Biomonitoring of metals in the blood and urine of waste recyclers from exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM).

Unlabelled: This is the first systematic investigation of occupational exposure to toxic metals among waste recyclers in municipal waste recycling facilities. Concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) in the blood and urine of exposed recyclers in different jobs were compared to control groups (administrative department), identifying possible work-related and socio-demographic exposure factors. The potential relationship between HMs levels in PM and HM concentrations in the blood and urine of recyclers was studied for ten elements.

Health Risk Assessment of Nitrate in Drinking Water with Potential Source Identification: A Case Study in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Infant mortality in Kazakhstan is six times higher compared with the EU. There are several reasons for this, but a partial reason might be that less than 30% of Kazakhstan's population has access to safe water and sanitation and more than 57% uses polluted groundwater from wells that do not comply with international standards. For example, nitrate pollution in surface and groundwater continues to increase due to intensified agriculture and the discharge of untreated wastewater, causing concerns regarding environmental and human health.

Partial Order in Environmental Chemistry.

Background: The theory of partial order is a branch of Discrete Mathematics and is often seen as pretty esoteric. However, depending on a suitable definition of an order relation, partial order theory has some statistical flavor. Here we introduce the application of partial order for environmental chemistry.

After Salisbury Nerve Agents Revisited.

In March 2018 the term Novichok (Hoвичoκ) became publically known following an attempted murder of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, UK. Novichok is the name of a group of nerve agents secretly produced by Russia in the later stages of the Cold War. These compounds were never declared under the Chemical Weapons Convention and very little is known about the actual identity and characteristics of these compounds.

Assessing and Grouping Chemicals Applying Partial Ordering Alkyl Anilines as an Illustrative Example.

Aim And Objective: In chemistry, there is a long tradition in classification. Usually, methods are adopted from the wide field of cluster analysis. The present study focusses on the application of partial ordering methodology for the classification of 21 alkyl substituted anilines.

Use of partial order in environmental pollution studies demonstrated by urban BTEX air pollution in 20 major cities worldwide.

Urban air pollution with benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes (BTEX) is a common phenomenon in major cities where the pollution mainly originates from traffic as well as from residential heating. An attempt to rank cities according to their BTEX air pollution is not necessarily straight forward as we are faced with several individual pollutants simultaneously. A typical procedure is based on aggregation of data for the single compounds, a process that not only hides important information but is also subject to compensation effects.

Distribution and risk assessment of selected organochlorine pesticides in Kyzyl Kairat village from Kazakhstan.

Concentrations of selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), i.e., 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT), its metabolites (p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), have been determined in 100 soil samples collected from a contaminated site centered around a former storehouse in the Kyzyl Kairat village, Almaty region, Kazakhstan, which constitutes an exemplary case example.

Simple and accurate quantification of BTEX in ambient air by SPME and GC-MS.

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) comprise one of the most ubiquitous and hazardous groups of ambient air pollutants of concern. Application of standard analytical methods for quantification of BTEX is limited by the complexity of sampling and sample preparation equipment, and budget requirements. Methods based on SPME represent simpler alternative, but still require complex calibration procedures.

Evaluation of analytical performance based on partial order methodology.

Classical measurements of performances are typically based on linear scales. However, in analytical chemistry a simple scale may be not sufficient to analyze the analytical performance appropriately. Here partial order methodology can be helpful.

Mechanistic aspects of the nucleophilic substitution of pectin. On the formation of chloromethane.

Chloromethane, accounting for approximately 16% of the tropospheric chlorine, is mainly coming from natural sources. However anthropogenic activities, such as combustion of biomass may contribute significantly as well. The present study focuses on the thermal solid state reaction between pectin, an important constituent of biomass, and chloride ions as found in alkali metal chlorides.

On the ranking of chemicals based on their PBT characteristics: comparison of different ranking methodologies using selected POPs as an illustrative example.

Knowledge of the environmental behavior of chemicals is a fundamental part of the risk assessment process. The present paper discusses various methods of ranking of a series of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) according to the persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity (PBT) characteristics. Traditionally ranking has been done as an absolute (total) ranking applying various multicriteria data analysis methods like simple additive ranking (SAR) or various utility functions (UFs) based rankings.

Transformation products of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine and their distribution in soils of fall places of rocket carriers in Central Kazakhstan.

In our research, three fall places of first stages of Proton rockets have been studied for the presence and distribution of transformation products of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (1,1-DMH). Results of identification of transformation products of 1,1-DMH in real soil samples polluted due to rocket fuel spills allowed to detect 18 earlier unknown metabolites of 1,1-DMH being formed only under field conditions. According to the results of quantitative analyses, maximum concentrations of 1-methyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole made up 57.

Multi-criteria decision analyses. Viewing MCDA in terms of both process and aggregation methods: some thoughts, motivated by the paper of Huang, Keisler and Linkov.

The paper of Huang, Keisler and Linkov (HKL) (Huang et al., 2011) has motivated us to this note about the relation between ranking procedures and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tools. The key concept in the HKL-paper is in our eyes the 'trade-off'.

GC-MS and GC-NPD Determination of Formaldehyde Dimethylhydrazone in Water Using SPME.

