摘要:

The invisible pollutant health effects of EMFs As we move towards an ``information society'' electrical appliances are becoming an essential part of our everyday lives. these devices bath us in electromagnetic Æelds (EMFs) the risks of which are relatively unknown. recent research suggests chemical processes could provide an important missing link between EMFs and cancer. Electromagnetic Æelds are a natural phenomenon. For millions of years the human race has evolved in the presence of a static geomagnetic Æeld thought to be produced by electrical currents Øowing deep within the Earth's molten core. Thunderstorms are also a familiar cause of strong electric Æelds. Since the introduction of public electricity supplies in the late 19th century we have also lived increasingly with man-made alternating EMFs from electrical technologies.This trend has accelerated sharply since 1950 as we have surrounded ourselves with the electrically driven conveniences of modern life. For most of the last century alternating EMFs have been regarded as harmless. Only now are we beginning to investigate their long-term effects. The Ærst warning shot came in 1979 Box 1 Measuring electromagnetic Æelds Magnetic Æeld strength is measured in Gauss (G). A typical modern home has a background Æeld level (away from any appliances) of between 0.5 mG and 4 mG with an average value of 0.9 mG. Most ordinary electrical appliances produce higher localised magnetic Æelds. In epidemiological studies a level of 2 or 3 mG is sometimes used as a threshold level of EMF exposure.Below this level subjects are considered ``unexposed'' (beyond the normal background) and above they are considered ``exposed''. Some studies have found increased risk using this assumption but others have found no such association. There is no scientiÆc basis for the 2 mG level as a safety threshold. Measurement of total magnetic Æeld requires readings in each of the three spatial axes (X,Y,Z). Total Æeld strength is the square root of the sum of the squares of the linear readings. For example readings of X~2 mG Y~1 mG Z~0.5 mG gives a total Æeld strength of Other units sometimes used to express magnetic Æeld strength are Tesla (T) and milliamps per metre (mA m21) Electric Æeld strength is measured in volts per metre (V m21).The electric Æeld directly under a high-voltage power line can be around 11 kV m21 near ground level. In the home the major sources of electric Æeld are appliances and house wiring. Adapted from A survey of low frequency electromagnetic radiation G.S. Lechter Technology Alternatives Corporation 1994 This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000 with the publication of a study by Wertheimer and Leeper showing an apparent association between cases of childhood cancer and proximity to high voltage power lines in Denver Colorado.1 Since then numerous studies have analysed possible associations between power lines and various forms of cancer and other diseases. Of these many have reported positive associations including statistically signiÆcant associations with childhood leukaemia.Associations have also been observed between various cancers and occupational exposures to EMFs. Association is not the same as causation however and for the timebeing regulatory authorities remain unconvinced. The ofÆcial position in both Europe and the US is that EMFs do not pose a health risk–either for the general population or for workers. Rather than step up their efforts in the US at least regulators are actually scaling down research into the possible health effects of EMFs.2 Invisible forces All electrical circuits and equipment emit magnetic and electric Æelds.1,3 The electric Æeld is proportional to the line voltage while the magnetic Æeld depends H(2|2)z(1|1)z(0:5|0:5)~H5:25~2:3 mG 1 T~10; 000 G So 1 mG~0:1 mT or 100 nT 1 mG~80 mA m{1 Focus on the load current (see Box 1).While electric Æelds are easily shielded or weakened by conducting objects (such as trees buildings or human skin) magnetic Æelds are not. Power systems operate in the extremely low frequency (ELF range) typically 50 or 60 Hz. Unlike high frequency radiation such as microwaves and X-rays these EMFs have very low energy levels that do not cause heating or ionisation and so have not been considered as harmful biologically. Mains power lines used in modern electricity networks carry both high current and high voltage and therefore give off both high electric and high magnetic Æelds.The ELF magnetic Æeld directly underneath a 500 kV transmission line can be as high as several hundred milligauss (mG) and is still detectable more than 300 m away.3 Similar Æelds arise all the way along the distribution network from substations through neighbourhood transformers to household and ofÆce wiring. Within the home sources of EMF are increasing dramatically as the number of electrical appliances increases. The commonest include televisions computer CRT screens and microwave ovens. CRTs are of particular concern given the huge take- 23N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 Focus up of personal computers. The very low frequency (VLF) Æelds (in the 15± 85 kHz range) found in CRTs carry much more energy than equivalent ELFs.3 Even seemingly innocuous equipment can emit surprisingly high levels.Electric razors for example have magnetic Æeld strengths as high as 200±400 mG at 2 cm from the cutting edge. A 1600 W hair dryer will produce 100±200 mG near the handle and 10± 50 mG at normal drying distances (15± 40 cm). Fluorescent lights have a Æeld strength of 1.7 mG at a distance of 60 cm (equivalent to a low-ceiling room). This all compares to background levels of around 1 mG and an assumed threshold of 2 mG in cancer studies (see Box 1). Health effects Although ionising radiation such as Xrays and gamma rays has been studied for many years it is only within the last twenty years that attention has turned to the health effects of non-ionising radiation.In their landmark study published in 1979 Dr. Nancy Wertheimer and Ed Leeper found that children who had died from cancer were 2±3 times more likely to have lived within 40 m of a high-current power line than the other children studied.1 They identiÆed magnetic Æelds as a possible contributing factor. Follow-on studies in Denver and Los Angeles also found associations between childhood cancer and power lines although neither was statistically signiÆcant for the magnetic Æelds measured in the home. Other evidence has come from studies undertaken in Mexico Denmark and Finland.4 Some of the most inØuential work in this Æeld has been undertaken in Sweden.1 In a 1992 study Swedish researchers found that relative risk of leukaemia increased by nearly threefold for children living within 50 m of a transmission line.The risk increased progressively with increasing Æeld strength for the calculated average annual 50 Hz Æeld. Adults with the highest cumulative exposures to powerline EMFs had twice the risk of developing acute or chronic myeloid leukaemia. This was one of the few studies to attempt to link cancers to magnetic Æeld levels at the time the cancers were diagnosed. However the actual number of cancer cases was small and no association was seen at Æeld levels typically experienced in the home. 24N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 Another important contribution was published by the US National Cancer Institute in 1997.5 This too used Æeld levels measured within two years of diagnosis.Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine the team led by epidemiologist Martha Linet found that the results ``provide little support of the hypothesis that living in homes with high time-weighted average magnetic Æeld levels or in homes close to electrical transmission lines is related to the risk of childhood ALL (acute lymphocytic leukaemia)''. They concluded however ``We cannot exclude the possibility of a small increase in risk among children in homes with very high magnetic Æelds as suggested in studies using historical estimates of residential magnetic Æeld exposure (the Scandinavian studies)''. In addition to epidemiological studies other research has focused on the biological consequences of EMF exposure.6 If EMFs do have adverse effects on health scientists assume there must be an interaction at cellular level.This should lead to cell dysfunction which in turn leads to an effect on the whole organism. A wide range of potential mechanisms have been investigated. In all cases biological effects attributable to EMFs have been small and difÆcult to reproduce. One theory is that EMFs induce vibration of cell walls causing them to resonate in a way that disrupts energy and calcium Øows.6 Calcium is considered to play an important role in regulating certain body functions including cell division and ability to Æght cancer. Another theory is that EMFs disturb the melatonin system a hormone thought to slow the growth of some cancer cells.Reductions in melatonin levels in rats and hamsters have been reported in laboratory experiments but Æeld studies of sheep and humans exposed to EMFs have failed to Ænd similar effects. Into the mainstream EMFs only started to permeate the public consciousness about ten years ago. In June 1989 Paul Brodeur a wellrespected environmental journalist published a series of lengthy articles in the New Yorker Magazine drawing attention to the increasing body of scientiÆc evidence on the health effects of EMFs.3 The issue continued to gain momentum throughout 1990 and 1991 with a series of high proÆle reports in the US media. Spurred on by public concern in 1992 Congress authorised a concerted multitrack research programme to replace the piecemeal research being undertaken by the EPA and the electricity industry.7 The Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination (EMF±RAPID) Program was established under the 1992 Energy Policy Act to develop a comprehensive research programme and inform the public of EMF risks.The Program was managed jointly by the Department of Energy responsible for technology development and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) responsible for evaluating health effects. California also took an early lead. In 1993 the state set up the California Electric and Magnetic Fields Program funded by mandatory support from the electrical utilities.8 In addition to research and policy analysis the program provides education and technical assistance to the state government businesses and the public on possible health effects of EMFs.The Program is currently undertaking a unique epidemiological study of the EMF exposure of 1000 pregnant women to investigate any potential link in miscarriage. Guidelines have been developed for risk evaluation and a major report on policy options in the light of current knowledge of health effects was due as JEM went to press. At an international level the World Health Organisation (WHO) has emerged as the lead agency in EMF research. Its International EMF Project launched in 1997 aims to ``Ænally resolve the widespread concerns about possible health effects from EMF exposure'' by 2002.9 WHO supports scientiÆc reviews and develops protocols and methodologies for research and risk assessments.Research priorities for low-frequency EMF focus on childhood leukaemia breast cancer and diseases of the central nervous system. Further research is being undertaken into possible associations between exposure to radio-frequency Æelds (300 Hz to 300 GHz) for