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At least 1,567 records · Page 87Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Pest control industry and vector control activities in Taiwan.

At the end of 1993, there were 117 private pest control companies in Taiwan, with 438 technical managers and 274 technicians. Their business includes the control of mosquitoes, cockroaches, fleas, rodents, termites, houseflies, etc. Pyrethroids and some organophosphates are employed. At present, no applications of insect growth regulators or microbial agents are used by private pest control operators. During dengue epidemics they assist the government in space spraying with insecticides. The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., is responsible for the training and management of pest control operators. In addition, the Administration is also in charge of affairs concerning the manufacture, import, registration and sale of environmental pesticides and microbial agents. It establishes protocols for testing the efficacy of insecticides and promotes pest control on the community level.

Aedes↗
PubMed1999

Health, environment and sustainable development: identifying links and indicators to promote action.

This paper discusses the links among health, environment, and sustainable development and presents a framework that extends from the epidemiological domain to the policy domain and includes the driving forces that generate environmental pressures, creating changes in the state of the environment and eventually contributing to human exposures. Health effects are the end result of this complex net of events. Environmental health interventions should not be limited to treatment of cases and directly reducing human exposures. The paper discusses the need for integrated action at all levels and, in particular, on the need to focus on long-term action directed at reducing the driving forces that generate the environmental health threats. Only this approach can achieve sustained health benefits and environmental protection in accord with the principles of sustainable development.

Decision Support Techniques↗
PubMed1997

Correlation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factors from clinical and environmental isolates with pathogenicity in the neutropenic mouse.

The potential pathogenicity of a microorganism is a major concern for Health Canada evaluators, who will be processing new biotechnology products under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Potential pathogenicity is generally predicted by the results of animal pathogenicity studies. In an attempt to define surrogate data for an animal model, this study was initiated. Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from clinical and environmental sources were screened for their pilus type, serotype, lipopolysaccharide type, ability to evade host responses, and production of toxin A, exoenzyme S, elastase, phospholipase C, and total protease. The 50% lethal dose (LD50) of the same isolates was determined in the neutropenic mouse model of infection. An attempted correlation was drawn between each (or combinations) of the virulence determinants and the LD50. Stepwise linear regression showed that the presence of high levels of exoenzyme S in association with elastase or phospholipase C, or to a minor extent toxin A, was correlated with low numbers of bacteria required to elicit an LD50. No correlation between any of the other factors examined and virulence was detected. The data suggest that an in vitro high level of exoenzyme S production could be used as surrogate information for neutropenic mouse modelling; however, the levels of all of the extracellular enzymes should be considered when making such an assessment.

ADP Ribose Transferases↗
PubMed1992

Regulation of priority carcinogens and reproductive or developmental toxicants.

In California, 370 carcinogens and 112 reproductive/developmental toxicants have been identified as a result of the State's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. They include pesticides, solvents, metals, industrial intermediates, environmental mixtures, and reactive agents. Occupational, environmental, and consumer product exposures that involve these agents are regulated under the Act. At levels of concern, businesses must provide warnings for and limit discharges of those chemicals. The lists of chemicals were compiled following systematic review of published data, including technical reports from the U.S. Public Health Service--National Toxicology Program (NTP), and evaluation of recommendations from authoritative bodies such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Given the large number of chemicals that are carcinogens or reproductive/developmental toxicants, regulatory concerns should focus on those that have high potential for human exposure, e.g., widely distributed or easily absorbed solvents, metals, environmental mixtures, or reactive agents. In this paper, we present a list of 33 potential priority carcinogens and reproductive/developmental toxicants, including alcoholic beverages, asbestos, benzene, chlorinated solvents, formaldehyde, glycol ethers, lead, tobacco smoke, and toluene.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Health and chemical environment in Czecho-Slovakia, international cooperation context.

