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Wrong site for Japanese labs.
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Earthquakes and building design: a primer for the laboratory animal professional.
Earthquakes can occur in most regions of the United States, so it might be necessary to reinforce vulnerable animal facilities to better protect research animals during these unpredictable events. A risk analysis should include an evaluation of the seismic hazard risk at the proposed building site balanced against the estimated consequences of losses. Risk analysis can help in better justifying and recommending to building owners the costs of incorporating additional seismic reinforcements. The planning team needs to specify the level of post-earthquake building function that is desired in the facility, and then design the facility to it.
[10-year PCB Guideline--attempt to balance hygienic and medical/environmental-toxicological views].
PURPOSE: In 1995 a guideline was established in Germany, which requires the remediation of buildings with elevated indoor air concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). The action limit is 3000 ng/m(3). The tolerable PCB indoor air concentration is 300 ng/m(3). The aim of remediation actions is to reduce PCB in indoor air to levels < 300 ng/m(3) by removing the sources of PCB in buildings (mainly sealants, ceiling plates, wall colours). Based on this guideline a great number of school buildings, university buildings and administration buildings constructed in the 1960-ties and 1970-ties were renovated. In this paper, the toxicological basis of the aforementioned guide values are discussed. Furthermore, recent papers and proposals to establish lower guideline values for PCB in indoor air are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: The existing PCB guideline should be revised. When revising the guide values for PCB in indoor air it should be kept in mind that human PCB exposure is mainly via food, that PCB intake via food has been declining since more than 20 years, and that there is only a minor increase of PCB blood levels following inhalation of PCB in indoor air. In public discussions it should be clearly stated that remediation of PCB contaminated buildings is a preventive action. PCB concentrations in indoor air, which are associated with significant health risks, are presumably much higher than the current action value.
Facility planning and development in Latin America.
Since the mid-1980s, the author has been involved in the development of healthcare facilities in the Caribbean and Latin America. This article highlights his experiences to date and provides insights relative to the many challenges U.S. developers and contractors might encounter when exporting U.S. healthcare expertise to Caribbean and Latin American countries.
Effect of prolonged radiation exposure on the thyroid gland of residents living in 60Co-contaminated rebar buildings.
PURPOSE: To evaluate prolonged low dose-rate gamma-exposure effects on the thyroid glands of residents living in 60Co-contaminated steel buildings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Physical examination and ultrasonography of the thyroid, determination of thyroid function and anti-thyroid microsomal antibodies were performed for 1346 residents. Ultrasound-guided aspiration cytology was done for thyroid nodules. The study subjects were stratified by age at examination (< or = 15 and > 15 years), sex and exposure dose to the body. Dose-response data on the prevalence of various thyroid diseases were analysed by the multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of simple goitre was related to the exposure with a dose-response relationship for males of all ages, and for females of < or = 15 years. There was a biological gradient of thyroid cyst prevalence with the increase in exposure dose for females of all ages. The prevalence of elevated serum tri-iodothyronine level showed a dose-response relationship for males of < or = 15 years. A significant increase in thyroid abnormalities with dose was observed for males of all ages, and for females of < or = 15 years.
Airborne asbestos concentrations in buildings.
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Deaths and injuries due to the earthquake in Armenia: a cohort approach.
BACKGROUND: This is the first population-based study of earthquake injuries and deaths that uses a cohort approach to identify factors of high risk. As part of a special project that collected data about the population in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Northern Armenia on 7 December 1988, employees of the Ministry of Health working in the earthquake zone on 7 December 1988, and their families, were studied as a cohort to assess the short and long term impact of the disaster. The current analysis assesses short term outcomes of injuries and deaths as a direct result of the earthquake. METHODS: From an unduplicated list of 9017 employees, it was possible to contact and interview 7016 employees or their families over a period extending from April 1990 to December 1992. The current analysis presents the determinants of 831 deaths and 1454 injuries that resulted directly from the earthquake in our study population of 32,743 people (employees and their families). RESULTS: Geographical location, being inside a building during the earthquake, height of the building, and location within the upper floors of the building were risk factors for injury and death in the univariate analyses. However, multivariate analyses, using different models, revealed that being in the Spitak region (odds ratio [OR] = 80.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 55.5-118.1) and in the city of Gumri (OR = 30.7, 95% CI: 21.4-44.2) and inside a building at the moment of the earthquake (OR = 10.1, 95% CI: 6.5-15.9) were the strongest predictors for death. Although of smaller magnitude, the same factors had significant OR for injuries. Building height was more important as a factor in predicting death than the location of the individual on various floors of the building except for being on the ground floor of the building which was protective. CONCLUSIONS: Considering that most of the high rise buildings destroyed in this earthquake were built using standard techniques, the most effective preventive effort for this disaster would have been appropriate structural approaches prior to the earthquake.
Electrical safety revisited: a new wrinkle.
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Minimum standards for circuitry and outlets in ICUs.
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Your new critical care unit: coping with construction.
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Shielding hospital rooms for brachytherapy patients: design, regulatory and cost/benefit factors.
The current regulations of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) normally require limitation of radiation exposure in any part of unrestricted occupied areas to 2 mrem in any one hour and to 100 mrem in 7 days. To meet these limits when patients are treated therapeutically with radioactive materials, it is advisable to designate specific rooms in a hospital and often necessary to incorporate substantial costly shielding into one or more walls and the room door. Plans have been formulated for shielding existing hospital rooms housing brachytherapy patients receiving 192Ir and 137Cs therapy in order to meet the above NRC requirements for adjacent corridors and rooms. Typical shielding thicknesses required are 4-6 in. of concrete for certain walls and 1/4 in. of lead in the doors. Shielding costs are approx. $6000 per room for one shielded wall and a shielded door. Applying recent estimates of the cancer risk from low-level gamma radiation, the cost of shielding per cancer fatality averted has been estimated to range from $1.8 million to $10.9 million. Cost/benefit comparisons with many other life-saving activities suggest that these costs and the application of the 2 mrem/hr limit which necessitated them are not justified.