brain and other head cancers leukaemia and lymphoma and other health effects such as headaches skin rashes and dizziness. Cause and effect The US EMF±RAPID Program completed its congressional mandate at the end of 1998. In its Ænal report presented in June 1999 NIEHS concluded that ``the scientiÆc evidence suggesting that ELF±EMF exposures pose any health risk is weak''.7 The strongest evidence according to the institute is for childhood leukaemia and for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in occupationally exposed adults.While evidence from individual studies is weak say the scientists ``the epidemiological studies demonstrate for some methods of measuring exposure a fairly consistent pattern of small increased risk with increasing exposure''. This assessment the report points out is not supported by laboratory studies. Most of the evidence from animal and human toxicology and from cell mechanics has failed to demonstrate consistent biological effects from EMF exposure. Thus while human epidemiology data suggest an apparent trend albeit rather weak laboratory studies fail to show cause and effect.The Ændings could just as easily be explained by some other as yet unidentiÆed factor or common source of error. ``The lack of consistent positive Ændings in animal and mechanistic studies'' concludes NIEHS ``weakens the belief that this association is actually due to ELF± EMF but it cannot completely discount the epidemiological Ændings''. The corollary for NIEHS is that the scientiÆc evidence ``is insufÆcient to warrant aggressive regulatory concern''. Policy-makers have interpreted this as meaning the issue does not warrant further scientiÆc concern either. With the conclusion of EMF±RAPID Federal efforts on EMF research have been scaled back signiÆcantly and the focus of research activity has now shifted to Europe.Two signiÆcant contributions to the debate emerged in the UK late last year. As part of the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS) scientists at Cambridge University examined EMFs as one of a number of factors that might be implicated in childhood cancers.10 The largest of its kind ever performed in the UK the study tracked 2000 children under 14 with a malignant disorder and made EM Æeld measurements in their bedrooms and homes. The central hypothesis was that children with an average exposure of more than 0.2 mT (2 mG) in the year before diagnosis would be at increased risk of childhood leukaemia and cancers of the central nervous system.For both these diseases the study found the adjusted odds ratios to be less than 1 indicating no association between exposure and disease. The reports' authors and the electricity industry trumpeted the study as providing ``no link'' between power lines and childhood cancer.11 But the Ændings soon ran into controversy. Scientists at the University of Bristol contend that the UKCCS results are not so clear cut.12 Although there is no evidence for a link for time-averaged magnetic Æelds below 4 mG some of the data tells a different story. One table in the UKCCS paper lists 31 cases and 17 controls who lived near power lines for which historical EM data were available. Children with leukaemia were almost twice as likely as controls to live near one of these lines–a statistically signiÆcant difference.The Bristol team has also published its own research which throws new light on the issue. Writing in the International Journal of Radiation Biology Professor Dennis Henshaw and colleagues argue that the presence of electromagnetic radiation causes increased deposition of small pollutant particles on the body and within the lungs.13,14 Henshaw says power lines create corona ions which can cause pollutant particles to become electrically charged. In the Bristol study around 20% of pollutant aerosols found at head height were charged in this way up to 500 m from high voltage lines. Other work by Henshaw has shown that EMFs increase deposition of radon decay products (polonium).US research has shown that charged particles will deposit more readily inside the lungs once inhaled. If these Ændings are correct then those living in the vicinity of high voltage power lines may have increased exposures both internal and external to pollutants such as particle aerosols and radon decay products already known to be linked to cancer. This deposition Henshaw claims could be the long sought for cancer mechanism associated with EMF. SpeciÆcally it might explain the apparent contradiction between epidemiological and laboratory studies. Rather than direct effects from EMFs at cellular level which cause cell dysfunction Henshaw's work suggests carcinogenicity is a result of increased concentrations of ``traditional'' chemical pollutants on charged surfaces (human tissue) within the non-uniform Æeld.In this scheme no direct cell-EMF interaction is necessary. In what could be seen as a rather Focus premature judgement the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) the UK's regulatory authority said it doubted the Bristol team's assertion that deposition mechanisms ``can be extrapolated to real health effects in children and in people generally'' while setting up its own investigation.15,16 The Electricity Association representing the UK electricity industry cited NRPB in claiming that Henshaw's work was ``Øawed'' and the suggestions on the deposition of radon daughter products ``do not appear to be plausible''.11 A research agenda So where are we headed in EMF research? In many respects the health effects of EMFs are as uncertain now as at any time over the last 20 years.Academic papers and policy reviews over recent years have failed to demonstrate a conclusive link between EMFs and cancer. But they have also failed to prove the contrary–absolutely no link. This inability to deny a direct association between apparently unconnected phenomena is itself worrying. If EMFs are deÆnitely not linked to cancer it ought to be very clear in the data. Instead we have a muddled picture in which as NIEHS noted some of the scientiÆc evidence at least suggests a possible link–by means we have yet to explain.The recent work from Bristol opens another line of enquiry; it also brings chemistry into the debate. EMF has long been a multi-disciplinary Æeld involving epidemiologists biologists statisticians physicists and most recently engineers. But no one has thought to ask the chemists or environmental analysts. The EMF±RAPID activities for example lacked expertise in chemistry or environmental monitoring. The notion that EMFs could reinforce traditional chemical pollution processes casts a whole new complexion on the issue and should be a spur for chemical analysts to take a keen interest. We have only just begun to understand the extent of EMF exposure often this turns up in surprising places. In 1997 for example Swedish researchers reported that steel-belted radial tyres can expose car passengers to EMFs as high as 50 mG.2 This is similar to the levels observed under power lines but had gone undetected because it occurs at a frequency (40 Hz) Æltered out 25N J.Environ. Monit. 2000 2 Focus by most measuring devices. Thus a commuter might have a higher exposure than a utility worker. A child chauffeured around by car might have a higher exposure than one living close to a power line. At the very least this result suggests ambiguities in the exposure of ``control'' populations cited in current studies. Another important measurement issue is in accounting for both electric and magnetic Æelds. Most attention to date has focused on the magnetic component.But work on occupational exposures suggests the risks increase signiÆcantly where there is exposure to both magnetic and electric Æelds (for example around heavy electrical machinery).1,2 Occupational groups have received relatively little attention in the EMF debate despite indications they have much higher cancer risks. Given current trends EMF exposure is bound to increase. As well as a proliferation of appliances powered by low-frequency mains electricity increasing use is being made of the microwave range of the EM spectrum. Most noticeably mobile phones which rely on microwave transmissions between masts and handsets are becoming widespread. This exposes large numbers of the population to sources of EM radiation not experienced before.But as yet data on exposure levels from either mobile phones or from base stations and potential health effects are even more patchy than that for lowfrequency Æelds. This aspect too calls for a concerted and systematic monitoring effort.17 26N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 Jury is still out With such an incomplete picture it seems prudent to keep an open mind on the possible effects of EMFs on human health. But many people driven by scientiÆc orthodoxy and commercial interests are in a hurry to reach a conclusion. The assurances from the electricity industry and from bodies such as NIEHS and NRPB that there is no need for concern seem ill-founded especially when laboratory and epidemiology studies show contradictory results.A society that relies so heavily on electrical power and increasingly on microwave-based communications has a responsibility to ensure that these technologies are safe. EMFs are ubiquitous yet we know less about them than many rarer chemical pollutants. The economic costs of reducing EMF exposures could be high. But so are the social costs of cancer and other diseases. We need a deeper understanding of the occurrence of EMFs in the environment and their interactions with chemical as well as biological systems. Environmental analysts need to be at the centre of that debate. References 1 Q&A About Electric and Magnetic Fields URL www.berk.com/ylessemf/ pamphlet.html 2 UnÆnished Business EMF research must continue Microwave News 1998.URL www.microwavenews.com/ emfresearch.html 3 A survey of low-frequency electromagnetic radiation G. S Lechter Technology Alternatives Corporation 1994. See www.milligauss.com/info.html 4 For reviews of recent scientiÆc literature see refs. 1 and 7. 5 M. Linet et al. in New Engl. J. Med. 1997 337(1). 6 J. Swanson D. Renew and N. Wilkinson Physics World 1996 November. 7 Health Effects from Exposure to Power- Line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Washington June 1999. NIH Publication No. 99-4493. URL www.niehs.gov 8 California Electric and Magnetic Fields Program. URL www.dnai.com/~emf/ 9 Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health The International EMF Project. Fact Sheet N181 May 1998. URL www.who.int 10 UK Childhood Cancer Investigators The Lancet 1999 354 1925. 11 Electricity Association Press Release 1st December 1999. URL www.electricity.org.uk 12 Microwave News January 2000. URL www.microwavenews.com 13 A. P. Fews D. L. Henshaw P. A. Keitch J. J. Close and R. J. Wilding Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 1999 75(12) 1505. 14 A. P. Fews D. L. Henshaw R. J. Wilding and P. A. Keitch Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 1999 75(12) 1523. 15 National Radiological Protection Board Press Release 3rd December 1999. PR17/ 99. 16 Response Statement Childhood Cancer and Power Lines National Radiological Protection Board 9th December 1999. URL www.nrpb.org.uk/R11-99.htm 17 In the UK an expert group is due to report by April 2000. See Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones URL www.iegmp.org.uk. Also Powerwatch URL www.powerwatch.org.uk Mike Sharpe

