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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

[Effects of automobile lead on the general growth and sexual activity of the rat].

To identify the active element of automotive exhaust gas responsible for masculine infertility, previously proved by our laboratory, we undertook these experiments. Four hundred young male and female rats were exposed during two months (30 min/d) to three types of automotive exhaust gases. The first type emanated from an engine running on gasoline with lead, the second from an unleaded gasoline engine, the third from a diesel engine. These three engines had the same power (5 horsepower vehicles < 3.5 tons). For the first type of emissions, some lead deposits were found in the lungs by histologic techniques. This gas also induced in male rats the atrophy of the testicle, seminal vesicle and epididym, certain pathological changes in spermatogenesis shown by the histologic study, and a decrease of the serum's testosterone level. In female rats, the relative weights of the ovary and uterus, as well as the percentage of the arrival of oestrus, were not affected by the gaseous treatment. Both the second and third types of gases seemed less active on the masculine sex as far as these parameters are concerned. Our study suggests that, for light vehicles, leaded gasoline pollutes more than unleaded gasoline or diesel fuels, and that the lead present only in the first type would be the active element responsible for the masculine infertility and body weight gain reduction in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

[Comparative studies on the spectral behavior between SO4(2-)/TiO2 and TiO2 photocatalysts].

The differences of spectral behavior between SO4(2-)/TiO2 and TiO2 photocatalysts were studied by using IR, Raman as well as UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(DRS). The results showed that both L and B acid sites exist on SO4(2-)/TiO2 photocatalyst while only L acid sites on TiO2 photocatalyst. As compared with unmodified TiO2, the sulfated TiO2 (SO4(2-)/TiO2) exhibits higher resistance to crystal phase transition from anatase to rutile, higher resistance to growth of crystal grain. As the results of sulfation, SO4(2-)/TiO2 samples possess higher anatase content, smaller crystal grain, and the blue-shifted band edge of adsorption spectra, which increases the optical absorption threshold value and yield larger redox potential.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2006

[The role of dwelling environment in human health].

The authors adduce the ecologo-hygienic characterization of the most significant dwelling environmental factors, such as chemical air pollution, microclimatic parameters, biological pollution, noise, electromagnetic fields, light, etc. They have developed a conception of providing ecologo-hygienic dwelling safety.

Environment↗
PubMed1976

Presence of certain enteroviruses (Coxsackie) in sewage effluents and in river waters of Roumania.

The paper presents the results of research studies conducted during a 10-year period (1962-1971) with the view to detect certain enteroviruses (Coxsackie) from sewage, river and drinking water samples, and from the filter sand of drinking water-works supplied with river water. The method consisted first in preconcentrating the samples collected on immersed gauze pads, secondly in the concentration of the virus samples by the following methods-used either separately or in parallel: the Amberlite method, the yeast cell and the aluminium bydroxide concentration method. The isolation of A and B Coxackie viruses averaged 29.12% in the sewage samples and 14.66% in the river water samples. Lower values were found both in aqueduct water and in the filter sand (2 positive samples out of 65 and 3 positive samples out of 39, respectively). A seasonal distribution of the viral incidence was evidenced in the sewage samples with lower value in the river water, while the frequency decreased with the distance from the pollution source. For the lightly contaminated water (river and aqueduct waters) the yeast cell concentration method gave the best results, this method being also the single reliable method for Coxsackie virus isolation from the filter sand samples.

Enterovirus↗
PubMed1996

Heavy-metal-responsive genes in maize: identification and comparison of their expression upon various forms of abiotic stress.

To identify genes involved in defense against heavy-metal stresses, a cDNA library originating from mercuric chloride-treated maize (Zea mays L. cv. INRA 258) leaves was constructed and analysed by differential screening using cDNAs derived from treated and untreated plants. Transcriptionally activated cDNA clones, designated CHEM (chemically-activated), were isolated and characterized. They represent various known proteins, such as glycine-rich proteins, pathogenesis-related proteins, chaperones and membrane proteins. The expression of the genes encoding these proteins was studied in maize subjected to other forms of abiotic stress. Expression of glycine-rich proteins was greatly enhanced by heat stress, and also stimulated by NaCl, polluted rainwater, wounding and cold stress. Pathogenesis-related proteins were strongly induced by ultraviolet light and to a lesser extent by NaCl, polluted rainwater and wounding. Heat-shock protein was mainly induced by heat and cold, and ubiquitin by wounding. Expression of the membrane channel protein was stimulated by heat stress, NaCl, polluted rainwater and ultraviolet-light irradiation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Extensive regional atmospheric hydrocarbon pollution in the southwestern United States.

Light alkane hydrocarbons are present in major quantities in the near-surface atmosphere of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas during both autumn and spring seasons. In spring 2002, maximum mixing ratios of ethane [34 parts per 109 by volume (ppbv)], propane (20 ppbv), and n-butane (13 ppbv) were observed in north-central Texas. The elevated alkane mixing ratios are attributed to emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. Measured alkyl nitrate mixing ratios were comparable to urban smog values, indicating active photochemistry in the presence of nitrogen oxides, and therefore with abundant formation of tropospheric ozone. We estimate that 4-6 teragrams of methane are released annually within the region and represents a significant fraction of the estimated total U.S. emissions. This result suggests that total U.S. natural gas emissions may have been underestimated. Annual ethane emissions from the study region are estimated to be 0.3-0.5 teragrams.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1979

Should the concept of the recommended dietary allowance be altered to incorporate interactive effects of ubiquitous pollutants?