This review provides a record of the present situation with regard to public health and environmental degradation and its underlying causes in Czecho-Slovakia, taking into account "ways of life," which is a synonym for its two components: environment and behavior. It gives attention to the priorities which include air and water pollution and food contamination. "Environmental protection" includes the human health protection from air, water, land, and groundwater pollution, ecological protection and natural resource preservation, use of pesticides, food and consumer product safety, and safety associated with the introduction of new chemicals into commerce. Further, this review focuses on the fundamental building blocks for a new environmental policy and management system (Constitution Act, 1991; Environmental Law, 1991; Chemical Act, in preparation; standards regarding chemicals, etc.). With regard to the international concern about the dangers of chemicals for humanity and the natural environment, attention is drawn to the collaboration of Czecho-Slovakia in chemical safety with WHO, IRPTC, and OECD. An important task is to determine what scientific research is needed and to educate administrators, politicians, and the general public in chemical safety.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Mammalian in vivo and in vitro cytogenetic assays: a report of the U.S. EPA's gene-tox program.

This report presents an assessment made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gene-Tox Program's Work Group on mammalian cytogenetics of the clastogenic effects of chemicals in in vivo and in vitro mammalian cell assays. This assessment is based on information provided by the Environmental Mutagen Information Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with the proviso that the experimental protocol used in these papers was adjudged to be acceptable by standards outlined by the Work Group. Some data were accepted as "qualitative only" because the protocol used was fairly close to that proposed as suitable. Using these criteria, 177 papers were selected for review. 6 assays were reviewed: bone marrow (32 papers, 31 chemicals), spermatogonial (10 papers, 10 chemicals), spermatocyte (25 papers, 25 chemicals), oocyte or early embryo (18 papers, 19 chemicals), in vitro cell culture (30 papers, 66 chemicals), and leukocyte (66 papers, 53 chemicals). Each assay was considered separately, and comparisons were then made between them for their similarities or differences in producing a positive or negative clastogenic effect of a particular chemical or chemical class. A large proportion of the available cytogenetic data was not suitable for inclusion in the final data base because of poor experimental design or unsatisfactory reporting of the information. It was not possible to recommend any one assay for determining potential clastogenicity because each had its own particular advantages and limitations and provided unique information. For demonstrating in vivo effects, the bone-marrow assay is probably the simplest and most economical. If only in vitro exposures were considered, leukocytes or cultured mammalian cell lines would be suitable. However, there are advantages to using leukocytes because they are a synchronous population, at least through their cell division, and because of the ready availability of human cells. In general, there was good agreement between clastogenicity and carcinogenicity.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Determination of the aquatic PNEC0.05 for boron.

Several weight of the evidence approaches for the effects assessment of boron to aquatic organisms have been conducted. The focal point for all of these assessments is the appropriate interpretation of the LC1 for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from W.J. Birge, J.A. Black, Report No. EPA5601176408. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Toxic Substances, Washington, DC, 1977, as the LC1 from their studies provided the lowest chronic toxicity values for boron. Other studies by these investigators (W.J. Birge, J.A. Black, Completion Report prepared for the Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, USA, 1981; W.J. Birge, J.A. Black, A.G. Westermann, T.M. Short, S.B. Taylor, M.C. Parekh. Completion Report prepared for the Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, USA, 1984; J.A. Black, J.B. Barnum, W.J. Birge, Chemosphere 26 (1993) 1383-1413) further indicate this species to be particularly sensitive to boron. While weight of the evidence approaches have been necessary for diverse risk assessment needs, they each suffer from potential bias via professional judgment. In order to allay these issues and to update the effects assessment for boron, a probabilistic approach was used. Raw data from the Birge and Black studies were reanalyzed to generate chronic values representative of the adverse effects threshold (e.g., LC10) for several species. A comprehensive list of chronic data from these studies and other studies were combined into a cumulative probability term, allowing for the determination of the fifth percentile protection value, or PNEC0.05. The PNEC0.05 for boron was determined to be at least 1.3 mg B/l.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Concentrations of airborne culturable bacteria in 100 large US office buildings from the BASE study.