ISSN:0960-7919    

DOI:10.1039/b001744m

出版商:RSC    

年代:2000

数据来源: RSC

摘要:

Legislation Success for UN biosafety talks Around 130 countries have signed up to an international agreement governing trade in genetically modiÆed organisms. The deal reached in Montreal at the end of January succeeded in overcoming strong differences between participants and caught many by surprise. Earlier attempts to conclude the biosafety protocol had broken down amid acrimonious scenes between grain exporting countries and importers. Parties to the protocol will be required to notify all other parties when they approve new GM crops for domestic use. Exporters will have to label commodities as ``may contain'' GMOs. Although they will not be required to segregate GM crops automatically they are likely to Ænd themselves under increasing political and consumer pressure to do so.The protocol refers to the precautionary principle in decisions on trade in GM commodities and on release of GMOs to the environment. Parties will be entitled to invoke the principle if they wish to restrict GMO imports although these rights are strictly limited. Exporters will be able to take disputes to the World Trade Organisation where they feel import restrictions are not justiÆed scientiÆcally. A system of prior informed consent known as an advanced informed agreement (AIA) procedure is to be established for trade in GMOs to be released to the environment. The protocol will enter into force when ratiÆed by 50 parties to the 1992 UN treaty on biodiversity. UN Convention on Biological Diversity www.biodiv.org EU explains precaution principle The European Commission has set out its ideas for the use of the precautionary principle in environmental protection in a recent white paper.The Commission interprets the principle as applying to ``potentially dangerous effects deriving from a phenomenon product or process'' where scientiÆc evaluation makes it impossible This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000 to determine with sufÆcient certainty the risk involved. Whether or not to take action in such cases is a political decision which depends on society's views of acceptable risk the Commission says. Risk assessment should ``start with a scientiÆc evaluation as complete as possible and where possible identifying at each stage the degree of scientiÆc uncertainty''.Decisions on whether to act should then be taken on the basis of ``potential consequences of inaction and of the uncertainties'' and after the widest possible consultation. Actions should be ``proportional to the desired level of protection'' be ``consistent with measures adopted in similar circumstances'' and ``must not aim at zero-risk''. Reaction to the paper focused primarily around the central role placed on risk assessment. Industry said the obligations for structured risk assessments provided reassurance that the principle would not be used to ban products by circumventing traditional legislation. However Greenpeace said the reliance on risk assessment was a retrograde step citing an over-reliance on such assessments for what it said was a stiØing of current chemicals policy.The requirement for cost-beneÆt analysis created an in-built bias towards inaction according to Greenpeace. In a related move the American Chamber of Commerce called on the EU to make its environmental policies more coherent by extending risk assessment concepts already used in chemicals laws to other areas of environmental legislation such as air water waste and product policy. The Chamber said that EU policy focused too much on hazards rather than on risks citing the current negotiations on the water framework directive as an example (see later). As a result EU environmental laws were inefÆcient and erratically enforced.European Commission ``Communication on the Precautionary Principle'' www.europa.eu.int/comm; EU Committee American Chamber of Commerce ``Promoting Coherency A risk-based approach to environmental legislation'' www.eucommittee.be News Liability proposals Ænd few friends EU proposals imposing a strict liability regime for environmental damage have been severely criticised by both industrialists and environmental campaigners. Launching a long-awaited white paper in February EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstro»m said that the proposals will not harm business and that unlike US legislation liability would not be retrospective. The Commission plans to issue a draft directive by the middle of next year.Under the proposals the liability regime will cover all ``dangerous or potentially dangerous'' activities regulated by EU law. This will include use of agricultural pesticides and some instances of genetically modiÆed crop cultivation. More generally all processes discharging emissions of hazardous substances will also be included as well as non-dangerous activities affecting designated nature conservation sites. Operators will be strictly liable for the costs of cleaning up pollution; in other words they will have to pay whether or not they are at fault. As well as environmental damage ``signiÆcant'' damage to biodiversity is also covered. Contaminated sites will have to be cleaned up to the extent that they are ``Æt for actual use'' and subject to ``reasonable'' costs.Industrialists reacted angrily to the white paper saying the proposals lacked clarity would reduce competitiveness and lead to a wave of litigation. Their main criticism was the inclusion of damage to biodiversity. UNICE the European employers organisation said this would introduce risks that are unquantiÆable and uninsurable. It would be impossible to value the death of a Æsh or to determine who is responsible for the disappearance of a particular species of bird. Industry is also concerned that operating within permit regulations and complying fully with regulations will not be a defence and that the proposals give NGOs too much power. However NGOs too are unhappy.European Environmental Bureau said the Commission had left crucial 27N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 News questions unanswered and that the current proposals offered industry too many loopholes. The debate came as the Romanian cyanide spill again focused attention on who should pay for the environmental and health consequences of pollution incidents (see later). European Commission www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ liability/index.htm; UNICE www.unice.org Smog talks Canada and the United States have begun talks aimed at combating smog by reducing cross-border Øows of ozone and precursor pollutants. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy said the negotiations were ``an important step forward in dealing with a critical transboundary health and environmental problem.'' SpeciÆc measures will be set out in an ``Ozone Annex'' under the 1991 Air Quality Agreement between the two countries.Between 35±90% of the ozone in eastern Canada originates from emissions in the US Midwest and eastern seaboard. Modelling suggests existing US proposals would reduce ozone concentrations in southern Ontario by between 29% and 56%. The talks will commit both parties to implementing these and other measures as a means of improving air quality on both sides of the border. Environment Canada www.ec.gc.ca/ press/airqual_n_e.htm Portuguese to steer water directive Finalising the long-running negotiations on the draft Water Framework Directive is one of Portugal's main priorities for its six-month presidency of the EU which began on 1st January.The proposed directive is a key piece of EU environmental legislation Environmental quality Europe counts cost of Romanian spill The cyanide spill that devastated hundreds of kilometres of rivers in 28N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 replacing many earlier directives but is proving highly contentious. The European Parliament is insisting on a commitment to end releases of all hazardous substances into the marine environment by 2020. This mirrors a similar provision under the OSPAR convention in 1998. EU governments favour this as an aspiration but say it would be inappropriate to write into the legislation.The Parliament is also demanding a limit on temporary derogations and the introduction of mandatory full-cost water pricing. In its role as EU president Portugal will have to reconcile the Parliament's position with that of the EU member states. Other priorities for the Portuguese term include Ænding agreement on the proposed large combustion plants directive and preparations for the EU's inputs to a further round of UN climate change talks later in the year. Portuguese EU Presidency www.portugal.ue-2000.pt UK backtracks on air quality The UK government has relaxed its targets for Æne particulate pollution (PM10) which had been widely seen as over-ambitious. Launching a new national air quality strategy in January Environment Minister Michael Meacher said the UK government remained Ærmly committed to reducing air pollution but that the PM10 target would not be achieved ``even if we switched off every car in the country''.Of eight pollutants covered in the strategy targets are being strengthened for six while those for PM10 and ozone remain long term objectives. Targets for benzene 1,3-butadiene carbon monoxide and lead will have to be met earlier than previously planned. Lead limits will be made 50% tougher by 2008. The limit on nitrogen dioxide is being strengthened and a new objective introduced to protect ecosystems from sulfur dioxide. central and eastern Europe has again exposed serious shortcomings in Europe's handling of major pollution incidents.The spill on 30th January occurred Mr Meacher stressed further improvements in UK air quality were partly dependent on other EU countries especially for ozone and PM10. Friends of the Earth (FoE) said the DETR's 1999 Ægures showed deterioration rather than improvement with infringements in urban areas increasing by 20% over the previous year. FoE claimed that 1999 levels for particulates CO NOx SOx and ozone exceeded health standards in rural areas on average one day in eight and in urban areas on one day in 13. The National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA) said that unusual meteorological factors seemed to be to blame such as strong easterly winds from continental Europe.UK Department of Environment Transport and the Regions ``Working for Clean Air'' www.environment.detr.gov.uk/airquality/ index.htm; FoE www.foe.co.uk; NSCA www.greenchannel.com/nsca Congress considers water law A bill introduced to the US Congress aims to signiÆcantly reduce the funding needs for urban storm water management. The Urban Wet Weather Priorities Act introduced in February would require EPA to follow nationally consistent standards for combined sewer overØows sanitary sewer overØows and stormwater. Funding of $1 billion would be provided in the Ærst year to implement watershed management techniques with further grants to follow. According to industry group the Water Environment Federation total infrastructure needs in the US for wastewater over the next 20 years amount to around $330 billion of which $150 billion is in sewerage systems.Tighter national standards could reduce these costs signiÆcantly WEF says. Water Environment Federation www.wef.org when rain and melting snow breached lagoons at the Baia Mare gold mine in western Romania. Around 100,000 cubic metres of water escaped containing cyanide concentrations of around 120 parts per million–four times higher than Ærst indicated. Rivers throughout Romania Hungary and Serbia were contaminated killing hundreds of thousands of Æsh. Risks to human health have yet to be assessed. The European Commission criticised Romania for poor