Exposure of the deck crew to carcinogenic agents on oil product tankers

Work on deck on eight oil product tankers was examined. The purpose was to evaluate the need for improvement of the working environment to reduce the risk of occupational cancer. Benzene, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organic lead compounds were sampled, and the crew answered a questionnaire on acute health effects. By area monitoring, benzene was generally found to be in the range from the detection limit, of 0.01 ppm, up to 1.15 ppm, but one tanker which loaded gasoline with the hatches open had levels up to 55 ppm. Personal monitoring showed exposure levels in the range 0.01-1.15 ppm. The PAH-levels and the levels of organic lead were low. No seamen were observed using respiratory protective equipment. Central nervous system symptoms were reported by the crew with the highest exposures to benzene although benzene may not be the only cause. The exposure to benzene and other hydrocarbons on the deck of oil product tankers ought to be reduced.     

Helicobacter pylori: 6-day triple therapy in duodenal ulcer

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the risk of lymphatic and haematopoietic malignancies in deck crew on tankers exposed to cargo vapours. METHODS: The study design was as a nested case-referent study in two cohorts of male Swedish seamen 20-64 years of age at the national census 1960 (n 13,449) and 1970 (n 11,290), respectively. Cases were detected by record linkage with the Swedish Cancer Register 1961-79 and 1971-87, respectively. For each case, three to five age matched referents from the population were selected. Exposure was assessed from data in the Swedish Registry of Seamen and from a register of Swedish ships. RESULTS: Seamen in the 1970 cohort, who had been exposed to cargo vapours for at least one month on chemical or product tankers, had an increased risk of lymphatic and haematopoietic malignancies (Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio (OR) 2.6, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1 to 5.9)) with a significant exposure-response relation (conditional logistic regression analysis, p = 0.04). The ORs were increased for both lymphoma (3.2), multiple myeloma (4.0), and leukaemia (1.6), but the increase was only significant for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 10.6). There were no significantly increased risks for the 1960 cohort or for seamen exposed only on crude oil tankers, but these groups had few exposed cases and low cumulative exposure to benzene and other light petroleum products. CONCLUSIONS: Seamen exposed to cargo vapours from gasoline and other light petroleum products on chemical or product tankers had an increased incidence of lymphatic and haematopoietic malignancies. One possible cause is exposure to benzene during loading, unloading, and tank cleaning operations.     

In vitro pharmacological properties of KRH-594, a novel angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist

Although most people are thought to receive their highest acute exposures to gasoline while refueling, relatively little is actually known about personal, nonoccupational exposures to gasoline during refueling activities. This study was designed to measure exposures associated with the use of an oxygenated fuel under cold conditions in Fairbanks, Alaska. We compared concentrations of gasoline components in the blood and in the personal breathing zone (PBZ) of people who pumped regular unleaded gasoline (referred to as regular gasoline) with concentrations in the blood of those who pumped an oxygenated fuel that was 10% ethanol (E-10). A subset of participants in a wintertime engine performance study provided blood samples before and after pumping gasoline (30 using regular gasoline and 30 using E-10). The biological and environmental samples were analyzed for selected aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in gasoline (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, m-/p-xylene, and o-xylene); the biological samples were also analyzed for three chemicals not found in gasoline (1,4-dichlorobenzene, chloroform, and styrene). People in our study had significantly higher levels of gasoline components in their blood after pumping gasoline than they had before pumping gasoline. The changes in VOC levels in blood were similar whether the individuals pumped regular gasoline or the E-10 blend. The analysis of PBZ samples indicated that there were also measurable levels of gasoline components in the air during refueling. The VOC levels in PBZ air were similar for the two groups. In this study, we demonstrate that people are briefly exposed to low (ppm and sub-ppm) levels of known carcinogens and other potentially toxic compounds while pumping gasoline, regardless of the type of gasoline used.     

