Unprotected workers exposed to airborne nanoparticles face a potential health risk from carbon black and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, according to a recent study. Reducing airborne nanoparticle contamination to acceptable levels can be achieved by using a workplace filter ventilation system and personal respirators.

There are differences in the assessment and restriction of chemicals exempt from the EU’s regulatory instrument REACH. A new study has analysed the differences between several regulatory frameworks that govern these chemicals and recommended greater harmonisation in assessment criteria and regulatory follow-up.

As bee populations decline, exposure of pollinators to pesticides is of increasing concern. Italian research has now demonstrated that an index of exposure which accounts for insect behaviour, as well as pesticide application, provides a valuable tool for assessing the realistic risk of pesticides to pollinators.

Human activities, including industrial development along coastal areas, risk polluting the marine environment with heavy metals which can harm human health and aquatic life. A recent study has found elevated levels of metal pollution in the Jade area of the German Wadden Sea, but concludes that metal contamination of the sediments would not be expected to have harmful effects on the marine environment and living organisms here.

The European eel could act as an indicator of the ecological quality of aquatic environments, according to a new study. The research suggests that new pollution limits could be developed based on levels of pollutants in eel muscle, with the aim of improving the ecological quality of water under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to reduce pesticide use and risks of adverse effects on human health and the environment. However, its adoption by European farmers cannot be based only on mandatory regulation by the European Union, a new study suggests. The research identified four key factors driving IPM adoption; including market forces, policy instruments and farmers’ attitudes to the environment.

Pharmaceutical pollution of marine environments has important biological consequences for aquatic organisms. This study investigated the effects on mussels of treatment with environmentally relevant levels of an antidepressant, fluoxetine, and a beta-blocker, propranolol, using biomarkers including DNA damage. The results showed that mussels are most vulnerable to these drugs in combination.

The framework for a Europe-wide biomonitoring programme has been established by a new study. The preliminary investigation of 17 European countries showed that monitored levels of toxic chemicals varied significantly between countries. Although the levels were mostly within recognised health-based guidance values, in a few cases these values were exceeded. The researchers suggest that a fully-fledged European biomonitoring programme would help to develop policies to avert public health risks presented by environmental chemicals.

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) — responsible for the biological activity of drugs — have been widely found in the environment, yet the precise sources and relative importance of emissions via wastewater are not quite clear. This study assessed emissions from three health institutions in Germany — a hospital, a psychiatric hospital, and a nursing home — and found their contribution was low compared to that from households. However, more research is needed to understand the environmental effects of neurological drugs, emissions of which were in some cases relatively high.

Two chemicals used as co-formulants in pesticides have been found to reduce the predatory behaviour of the wolf spider Pardosa agrestis, an insect predator found within agricultural landscapes. A third co-formulant was found not to affect the predatory behaviour of females and increased the prey behaviour of male spiders. This is the first time that pesticide additives have been shown to alter the predatory activity of a potential biological control agent of crop pests.

Chemicals are everywhere and new substances are regularly being introduced to the market. However, only some pose a risk to the environment. How do we decide which of them to monitor? A new study using a database of chemicals found in fish in the Baltic Sea has assessed which chemicals are commonly monitored. The researchers suggest that monitoring is biased towards known, already regulated hazardous chemicals, and recommend changes to address other chemicals.

Researchers have developed a new approach to hierarchise pesticides based on their risk to or via the aquatic environment, which has been implemented in the Pinios River Basin of Central Greece. The analysis indicated that a number of pesticides were found in concentrations that could cause negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results provide detailed information to inform decisions regarding the monitoring of pesticides in the Pinios River Basin and outline an approach that could be used in other watersheds.

Up to 90% of consumed drugs enter the environment. This may have negative effects on wildlife, especially when the drugs take long periods to break down. This study assessed the breakdown of sulphonamides — a class of antibacterials — in samples from two rivers in Poland. The results showed that sulphamethoxazole, a common veterinary antibiotic, was the most persistent and that various factors inhibit degradation, including low temperatures, heavy metal pollution and low pH.

An investigation into the attitudes of Canadian soil-remediation experts has shown that they tend to prefer conventional remediation methods over phytoremediation — which relies on plants to clean soils — despite evidence that the latter can have advantages. The researchers behind the study highlight that this ‘status-quo bias’ poses a barrier to the uptake of novel technologies such as phytoremediation, and that scientists may need to find different ways of disseminating evidence to increase the use of new techniques among practitioners.

