Risk factors for alcohol use among adolescents: The context of township high schools in Tshwane, South Africa.

Background: Risk factors for alcohol use originate from many interconnected factors to an interplay of social and physical environments. However, there is a scarcity of data on the contextual risk factors of alcohol use among the adolescents regarding high schools located in townships in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the risk factors for alcohol use among adolescents attending selected township high schools in Tshwane, South Africa.

Neutral polyfluoroalkyl substances in the global atmosphere.

Concentrations of neutral per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (nPFAS) in the atmosphere are of interest because nPFAS are highly mobile percursors for perfluoroalkyl acids. Two calibration studies in Ontario, Canada and Costa Rica established the feasibility of using XAD 2-resin based passive air samplers (XAD-PAS) to reliably determine long term average air concentrations of nPFAS under temperate and tropical climatic conditions. The temporal and spatial distribution of nPFAS was investigated by analyzing XAD-PAS deployed for one year at between 17 and 46 sites on six continents between 2006 and 2011 as part of the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) study.

Fate of pesticides in the arid subtropics, Botswana, Southern Africa.

Despite a history of pesticide usage, few data exist on their concentrations in air and soil of Southern Africa. To add to the understanding of the processes controlling the fate of organic contaminants in arid regions, the levels, spatial trends, and seasonal variability of pesticides were studied in air and soil from Botswana. XAD resin-based passive air samplers (PAS) were deployed at 15 sites across the country from May 2006 to May 2007.

Healthcare waste management: current practices in selected healthcare facilities, Botswana.

Healthcare waste management continues to present an array of challenges for developing countries, and Botswana is no exception. The possible impact of healthcare waste on public health and the environment has received a lot of attention such that Waste Management dedicated a special issue to the management of healthcare waste (Healthcare Wastes Management, 2005. Waste Management 25(6) 567-665).

Uptake and reaction of atmospheric organic vapours on organic films.

Films composed in whole or in part of organic compounds represent an important atmospheric interface. Urban surfaces are now known to be coated with a film ("grime") whose chemical composition somewhat resembles that of urban atmospheric aerosols. Such films may act as media in which atmospheric trace gases may be sequestered (leading to their removal from the gas phase); they may also act as reactive media, either as a "solvent" or as a source of reagents.