Crew Production Rates for Contract Time Estimation: Beam Erection, Deck, and Rail of Highway Bridges

Both the importance and process of estimating highway construction time have increased in significance as roadway user costs themselves have become more significant. In estimating construction time, few parameters are more significant than work item crew production rates and factors significantly affecting those rates. A standardized data collection tool was used to acquire a total of 67 data points from 25 ongoing Texas highway projects between February 2002 and May 2004, for three selected critical work items: beam erection, bridge deck, and bridge rail. With the data, several hypothesized drivers of the crew production rates were analyzed. While the factor of shape of deck (straight versus curved) was identified as a statistically significant driver of bridge deck crew production rate, no statistically significant drivers were found for work items of beam erection and bridge rail. The study also found that both formwork and rebarwork crew sizes have significant relationships with bridge deck production rate. Findings from this study will enable highway agencies to enhance accuracy of contract time estimation for highway bridge construction. The methodology for obtaining field-based production rates will also be beneficial for future researchers.     

Effect of the gasoline additives on PAH emission

PAH emission from the powered engines fueled by a 95 leadfree gasoline (95-LFG), a 92 leadfree gasoline (92-LFG) and a Premium leaded gasoline (PLG) with two gasoline additives (SA and SB) were collected using a PAH sampling system with a particulate interception device. Twenty one PAHs were analyzed primarily by an GC/MS, while eight metal elements were determined mainly by an ICP-AES. This investigation showed that the gasoline additives contain more amounts of carcinogenic PAHs than gasolines do. Blending these additives do raise the PAH content in the gasolines, simultaneously, will emit more amount of PAHs from the tailpipe of engine exhaust. It is suggested that before a gasoline additive is commercialized, an assessment on its PAH emission should be evaluated to make sure that the additive will not emit more PAHs and cause adverse effect on public health.     

Occupational hydrocarbon exposure and nephrotoxicity: a cohort study and literature review

Hydrocarbon exposure has been shown to play an important role in the development of renal dysfunction in several occupational settings. In this study, renal screening was performed in a group of paint sprayers with exposure to hydrocarbon-based paints, recruited from a car manufacturing plant where personal protective equipment was widely used. The hydrocarbon exposure scores and various markers of renal injury were compared between these subjects and a group of paint sprayers from a previous study who did not use personal protective equipment regularly. Cumulative hydrocarbon exposure scores were calculated from a validated questionnaire. Serum creatinine, urinary total protein, albumin, transferrin, retinol-binding protein, and N-acetylglucosaminidase were evaluated, Both groups experienced heavy hydrocarbon exposure but sprayers who regularly used personal protective equipment had significantly reduced exposure scores due to improved skin and respiratory protection. A significant number of sprayers from both groups had elevated levels of serum creatinine. Interestingly, urinary N-acetylglucosaminidase activity, a marker of proximal tubular damage, was abnormal in a significant proportion of sprayers in the unprotected group but normal in those with improved protection. Our results are in keeping with the hypothesis that hydrocarbon exposure through paint spraying may result in active proximal tubular damage which may be reduced by improvement of protection at the worksite. However, renal impairment independent of tubular injury may result from chronic paint exposure, even with improved protection.     

Co-Occurrence of MTBE and Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Compounds at Marinas in Large Reservoir

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is released into the environment as one of some gasoline components, not as a pure compound. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) compounds are major volatile constituents found in gasoline and are water soluble and mobile. This study focused on the occurrence of MTBE with BTEX compounds in several marinas in Lake Texoma, which is a large reservoir located on the Oklahoma and Texas border. During a monitoring period from June 1999 to July 2001, MTBE and BTEX were detected in 28 and 5% of samples analyzed, respectively. Methyl tert-butyl ether co-occurred with BTEX compounds in 15% of lake water samples when detectable MTBE was present. The relatively low co-occurrence (15%) of MTBE with BTEX compounds is primarily due to the volume percentage in gasoline mixtures and physicochemical properties such as water solubility and Henry’s law constant. Toluene was the most commonly co-occurring BTEX with MTBE. Values of the ratios of the BTEX concentration to the MTBE concentration generally increase with depth of water.     