According to most EU legislation, regulatory assessment of chemicals should make use of all available and relevant studies. However, in practice, assessments tend to be predominantly based on research sponsored and provided by industry as part of their legal obligations to show safety of their products, rather than on independent peer-reviewed findings. To bridge this science–policy gap, a team of Swedish researchers, in combination with regulators at three Swedish governmental agencies, have published a list of recommendations aimed at increasing the regulatory usability and impact of academic research. This advice is aimed at researchers, for whom it clarifies relevant regulatory data requirements and quality criteria. However, it is also relevant to policymakers, in that it highlights the advantages and availability of relevant, reliable peer-reviewed research for use in the regulatory assessment of chemicals. The study’s recommendations contribute to the formulation of more science-based, sustainable policies.

The presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water is an emerging health concern. DBPs come in many classes and are chemically diverse, making them challenging to monitor. Swedish researchers have evaluated a new method for the simultaneous determination of a broader range of DBPs than typically possible using other available techniques. The method uses gas chromatography (a laboratory technique that separates and analyses vaporisable compounds in a mixture), together with a halogen-specific detector (XSD). Having been tested in real water samples from two municipal waterworks in Sweden, the method has been optimised for the simultaneous determination of a wide range of neutral DBPs.

Croatian researchers have developed new indicators that can be used to analyse photochemical pollution and smog caused by ozone. The indicators are based on simple mathematical formulae and could make it easier for those who monitor pollution levels to make meaningful comparisons between different sites.

Evidence from modelling studies suggests that climate change is likely to increase concentrations of ozone, one of the most important urban air pollutants responsible for respiratory problems. Under this assumption, rapid reductions of emissions from fossil fuel burning are needed to protect the health of both current and future generations.

Ultrafine particles emitted from a waste incinerator plant in Italy have been characterised in a recent study. The results suggest that a fabric filter was efficient at cleaning particulate matter from the exhaust gases. Data produced by the study could go on to be used by scientists studying the potential health impacts of ultrafine particles.

A new report suggests that underground carbon storage projects in Europe could lead to positive and negative effects on air pollution, depending on the pollutant in question. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered in European legislation as a ‘bridging technology’ – a medium-term solution to climate change. Although the overall air quality impact of CCS is expected to be positive, the legislation notes that the technology should not be seen as a replacement for commitments to developing a greener and more energy-efficient economy.

House sparrows have the potential to become indicators of air quality, according to a recent Spanish study. The researchers demonstrated that small blood samples taken from the sparrows varied significantly depending on pollution levels in the birds’ habitat.

Cyclists with pollution monitors and GPS trackers attached to their bicycles have produced detailed maps of Antwerp’s air quality, as part of a recent study. Their data show that a gap of just a few metres between cycle lanes and cars significantly reduces cyclists’ risk of inhaling high levels of ultrafine particle pollution.

Emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) tetrafluoromethane (TFM) and hexafluoroethane (HFE) reported by industry accounted for only around half actual levels measured in the atmosphere between 2002 and 2010, new research reveals. The semiconductor and aluminium production industries, the two main sources of these gases, have reported success in their voluntary efforts to control these emissions. However, this does not match ‘top-down’ atmospheric monitoring, the researchers say.

Levels of the air pollutant PM_2.5 in Europe will continue to fall in 2020, concludes a recent study. Furthermore, deposition of nitrogen from air pollution will also drop. The outlook seems less positive for ground-level ozone, however, as large amounts of this pollutant continue drift over to Europe from other continents.

Emissions from well-regulated household waste incinerators do not reduce the quality of vegetables and milk produced nearby, a Dutch study suggests. Researchers found that levels of certain contaminants were similar whether vegetables and milk came from the area surrounding three incinerators, or from elsewhere in the Netherlands. They say biomonitoring programmes could offer a way to increase the understanding of the real impacts of waste incineration and to improve communication between waste management companies and local communities.

Nitrification inhibitors are thought to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions of nitrous oxide — a potent greenhouse gas — from land. However, they may not be as effective as once thought, a new study suggests. The researchers found that, while inhibitors decrease emissions of nitrous oxide, they can increase emissions of ammonia — which is later converted to nitrous oxide. They recommend these effects are considered when evaluating inhibitors as a mitigation technology.