Effect of partition walls and neighboring buildings on the indoor exposure rate due to cosmic-ray muons.
Numerical calculations were done of the indoor exposure rate due to the cosmic rays. Only muons were considered, and the calculations were done within a two-dimensional framework under the non-scattering approximation. The effects of various structural parameters on the level and the distribution of the exposure rate were studied by a case control method. It was shown that a building's dimensions and the floor thickness were important in all cases. However, the effect of partition walls would become significant only when the partition number is large. The effect of neighboring buildings would be especially important in the lower floors of tall buildings. In such a case, attention is necessary not only to the buildings' internal structures but also to the relationship between that particular building and its neighborhood. The maximum amplitude of the possible variation of the exposure rate due to the change of any single structural parameter would be 30% in ordinary Japanese housing conditions.
Primary shielding barriers for diagnostic x-ray facilities: a new model.
Traditional methods of diagnostic x-ray shielding design assume that the raw primary beam impinges directly on the structural barrier with attenuation by the patient and by the hardware in the x-ray beam (cassette, cassette holder, x-ray table) being ignored. Moreover, primary barrier calculations are done assuming a single, conservatively high value of the operating potential, rather than the lower kVp values more representative of clinical usage. This results in extreme conservatism, which is no longer defensible in light of the lowered dose limit to a member of the general public of 1 mSv y-1, which is equal in magnitude to natural background radiation (excluding radon). A shielding model is developed that accounts for attenuation of the primary beam prior to impinging on the structural barrier and which uses a workload which is distributed over a range of clinically realistic operating potentials. The resulting model is as simple to use as that, assuming a single value of the kVp. Sample calculations are performed and the results compared to those from more traditional shielding calculation methods.
Radon reduction systems in the construction of new houses in Gainesville, Florida.
High radon level exposures increase human risk of lung cancer. The objective of this paper is to present the results of the effectiveness of applying the Enkavent mat method and the suction pit method; as tested by a University of Florida research team; to reduce radon entry in new houses built in the city of Gainesville and the surrounding Alachua County area in Florida. Both of these passive techniques include placement of a barrier under the concrete floor slab right on top of the soil at the new building sites. Passive and active techniques applied in the construction of new houses reduced radon levels to below the minimum requirements of 148 Bq m(-3) (4 pCi L(-1)). The mitigation systems investigated in this research were adopted by the Florida Legislature to become part of the new building construction code in Florida.
Radon action level for high-rise buildings.
Radon and its progeny are the major contributors to the natural radiation dose received by human beings. Many countries and radiological authorities have recommended radon action levels to limit the indoor radon concentrations and, hence, the annual doses to the general public. Since the sources of indoor radon and the methods for reducing its concentration are different for different types of buildings, social and economic factors have to be considered when setting the action level. But so far no action levels are specifically recommended for cities that have dwellings and offices all housed in high-rise buildings. In this study, an optimization approach was used to determine an action level for high-rise buildings based on data obtained through previous territory-wide radon surveys. A protection cost of HK$0.044 per unit fresh air change rate per unit volume and a detriment cost of HK$120,000 per person-Sv were used, which gave a minimum total cost at an action level of 200 Bq m(-3). The optimization analyses were repeated for different simulated radon distributions and living environment, which resulted in quite significantly different action levels. Finally, an action level of 200 Bq m(-3) was recommended for existing buildings and 150 Bq m(-3) for newly built buildings.
Protecting infants in healthcare facilities from abduction: a facility's search for a sound infant security system.
Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, a 279-bed facility, had an electronic infant security system frequently in need of repairs. The vendor became increasingly difficult to locate, and so the decision was made to replace the system. A literature search of vendors and agencies supporting hospitals in the prevention of infant abductions; solicitation of information from facilities experiencing abductions; and onsite tours of facilities were most beneficial in determining a new system. As a result, the facility purchased a state-of-the-art infant security system and agreed to participate as a beta site for mother-baby recognition identification bands, an added security feature not yet on the market. This article describes the process of evaluating and selecting an infant security system in order to reduce the risk of infant abduction.
War zone paediatrics in Rwanda.
Children are particularly vulnerable to injury and death in two types of 20th century conflicts; terrorist attack and civil war. This account describes some first-hand experiences of the aftermath of the Rwandan Civil War of 1994. Events leading to the conflict are described, eye witness accounts of child trauma during the war are recorded and the medical problems (currently ongoing) affecting children are described. Over a period of 3 months from April to June 1994, between half and one million Rwandese, a significant proportion of them women and children, were murdered in brutal hand-to-hand killing, dying from close-quarter gunshot and machete slaughter. Nearly half of the population became refugees in neighbouring countries or displaced persons in their own land. UNAMIR II, the United Nations Emergency Humanitarian Response, grew to some 7000 persons by May 1995. Medical aid was provided by emergency medical contingents from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the latter through its Australian Medical Support Force, providing the definitive emergency medical infrastructure from August 1994. In the consequent post-war civil and social disruption, children suffered from burns, cholera and from motor vehicle trauma. Ongoing landmine blasts continue to affect children and adolescents especially. A new International humanitarian code to build a time-expiry device into landmines and other similar ordinance is urgently required as the post-conflict ongoing disasters in Rwanda, Afghanistan and Cambodia illustrate. Current problems affecting children include an increasing risk of HIV infection, trauma and the special humanitarian needs of thousands of orphans.