Formaldehyde dimethylhydrazone (FADMH) is one of the important transformation products of residual rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (1,1-DMH). Thus, recent studies show that FADMH toxicity is comparable to that of undecomposed 1,1-DMH. In this study, a new method for quantification of FADMH in water based on solid phase microextraction (SPME) in combination with gas chromatography (GC) with mass spectrometric (MS) and nitrogen-phosphorus detection (NPD) is presented.

Screening of transformation products in soils contaminated with unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine using headspace SPME and GC-MS.

The paper describes a novel SPME-based approach for sampling and analysis of transformation products of highly reactive and toxic unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) which is used as a fuel in many Russian, European, Indian, and Chinese heavy cargo carrier rockets. The effects of several parameters were studied to optimize analyte recovery. It was found that the 85 microm Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fiber coating provides the highest selectivity for selected UDMH transformation products.

Assessment of the mutagenic effect of 1,1-dimethyl hydrazine.

The mutagenic effect of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethyl hydrazine has been studied experimentally and compared to the well-recognized mutagene N-nitroso dimethylamine. The manifestation of the effect for both compounds was disclosed through a significant increase in the chromosome aberration frequency in the bone marrow cells of intoxicated rats. The levels of chromosome aberrations induced by 1,1-dimetyl hydrazine were studied following both single (1h) and repeated doses (daily for 10 consecutive days) by inhalation (205-1028mg/m(3)) and gavage (5.

The interplay between QSAR/QSPR studies and partial order ranking and formal concept analyses.

The often observed scarcity of physical-chemical and well as toxicological data hampers the assessment of potentially hazardous chemicals released to the environment. In such cases Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSAR/QSPR) constitute an obvious alternative for rapidly, effectively and inexpensively generatng missing experimental values. However, typically further treatment of the data appears necessary, e.

A QSAR/QSTR study on the human health impact of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethyl hydrazine and its transformation products Multicriteria hazard ranking based on partial order methodologies.

The possible impact of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethyl hydrazine (heptyl) (1) and its transformation products on human health has been studied using (Quantitative) Structure Activity/Toxicity ((Q)SAR/(Q)STR) modelling, including both ADME models and models for acute toxicity, organ specific adverse haematological effects, the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems, the kidneys, the liver and the lungs, as well as a model predicting the biological activity of the compounds. It was predicted that all compounds studied are readily bioavailable through oral intake and that significant amounts of the compounds will be freely available in the systemic circulation. In general, the compounds are not predicted to be acutely toxic apart from hydrogen cyanide, whereas several compounds are predicted to cause adverse organ specific human health effects.

Assessment of chemicals applying partial order ranking techniques.

This review summarizes the use of partial order ranking (POR) techniques for the assessment of chemicals. Simple partial order ranking may advantageously be applied to give the single chemicals investigated an identity in relation to other substances. Thus, it constitutes an effective tool for the prioritization of chemicals, e.

Hierarchical partial order ranking.

Assessing the potential impact on environmental and human health from the production and use of chemicals or from polluted sites involves a multi-criteria evaluation scheme. A priori several parameters are to address, e.g.

A QSAR/QSTR Study on the Environmental Health Impact by the Rocket Fuel 1,1-Dimethyl Hydrazine and its Transformation Products.

QSAR/QSTR modelling constitutes an attractive approach to preliminary assessment of the impact on environmental health by a primary pollutant and the suite of transformation products that may be persistent in and toxic to the environment. The present paper studies the impact on environmental health by residuals of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethyl hydrazine (heptyl) and its transformation products. The transformation products, comprising a variety of nitrogen containing compounds are suggested all to possess a significant migration potential.

Giving molecules an identity. On the interplay between QSARs and partial order ranking.

The interplay between 'noise-deficient' QSAR and Partial Order Ranking, including analysis of average linear ranks, constitutes an effective tool in giving substances which have not been investigated experimentally an identity by comparison with experimentally well-characterized, structurally similar compounds. It is disclosed that experimentally well-characterized compounds may serve as substitutes for highly toxic compounds in experimental studies without exhibiting the same extreme toxicity, while from an overall viewpoint they exhibit analogous environmental characteristics.

A preliminary assessment of the potential environmental and human health impact of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as a result of space activities.

A preliminary assessment of the potential environmental and human health impact of UDMH as a result of space activities has been carried out applying a theoretical approach in comparison with selected experimental data. The theoretical framework includes QSAR, ADME and PASS modelling as well as studies on the possible atmospheric dispersion of UDMH as calculated applying the OML-Multi model. The possible impact on the environment and the human health has been elucidated and it has been concluded that UDMH especially inside the fall region of burned-out rocket stages constitute a significant threat to both environmental and human health, the latter as a results of the carcinogenic, mutagenic, convulsant, teratogenic and embryotoxic characteristics of UDMH in addition to the general toxic characteristics of the compound.

Ranking of chemical substances based on the Japanese Pollutant Release and Transfer Register using partial order theory and random linear extensions.

In 1997 a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) pilot project was initiated in Japan. In 1998 the project was expanded and in 1999 a law concerning the establishment of a national PRTR was adopted. Data on the emissions of chemical substances are therefore now being reported on a continuous base.

Estimation of averaged ranks by a local partial order model.

This paper continues the series of publications about applications of partial ordering. The focus of this publication is the derivation of approximate analytical expressions for the averaged rank and the ranking probabilities. To derive such combinatorial formulas a local partial order is suggested as an approximation.