communications over the incident.It said it had only been informed of the accident 10 days later and by UNECE rather than the Romanian authorities. This severely impaired its ability to offer emergency response. As an applicant to the EU Romania is meant to aspire to high environmental standards. The accident came two years after a similar incident at the Donƒana national park in south-west Spain also involving toxic waste from the mining industry. Environmental groups said the lessons from that case had not been learned with the Commission still talking in terms of voluntary agreements with the mining industry rather than regulation. European Environment Agency www.eea.eu.int; UNECE www.unece.org; World Wide Fund for Nature www.panda.org; FOE Hungary www.zpok.hu/ƒjfeiler/baiamare Global indicators A single index of a country's environmental sustainability should be possible in the not too distance future according to business leaders.Launching a pilot index at the World Economic Forum in January Global Leaders for Tomorrow (GLT) an international group of executives and academics says that the environmental sustainability indicator should be as accessible a measure as GDP is for economic growth. However the group says a lack of available data ``drastically limits the ability of the world community to monitor the most basic pollution and resource trends''. The pilot index proÆles 50 countries and will be followed by a fuller analysis next year. The methodology used is similar to the pressure-state-response framework used by the European Environmental Agency amongst others but says GLT is more comprehensive in scope.The index has Æve components the health of environmental systems; stresses and risks imposed on environmental systems; the vulnerability of people and social systems to environmental disturbances; social and institutional capacities; and international cooperation in managing global environmental problems. World Economic Forum www.weforum.org Scientists ponder climate change Forests in temperate latitudes are expected to change considerably as a result of the greenhouse effect according to a recent study from Sweden. New vegetation models show the capacity for production and spreading regeneration and the ability to compete among trees in a warmer climate.Beech forests are likely to spread in southern and central parts of the country while spruce will move northwards and disappear in the south. Pine will become less widespread. Biological diversity could also be affected. Marianne Lilliesko» ld of Swedish EPA said that if true ``the calculated scenarios º will have a signiÆcant impact on both forestry and nature conservation''. The models assume a doubling of carbon dioxide levels leading to a rise in winter temperatures in central Sweden of 1±2 �C over the next 100 years. Global temperatures are expected to rise by 1± 3.5 �C by 2100. The biggest change is expected in northern latitudes although paradoxically rain and snowfall are also expected to increase in the north.The results came as meteorologists across the northern hemisphere reported another year of exceptional temperatures. In Canada 1999 was the third warmest year on record. Swedish EPA www.environ.se:8084/ Marine exhaust emissions Marine transport constitutes a huge and unregulated source of air pollution a recent study reveals. Emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from shipping in the Mediterranean and Black Seas are as high as for the whole of News France with SO2 three times higher than for shipping in the North Sea. Prepared by Lloyds Register for the European Commission this is the Ærst ever inventory of maritime emissions in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.It shows the two account for up to 90% of the total emissions for all shipping in the north-east Atlantic.ssions are highest on routes linking the straits of Gibraltar to the Suez canal and the Volga delta and on coastal routes around southern Europe. Regulation of maritime emissions is a grey area. While the EU can regulate in coastal waters once in international waters ships fall under the jurisdiction of the International Maritime Organisation which so far has resisted calls for improvements. European Commission ``Marine Exhaust Emissions QuantiÆcation Study Mediterranean Sea'' www.europa.eu.int/ comm Italians drive through trafÆc bans TrafÆc bans in Milan and other Italian cities have brought immediate beneÆts in air quality and prompted renewed calls for permanent trafÆc reduction measures.Restrictions were introduced over three days in January as a result of high levels of particulate pollution. All vehicles not Ætted with catalytic converters were banned for two days and on another occasion all privately owned vehicles were banned for a 12 h period. The effects on air quality were apparent almost immediately. In Milan particulate pollution reduced from an initial 170 mg m23 to 90 mg m23 after the two-day ban and 35 mg m23 after the 12 h blockade. Average annual particulate levels in many Italian cities are well above the 50 mg m23 limit set in an EU directive last year. Environmental groups said the experimental ban clearly showed trafÆc was a critical factor in air pollution and human health and that this should be the Ærst step towards more permanent restrictions.Italian Environment Ministry www.minambiente.it 29N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 News Chemical hazards US lobbies on POPs Tensions between the US and EU governments in developing a global treaty for toxic chemicals have been exposed in a paper leaked by the environmental group Greenpeace. The paper from the US State Department puts renewed pressure on EU countries to relax their demands for tough international controls on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) ahead of the next round of negotiations for a UN treaty [see JEM 1999 1 113N]. It says the talks are in danger of collapse unless the US and EU countries change tactics before the negotiations.The two parties need to heal their differences the memo says so that they can focus on drawing developing countries into a global POPs framework. The treaty looks set to ban ten POPs including pesticides such as dieldrin and DDT and industrial chemicals such as PCBs with certain exemptions. The EU is also supporting proposals to eliminate dioxins and furans by-products of industrial processes such as waste incineration. The two sides also disagree on the use of the precautionary principle and mechanisms for bringing further POPs under the treaty. Greenpeace www.greenpeace.org Rethink on phthalate tests In a remarkable about turn the European Commission has indicated renewed interest in a limit-based approach to regulating phthalate migration in children's toys less than three months after introducing an emergency ban [see JEM 2000 2 8N].Public and occupational health NTP consults on EDCs and toxics The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) is soliciting comments on a proposed peer review of studies on lowdose effects in endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The review will focus 30N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 In December the Commission received unanimous support from EU member states for a three-month ban on the use of phthalates in toys designed to be sucked by children under three. The emergency measure came after a prolonged debate within the EU which culminated in scientiÆc advice that current migration tests were not reliable.According to industry sources rather than make the ban permanent the Commission now sees agreed test methods for phthalate migration as the way forward. The European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates has dropped legal action against the Commission and is now discussing joint work to develop an ofÆcial test method. The move is understood to have the support of the EU's powerful Enterprise Directorate and Commission President Romano Prodi. The Consumer Safety Directorate responsible for the original ban will be less easily convinced. ECPI www.ecpi.org Danes implement MTBE controls Denmark will be the Ærst country in Europe to act against the fuel additive MTBE with a package of measures to reduce leakages from fuel Ælling stations.The move follows fears that increasing use of MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) risks contaminating groundwater the country's main source of drinking water. MTBE is an oxygenate used as a fuel additive for increasing octane levels in place of lead and aromatic hydrocarbons [see JEM 1999 1 94N]. on whether EDCs may cause effects at doses lower than tested using standard toxicological testing procedures. NTP is inviting nominations for reviewers as well as nominations for studies to be reviewed. Results from the peer review will be used by EPA's Endocrine Its use is set to increase sharply as a result of new fuel quality controls to be introduced by 2005.The measures costing around e134 m will be funded by industry under a voluntary agreement reached with the government last year. Danish EPA www.mst.dk UK abandons pesticide tax Concern for the economic state of Britain's farmers has forced the UK government to drop plans for a tax on use of pesticides. Announcing the move at a farming conference in February Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the environmental impact of pesticides would be reduced by a voluntary agreement instead. Proposals from the British Agrochemicals Association (BAA) prepared after the pesticides tax was Ærst Øoated a year ago are now back on the table. According to HM Treasury these will provide a basis for discussing ``a partnership approach''.The BAA package addresses environmental impacts effects on biodiversity and on water quality through a targeted research campaign improving information to farmers raising standards of advice and improving environmental awareness. Dr Anne Buckenham Director- General of the BAA said pesticide manufacturers welcomed the government's decision to drop the proposals which she said ``would be gravely damaging to the farming industry''. Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to determine how to address low-dose questions in EDC screening testing and hazard assessment. The Review Panel is scheduled to report by late July. In a separate exercise NTP is also inviting comments on toxicology studies for 12 candidates considered potentially harmful to health.Interested parties are encouraged to provide comments or supplementary information to NTP on the nominated substances and its recommended course of action. Of the 12 nominations reviewed at an inter-agency meeting in December six were recommended for further study in terms of metabolism toxicity and carcinogenicity. These were 1- bromopropane and 2-bromopropane; chitosan a dietary supplement; juglone an extract of walnuts; DNA-based products; potassium ferricyanide a photographic agent; and radiofrequency emissions from wireless communication devices. NTP is deferring a decision on testing requirements for four organic compounds ethylenebis(tetrabromophthalimide) terpinolene tetrabromophthalic anhydride and texanol benzyl phthalate.No testing is recommended for cafestol kahweol and plumbagin. EDSP www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/ index.htm; NTP http://ntpserver. niehs.nih.gov Action urged on ultra-Æne particles At a recent conference in Copenhagen scientists expressed concern over the potential health impacts of ultra-Æne particulates in the 1 mm range. Research activities New centre to study pollutant interactions A new multi-disciplinary research centre in the US will study how the interaction of airborne pollutants affects public health. The National Environmental Respiratory Center (NERC) is based at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque and is supported by EPA US Department of Energy industry bodies and Ærms such as Caterpillar Cummins Exxon and Ford.As the air becomes cleaner many believe decision-making needs to be based on a greater understanding of how To date policy-makers have focused mainly on particles of less than 10 mm in diameter (PM10s) thought to be linked to asthma and other respiratory diseases. Research by British and Danish scientists suggests the need for a new focus on ultra-Æne particles ranging from 1 mm down to as little as 10 nm (0.01 mm). The conference was told that in the absence of a clear dose-response relationship for these ultra-Æne particles health impacts at very low exposure levels might go undetected. Major sources of ultra-Æne particles are thought to include waste incineration and diesel exhausts.Danish Ecological Council www.ecocouncil.dk Diesel exhaust has biomarkers Toxicologists at Nijmegen University have discovered substances which can act as bio-markers for exposure to diesel exhaust. Such markers are necessary to determine health risks in the workplace. Until now the risk of lung cancer from inhaling diesel soot particles has been assessed on the basis of lung cancer in related occupational groups for example drivers. The Dutch scientists discovered that ofÆce staff unloaders and drivers at a transport company with an indoor loading facility were exposed to almost the same extent as a result of ineffective pollutants work together to affect human health.NERC was established by Congress in 1998 to conduct this type of research and started work ofÆcially at the beginning of the year. It will focus on complex pollutant mixtures including some contaminants for which no regulations exist. Priorities within the NERC's research strategy include engine and power plant emissions wood and tobacco smoke cooking fumes and road dust. Other areas which could be considered in the long-term are pollens and other natural materials and chemicals formed by reactions in the air. Five pilot studies are already underway and a series of core News building ventilation. This shows that risk assessments based on occupational groups can be unreliable.The diesel residues identiÆed are products created by the degradation of 1-nitropyrene one of the organic substances which attach themselves to the core particles of carbon in the diesel soot. These get broken down in the body and are metabolised. Toxicologists were able to detect degradation products in blood and urine at levels as low as 4610210 mg. Nijmegen University www.toxi.kun.nl Costs of benzene abatement A full cost±beneÆt analysis of the EU's proposed limits for benzene and carbon monoxide is now available. The study says compliance with the targets will be helped by last year's air quality daughter directive. The study also recommends that future analyses of pollution reduction options should take in a much larger number of pollutants.The limits–of 5 mg m23 for benzene by 2010 and 10 mg m23 for CO by 2005–were approved by member states last December and are awaiting approval by the European Parliament. ``Economic evaluation of air quality targets for CO and benzene'' www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ enveco/studies2.htm studies will be launched over the next few months. The Center also has an extensive information base on cardiorespiratory health accessible through its website. National Environmental Respiratory Center www.nercenter.org Research opportunities Selected funding opportunities announced by public authorities. US Environmental Protection Agency Valuation of Children's Health Effects closing date 8th May 2000 31N J.Environ. Monit. 2000 2 News Recreational Water Quality Indicators and Interstitial Zones closing date 15th May 2000 Exploratory Research to Anticipate Future Environmental Issues closing date 6th July 2000 European Environmental Agency EEA is calling for expressions of interest in research across a number of Æelds including socio-economic data environmental assessment regional and sectoral assessments environmental policy and research networks and dissemination. Applications will be accepted until 30th June 2001. European Commission Various calls open under the Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development action of the Fifth Framework Programme with closing dates throughout 2000. See CORDIS database for latest information.EPA National Center for Research http://es.epa.gov/ncerqa/rfa/; European Environment Agency www.eea.eu.int; CORDIS www.cordis.lu Smog-eating buildings Research from Japan on catalyst-based construction materials may open the way to on-site air pollution abatement in buildings and other structures. The Japanese work focuses on titania (titanium-dioxide) photocatalysts. When mixed with active carbon these adsorb and trap atmospheric NOx and SOx which then react with adsorbed oxygen and water on the photo-excited titania catalyst. The catalyst is gradually deactivated by a build of nitric acid and sulfuric acid products but is easily reactivated by a water wash (rain) which Events HAZMAT 2000 Spills Prevention Conference 4±6 April 2000 St.Louis MO. Hazardous material accident prevention preparedness and response activities. Health Effects Institute 2000 Annual Conference 9±11 April 2000 Atlanta GA. Annual meeting on health-related effects of transport. Details from HEI at www.healtheffects.org/annual.htm 32N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 strips the acids away. Researchers say the catalytic material can remove NO NO2 and SO2 in the range 0.01±10 ppm at an ultraviolet intensity of 0.1 mW cm22 which corresponds to sunlight on a cloudy day. Large-scale trials are now underway in Tokyo and other cities to test the photocatalyst materials in heavily polluted areas. If successful the materials could be used as on-the-spot Ælters along major routes for example as panelling for tunnels and buildings or as sound barriers.National Institute of Resources and Environment Dr Koji Takeuchi Gene chips for chemical evaluation A new half-million dollar centre is using gene chip technology to speed up toxicity evaluations. Scientists at the NIEHS Microarray Center say the technique could revolutionise chemical screening as the tests are faster and more reliable than existing methods including animal tests. The technique involves observations of how the chemicals turn ``on'' or ``off'' thousands of different cloned genes clustered on a laboratory slide. The changes in gene expression caused by the chemicals are read and displayed by computer showing up as coloured dots on a computer screen.The ToxChip developed at NIEHS contains copies of about 2000 of the 80000 human genes. Millions of cloned copies of each gene form a nearly invisible dot ``arrayed'' in a grid pattern on the glass slide. A newer array called Toxicology and Risk Assessment Approaches for the 21st Century 10±13 April 2000 Kings Island OH. Details from www.epa.gov/ncea/toxcon2.htm International Conference on Arctic Development Pollution and Biomarkers of Human Health 1±3 May 2000 Anchorage AL. E-mail arctic@niehs.nih.gov or see www.niehs.nih.gov/external/arctic the Human ToxChip contains clusters of each of 12,000 cloned genes. NIEHS www.niehs.nih.gov Free sensing data Extensive remote sensing data for the Euro-Mediterranean and Africa is being offered to researchers free of charge.The data is produced from the Meteosat satellite system and can be used to generate image maps of rainfall net radiation evaporation and cropyields. Applications include studies of agro-chemicals water distribution planning and real time water management. Commercial products based on the data are available on subscription on either a ten-day monthly or yearly basis and have the full Meteosat resolution (sub 5 km). EARS www.ears.nl/ewbms All change at HEI The Health Effects Institute the US research organisation on transport and health has announced changes to its senior team. Mr Robert O'Keefe has been appointed Vice President with responsibility for external liaison and international activities.Dr Jane Warren takes over as Director of Science responsible for HEI's entire scientiÆc programme and the management of external review processes. Health Effects Institute www.healtheffects.org American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exhibition 2000 20±25 May 2000 Orlando FL. Details from www.aiha.org/confmain.htm 6th World Congress of the International Federation of Environmental Health 5±9 June 2000 Oslo Norway. Details from Diane Evans e-mail diane.evans@co.santa-cruz.ca 8th International Conference on ElectroAnalysis 11±15 June 2000 Bonn Germany. European Society for ElectroAnalytical Chemistry and Society for ElectroAnalytical Chemistry.Details from www-upb.ipc.kfa-juelich.de/upb/ aktuell/ESEAC2000_en.htm 30th International Symposium on Environmental Analytical Chemistry. 13± 16 June 2000 Espoo Helsinki Finland. Details from International Association of Environmental Analytical Chemistry e-mail iaeacmfrei@access.ch or tiina.harju@vtt.Æ 64th Annual Educational Conference National Environmental Health Association 15±19 June 2000 Denver CO. Details from www.neha.org/ aec00conferbrochure.html 4th International Conference on Arsenic Exposure and Health 18±22 June 2000 San Diego CA. Details from Rosemary Wormington e-mail rwormington@castle.cudenver.edu 4th International Symposium on Speciation of Elements in Biological Environmental and Toxicological Sciences 25 June±1 July 2000 Whistler B.C Canada.Details from Evert Nieboer McMaster University Hamilton ON Canada tel z1 905 525 9140; fax z1 905 522 9033; e-mail http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/ speciation WTQA 2000 5±10 August 2000 Arlington VA. Details from Eileen O'Toole e-mail eileen_toole@wpi.org 25th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment 6±10 August 2000 Ann Arbor MI. Details from www.sph.umich.edu/eih/heavymetals/ 7th FECS Conference on Chemistry and the Environment Metal Speciation in the Aquatic Environment 27±30 August 2000 Porto Portugal. E-mail fecsconf@ fc.up.pt or see www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/ Lab/8007/fecs2000.htm 26th International Congress on Occupational Health 27 August± 1 September 2000 Singapore. The Annual Meeting of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). E-mail icoh2000@post1.com or see www.icoh.org.sg International Conference on High Mountain Lakes and Streams Indicators for a changing world 4±8 September 2000 Innsbruck Austria. Details from University of Innsbruck e-mail hmls2000@uibk.ac.at SEGH Conference on Environmental Chromium Contamination and News Remediation 11±12 September 2000 Glasgow UK. Details from Dr John Farmer e-mail J.G.Farmer@ed.ac.uk WEFTEC 2000 74th Annual Conference & Exposition 14±18 October 2000 Anaheim CA. Water Environment Federation. Details from www.wef.org/ weftec/index.htm Euro Environment 2000 18±20 October 2000 Aalborg Denmark. A major conference focusing on strategies and actions for sustainable development in Europe. Details from University of Aalborg e-mail euro@akkc.dk or see www.akkc.dk/environment 19th Annual Conference of the American Association for Aerosol Research 6±10 November 2000 St. Louis MO. Details from www.aaar.org/00annmtg.htm ACGIH Applied 2000 Conference 11±15 December 2000 Washington DC. Details from www.acgih.org/events/ X2001 Conference on Exposure Assessment in Epidemiology and Practice 10±13 June 2001 Go» teborg Sweden. Details from x2001@ymk.gu.se or see www.ymk.gu.se Groundwater Quality 2001 ShefÆeld UK. E-mail gq2001@shefÆeld.ac.uk or see www.shef.ac.uk/ygprg/ 33N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2