UNLABELLED: This paper presents summary statistics of airborne culturable bacteria from the US Environmental Protection Agency Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation (BASE) study. Air samples were collected with single-stage, multiple-hole, agar impactors in 100 large office buildings in 1994-1998 to obtain normative data on indoor environmental quality. Bacterial concentrations were compared by incubation temperature, location, season, and climate zone. Forty-one percent of the samples were below the 2- or 5-min detection limits (18 or 7 CFU/m3, respectively) but less than 1% were overgrown. Mesophilic bacteria (30 degrees C) accounted for >95% of culturable bacteria, both indoors and outdoors. Average concentrations were higher outdoors, except for Gram-positive cocci, which were the only group that were significantly higher indoors (39 vs. 24 CFU/m3), and Gram-negative cocci, for which both concentrations were low and the difference were not significant. Outdoor concentrations of culturable bacteria were somewhat higher in winter (194 vs.165 CFU/m3), and the two dominant outdoor groups were unknown bacteria and Gram-positive rods. Conversely, indoor concentrations were significantly higher in summer (116 vs. 87 CFU/m3), consisting primarily of unknown bacteria and Gram-positive cocci. Bacterial concentrations were within the ranges reported in previous studies of non-problem buildings, and the extreme aggregated indoor concentrations (e.g. the 90th percentile, 175 CFU/m3) of these 100 representative buildings may serve as upper bounds to develop interpretation guidelines for office environments and similar non-manufacturing workplaces in various climate zones. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation (BASE) study was one of the most comprehensive investigations of indoor environmental quality in which a standardized protocol was used to measure bioaerosols in 100 typical US office buildings. The information on the indoor and outdoor concentrations of airborne bacteria in different climate zones during the heating and cooling seasons has expanded the baseline data available for interpretation of measurements from building investigations. With suggested refinements, the BASE protocol may serve as a guide for future studies of bioaerosol concentrations, building characteristics, and occupant perceptions of the indoor environment.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed2002

Clues from wildlife to create an assay for thyroid system disruption.

In 1996 the U.S. Congress charged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a screening program to test chemicals for their possible estrogenic and other endocrine effects. Shortly thereafter, the Chemical Guidelines Program of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Environmental Directorate organized a Task Force on Endocrine Disruption Testing and Assessment to coordinate development of internationally harmonized screening and testing protocols. Most of the research devoted to this effort has focused on detecting impaired estrogenicity, androgenicity, and/or steroidogenesis, with little progress toward developing assays to detect chemicals that might interfere with thyroid function. Despite the fact that wildlife biologists have been reporting abnormal thyroid gland development and unusual thyroid hormone (TH) and retinoid ratios in fish and birds since the early 1960s, few studies have demonstrated an association between an environmental contaminant and a particular health end point other than reduced reproductive success at the population level. This article is a review of the literature that specifically examines THs and their role in normal behavior and development in wildlife. It presents several studies that associated changes in the thyroid gland, TH concentrations, and behavior with contaminant exposure. The goal of this article is to provide fodder for the creation of simple screens to detect possible thyroid system agonists and antagonists.

Amphibians↗
PubMed2000

Winds of change: reducing transboundary air pollutants.

Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, persistent organic pollutants, particulate matter, and heavy metals---air pollutants once thought to be problems that could be solved locally, where the effects occur---are all currently being discussed in international forums. A spate of meetings and agreements in recent months has shown many international governments to be more willing than ever to try to limit the amount of their air pollution that drifts into other countries. Prompting this policy shift are increasing emissions in some parts of the world, better monitoring, and an improved understanding of air pollution transport and the effects of air pollution. In most regions of the world, however, no international agreements on air pollution exist at all, while in others, many overlapping local, multilateral, and global agreements address the problem simultaneously. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes nearly 3 million deaths per year, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that ground-level ozone causes damage to U.S. crops totaling $1-2 billion each year.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1997

Approaches to characterizing human health risks of exposure to fibers.

