected by heroin addiction. Methadone, developed in Germany during World War II as a pain killer, does not have the euphoric effects of heroin and the goal of treatment is to substitute methadone for heroin use. Recidivism is probably a life-long risk. Methadone maintenance programs began in the 1960s in the United States in New York City. Once tolerance is developed, it may be used continually without harmful side effects. Dosage is important for effectiveness as are counseling, rehabilitation services, and employment support. Reduction in criminality and AIDS has been associated with methadone maintenance programs.

Analgesics, Opioid↗

PubMed1992

Salt and blood pressure.

Current evidence does not support the view that the claimed association between salt intake and blood pressure is causal. In intercultural studies it is impossible to distinguish between a genuinely causal relationship and a relationship due to the role of salt intake as a marker for different life-styles. Physiological studies suggest that the Western intake of salt corresponds to a physiological set point selected when free choice is offered as the mid-point between harmful physiological extremes. When flawed intervention studies are excluded there is no evidence that a moderate reduction in salt intake would produce a significant blood pressure fall in healthy individuals although blood pressure falls can be produced in some hypertensive subjects.

Blood Pressure↗

PubMed1999

[Hypertrophy of the left ventricle--etiopathogenesis, clinical consequences and prognosis].

The left ventricular hypertrophy is a risk marker of the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients--it contributes to sudden death, myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, heart failure, arrhythmias, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, stroke and renal failure. The mechanisms by which the heart hypertrophy increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, however, is not completely clear yet. Pressure overload (resulting in the concentric hypertrophy) and volume overload (resulting in the eccentric hypertrophy) of the left ventricle play a significant role in the development of the hypertrophy of the left ventricle. Other risk factors, stimulating left ventricular hypertrophy, include growth factors, genetic predisposition, age, obesity, hyperinsulinemia and anemia. The hypertrophy of left ventricle most often occurs with hypertension, cardiomyopathy and aortic stenosis. Several clinical studies evaluated functional consequences of the reduction of the ventricular hypertrophy and found out that the function of the left ventricle to be improved in hypertensive patients who had undergone an effective and long-term antihypertensive treatment. However, these studies did not differentiate whether for the improvement in the function of left ventricle was the matter of the reduction of the left ventricular mass or whether it was because of the decrease of the arterial pressure during the period of anti-hypertensive treatment. On the basis of the literature studied we can emphasize that the reduction of myocardial hypertrophy resulting from a specific antihypertensive treatment appears to be more favourable than harmful for the heart's pump performance.

Humans↗

PubMed2002

The effect of nisin on growth kinetics from activated Bacillus cereus spores in cooked rice and in milk.

The growth kinetics of germinated cells from activated spores of Bacillus cereus in cooked white rice and in milk were evaluated at different temperatures for control samples and for samples with 25 microg of nisin per ml added. Nisin was applied in the form of Nisaplin (10(6) IU/g), which contained 25,000 microg of nisin per g. The length of the lag phase for cooked white rice controls was 120 h at 10 degrees C, 8 h at 25 degrees C, and 2.5 h at 33 degrees C. The generation times for cooked rice were 327.7 min at 10 degrees C, 59.0 min at 25 degrees C, and 42.3 min at 33 degrees C; those for milk without nisin were 297.0 min at 20 degrees C, 31.2 min at 30 degrees C, 28.6 min at 35 degrees C, and 33.7 min at 40 degrees C; and those for milk with nisin added were 277.2 min at 20 degrees C, 66.9 min at 30 degrees C, and 66.4 min at 35 degrees C. No development of B. cereus was observed for milk with nisin added at 40 degrees C for 12 h, in which germinated cells decreased by a decimal reduction time (D) of 4.7 h. A temperature of 45 degrees C was shown to be harmful to B. cereus, decreasing the germinated cells in both formulations with D-values of 4.3 to 4.6 h. Similar inhibition of cell growth at 40 degrees C was not observed with lower nisin concentrations.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of tobacco use amongst school teachers.