Thermally Enhanced Vapor Extraction for Removing PAHs from Lampblack-Contaminated Soil

This work summarizes the results of a feasibility study in support of a soil venting-thermal desorption (SVTD) process for remediating lampblack-impacted soil. Lampblack is the solid residue resulting from the gasification of crude oil. The SVTD process couples soil vapor extraction with in situ heating. The objective of this study is to determine the required temperature for desorbing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the compounds of regulatory concern, from lampblack. Bench-scale results are reported for the treatment of a soil-lampblack matrix containing 11 PAHs totaling about 4100 ppm (mg∕kg) total PAH (TPAH). Solids characterization analyses suggested that these PAHs constitute about 60% of the organic residue on a solid matrix dominated by fine-grained sand and carbon-based lampblack particles. Thin section imagery supports the conceptual model of hydrocarbons associated with the surface of sand grains. SVTD testing for the sand-lampblack solids indicates that temperatures in excess of about 250°C are sufficient to mobilize most of the PAHs. Specifically, at temperatures between 250°C and 300°C, the TPAH level in the soil-lampblack matrix was reduced to less than 100 ppm in 10 days. The dynamics of PAH removal were captured reasonably well by a mass balance accounting for the temperature dependent volatilization of an ideal PAH mixture. Both simulated and experimental results support the finding that the vast majority of the PAH removal from this sand-lampblack matrix was controlled by thermodynamic considerations (as opposed to mass transfer resistances). A small residual PAH fraction (roughly 40 ppm TPAH) was observed to persist in the solids even at temperatures in excess of 650°C. Although the specific state of these persistent PAHs is unknown, they may reside within an extremely nonvolatile residue or be otherwise strongly sequestered in the solid matrix.     

机动车尾气和非尾气排放多环芳烃及其衍生物的影响因素研究进展

机动车尾气排放多环芳烃(PAHs)及其衍生物主要源于化石燃料的不完全燃烧,排放特征随燃烧条件和燃料种类变化而有所不同.随着尾气排放控制标准日益严格和新能源汽车的逐渐普及,非尾气排放污染对交通大气污染的贡献逐年加大.因此,包括刹车磨损、轮胎磨损、道路扬尘再悬浮和路面磨损在内的非尾气排放过程作为城市环境PAHs的重要污染源,其占比不容忽视.机动车来源PAHs及其衍生物的排放特征主要受燃烧条件、路面条件和机动车部件材料种类等多种因素影响.本文对国内外现有的机动车尾气排放以及非尾气排放PAHs及其衍生物的数据进行了梳理和总结.总的来说,对于尾气排放,严格的排放标准导致PAHs及其衍生物排放量降低;冷启动、加速等工况下,发动机燃烧效率降低,排放量增大;柴油车排放量远高于汽油车;汽油直喷发动机比气道喷射发动机排放更高;车辆行驶里程增加排放量增加.且研究发现刹车片化学成分、制动情况、轮胎材料和路面条件等均会影响排放,具有高度的不确定性,有待进一步研究.本文旨在分析机动车来源PAHs及其衍生物在不同影响因素下的排放特征,为排放控制技术发展和政策标准制定提供科学依据.     

Urinary metabolite profile of PAH as a potential mirror of the genetic disposition for cancer

Polycyclic aromatic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or aromatic amines presently are considerably underestimated with regard to the formation of environmentally caused cancer diseases. The individual urinary metabolite profile raising from the PAH inhaled is invariant. This holds for tar-pitch aerosol exposed Wistar rats as well as for PAH-exposed workers. Significant individual differences of the urinary metabolite profile can be observed in different individuals. The differences reflect the different individual enzyme equipment. There is an individual correlation between the PAH-masses inhaled and the masses of their metabolites excreted in the urine; e.g. the excretion of phenanthrene varies from 5% to 20% for different coke workers. The PAH metabolite profile analysis appears to be a suitable tool to estimate the individual cancer.risk at PAH-exposed working places since the PAH-induced malign transformation is caused by specific PAH metabolites.     

干湿交替环境下气体组成对低合金钢腐蚀行为的影响

参照国际海事组织(IMO)所规定的模拟货油舱上甲板(COT)试验条件,利用专门建立的模拟上甲板环境腐蚀试验装置,研究了货油舱上甲板环境中,不同气体成分对低合金钢的腐蚀行为的影响.观察了低合金钢在不同成分的气体中基体和腐蚀产物的宏观和微观形貌,测定了锈层的物相组成.研究结果显示,在干湿交替环境下,低合金钢在SO2+ CO2+O2+N2气体中的腐蚀速率是H2S+ N2气体中的5.7倍;H2S+ N2环境下腐蚀产物为FeS,SO2+CO2+ O2+ N2环境下腐蚀产物为α-FeOOH、Fe2O3、FeSO4,且基体表面存在沿晶界发生的沟渠状和酸性液滴造成的斑状腐蚀形貌.     

