Urinary sodium and iodine concentrations among Belgian adults: results from the first national Health Examination Survey.

Background/objectives: Iodine deficiency and excessive salt intakes have adverse health consequences. The objective was to measure sodium and iodine concentrations in urine spot samples among a representative sample of Belgian adults and compare those to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

Subjects/methods: Spot urine samples were collected in 2018 from participants of the Belgian Health Examination Survey.

Variability of iodine concentrations in the human placenta.

Iodine is an essential trace element, necessary for the production of thyroid hormones, which play a key role in optimal foetal growth and (neuro-) development. To date, iodine deficiency remains a health burden in many countries. We investigated the variability of placental iodine concentrations within and between individuals.

Kinetics and mechanism of Paraquat's degradation: UV-C photolysis vs UV-C photocatalysis with TiO/SiC foams.

In this study, the photolytic and photocatalytic removal of the herbicide paraquat is investigated under UV-C (254 nm). For photocatalytic experiments, SiC foams were used with P25-TiO nanoparticles deposited by dip-coating. The foams were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and paraquat's degradation under UV-C photolysis or photocatalysis, followed by UV-vis spectroscopy, total organic carbon analyzer, LC-MS and ion chromatography.

Sol-gel synthesis of TiO nanoparticles: effect of Pluronic P123 on particle's morphology and photocatalytic degradation of paraquat.

We report a facile method to tune TiO nanoparticles' morphology by modifying and an acid-catalyzed sol-gel synthesis with Pluronic P123. Synthesized particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, BET analysis, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. XRD analysis revealed a high anatase content while BET measurements showed that porous volume strongly depends on the amount of P123.