Recently, due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, many studies have focused on the assessment of soil metal contamination. The present research aimed investigate concentration potentially hazardous elements (Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, V Zn) in three different areas (forest, wildfire forest urban) Mediterranean region. Contamination levels were further assessed calculating indices:...

The objective of this study was to determine bacterial contamination of the hands in a group of medical trainee students attending practical training, in order to verify the reliability of the information on hand hygiene (HH) adherence obtained by a self-reporting questionnaire. The study questionnaire was designed with the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of basic health education an...

This paper summarizes parenteral drug contamination case studies presented at industry conferences and a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meeting in the period of 2000-2004. CGMP deficiencies associated with each contamination event are discussed. The key role of a well-functioning quality system in contamination prevention is emphasized.

AIMS   The optimal method for diagnostic collection of urine in children is unclear. National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence recommend specimens taken by clean catch urine (CCU) for identification of urinary tract infection (UTI). We investigated contamination rates for CCU, suprapubic aspiration (SPA), catheter specimen urine (CSU) and bag specimen urine (BSU) collections. METHO...

The assessment of heavy metal contaminants: Mn, Cr, V, Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni, was conducted on River Niger Floodplain soil at Jebba, Central Nigeria using Contamination Factor (Cf), Factor (AF), Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) and Degree of Contamination (Cdeg). Random sampling method was adopted cutting across the entire floodplain and the samples were subjected to Inductively...

Production and processing of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in line with the European food safety and labelling regulations lead to an elevated risk of unintentional GMO contamination in food producing and processing companies. For these companies GMO contamination can lead to extensive losses such as decreased product value, recall expenses or decreased brand equity. The question that oc...

Male-specific coliphages are often used as indicators of contamination by enteric viruses. These phages can be detected in water samples by plaque assays and by polymerase chain reaction. In this study, the M13 coliphage was used to develop a real-time PCR assay for the detection of male-specific DNA coliphages. The real-time PCR was found to have a reaction efficiency of 1.45 and detection lim...

We have reviewed quality control testing of dose calibrators and have analyzed the potential for error. The uncertainty in half-lives of reference sources can lead to inaccurate assessment of the accuracy and constancy in dose calibrator performance. Molybdenum-99 contamination of '"Tc used as a reference source can appear as a nonlinear response of the dose calibrator. The useful life of a ref...

Water quality monitoring of Clarias gariepinus culture ponds (n = 27) revealed poor physico-chemical conditions and metal contaminants in fish tissues (n = 324). Human health risk assessment for some heavy metal contamination delineated low risk in general except for Aluminium (Al), Iron (Fe) and Lead (Pb) which accumulated significantly (p < 0.05) high in tissues. Health risks values were 6.3 ...

This study compared the relative public health impact in deli meats at retail contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes by either (i) other products or (ii) the retail environment. Modeling was performed using the risk of listeriosis-associated deaths as a public health outcome of interest and using two deli meat products (i.e., ham and turkey, both formulated without growth inhibitors) as mode...