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Veröffentlichung Use of sex ratio of bream (Abramis brama L.) as an indicator of endocrine effects: Results from the German Environmental Specimen Bank(2011)In field monitoring, sex ratio as an endpoint of possible endocrine effects at population level can only be recorded as the deviation from the natural sex ratio. Unfortunately, data on natural sex ratios of many species cannot be used to control for such effects. This also applies to bream (Abramis bramaL.), an important fish species in passive biomonitoring. Here we show that in natural bream populations the sex ratio decreases with increasing age. Age class specific correction coefficients were derived to eliminate age-dependency of the sex ratio.
Quelle: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X11000604Veröffentlichung Levels and predictors of urinary nickel concentrations of children in Germany: Results from the German Environmental Survey on children (GerES IV)(2013)Human biomonitoring of nickel has gained interest in environmental medicine due to its wide distribution in the environment and its allergenic potential. There are indications that the prevalence of nickel sensitization in children is increased by nickel exposure and that oral uptake of nickel can exacerbate nickel dermatitis in nickel-sensitive individuals. Urinary nickel measurement is a good indicator of exposure. However, data on nickel levels in urine of children are rare. For the first time, the German Environmental Survey on children (GerES IV) 2003-2006 provided representative data to describe the internal nickel exposure of children aged 3-14 years in Germany. Nickel was measured after enrichment in the organic phase of urine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction. Nickel levels (n = 1576) ranged from <0.5 to 15 ĆÊg/l. Geometric mean was 1.26 ĆÊg/l. Multivariate regression analysis showed that gender, age, socio-economic status, being overweighted, consumption of hazelnut spread, nuts, cereals, chocolate and urinary creatinine were significant predictors for urinary nickel excretion of children who do not smoke. 20.2% of the variance could be explained by these variables. With a contribution of 13.8% the urinary creatinine concentration was the most important predictor. No influence of nickel intake via drinking water and second hand smoke exposure was observed.Copyright ©2012 Published by Elsevier GmbH.Veröffentlichung Reference values for lead, cadmium and mercury in the blood of adults from the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo, Brazil(2013)Human biomonitoring is an important tool for the evaluation of environmental exposure to contaminants. The data that are obtained from these studies might be compared to appropriate referencevalues(RVs) in aspecific population. The RVs were derived from the rounded valuesof the upper limit of the 95th confidence interval of the 95th percentile for lead(Pb), cadmium(Cd) and mercury(Hg) in bloodfrom adultsin the metropolitanareaof SaoPaulo(MASP), Brazil to investigate the association between bloodmetals and sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Bloodsamples from 653 nonsmoking blood donors without occupational exposure to the studied metals were collected in 2006. Our evaluations distinguished ayounger group (18-39 years) and an older group (40-65 years). RVs in the younger group were 60 Ţg Pb/L and 4 Ţg Hg/L for men and 47 Ţg Pb/L and 4 Ţg Hg/L for women. RVs in the older group were 80 Ţg Pb/L and 5 Ţg Hg/L for men and 63 Ţg Pb/L and 6 Ţg Hg/L for women. The RV for Cd was 0.6 Ţg/L for adultsaged 18-65 years. Pb and Cd levels demonstrated asignificant association with sex and age. Male blood contained 50% more Pb, and the older group exhibited 23% more Pb. Fish consumption and amalgam fillings were primarily related to Hg levels. RVs for lead were similar to the Czech Republic and Germany but higher than the US population. The RV for Cd in Brazil was well below the RVs of these countries. The RVs for Hg in Brazil were similar to the US but higher than Germany and the Czech Republic.Copyright ©2012 Elsevier GmbH.Veröffentlichung Ancient history of flatfish research(2013) Bennema, Floris Pieter; Berghahn, RüdigerOwing to both their special appearance and behavior flatfish have attracted the special attention of people since ages. The first records of humans having been in touch with flatfish date back to the Stone Age about 15,000 years B.C. Detailed descriptions were already given in the classical antiquity and were taken up 1400 years later in the Renaissance by the first ichthyologists, encyclopédists, and also by practical men. This was more than 200 years before a number of common flatfish species were given their scientific names by Linnaeus in 1758. Besides morphology, remarkable and sometimes amusing naturalistic observations and figures are bequeathed. Ancient history of flatfish research is still a wide and open array. Examples are presented how the yield of information and interpretation from these times increases with interdisciplinary cooperation including archeologists, zoologists, ichthyologists, historians, art historians, fisheries and fishery biologist. The timeline of this contribution ends with the start of modern fishery research at the end of the 19th century in the course of the rapidly increasing exploitation of fish stocks. Quelle: http://www.sciencedirect.comVeröffentlichung Economic benefits of methylmercury exposure control in Europe: Monetary value of neurotoxicity prevention(2013)ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Due to global mercury pollution and the adverse health effects of prenatal exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), an assessment of the economic benefits of prevented developmental neurotoxicity is necessary for any cost-benefit analysis.METHODS:
Distributions of hair-Hg concentrations among women of reproductive age were obtained from the DEMOCOPHES project (1,875 subjects in 17 countries) and literature data (6,820 subjects from 8 countries). The exposures were assumed to comply with log-normal distributions. Neurotoxicity effects were estimated from a linear dose-response function with a slope of 0.465 Intelligence Quotient (IQ) point reduction per mug/g increase in the maternal hair-Hg concentration during pregnancy, assuming no deficits below a hair-Hg limit of 0.58 mug/g thought to be safe. A logarithmic IQ response was used in sensitivity analyses. The estimated IQ benefit cost was based on lifetime income, adjusted for purchasing power parity.RESULTS:
The hair-mercury concentrations were the highest in Southern Europe and lowest in Eastern Europe. The results suggest that, within the EU, more than 1.8 million children are born every year with MeHg exposures above the limit of 0.58 mug/g, and about 200,000 births exceed a higher limit of 2.5 mug/g proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The total annual benefits of exposure prevention within the EU were estimated at more than 600,000 IQ points per year, corresponding to a total economic benefit between [euro sign]8,000 million and [euro sign]9,000 million per year. About four-fold higher values were obtained when using the logarithmic response function, while adjustment for productivity resulted in slightly lower total benefits. These calculations do not include the less tangible advantages of protecting brain development against neurotoxicity or any other adverse effects.CONCLUSIONS:
These estimates document that efforts to combat mercury pollution and to reduce MeHg exposures will have very substantial economic benefits in Europe, mainly in southern countries. Some data may not be entirely representative, some countries were not covered, and anticipated changes in mercury pollution all suggest a need for extended biomonitoring of human MeHg exposure.