Naturally occurring and man-made (synthetic) fibers of respirable sizes are substances that have been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as priority substances for risk reduction and pollution prevention under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The health concern for respirable fibers is based on the link of occupational asbestos exposure and environmental erionite fiber exposure to the development of chronic respiratory diseases, including interstitial lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma in humans. There is also considerable laboratory evidence indicating that a variety of fibers of varying physical and chemical characteristics can elicit fibrogenic and carcinogenic effects in animals under certain exposure conditions. This paper discusses key scientific issues and major default assumptions and uncertainties pertaining to the risk assessment of inhaled fibers. This is followed by a description of the types of assessment performed by the U.S. EPA to support risk management actions of new fibers and existing fibers under TSCA. The scope and depth of these risk assessments, however, vary greatly depending on whether the substance under review is an existing or a new fiber, the purpose of the assessment, the availability of data, time, and resources, and the intended nature of regulatory action. In general, these risk assessments are of considerable uncertainty because health hazard and human exposure information is often incomplete for most fibers. Furthermore, how fibers cause diseases and what specific determinants are critical to fiber-induced toxicity and carcinogenicity are still not completely understood. Further research to improve our knowledge base in fiber toxicology and additional toxicity and exposure data gathering are needed to more accurately characterize the health risks of inhaled fibers.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1997

[Chemical accidents and catastrophes as a source of the greatest hazard to the environment and human health in Poland].

The author presents sources of the greatest chemical hazards to the environment in Poland, among which industry and transport occupy the first two places. The availability of data and information on chemical hazards to the environment and the human health are discussed. Legislation, organisation and competences of institutions designed to prevent and mitigate the outcomes of chemical disasters are outlined. It was found that in Poland a possible danger of chemical disasters with serious consequences for the people and environment does really exist. Certain industrial installations as well as road and railway transport belong to the major threats. Among chemicals, ammonia, chlorine, sulphur dioxide and phosgene are considered as most dangerous. In Poland the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry are legally responsible for prevention and mitigation of the outcomes of chemical disasters.

Disaster Planning↗
PubMed2006

Responsible development of nanotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment.

Emerging technologies, including nanotechnologies, affect the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of our world, often in ways that are entirely unanticipated. There is considerable effort underway to explore uses of nanomaterials in applications such as membrane separations, catalysis, adsorption, and analysis with the goal of better protecting environmental quality. Along with the growth of a nanochemistry industry there is also the need to consider impacts of nanomaterials on environment and human health.

Environment↗
PubMed1999

Environmental worry: a concept to explain differences in environmentally conscious behaviour?

The purpose of the present study was to determine the validity of a scale for measuring environmental worry. The environmental worry scale was used in a study with employees at three medium-sized companies in East Germany who were exposed to environmental problems (N = 74). Additionally, questionnaires were used to investigate the influence of environmental worry on environmentally conscious behaviour. The assumption was that a higher amount of environmental worry would induce a more careful use of resources. Furthermore, it was investigated which predicting factors may determine environmentally conscious behaviour. Following the Theory of Reasoned Action, we assessed attitude towards the environment, social identity, social norms, and environmentally conscious behaviour as well as environmental worry. Environmentally conscious behaviour was investigated as relating to avoidance of creating waste, separation of waste, environmental protection activities, saving of resources and use of toxic substances. The structure of factors determining the anxiety scale was confirmed; however, sex or age seemed to have no effects. A higher level of education correlated to less environmental worry in a significant way. A correlation between environmental worry and environmentally conscious behaviour could not be proven. However, the relationship between environmental worry, attitudes towards the environment, and social norms was significant. Our data suggest that for a modification of environmentally conscious behaviour, measures aimed at changing the social norm are more successful than those aimed at changing individual attitudes. Moreover, increased environmental worry does not seem to increase environmentally friendly behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The precautionary principle in environmental science.

