demonstrating that lower levels of carboxyhemoglobin are associated with increased mortality in critically ill patients [1]. Th is observation is of interest since prior studies have shown that carbon monoxide (CO), the silent killer, may actually have therapeutic applications. CO suppresses infl ammation and apoptosis, reduces pulmonary hypertension and potentially protects against multiple or...

A car-borne survey was carried out in the northwestern, or Tokatsu, area of Chiba Prefecture, Japan, to make a detailed distribution map of absorbed dose rate in air four years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. This area was chosen because it was the most heavily radionuclide contaminated part of Chiba Prefecture and it neighbors metropolitan Tokyo. Measurements were per...

Fast track article for IS&T International Symposium on Electronic Imaging 2021: Mobile Devices and Multimedia: Enabling Technologies, Algorithms, Applications 2021 proceedings.

The results of a field investigation, vapor extraction tests, and long-term monitoring at a PCE-contaminated site in Saga, Japan, are reported. The field investigation indicated that PCE likely was trapped in a surface clayey sand layer (vadose zone), and soil vapor extraction (SVE) was adopted as the remediation approach. The field test results the effectiveness of SVE in removing volatile org...

In the absence of recycling, water represents over 90% of the life-support consumables for a manned spacecraft. In addition, over 90% of the waste water generated can be classified as moderately or slightly contaminated (e.g. shower water, condensate from the air-conditioning system, etc.). The ability to recover potable water from moderately contaminated waste water hence enables significant s...

Thermal desorption, by a rotary kiln of mercury contaminated soil and mine wastes, has been used in order to volatilize mercury from the contaminated medium. Solar thermal desorption is an innovative treatment that uses solar energy to increase the volatility of contaminants, which are removed from a solid matrix by a controlled air flow system. Samples of soils and mine wastes used in the expe...

Volatile halogenated organic chemicals are found in indoor and outdoor air, often at concentrations substantially above those in remote, unpopulated areas. The outdoor ambient concentrations vary considerably among sampling stations throughout the United States, as well as diurnally and daily. The vapor pressures and air-water equilibrium (Henry's Law) constants of these chemicals influence con...

Mechanical exhaust ventilation system is typical in apartment buildings in Finland. In most buildings the base floor between the first floor apartments and crawl space is not air tight. As the apartments have lower pressure than the crawl space due to ventilation, contaminated air may flow from the crawl space to the apartments. The object of this study was to find out whether a potential air f...

Food may be contaminated with many chemical substances at any level along the production chain. Chemicals that may be found in food items can simultaneously be present in other matrices, as air, water, soil and dust; therefore, human exposure to chemicals via food has to be summed to the exposure through all the other possible routes. The role played by the food production chain with regard to ...

Environmental management is becoming increasingly dependent on quantitative analysis of environmental and health risks associated with exposure to chemical contaminants. Exposure to chemical pollutants can occur via primary pathways (e.g., inhalation of polluted air or drinking contaminated water) and/or secondary pathways (e.g., ingestion of contaminated food) and therefore requires informatio...