Indulgence in tobacco is a known health risk. The example of school teachers in this regard is likely to have far reaching influence on their pupils and the community. A cross sectional study among 257 teachers from 30 schools revealed that as high as 51.0% teachers consumed tobacco in one form or the other. Smoking was the most popular form of tobacco use (72%). Marked gender differences were noted with 73.9%. Male teachers hooked to tobacco habit in comparison to 13.9% of female teachers. Educational qualification had paradoxical effect on tobacco habit as fewer (20.0%) graduate teachers used tobacco in comparison to non graduate teachers (55.7%). However proportion of Post graduate teachers consuming tobacco was still higher (64.2%). Initiation to tobacco habit in majority began at age 21 years and beyond. Common reasons given for tobacco consumption were curiosity (37.9%), to be social (22.0%), enjoyment (21.2%), to relieve stress (8.17%) and improving performance (5.8%). 21.9% smokers consumed more than 20 cigarettes a day. More than four fifth teachers consciously avoided tobacco use in school premises. Nearly half (45.3%) of tobacco users reported reduction in tobacco use in preceding two years. By and large teachers (92.4%) were aware of harmful consequences of tobacco on health. But only in 29.6% it was a cause for concern. 71.2% respondents intended to give up tobacco habit. 33.7% smokers were aware of hazards of passive smoking to others.

Areca↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Localization and physiological implication of aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase in reproductive tracts and spermatozoa of male rats.

The polyol metabolizing pathway, which consists of two enzymes, aldose reductase (AR) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH), converts glucose to fructose. The enzymatic activities, expression, and localization of AR and SDH were studied in reproductive tracts and spermatozoa of male rats by immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and enzyme assays. Immunoreactivity to an AR antibody was observed mainly in epithelia of epididymis, seminal vesicle, vas deferens, and prostate gland in adult rats. Similar staining profiles were observed for these tissues when an SDH antibody was used. However, in testis, the cells that express these 2 enzymes differed; whereas AR was expressed in Sertoli cells and to lesser extent in spermatogenic cells, SDH was detected in spermatogenic cells of seminiferous tubules. This cell type-specific gene expression was confirmed in primary cultured cells isolated from rat testes. SDH protein levels were higher during spermatid elongation, and large amounts of SDH were carried over to the spermatozoa. Because one of the functions of members of the aldo-keto reductase superfamily is to detoxify harmful carbonyl compounds, an intrinsic function of AR in Sertoli cells may be to catalyze the reduction of cytotoxic metabolites, such as lipid peroxidation products and steroid hormones, which are produced during spermatogenesis. Because uterine fluid and seminal plasma both contain sorbitol, it is likely that SDH in spermatozoa converts sorbitol to fructose for use as an energy source.

Aging↗

PubMed2004

Results of clinical-toxicological assessments performed in the Poison Control Centre in Zagreb over a 10-year period.

The aim of this study was to see which harmful substances and which occupational settings most often required toxicological assessment, to evaluate exposure data provided by employers and to see to what extent could this assessment rely on actual measurements of harmful substances in a working environment. We reviewed the documentation that was submitted for toxicological assessment in all patients referred from occupational health physicians between 1992 and 2001. From 1992 to 2001, the Poison Control Centre performed a total of 260 toxicological evaluations of occupational exposure to harmful chemicals. In 162 cases (62%), measurements of harmful substance concentrations in the working environment would have been of primary significance for the best comparison of potential adverse effects and the level of exposure. The most frequent was exposure to organic solvents in the production line and the use of various paints and varnishes, adhesives and thinners in shoe, chemical and metal-processing industry. Follows exposure to respiratory irritants, mostly in plastic and metal processing. However, measurement data of harmful substances in the working environment were available only in 24 cases, that is, in 9% of all documents submitted for toxicological assessment. Exposure to organic solvents is characteristic for a large number of work places in industry and small enterprises in Croatia, and it is necessary to carry out a more comprehensive study about the real levels of exposure and modes of effective control. It is important because the EU regulations on the indicative occupational exposure limits (OELs) of harmful substances in the working environment, that will soon be implemented into Croatian legislation, recommend a reduction of maximum allowable concentrations (MAC) for commonly used solvents.

Croatia↗