Using ascorbic acid as a model, this paper proposes that the concept of the RDA should be broadened to take into account the effects of ubiquitous pollutants on human health, a factor presently not incorporated in RDA derivations. It is now widely accepted that ascorbic acid nutritional status markedly affects the toxicity and/or carcinogenicity of greater than 50 pollutants, many of which are ubiquitous in the air, water, and food environments. At the present time, the data do not warrant changing the ascorbic acid RDA in light of the knowledge of pollutant interactions.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Does exposure to environmental pollutants increase the need for vitamin C?

Using ascorbic acid as a model, this paper proposes that the concept of the RDA should be broadened to take into account the effects of ubiquitous pollutants on human health, a factor not specifically incorporated in RDA derivations. It is now widely accepted that ascorbic acid nutritional status markedly affects the toxicity and/or carcinogenicity of greater than 50 pollutants, many of which are ubiquitous in the air, water, and food environments. At the present time, the data do not warrant changing the ascorbic acid RDA in light of the knowledge of pollutant interactions.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acid haze air pollution and breast and colon cancer mortality in 20 Canadian cities.

Sulfur dioxide absorbs ultraviolet light in the region of the spectrum which is most active in forming vitamin D on the skin. Sulfate particles reflect light at this wavelength. High concentrations of these pollutants (acid haze) may lead to vitamin D deficiencies in exposed populations. Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence suggests that vitamin D plays a role in reducing risk of colon and breast cancer. We examined the association between sulfur dioxide and ultraviolet-light-blocking aerosols in 20 Canadian cities, and age-adjusted breast and colon cancer mortality rates in the census divisions encompassing these cities. Statistically significant positive associations were found between these two measures of air pollution and age-adjusted mortality rates for colon cancer in women (multiple r = +.74, p = 0.003), and men (multiple r = +.61, p = 0.03), and breast cancer in women (multiple r = +.69, p = 0.007). Mortality rates for all other reported cancer sites were also examined, and no statistically significant positive associations were found consistently in both sexes. The ecological nature of this study is emphasized, and the possibility that an indirect association could explain these findings is discussed.

Aerosols↗
PubMed1984

Phytotoxicity of Air Pollutants: Evidence for the Photodetoxification of SO(2) but Not O(3).

Pisum sativum L. cv Alsweet (garden pea) and Lycopersicon esculentum flacca Mill. (tomato) were used to evaluate the phytotoxicity of SO(2) and O(3) in the light and dark. Plants were grown in controlled environment chambers and exposed to SO(2) or O(3) in the light or dark at the same environmental conditions at which they were grown. The pea plants were treated with fusicoccin to ensure open stomata in the dark; the stomata of the tomato mutant remained open in the dark. Both species exhibited 64% to 80% less foliar necrosis following exposure to SO(2) (0.5 to 1.0 microliter per liter for 2 hours) in the light than in the dark. The decrease in SO(2) injury for light versus dark exposed plants was greater in fully expanded than expanding leaves. Both species exhibited 30% greater foliar necrosis following exposure to O(3) (0.2 microliter per liter for 2 hours) in the light than dark. The increase in O(3) injury in the light versus dark was similar for leaves at all stages of expansion. Leaf conductance to water vapor was 7% to 11% and 23% higher in the light than dark for fusicoccin-treated peas and tomato plants, respectively, indicating greater foliar uptake of both pollutants in the light than dark. Thus, the decreased SO(2) toxicity in the light was not associated with pollutant uptake, but rather the metabolism of SO(2). In contrast, the increased toxicity of O(3) in the light was at least in part associated with increased uptake or could not be separated from it.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1980

Air pollution, public health, and inflation.

Since the passage of the environmental legislation in the early 1970's, critics have attacked these laws as being unnecessary and for contributing significantly to the problem of inflation in the United States. This paper is an attempt to put the inflationary costs of air pollution into perspective by considering them in light of the cost, especially to public health, of not proceeding with pollution control. There is now a great deal of evidence that the concentration of certain pollutants in the air can contribute significantly to the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and to certain forms of cancer. On the basis of the results of a recent study of the impacts of pollution control on inflation, the annual reduction in purchasing power of the average family is calculated to be $31 per family. To determine the average costs of air pollution on human health, research by Lave and Seskin is utilized. First, the implications of air pollution for mortality and morbidity rates are determined. Then, the reduction in direct health costs and indirect costs (lost productivity of workers) as a result of pollution abatement is estimated. These annual health costs from pollution total approximately $250 per family. The results suggest that the inflationary costs of air pollution control are more than offset by the damages to public health from unabated air pollution.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2000

Does ascorbate in the mesophyll cell walls form the first line of defence against ozone? Testing the concept using broad bean (Vicia faba L.).