ISSN:0960-7919    

DOI:10.1039/b001745k

出版商:RSC    

年代:2000

数据来源: RSC

摘要:

Pesticides in Perspective Introduction The column begins with an article on a topic that is important to all of us human exposure to pesticides through our diet. The question that consumers increasingly ask concerning pesticides is ``is my food safe to eat?'' This article attempts to put these concerns into perspective gives a little background to the UK surveillance scheme and uses UK data to illustrate what regulators are doing to ensure that the food eaten in the UK is safe. It is hoped that at a later date articles will appear in the column outlining what is done (with relevant results) in the rest of Europe and provide details about the US surveillance scheme and also policies/procedures in other parts of the world. The author of this article has had a very varied career.Professor Ian Shaw obtained an Honours degree in Pesticides residues in food{ Consumers are becoming more concerned about food contaminants; pesticide residues feature high in their list of worries. In this overview an attempt is made to put these concerns in perspective. Food monitoring and human exposure data are used to illustrate what regulators are doing to ensure that the food we eat is safe. Food safety is an emotive issue in most developed countries although concern amongst consumers about the food they eat varies according to the trust that they have in their countries' regulatory systems and the persuasive powers of their press. The UK public's interest in food safety issues began in earnest when in 1986 Edwina Currie the then Minister of Health brought to the Country's {The opinions expressed in the following article are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of either The Royal Society of Chemistry the Editorial or Editorial Board of JEM Zeneca Agrochemicals or those of the Column Editor.34N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000 Biochemistry from the University of Bath and gained his PhD in Biochemistry (Toxicology) at the University of Birmingham. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Biology and for two years served as a JP (Justice of the Peace). His various occupations have led him from University Lecturer to a short time in industry to the Central Veterinary Laboratory where he became Head of the Biochemistry Department and Ænally to become Professor of Toxicology and Head of the Centre for Toxicology at the University of Lancashire.At the time of writing Professor Shaw is about to take up a new appointment in New Zealand. He has been a member of a range of committees and has held a number of honorary positions too many to list here. They have included the Working Party on Natural Toxicants in Food and the attention that Salmonella was a common contaminant of poultry and that its presence in eggs could lead to severe food poisoning. The press seized upon this issue and created a furore which raged for months and resulted in the temporary demise of the British egg industry.Since then there have been many food scares all fuelled by a press eager to amplify the issues. These scares including the effects of bacteria of the genus Listeria on the consumers of soft cheeses and of course bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) which virtually destroyed the British beef industry and had signiÆcant political repercussions throughout Europe. The concern about food safety reached a crescendo when consumers and activists objected to the introduction of genetically modiÆed food. This battle will rage for many years as the David-like activists Æght the Goliath global companies who not only stand to make vast sums of money out of their ingenious inventions but also have enormous political power in countries such as the USA.Pesticides Working Party on Veterinary Residues in Animal Products and he is also a Visiting Consultant Toxicologist to Preston Health Authority in the UK. He is currently a Member of the UK Government's Advisory Committee on Pesticides a Member of the UK Government's Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs and he is Chairman of the UK Government's Pesticide Residues Committee (formerly the Working Party on Pesticide Residues). It is in this latter capacity that he writes this current article. I hope that you like myself Ænd his article to be both informative and provocative. Dr Terry Clark Column Editor Zeneca Agrochemicals E-mail Terry.Clark@aguk.zeneca.com The regular press interest in food scares has heightened consumer awareness of food safety.As a result consumers have begun to question how food is produced and what it contains as they no longer accept that the food available on market shelves is necessarily safe. Therefore one issue of general concern is the use of pesticides in farming1 and the consequent presence of pesticide residues in food.2 The hidden risks in food When questioning shoppers in a supermarket whether they were concerned about residues of pesticides in their food. All replied Yes! When asked about natural toxins no one knew what was meant. This is an interesting paradox because it is likely that the natural toxins in food present a greater risk to the consumer than pesticide residues.Psoralens a group of naturally occurring pesticides in parsnips celery parsley and related vegetables are photoactivated carcinogens often present at concentrations of tens or hundreds of mg kg21. They are present in every parsnip stick of celery and leaf of parsley that we eat. On the other hand pesticide residues are not omnipresent and their residues are generally at exceptionally low concentrations. Psoralens must present a greater risk to the consumer of parsnips than any of the pesticide residues that are likely to be present in parsnips simply because psoralens are carcinogens. The testing necessary before a pesticide is approved for use in countries of the developed world make it extremely unlikely that a carcinogenic pesticide could ever be approved.These hidden risks from natural toxins such as psoralens are often ignored when concerns about food are raised by the media and political lobby groups; but perhaps this is understandable because the only way to control levels of these natural toxins in food is by genetic modiÆcation! It is important that speciÆc risks (e.g. pesticides in food) are considered in the context of related unavoidable or accepted risks (e.g. natural toxins in food). If this is done properly pesticides are likely to be very low in the hierarchy of life's risks. Assuring the consumer that food is safe Governments are obviously keen to assure national and international consumers of food produced within their countries is safe for consumption.From the point of view of pesticide residues this generally involves the operation of surveillance schemes. Such schemes generally comply with national legislation and involve the analysis of prescribed numbers of samples of food for selected pesticides on an annual basis. The number of samples analysed varies greatly from country to country. For example in Europe the greatest number of samples analysed on a per capitum population basis is in Sweden (100161026 per capitum in 1996; total number of samples analysed~8908)2 and the smallest is in the UK (1561026 per capitum; total number of samples analysed~878).2 Is this a reØection of the individual country's concern for consumer well being? Countries that rely on fruit and vegetable exports often appear towards the top of the samples analysed per capitum league table.For example Holland analysed 70661026 samples per capitumin 1996 (total number of samples analysed~11015)2 and was 2nd in the European league table. A third of food consumed in the UK contains pesticides The UK runs a pesticide residues food surveillance programme via the independent Pesticide Residues Committee [PRC; formerly the Working Party on Pesticide Residues(WPPR)]. The independence of the Committee is important because it gives credibility to published data. The budget for the Programme in 1999/2000 is £1.67 million most of which will be spent on analysis.Data from the PRC show that approximately 30% of food consumed in the UK contains measurable residues of pesticides (Table 1) and that approximately 1% contains residues above the maximum residue limit (MRL–a statutory limit based on good agricultural practice (GAP)– compliant use of pesticides. It should be noted that MRL is not a safety parameter because toxicological considerations are not taken into account in its derivation). The frequency of food contamination by pesticides is remarkably stable. This suggests that if we accept the use of pesticides in food production as they are currently used then we must also accept these residues. Indeed from the point of view of human health there is perhaps good reason to accept the situation because acceptable daily intake (ADI; the intake necessary each day of an entire lifetime to result in harm–this is a safety parameter) exceedances are extremely rare.Indeed in the UK there have been no exceedances in the past 4 years. ADIs are based on single pesticides but our diet contains complex cocktails of pesticide residues and there are no data to allow us to decide what effect these might have on the consumer in the long term. Despite this it is likely that such effects will be minimal because the total intake of pesticides with food is very low (and not continuous) when Table 1 Frequency of residues of pesticides in food determined as part of the UK's monitoring programme Percentage Above MRL With Residues Year 30 31 34 vv 1 1 v1 29 26 v1 1.3 19943 19954 19965 19976 19997 Pesticides compared with other toxins (e.g.natural plant toxins). Perhaps the best argument for reducing the use of pesticides is the proven deleterious effect that pesticides have on the environment. The rapidly increasing anti-pesticide lobby are having a signiÆcant effect upon pesticide use. For example public concern about pesticide residues in food has led to supermarkets controlling the use of particular pesticides by their growers (e.g. Alar a plant growth regulator) in order to present a market advantage over their rivals. Supermarkets are very powerful in this respect and their demands can result in signiÆcant changes in pesticide usage both nationally and internationally.This combined with the organic movement and environmental lobby will almost certainly force farmers to reduce pesticide use over the coming years. It will be interesting to see if this is reØected in a reduced residues frequency. Problematic pesticides in 1998 Yams and carbendazim The recently published results of the UK's 19987 monitoring programme have highlighted areas of concern. In 1998 there was an apparent rise in the frequency of residues above MRLs (Table 1). This was because 75% of yams contained residues of the fungicide carbendazim above its MRL (none exceeded the ADI). On the face of it this is a signiÆcant problem particularly for West Indian families who might include Yams as a major carbohydrate source in their diet.However the reason for these MRL exceedences was because a default MRL (based on the analytical limit of determination for carbendazim) had been set for carbendazim in yams because GAPtrials data were not available. These were therefore only technical exceedances. Discussions between the UK government and the yam exporting countries will hopefully result in an import tolerance being set which means that even though the yams imported into the UK in 1999 might contain residues of carbendazim similar to those for 1998 they will not exceed MRLs. If a correction is made to the MRL exceedance frequency for 1998 (i.e.yam data are removed) the value is v1% and therefore does not represent an increase over previous years (Table 1). 