Vent pipe emissions from storage tanks at gas stations: Implications for setback distances.

At gas stations, fuel vapors are released into the atmosphere from storage tanks through vent pipes. Little is known about when releases occur, their magnitude, and their potential health consequences. Our goals were to quantify vent pipe releases and examine exceedance of short-term exposure limits to benzene around gas stations.

E-cigarettes as a source of toxic and potentially carcinogenic metals.

Background And Aims: The popularity of electronic cigarette devices is growing worldwide. The health impact of e-cigarette use, however, remains unclear. E-cigarettes are marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes.

Multidrug-resistant and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hog slaughter and processing plant workers and their community in North Carolina (USA).

Background: Use of antimicrobials in industrial food-animal production is associated with the presence of antimicrobial-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) among animals and humans. Hog slaughter/processing plants process large numbers of animals from industrial animal operations and are environments conducive to the exchange of bacteria between animals and workers.

Highly sensitive NH3 detection based on organic field-effect transistors with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane as receptor.

We have increased organic field-effect transistor (OFET) NH(3) response using tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (TPFB) as a receptor. OFETs with this additive could detect concentrations of 450 ppb v/v, with a limit of detection of 350 ppb, the highest sensitivity reported to date for semiconductor films; in comparison, when triphenylmethane (TPM) or triphenylborane (TFB) was used as an additive, no obvious improvement in the sensitivity was observed. These OFETs also showed considerable selectivity with respect to common organic vapors and stability toward storage.