Transient ischemia does not limit subsequent ischemic regional dysfunction in humans: a transesophageal echocardiographic study during minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery

Urban air quality is of considerable importance in many cities throughout Europe and the USA. In particular, current EU legislation has driven an expansion of monitoring of more pollutants at more sites. At present in the UK, real time readings are now available for benzene, buta-1,3-diene and other volatile organic compounds, airborne fine dust (PM10), CO, 03, SO2, and NOX. Carbon monoxide is produced to varying degrees in all combustion processes but more than 90% is caused by emissions from petrol vehicle exhausts. The World Health Ogranisation guidelines for exposure to the gas is < 10 ppm for 8 h and 85 ppm for periods not exceeding 15 min. All the pollutants mentioned above are monitored by different detection techniques and it has been the authors' philosophy to develop instrumentation which can monitor all the different pollutants using a single detector. To this end, a multiphoton laser based procedure, using simple ionization chambers, has been developed to detect the different pollutants with different wavelengths. For CO, a 2 + 1 resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) scheme at 230 nm can be used with detection limits of about 1 ppm.     

COREX熔融气化炉Rist操作线的建立和应用

考虑了块煤在熔融气化炉上部挥发分的析出和采用部分氧气燃烧析出挥发分中的焦油和碳氢化合物这一特点,利用改进的Rist操作线原理,建立了熔融气化炉操作线图,直观地体现了不同因素对炼铁过程能耗的影响.讨论了COREX熔融气化炉内上部吹氧燃烧焦油和碳氢化合物后操作线的变化,对比了加入不同块煤和半焦对上部吹氧量、能耗的影响,分析了将块煤中挥发分脱除后以半焦的形式加入炉内,熔融气化炉上部煤气氧化度、温度和煤气量的变化,以及对能耗的影响.      

Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in house dust and residential soil

Two commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and carcinogenic PAH (C-PAH) were evaluated. The testing procedures were refined for application to screening PAH and C-PAH in house dust and soil samples for human exposure studies. The overall method precision expressed as percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) of triplicate real world dust and soil samples was within +/- 29% (12-29%) for PAH ELISA and +/- 21% (5.9-21%) for C-PAH ELISA. Spike recoveries from real world dust/soil samples were 114 +/- 30% for phenanthrene from PAH ELISA and 120 +/- 8.2% for benzo[a]pyrene from C-PAH ELISA. The overall method accuracy for PAH and C-PAH assays cannot be assessed for multiple PAH components in dust/soil samples (which represent real-world samples), because of the assays' cross reactivities with other PAH components. Over 100 dust/soil samples from 13 North Carolina homes and 22 Arizona homes were analyzed by PAH and C-PAH assays, as well as by the conventional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method. Statistical analysis showed that dust/soil PAH data from ELISA and GC/MS methods are significantly different. In general PAH ELISA responses were higher than PAH GC/MS responses. The regression analysis showed that the linear relationship between ELISA and GC/MS measurements is not strong in the combined data. The relationship became stronger for the data from the same type of dust/soil samples. The screening performance of ELISA was evaluated based on the frequency distribution of ELISA and GC/MS data. The results indicated that the ELISA PAH and C-PAH assays cannot be used as a quantitative analytical tool for determining PAH in real-world dust/soil samples. However, the ELISA is an effective screening tool for ranking PAH concentrations in similar types of real world dust/soil samples.     

Some aspects of the safety of high speed catamarans

A high speed catamaran was involved in an accident off Jersey. No one was injured as a result of the actual accident itself but there were a number of serious injuries sustained by passengers during the evacuation of the vessel. A number of deficiencies in the design of the vessel were identified as a result of the accident and the evacuation of passengers and crew. Access routes and the number of exits were important causes of concern. Lifejackets and life rafts were found to have problems in their use and their specification seemed not to be well adapted to their possible use. Life rafts in particular were found not to be sufficiently robust. The low crew to passenger ratio required passengers to take on roles for which they had neither the expertise nor the training. Crew and passengers all responded to the best of their ability but unnecessary strain was placed on all due to lack of sufficient trained people being available. Hypothermia was not a major problem but if the rescue had taken much longer then there would have been a rapidly increasing number of people affected. Rescue equipment should be improved to cope with this life threatening condition.     