35N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 Pesticides Illegal chlormequat in UK pears Residues data cannot all be explained away. In the 1998 UK survey7 80% of UK-grown pears were found to contain the growth regulatory pesticide chlormequat. Chlormequat is not approved for use in the UK therefore this represented an illegal use of the pesticide. There are two issues here the fact that growers were using a pesticide illegally and the potential harm that this might cause the consumer of pears. The latter is particularly important because pears and pear juice are commonly used in proprietary and home-prepared infant foods.Infants are an important high risk group because their food intake per unit body weight in high. ADI calculations showed that one of the pears was only marginally below the ADI (residues in pear~11 mg kg21; ADI~15 mg kg21). This is a situation that regulators and government take very seriously. On this occasion a follow-up study was initiated and legal action taken against the offending growers. Unfortunately the follow-up study showed no improvement in the situation. It is to be hoped that the legal action against growers will `Ære a shot across the bows' of other potential illegal users. We will not know whether the strategy has been successful until the 1999 survey is complete. In the meantime consumers are possibly being exposed to unacceptably high residues of chlormequat.However in terms of risk this pales into insigniÆcance when considered in the context of other high risk activities such as driving a car for example. Lindane in continental-style chocolates A rather unexpected residue problem arose in 1998;7 73% of high-quality continental-style chocolate on sale in the UK was found to contain lindane (chexachlorocyclohexane; c-HCH) an organochlorine (OC) pesticide banned in many countries. There were no ADI exceedences and from the point of view of human health there was little or no concern because most people would only eat small quantities of this expensive commodity on a relatively irregular basis. The lindane originated from the cocoa butter used in the manufacture of the chocolate.Cocoa is grown in parts of the world where pesticide regulation and use is poor and therefore residues are difÆcult to control. This is an example of where the power of the supermarkets could eliminate the problem; press interest9 in the issue led to public 36N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2 concern which in turn meant that supermarkets were forced to assure their customers that their chocolates were safe. There is no doubt that supermarkets will put considerable pressure on their suppliers to ensure that their source of chocolates does not contain lindane residues. In turn the suppliers will pressurise the manufacturers and the manufacturers will only buy cocoa butter from growers who do not use lindane.This is a useful chain reaction to help minimise pesticide use even in countries where pesticide use is poorly controlled. Lindane in Milk in 1995 Lindane is a hydrophobic organochlorine (OC) which has an afÆnity for lipids and is therefore commonly found in high lipid content foods. For many years UK milk has contained just detectable residues of lindane partly due to its continued use in the UK (particularly in sugar beet growing) and partly because its residues are relatively long-lived in the environment. In 19954 unexpectedly high lindane residues were found in milk sampled in June. Lindane residues in subsequent months' samples continued to rise reaching a peak in September (Fig.1). The milk levels in September were only marginally below the ADI. Residues near to the ADI in a staple dietary commodity (i.e. milk potatoes bread) are worrying. Fortunately October's residues were signiÆcantly reduced and therefore a potential crisis did not come to fruition. In such cases it is important to explain the effect in order to attempt to prevent its re-occurrence. In this case there were several important contributory factors. The year in question 1995 had a hot Fig. 1 Lindane residues in UK milk in 19954 and 1996.5 Graph reproduced by kind permission of MAFF Publications London. summer and it is possible that milking cows were marginally malnourished and so in order to maintain their milk output it is likely that they mobilised fat reserves.It is well known that animal fat reserves contain long lived lipid-soluble residues (e.g. lindane DDT) therefore lindane from fat reserves might have been mobilised and incorporated into milk. In addition since the summer's drought had resulted in a poor cereal grain and forage crop that these commodities were imported. It is possible that such imports contained lindane and were incorporated into compound feed which was fed to dairy herds. These explanations could not be proved or even investigated. However in 19965 (Fig. 1) a slight increase in milk lindane levels occurred at approximately the same time as the previous years enormous increase. This was possibly due to farmers feeding their cattle left over compound feed from the previous year.Surprisingly the 1998 survey7 showed for the Ærst time that no milk samples contained detectable lindane residues. Vinclozolin in lettuce–an ongoing problem Vinclozolin is a fungicide used in lettuce growing. Its approval for use in the UK was revoked because of its potential toxicity to workers applying it to lettuces in greenhouses. It is an androgenreceptor blocker and therefore might interfere with sexual development in boys and have effects on sperm production and secondary sex characteristics in men. Despite this toxicity it is still approved for use in several European countries including France. Warmer countries probably do not grow their lettuces in greenhouses and therefore the exposure risk to workers applying the vinclozolin in the open air is lower than within the conÆned space of a greenhouse; this may explain why vinclozolin is approved in some EU member states.Despite its ban in the UK residues of vinclozolin have been detected in UKgrown winter lettuce for at least 6 years (Table 2). These residues present a negligible risk to the consumer because their concentration is far too low to result in an anti-androgen effect. Nevertheless residues indicate that the pesticide has been used illegally by UK growers and therefore action must be taken. Much to the chagrin of the lettuce growers lettuce imported from countries where vinclozolin is approved for use is legal in the UK providing its residues do not exceed the MRL.This clearly illustrates that the MRL is a trading standard rather than a safety factor. At no time have vinclozolin residues exceeded the ADI and presented a risk to the consumer. The only injured party in this incident is MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Foods) whom some UKgrowers seemreluctant to obey. Human exposure monitoring It is difÆcult to assess human exposure to pesticides. Several studies have measured pesticide residues in human fat5 or milk,6,10 both matrices are good indicators of long-term exposure but tell little of the subject's exposure to shortlived pesticides such as the organophosphates (Ops) or pyrethroids. In a MAFF study5 of pesticides in human fat in the UK 99% of samples analysed (n~203) had detectable residues of DDT (as p,p'-DDT o,p- DDT p,p'-TDE and/or p,p'-DDE).Since the fat samples were taken at routine autopsy it is likely that most of the subjects were at least 70 years old and therefore had lived through times when DDT was permitted in the UK. Their residues reØect their lifetime exposure. Twenty-three percent of the subjects had DDT fat residues between 1 and 9.3 mg kg21 which suggests higher exposures. These people might have been exposed directly during DDT's hey day or might have been fond of oily Æsh Table 2 Residues of vinclozolin in UK winter lettuce Samples with vinclozolin residues (%) Year 19975 19986 3.2 (n~94) 5.7 (n~70) which contains higher residues of OCs than most other foods.In the same MAFF study5 other long half-life OCs were also found in human fat (Table 3). Again these residues are indicative of the subjects' lifetime exposures to these pesticides rather than indicating recent exposure. It is interesting that the OC with the shortest environmental half-life namely lindane has the lowest human fat residue frequency. Pesticides in human milk Levels of pesticide residues in breast milk of women fromdifferent countries give an indication of exposure to pesticides in their respective countries. For example in the USA p,p'-DDT was found at 0.039 mg kg21 in breast milk,11 whereas for milk from women in Faridok India a residue level of 13.81 mg kg21 was reported.12 This perhaps illustrates the difference in DDT use policies between the two countries.This point is illustrated very well indeed if women fromthe former East Germany are compared with women from West Germany. Milk p,p'-DDT residues in the former have been reported13 at 2.28 mg kg21,whereas in the latter a value of 0.81 mg kg21 is reported.13 In this example even though the women originated from bordering countries their countries' national policies on DDT use is likely to account for the vast difference in pesticide residues found in their milk. Very recent studies10 in Indonesia have shown breast milk DDT residues as high as 17.7 mg kg21 even though the country insist that DDT is no longer used.During the author's last trip to Indonesia some time was spent talking to farmers in the Puncak region 50 miles outside Jakarta. From four farmers with whom DDT was discussed three indicated that they regularly used DDT on their crops. Clearly government policy has not yet Æltered through to the farmers. Table 3 Frequency of OC residues in human fat (n~203) in a MAFF study5 Samples with detectable residues (%) Pesticide Chlordane 53 DDT 99 Dieldrin 59 b-HCH 98.5 Lindane (c-HCH) 3 Heptachlor 30 Hexachlorobenzene 94 Pesticides Should we ban pesticides? The consumers perception of the risk of pesticides residues in food is far greater than the actual risk. Indeed it is likely that natural toxins in food present a far greater risk.Driving to the shop in a car to buy food represents a far greater risk by orders of magnitude than the toxic effects of pesticides in food. Therefore it is folly for the lobby groups to use residues in food as part of their argument to reduce the use of pesticides. They would be much wiser to concentrate their campaigning efforts on the effects of pesticides on the environment. The environmental impact of pesticides is a far sharper nail for the pesticides cofÆn than residues in food. References 1 M. Sharpe J. Environ. Monit. 1999 1 33N. 2 I. C. Shaw in Pesticide Chemistry and Bioscience–the Food Environment Challenge ed. G. T. Brooks and T. R. Roberts The Royal Society of Chemistry Cambridge 1999. 3 MAFF Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticide Residues 1994.MAFF Publications London 1995. 4 MAFF Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticide Residues 1995.MAFF Publications London 1996. 5 MAFF Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticide Residues 1996.MAFF Publications London 1997. 6 MAFF Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticide Residues 1997.MAFF Publications London 1998. 7 MAFF Annual Report of the Working Party on Pesticide Residues 1998.MAFF Publications London 1999. 8 Organic food–the way to go? Health Which? 2000 February 8±11. 9 J. Blythman Toxic shock. The Guardian 1999 16 September 14±15. 10 I. C. Shaw E. Burke F. Suharyanto and G. Sihombing Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. in the press. 11 D. R. Mattison T. Wohlleb Y. To S. Lamb M. A. Faitak R. C. Walls and S. G. Selevan Ark. Med. Soc 1992 88 553. 12 R. L. Kalra Environ. Pollut. 1994 85 179. 13 New Scientist 1991 130 19 14 I. C. Shaw and J. Murad Jakarta Post 1998 10 March. Ian Shaw{ Centre for Toxicology University of Central Lancashire Preston UK PR1 2HE {Present address Environmental Science and Research Institute Christchurch Science Centre Christchurch New Zealand. 37N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2