Broad bean (Vicia faba L.) plants were exposed, in duplicate controlled environment chambers, to charcoal/Purafil-filtered air (CFA-grown plants) or to 75 nmol mol(-1) ozone (O(3)) for 7 h d(-1) (O(3)-grown plants) for 28 d, and then exposed to 150 nmol mol(-1) O(3 )for 8 h. The concentration of ascorbate (ASC) was determined in leaf extracellular washing fluid (apoplast) and in the residual leaf tissue (symplast) after 0, 4 and 8 h acute fumigation, and after a 16 h "recovery" period in CFA. Changes in stomatal conductance were measured in vivo in order to model pollutant uptake, while the light-saturated rate of CO(2) assimilation (A:(sat)) was recorded as an indicator of O(3)-induced intracellular damage. Measurements of A:(sat) revealed enhanced tolerance to 150 nmol mol(-1) O(3) in plants pre-exposed to the pollutant compared with equivalent plants grown in CFA, consistent with the observed reduction in pollutant uptake due to lower stomatal conductance. The concentration of ASC in the leaf apoplast (ASC(apo)) declined upon O(3)-treatment in both CFA- and O(3)-grown plants, consistent with the oxidation of ASC(apo) under O(3)-stress. Furthermore, the decline in ASC(apo) was reversible in O(3)-grown plants after a 16 h "recovery" period, but not in plants grown in CFA. No significant change in the level and/or redox state of ASC in the symplast (ASC(symp)) was observed in plants exposed to 150 nmol mol(-1) O(3), and there was no difference in the constitutive level of ASC(symp) between CFA- and O(3)-grown plants. Model calculations indicated that the reaction of O(3) with ASC(apo) in the leaves of Vicia faba is potentially sufficient to intercept a substantial proportion (30-40%) of the O(3)entering the plant under environmentally-relevant conditions. The potential role of apoplastic ASC in mediating the tolerance of leaves to O(3) is discussed.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2004

Studies on photochemical reactions of air pollutants. XIV.Photooxidation of sulfur dioxide in air by various air pollutants.

Upon exposure to sunlight, or to artificial light at wavelengths longer than 290 nm, sulfur dioxide in air underwent oxidation to give sulfur trioxide in the presence of air pollutants such as biacetyl (2,3-butanedione), benzaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide, but not in their absence. Only nitrogen dioxide completely oxidized sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2003

Estimating the global burden of thalassogenic diseases: human infectious diseases caused by wastewater pollution of the marine environment.

This paper presents a preliminary attempt at obtaining an order-of-magnitude estimate of the global burden of disease (GBD) of human infectious diseases associated with swimming/bathing in coastal waters polluted by wastewater, and eating raw or lightly steamed filter-feeding shellfish harvested from such waters. Such diseases will be termed thalassogenic--caused by the sea. Until recently these human health effects have been viewed primarily as local phenomena, not generally included in the world agenda of marine scientists dealing with global marine pollution problems. The massive global scale of the problem can be visualized when one considers that the wastewater and human body wastes of a significant portion of the world's population who reside along the coastline or in the vicinity of the sea are discharged daily, directly or indirectly, into the marine coastal waters, much of it with little or no treatment. Every cubic metre of raw domestic wastewater discharged into the sea can carry millions of infectious doses of pathogenic microorganisms. It is estimated that globally, foreign and local tourists together spend some 2 billion man-days annually at coastal recreational resorts and many are often exposed there to coastal waters polluted by wastewater. Annually some 800 million meals of potentially contaminated filter-feeding shellfish/bivalves and other sea foods, harvested in polluted waters are consumed, much of it raw or lightly steamed. A number of scientific studies have shown that swimmers swallow significant amounts of polluted seawater and can become ill with gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases from the pathogens they ingest. Based on risk assessments from the World Health Organization (WHO) and academic research sources the present study has made an estimate that globally, each year, there are in excess of 120 million cases of gastrointestinal disease and in excess of 50 million cases of more severe respiratory diseases caused by swimming and bathing in wastewater-polluted coastal waters. Filter-feeding shellfish/bivalves, which are often harvested from wastewater-polluted areas of the sea, can effectively filter out and concentrate the microbial pathogens in the seawater. It can be roughly estimated that annually there are some 4 million cases of infectious hepatitis A and E (HAV/HEV), with some 40 thousand deaths and 40 thousand cases of long-term disability, mainly chronic liver damage, from consuming raw or lightly steamed filter-feeding shellfish/molluscs harvested globally from polluted coastal waters. The total global health impact of the thalassogenic diseases--human infectious diseases associated with pathogenic microorganisms from land-based wastewater pollution of the seas--is estimated to be about 3 million 'disability-adjusted life years' (DALY)/year, with an estimated economic loss of some 12 billion dollars per year. Due to the preliminary nature of the estimates in this study it is appropriate to assume that all of the above figures are no more than first approximations and that the true figures may be 50% higher or lower. Nevertheless, it is the author's belief that this study indicates that wastewater pollution of the sea results in a multi-billion dollar per year health burden and that preventing wastewater pollution of the sea is worthy of inclusion on the global agenda of marine pollution prevention and control.

Bacterial Infections↗