Characterization of a Low-Profile Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Deck System for Moveable Bridges

Moveable bridges in Florida typically use open steel grid decks due to weight limitations. However, these decks present rideability, environmental, and maintenance problems, as they are typically less skid resistant than a solid riding surface, create loud noises, and allow debris to fall through the grids. Replacing open steel grid decks with a lightweight fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) deck can improve rideability and reduce maintenance costs, simultaneously satisfying the strict weight requirement for such bridges. In this investigation, a new low-profile, pultruded FRP deck system successfully passed the preliminary strength and fatigue tests per AASHTO requirements. Two two-span deck specimens were tested, one with the strong direction of the deck placed perpendicular to the supporting girders, whereas the other had a deck placed with 30° skew. This paper also describes a simplified finite-element approach that simulates the load–deformation behavior of the deck system. The results from the finite-element model showed a good correlation with the deflection and strain values measured from the tests.     

PAHs in Sediments: Unmixing and CMB Modeling of Sources

A chemical mass balance (CMB) model, applied to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds, is used to apportion PAH sources in a group of seven sediment cores in the Milwaukee Basin of the central Lake Michigan area. PAH apportionment results indicate the dominance of coke oven emissions from 1925–1976, and of highway inputs from 1983–1992 for most of the seven cores. This is consistent with results of carbon particle analysis from the same basin. Milwaukee and Port Washington appear to be primary contributors of point source inputs of PAHs from coke ovens and highway dust. Wood burning is a minor source (<13%). These findings are supported by an independent factor analysis study. Historical PAH records are also determined for the seven sediment cores. The records are unmixed and averaged over the basin. The resulting average record is then used as measured profile in a CMB model to determine PAH sources. Source profiles are historical records of the consumption of coal, petroleum, and wood, including coal used for coke production. A cubic spline technique is developed and applied for the curve fitting of original data points for all of the cores. Unmixed profiles reveal a number of features that are not seen in the original data. Wood burning, coke oven emissions, and highway dust profiles are found to resemble the national consumption records. Coal burning is a very small PAH source (<1%).     

An animal experimental study on the retention rate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the lung and in the subcutaneous tissue (author's transl)

The retention rate of five polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) (benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(ah)anthracene, chrysene, pyrene, benz(a) anthracene) was studied after intratracheal instillation into syrian hamsters and subcutanous injection into mice. For subcutanous injection the PAH were solved in 0.5 ml tricaprylin, for intratracheal instillation a suspension in NaCl was used. The results were the following: 1. With respect to the retention rate of the five PAH the largest difference was found comparing the application modes. The ratio of the averaged half-time-values for the intratracheal test to the subcutanous test is about 1:35. 2. The retention rates for each polycyclic hydrocarbon differs significantly. An interrelation of PAH after application of a PAH-mixture was not detectable. 3. The retention rates determined in the lung and in the subcutanous tissue do not give a constant ratio concerning each PAH. Thus DBahA is retained in the lung as well as in the subcutanous tissue definitely longer than BaP. Chrysene and benz(a)anthracene behave - respecting the retention rate - in the subcutanous test like BaP. In lung tissue, however, the different behaviour becomes obvious: while benz(a)anthracene is eliminated most rapidly, chrysene can be detected for a relative long time.     

Long-Term Performance Monitoring of the Tech 21 All-Composite Bridge

Tech 21 is the third all-composite vehicular bridge installed in the United States. The deck has sandwich configuration with a center core made by bonding orthotropic fiberglass and polyester tubes. The three trapezoidal beams supporting the deck were fabricated using E-glass fibers with polyester resin. Each beam was fabricated as an integral unit with its deck section to facilitate transportation to the site, erection, and construction. The two-lane bridge is the first fully instrumented all-composite vehicular bridge, including an extensive health-monitoring system installed during its fabrication. A nearly four-year long continuous monitoring was carried out to demonstrate the performance of the bridge. Field monitored information was studied to evaluate the behavior and durability of composites in the harsh infrastructure environment. This evaluation determines the level of confidence in the long-term field benefits of composite materials and technology.