ISSN:0960-7919    

DOI:10.1039/b001748p

出版商:RSC    

年代:2000

数据来源: RSC

摘要:

Bioavailability coming of age? For many soil contaminants there is ample evidence that only a portion of the total contamination is available to living organisms. This observation holds true for some organic contaminants and for some metals. For example only a part of aged phenanthrene in soil is assimilated by earthworms;1 in some soils only a little of the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin is found to affect rabbits that are fed the compound;2 and adsorption varies between different lead compounds.3 one thing applying the concept to the remediation of contaminated sites is another. One of the most pressing questions is how to measure the bioavailable fraction rapidly and economically? Animal toxicity testing might be seen as an obvious solution but such tests have many limitations according to Alexander.Testing on organisms takes a long time and the precision is not great enough to provide a clear answer. In addition such testing can be prohibitively expensive he said. As a result the search is on for chemical tests that could estimate the bioavailability of contaminants in soils. Such evidence has been accumulating for many years. Over three decades ago Nash and Woolson reported that for the Ærst ten years after it was applied DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis[p-chlorophenyl]- ethane) disappeared slowly and steadily. But after that time little or none of the compound was lost.4 Similar curves each with an initial phase of loss followed by a period of little or no detectable loss have been reported for a variety of other chlorinated hydrocarbons.5 Opinion is divided over how soon it might be possible to account for bioavailability.The factors that control the bioavailability of metals are much better understood than those that affect organic contaminants according to Alexander. In fact for lead whose bioavailability is best understood many researchers believe that a relatively cheap rapid chemical test for determining bioavailability will be available soon. The method involves a buffered simulated stomach solution. Soil added to the solution is rotated end-over-end for a Æxed time at a Æxed temperature. It is then Æltered and analyzed. For some heavy organic contaminants ``The science is now very clear''; according to Martin Alexander an environmental toxicologist at Cornell University in Ithaca New York who has studied bioavailability for over ten years.``There are major changes in bioavailability which occur as soils age. This applies to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other classes of organic compounds.'' Acceptance of the idea that some contaminants become sequestered in soil over time so that they are unavailable to living organisms is growing according to Raymond Loehr a civil engineer at the University of Texas Austin who formerly chaired EPA's Science Advisory Board. Initially bioavailability was the darling of industries faced with contaminant liability. It has become an accepted phenomenon among those involved in remediation as a result of accumulating evidence that it occurs.In addition the shift to risk-based cleanup standards that explicitly ask when is a site clean enough has turned the spotlight on bioavailability in soils. Risk-based cleanup regulations that are designed to incorporate bioavailability have been adopted by some states including Washington and EPA has created an internal working group to develop guidance on the subject. But recognizing that contaminant sequestration is a real phenomenon is such as PAHs and wood preservatives and some soils measures of bioavailability are also in the pipeline. Loehr's group is trying to correlate soil characteristics with the results of soil extraction experiments.Alexander agrees that for some organic compounds for example DDT and some PAHs and for some soils there is a correlation between the extraction tests and bioavailability. In these cases the fraction of contaminants that is easily extracted is a good approximation of the bioavailable fraction.6 However it is also known that bioavailability is species dependent. Bacteria for example excrete a substance that can mobilize contaminants and earthworms can access an even greater proportion than bacteria according to Alexander. ``We don't know the mechanisms and we don't have enough information to predict which organisms access the most,'' he said. But it is clear that these differences in bioavailability between 38N J.Environ. Monit. 2000 2 This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000 US Focus species are real differences that are not related to acclimation or adaptation. To explain the observation that contaminants undergo an initial phase of steady loss followed by a period of little or no detectable change researchers envision that the processes of chemical photochemical and biological degradation which are responsible for these losses stop. They stop researchers believe because the contaminant molecules diffuse into the soil matrix where some of them become sequestered in remote pores. Researchers are now using ultramicroscopic techniques to study the molecular-scale locations where organic compounds accumulate.Bioavailability has the potential to reduce uncertainty in cleanups and to make cost savings. But regulators are also cautious. Many other factors must be considered if reduced bioavailability is to be a factor in determining soil cleanups according to EPA ofÆcials. These include past and future uses of the site the organism that can access the greatest amount of contaminant and the pathway by which this exposure occurs. With clear evidence that factors such as soil composition and site history can signiÆcantly reduce or modify bioavailability there is now great pressure to deliver the tools that could reduce the enormous expense of site cleanups without compromising public or environmental health. But many scientists involved in this research say that it is important to proceed slowly. For many questions about bioavailability the answers are still a long way off. Notes 1 J. W. Kelsey and M. Alexander Environ. 2 A Bonaccorsi et al. Arch. Toxicol. Suppl. 3 D. Barltrop and F. Meek Postgrad. Med. 4 R. G. Nash and E. A. Woolson Science 5 M. Alexander Environ. Sci. Technol. 6 J. Tang and M. Alexander Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1997 16 582. 1984 7 431. J. 1975 51 805. 1967 157 924. 1995 29 2713. Toxicol. Chem. 1999 18 2711. Rebecca Renner Science Writer and Editor Tel z1 570 321 8640 Fax z1 570 321 9028 E-mail applepie@sunlink.net

ISSN:0960-7919    

DOI:10.1039/b001747g

出版商:RSC    

年代:2000

数据来源: RSC

摘要:

Book Review Environmental Radiochemical Analysis Edited by G. W. A. Newton. Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. £79.50. ISBN 0085404-734-4. Radiochemical analysis suffers from the same problems encountered in all analytical chemical methods namely quality control the selection of manual and instrumental protocols in method development and identiÆcation of the most appropriate analyte detection system. In addition the environmental context for radionuclide analysis offers on one hand the challenge of improving risk assessment and dose prediction versus improvements in our understanding of environmental transfers of the chemical elements from the unique tracers provided by the planned and unplanned discharges from the nuclear fuel cycle.This volume compiled from the VIIIth International Symposium on Radiochemical Analysis Blackpool September 1998 provides a Øavour of all of these issues. Interlaboratory Studies and CertiÆed Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis–The BCR Approach By Ph. Quevauviller and E. A. Maier. Elsevier 1999. e224. ISBN 0-444- 82389-1 Reference materials and interlaboratory studies are two of the major tools that are available to analytical laboratories to follow the performance of their work. In several branches of the commercial sector in particular industry these tools have been used for decades and are marketdriven. For other Æelds like monitoring of the environment and health and safety services these tools are often supported by public funding until the potential market reaches a sufÆcient size to become self-sufÆcient.Since 1973 BCR and the successive research and development programmes of the European Commission have recognised this situation and have funded a wide range of projects to set-up interlaboratory studies and develop/produce CertiÆed Reference Materials (CRM). Philippe Quevauviller and Eddie Maier have been involved for several years in these activities in This journal is # The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000 Forty papers are included in the compilation and a detailed summary of the topics addressed is not feasible in this short review. However the range of material covered has been broken into a series of sections which include .A consideration of radium and radon in the phosphate industry and military contaminated sites the assessment of radon doses in Brazilian homes and an interesting study of bioindicators of radionuclide contamination. . A section on analytical method development this includes new protocols in liquid scintillation and actinide separations for a number of environmental matrices coupled with information on uranium behaviour in wastes. . Methods for isotopes of sulfur carbon strontium technetium and rare earth isotopes applied in atmospheric aquatic and biological systems. . SpeciÆc radiometric issues in the quality of detection systems and the particular in the environment food and health sectors. Their experience is reØected in this book.A single book can not contain a complete view of activities of such a wide sector covered by reference material applications; some readers may feel that their Æeld of interest has not been sufÆciently treated. While the authors' aim is to cover the general aspects of preparation and certiÆcation of environmental CRMs the case studies are very much oriented towards BCR reference materials produced within the last 15 years. Additional information on CRMs available from other producers can be found in references quoted in the various chapters. The book is composed of 12 chapters of which the Ærst 5 focus on detailed descriptions of quality assurance (Chapters 1 and 2) and use production and certiÆcation of reference materials (Chapters 3 4 and 5).A particular effort has been made to present in more detail the studies and materials linked to microbiological measurements. This Forum role of quality assurance in all aspects of environmental radiochemical analysis. . The transfer and uptake of radionuclides in vegetation and potential intake by critical groups and implications for population dose. The papers are on the whole well presented and diagrams are clear as a compilation of topics reØecting a snap shot of activities in the radiochemical analysis community the volume is a reasonable and useful addition. However I am a little disappointed that there is little to guide the reader through the volume and an introductory section by the editorial team would add a lot and broaden the impact of the material.As it stands it provides valuable practical information for researchers in the Æeld. Andrew Hursthouse Chemistry & Chemical Engineering University of Paisley UK special emphasis was made to Æll a gap in literature where CRM and interlaboratory studies for microbiology are too often absent. Chapters 6 to 11 provide comprehensive information on more than 70 CRMs produced by BCR during the period 1983±98 covering various matrices such as plant materials (Chapter 6) biological materials (Chapter 7) waters (Chapter 8) sediments (Chapter 9) soils and sludges (Chapter 10) and other materials (coals ashes and dusts Chapter 11) and a wide variety of parameters (e.g. major and trace elements polychlorinated biphenyls polyaromatic hydrocarbons organochlorine pesticides chemical forms of As Hg Pb Se and Sn and microbiological parameters). Finally Chapter 12 describes principles and organisational aspects of interlaboratory studies with case studies illustrating improvement schemes and proÆciency testing schemes. More than 350 laboratories from 18 European countries took part in the projects described. 39N J. Environ. Monit. 2000 2

ISSN:0960-7919    

DOI:10.1039/b001749n

出版商:RSC    

年代:2000

数据来源: RSC