Compulsory admissions of patients with mental disorders: State of the art on ethical and legislative aspects in 40 European countries.

Background: Compulsory admission procedures of patients with mental disorders vary between countries in Europe. The Ethics Committee of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) launched a survey on involuntary admission procedures of patients with mental disorders in 40 countries to gather information from all National Psychiatric Associations that are members of the EPA to develop recommendations for improving involuntary admission processes and promote voluntary care.

Methods: The survey focused on legislation of involuntary admissions and key actors involved in the admission procedure as well as most common reasons for involuntary admissions.

Levels, accumulation patterns and retrospective trends of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in terrestrial ecosystems over the last three decades.

As a result of their ubiquitous presence in the environment perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) have been demonstrated in numerous organisms worldwide, in particular in those of higher trophic levels. The fact that PFAAs have been detected in various human matrices, together with the resultant potential human health risks, knowledge of possible paths of entry and distribution in various ecosystems, is of great importance. In this context pooled samples of terrestrial ecosystems - roe deer liver (n = 141), earthworms (n = 44) as well as leaves from beech and poplar trees (n = 70) - from the year 1989-2015 were obtained from the German Environmental Specimen Bank and examined for the presence of 11 PFAAs for the first time.

Determination of adsorbable organically bound fluorine (AOF) and adsorbable organically bound halogens as sum parameters in aqueous environmental samples using combustion ion chromatography (CIC).

Because of their toxicity and biomagnification potential individual perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are regularly examined in food and environmental matrices by LC-MS/MS. The combustion ion chromatography (CIC) can be used to determine adsorbable organic fluorine (AOF) in aqueous samples. This report describes the optimization and validation of an automated, robust, cost-efficient and rapid CIC method for the determination of AOF.

Concentrations and Distribution Patterns of Perfluoroalkyl Acids in Sewage Sludge and in Biowaste in Hesse, Germany.

A total of 201 sewage sludge and 45 biowaste samples were examined for 14 different perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA). For perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, maximum concentrations of 698 μg/kg dry weight were measured in sewage sludge and for perfluorohexanesulfonic acid 29.0 μg/kg dry weight were found in biowaste.