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The article discusses the findings of a study on the impacts of foster care home for children. The study looks at the issue from children's viewpoints. Even though family foster care placement caused severe disruption for the children because of the necessity of blending into new neighborhoods, schools and families, and of making new friends, the children described their lives and circumstances positively for the most part. The study examines the impact of the removal of a child from the home of the biological parent and the consequences of this decision from the perspective of the child. The study focuses on the children's understanding of the circumstances surrounding placements; the reasons for changes in placements and the impact of changes in school, friends and neighborhood.

As part of a continuing survey, effluents from five mills in Canada were tested in the laboratory for their potential to affect fish reproduction. The study included effluents from two thermomechanical pulp (TMP) mills, two kraft pulp mills, and one mill that used both chemical and mechanical pulping. The laboratory test used adult fathead minnows and involved a 21-day exposure to each effluent. All the effluents were tested at 2 and 20% concentration. The effluent from 1 of the kraft mills was also tested at 40% concentration. The endpoints of the test included, egg production, gonad size, sex steroids, secondary sexual characteristics, and vitellogenin concentration in males, considered to be an indicator of estrogenicity. The results of this study were similar to the results of our previous survey. None of the effluents produced noteworthy changes at 2% concentration. At 20% concentration, only the effluent from the multiprocess mill produced a significant reduction in eggs, which was considered to be the most important indicator of reproductive performance. Some effluents did produce an increase and/or a decrease in a variety of endpoints other than egg production, but the most consistent response was an induction of vitellogenin in males exposed to three of the five effluents tested. In summary, these results indicate that most mill effluents up to 20 or 40% concentration do not affect the overall reproductive capacity of minnows in the laboratory. However, the mill effluents do seem to contain substances that cause vitellogenin induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]