Quelle: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23289875Veröffentlichung Construction Noise(2013) Irmer, Volker; Böhm, Achim; Strachotta, Olaf-TobiasConstruction is, as one of the more meaningful tasks of mankind, indeed of a positive nature. With the growth of the world population (approximately 2 billion in 1950 to already 6 billion in 2000), construction activities will increase as well and so will the number of persons being affected by noise and vibration. Quelle: http://link.springer.comVeröffentlichung Urban noise protection(2013) Jäcker-Cüppers, MichaelNoise belongs to the severest environmental impairments in towns, with road traffic being the most annoying noise source. The reduction of these impairments and the precaution against new noise impacts is an important task of the communities. However, many of the potential abatement measures are not in the responsibility of the communities. In most European countries, noise emission regulations for road and rail vehicles and outdoor machinery are nowadays enforced by the European Union. Noise reception limits are generally enforced by national laws. Therefore, efficient noise abatement in towns has to be coordinated with the regional, national and supranational, i.e. European noise policy. The most important fields of action for the urban noise abatement are the roads, railways and airports with heavy traffic. For the avoidance of health risks due to noise here short-term reductions are needed, which can generally be achieved only by a combination of measures for which different stakeholders are responsible. This underlines the importance of integrated and coordinated noise abatement concepts. Quelle: http://link.springer.comVeröffentlichung Sediment toxicity testing for prospective risk assessment ̶ a new framework and how to establish it(2013)There is a recognized need to design a new framework for sediment toxicity testing that meets current scientific standards and regulatory requirements, such as reliable assessment of toxicity, which prevents any harmful effects on biodiversity, a strong capability to predict population- and community-level effects, and applicability of the results to decision-making. We propose a new framework for prospective sediment toxicity testing, and suggest solutions to the key methodological challenges that hinder establishment of this framework (comparison of sensitivities, design of test batteries, consideration of different exposure routes, extrapolations to population and community levels, use of test results for decision-making). The proposed framework consists of the following three units: test-battery system, higher-tier testing systems and additional ecological modeling, and a decision support system. The key methodologies proposed to establish this framework are compound-tailored test-battery use approach, relative sensitivity distribution analysis, toxicity tests that combine bacteria and arthropods, micro- and mesocosms studies, population and community models, and model-driven decision support systems. The proposed framework, as well as the key methods mentioned above, has the potential to improve not only prospective toxicity testing for sediments, but also ecological risk assessment in general. Quelle: http://www.tandfonline.comVeröffentlichung Der Weg des Weichmachers(2013) Deutschland. Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit; Conrad, André; Heinemeyer, GerhardVeröffentlichung Retrospective study of triclosan and methyl-triclosan residues in fish and suspended particulate matter: Results from the German Environmental Specimen Bank(2013)A retrospective monitoring of triclosan (TCS; period 1994-2003 and 2008) and its potential transformation product methyl-triclosan (MTCS; period 1994-2008) was performed using archived fish samples from German rivers (16 sites,including Elbe and Rhine). At four of these sites suspended particulate matter (SPM) was also investigated covering the period 2005-2007. Samples were analyzed by GC/MS, either directly (MTCS) or after derivatization (TCS). TCS burdens of fish muscle tissue ranged from <0.2-3.4 ng g-1 ww (wet weight; corresponding to <2-69 ng g-1 lw, lipid weight) without apparent concentration trends over time. MTCS was detected at considerably higher concentrations in fish ranging from 1.0-33 ng g-1 ww (47-1010 ng g-1 lw) and increased until about 2003-2005. Thereafter, concentrations generally were lower, although at some sites single higher values were observed in recent years. In SPM, decreasing MTCS concentrations in the range 1-4 ng g-1dry weight were detected while TCS was always below the limit of quantification. Assuming that MTCS concentrations are correlated to TCS consumption, the observed decrease in MTCS levels may be partly a result of the voluntary renunciation of TCS use in detergents for, e.g., laundry ordishwashing declared by a manufacturersĄf association in 2001. Because of a lack of ecotoxicity studies for MTCS, a QSAR-derived predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) was compared to averaged ambient water concentrations of fish which were calculated from maximum tissue residues by applying an appropriate bioconcentration factor from literature. Since these calculated water concentrations were below the PNEC it is assumed that MTCS alone poses no immediate risk to aquatic organism. The conversion to a PNEC for SPM organisms and comparison with detected SPM levels of MTCS also revealed no risk.Quelle: http://www.sciencedirect.com