Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

Data published in recent years has raised concern that the current occupational exposure limits (OELs) may not be low enough to protect workers from the toxic effects of exposure to beryllium.  Beryllium is present in aluminium ores, and therefore workers in the primary production process of aluminium may be at risk from exposure, even at low levels, to Be.

Yngvar Thomassen and coworkers have investigated the exposure of workers across 7 Norwegian aluminium smelters, collecting a total of 480 samples across two sampling campaigns.  Water soluble Be, Al, F^– and Na inhalable, thoracic and respirable aerosol fractions were determined, providing information on the amount and composition of the particulate matter which will be useful in better understanding the potential risks of occupational Be exposure.

Download the full article to read the authors discussion of  their results and potential implications – this hot article is currently free to access for 4 weeks:

Occupational exposure to beryllium in primary aluminium production
Nils Petter Skaugset, Dag G. Ellingsen, Kari Dahl, Ivar Martinsen, Lars Jordbekken, Per Arne Drabløs and Yngvar Thomassen
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10539F

This article is part of our forthcoming collection from the AIRMON 2011 conference, the 7th International Symposium on Modern Principles for Air Monitoring and Biomonitoring held on June 19–23 this year in Loen, Norway.  Check back soon for more hot articles in the collection.

This HOT article reports a collaborative effort between the US Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute of Standards and Technology to facilitate intercomparison of sometimes conflicting environmental risk experiment results for silver nanoparticles.

Silver nanoparticles have become the most widely used of all nanoparticles reported in consumer products due to their well known antibacterial and antifungal properties, but with increased use comes increased concern – do they pose a health and safety or environmental risk?  There is a huge amount of literature data available on silver nanoparticles, but as there is no standard procedure for their manufacture, stabilization, or initial characterization it can be difficult for regulatory authorities to make comparisons between different datasets and thus draw meaningful conclusions.

Here, Robert MacCuspie and Kim Rogers et al. have analysed a range of silver nanoparticle materials with different analytical methods and initial dispersion conditions to demonstrate how measurement methods, agglomeration state and dispersion conditions influence the reported size distributions of said materials.  They also present an approach to developing routine screening for the nanomaterials.

This HOT article is part of our forthcoming themed issue on Environmental Nanotechnology and is free to access for 4 weeks.

Challenges for physical characterization of silver nanoparticles under pristine and environmentally relevant conditions
Robert I. MacCuspie, Kim Rogers, Manomita Patra, Zhiyong Suo, Andrew J. Allen, Matthew N. Martin and Vincent A. Hackley
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10024F, Paper

As part of our themed issue focussing on environmental science in Asia and the Pacific, this HOT article from Jianhui Tang , Gan Zhang and co-workers from Chinese Academy of Sciences laboratories looks at the impact of
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs are a class of brominated fire retardants (BFRs) that have attracted significant attention due to environmental and health concerns.

Despite the fact that some PBDEs (namely penta- and octa-BDEs) have been listed under the Stockholm Convention and banned in several countries, in China both production and consumption of some PBDE-containing brominated fire retardants have risen rapidly in recent years.  This study focuses on the Laizhou Bay area, which is home to the biggest manufacturing base for BFRs in China.  By sampling river and coastal sediment in the area they looked at the source and fate of PBDE contaminants in the area, discovering that BDE 209 is the predominant PBDE congener present.  Interestingly, however, overall PBDE concentrations were lower than other literature data from European and US ‘hot spots’.

Read more of this thoughtful and thorough study – which comes highly recommended by the referees – it’s currently free to access for four weeks.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the riverine and marine sediments of the Laizhou Bay area, North China
Xiaohui Pan, Jianhui Tang, Jun Li, Guangcai Zhong, Yingjun Chen and Gan Zhang
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 886-893
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10169B

The anti-microbial agent triclosan has been used extensively in the last four decades, however concerns regarding its environmental impact on marine systems are relatively recent.

Milena Fernandes (South Australian Water Corporation) and co-workers investigated the distribution of wastewater-borne triclosan and its methylated derivative in surface sediments of a coastal inlet to determine the factors affecting transport and benthic preservation. The location studied is of interest as it is an important nursery habitat and provides sanctuary to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins.

Fernandes demonstrates that the pathways leading to dispersal are different for triclosan and methyl-triclosan discharged with wastewater, with triclosan having a larger area of impact. Triclosan accumulated in deeper sites containing finer sediment fractions, where in situ biological methylation was enhanced. Methyl-triclosan was absent from shallower sediments, potentially as a result of photodegradation of the parent compound.

This HOT article is part of our forthcoming SETAC themed issue focussing on Asia/Pacific environmental science and is free to access for 4 weeks.

The distribution of triclosan and methyl-triclosan in marine sediments of Barker Inlet, South Australia
Milena Fernandes, Ali Shareef, Rai Kookana, Sam Gaylard, Sonja Hoare and Tim Kildea
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00612B

HOT off the press – a review article by Susan Nash at Griffith University, one of JEM’s 2010 Emerging Investigators.

In this review Nash describes the challenges faced by the research community in obtaining accurate information on the impact of persistent organic pollutants in Antarctica.

It is increasingly recognised that the role of the Antarctic system in climate change processes cannot be ignored. POPs are considered a substantial risk to human and environmental health; it is therefore of great importance to understand their distribution across the globe, including areas that are hard to reach.

Nash gives a thorough overview of the research carried out in this field to date.  She outlines shortcomings in previous research efforts, glaring gaps in existing knowledge and gives a number of specific research recommendations which will hopefully help advance the field.

Read her recommendations online here:

Persistent organic pollutants in Antarctica: current and future research priorities
Susan Bengtson Nash
J. Environ. Monit., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00230E