Subjective perception of air pollution can have important implications in terms of health-protective behaviours and citizen and stakeholder engagement in cleaner-air policies. A recent study, conducted under the EU-funded PASTA¹ project, has analysed the link between level of concern over health effects of air pollution and personal and environmental factors in seven European cities. Overall, 58% of participants were worried over health effects of air pollution, with large differences between cities. On a city scale, average levels of concern over health effects of air pollution had a good correlation with average NO₂ levels and a lower correlation with average PM_2.5 levels. Individual level of concern was found to be linked to gender, having children in the household, levels of physical activity, and NO₂ levels at the home address. These findings can be used to inform future policymaking.

Differences in the way wetland plants accumulate pollutants are helping researchers understand how vegetation can be used to help restore contaminated marshes. In a study by Belgian researchers, certain plants, including bulrushes, were identified as being potentially useful for locking away metal contaminants below the surface, thereby helping to reduce spread of these pollutants through food chains and to the wider environment.

It may be possible to use trees to monitor levels of air pollution in cities, new research suggests. A Belgian study found evidence that leaves of urban trees change both chemically and physiologically when exposed to different levels of air pollution. If these changes are carefully quantified, trees could provide cheap and widespread ‘bio-indicators’, the study’s authors suggest.

Seaweed may prove to be a valuable tool to monitor metal pollution in coastal waters, new research has found. Spiral wrack seaweed (Fucus spiralis), which is common to rocky coastlines across western Europe, was found to contain concentrations of metals that rose and fell in line with concentrations in the surrounding seawater. This makes it a good candidate for inclusion in the European environmental specimen banks as part of an environmental monitoring network under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

A recent Gartner study offers some useful guidelines on how to choose an enterprise-level cloud storage provider. But don’t forget that providers need to work together effectively too.

An infrastructure offering high levels of quality and flexibility was required as a platform for a new system. Buying or renting new servers – and connecting and configuring them in short timescales – would be an expensive and challenging task. The IMV technical team turned to BT and asked whether it would be possible to set up the system in a virtual environment .

After trying to find ways to deal with unbearable heat, Grey and Myke discuss how they like to spend their time away from work, and put the 'Great Perspective Zoom Debate' to rest.

Myke discovered his ranking, Grey will not switch, and they both answer #askcortex questions before the Cortexmas season begins.

Australian Federal Police National Headquarters in Canberra will be bathed in blue from this evening (Thursday, 30 April) to honour the four Victorian and one South Australian police officer who tragically lost their lives last week.

This will go down as the worst negotiation blunder in Australian sporting history.

SUFFOLK – While landfall of Hurricane Florence is imminent along the North Carolina coast, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Hampton...

VIRGINIA BEACH – The Virginia Department of Transportation Hampton Roads District continues to monitor interstate and rural road conditions while...

SUFFOLK– As Tropical Storm Michael approaches, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Hampton Roads District stands ready to respond to...

The Kings Langley Players continues its 95th anniversary celebrations with a popular black comedy.

VAUXHALL has released the first pictures of the Vivaro-e, its first factory-built, fully-electric van, set to arrive in the market as more and more UK cities welcome emissions-free vehicles.

VAUXHALL has released the first pictures of the Vivaro-e, its first factory-built, fully-electric van, set to arrive in the market as more and more UK cities welcome emissions-free vehicles.

CULPEPER — The bridge on Route 250 (Ivy Road) over Little Ivy Creek near Ivy west of Charlottesville is open to traffic, one day ahead of its scheduled reopening. Crews are now working to remove signs and other detour indicators along Route 250 and Interstate 64.

UPDATE 2: Crews need a few additional days to complete the bridge project on Route 657 (Apple Grove Road) in Louisa County due to the recent snow...

The post Software monitors wellbeing of work from homers appeared first on The Lead SA.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. ⸺ Route 3 in Lancaster County has reopened to through traffic between Route 201 and Route 600 in the Lively area. The road...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. ⸺  Route 202 (Hampton Hall Road) in Northumberland County reopened to through traffic today following an emergency repair...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. ⸺  Long-term repair work is underway to rebuild state-maintained roads that sustained severe damage during Tropical Storm...

A new exhibition will feature the work of a local illustrator.