Environmental scientists play a key role in society's responses to environmental problems, and many of the studies they perform are intended ultimately to affect policy. The precautionary principle, proposed as a new guideline in environmental decision making, has four central components: taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty; shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity; exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions; and increasing public participation in decision making. In this paper we examine the implications of the precautionary principle for environmental scientists, whose work often involves studying highly complex, poorly understood systems, while at the same time facing conflicting pressures from those who seek to balance economic growth and environmental protection. In this complicated and contested terrain, it is useful to examine the methodologies of science and to consider ways that, without compromising integrity and objectivity, research can be more or less helpful to those who would act with precaution. We argue that a shift to more precautionary policies creates opportunities and challenges for scientists to think differently about the ways they conduct studies and communicate results. There is a complicated feedback relation between the discoveries of science and the setting of policy. While maintaining their objectivity and focus on understanding the world, environmental scientists should be aware of the policy uses of their work and of their social responsibility to do science that protects human health and the environment. The precautionary principle highlights this tight, challenging linkage between science and policy.

Decision Making↗
PubMed2000

Calibration of sharp cut impactors for indoor and outdoor particle sampling.

A low-flow rate, sharp cut point inertial impaction sampler was developed in 1986 that has been widely used in PM exposure studies in the United States and several other countries. Although sold commercially as the MS&T Area Sampler, this sampler is widely referred to as the Harvard Impactor, since the initial use was at the Harvard School of Public Health. Impactor nozzles for this sampler have been designed and characterized for flows of 4, 10, 20, and 23 L/min and cut points of 1, 2, 5, and 10 microns. An improved method for determining the actual collecting efficiency curve was developed and used for the recent impactor calibrations reported here. It consists of placing a multiplet reduction impactor inline just downstream of the vibrating orifice aerosol generator to remove the multiplets, thus allowing only the singlet particle s to penetrate through to the impactor being calibrated This paper documents the techniques and results of recent nozzle calibrations for this sampler and compares it with other size-selective inertial impactors. In general, the impactors were found to have sharp cutoff characteristics. Particle interstage losses for all of the impactors were very low, with the exception of the 10-micron cut size 20 L/min impactor, which had greater losses due to the higher flow rate. All of the 2.5-micron cut nozzle laboratory calibrations compare favorably to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WINS-96 fine particle mass (PM2.5) impactor calibration data.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed2002

Metal pollutants and bioelements: retrospective of interactions between magnesium and toxic metals.

Protection from heavy metals is a problem that has not been solved in a satisfactory manner so far. Usage of complexing agents in therapy of exposed workers results in both favorable outcome and recognized adverse effects. In the field of environmental protection, they cannot be used in practice, meaning that the risk of escape of metal pollutant from factory premises and their attack on the environnement remains present. The age of chemistry ('Chemistry, key to better living') has led to potent development of industry producing, at the same time, major problems induced by diffusion of metal pollutants, the nightmare of our times, like Camus' 'Plague'. According to the available results, it remains to be answered whether magnesium may influence this important problem, i.e. is this approaches the issue justifiable?

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Environmental policy implementation in rural China: a case study of Yuhang, Zhejiang.

The rapid growth of rural enterprises has transformed the Chinese countryside. Although rural industrialisation has resulted in increased financial well-being, it has also contributed to decreased environmental quality. While China has strong environmental protection laws, this paper will demonstrate that they are not being effectively implemented in a rural region in Zhejiang Province. This is due to a number of social, political, and economic barriers that prevent agencies from effectively enforcing environmental policies and regulatory mechanisms. This paper investigates the implementation of China's environmental policies through a case study in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province. It demonstrates that the implementation of environmental impact assessment, discharge fees, and limited time treatment is limited by inadequate technology, low finances, limited human resources, poor public environmental awareness, faulty data, inferior agency reports, organizational conflict, relations based on guanxi, and low discharge fee prices.

China↗