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While the use of antibiotics has been reported as extensive in the rearing of agricultural animals, insufficient information is available on the antibiotic residues in animal products and the adverse impact that consistent low-level exposure to antibiotics might have on the human body and its microbiome. The aim of this study was to estimate the antibiotic concentrations that humans are exposed to via their diet using the concentration of antibiotics in animal food products and water and an online survey on dietary intake. A total of 131 participants completed the dietary intake survey, with the majority belonging to the omnivorous diet group (76.3%). Distinct dietary trends were observed in the omnivorous and unknown groups eating animal products, with specific food types dominating each meal: pork (e.g., ham) and dairy products (e.g., milk, yoghurt) during breakfast, beef (e.g., burgers) and chicken (e.g., chicken breast) products during lunch, and fish (e.g., salmon fillet) during dinner. In total, 34 different animal-based food and drink products were tested for the presence of ten different antibiotics. Of all the products tested, over 35% exceeded the acceptable daily antibiotic intake for amoxicillin, ampicillin, and enrofloxacin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the effects of the soil data and exposure data of residential building inventories, as well as their spatial resolution, on seismic damage and loss estimates for a given earthquake scenario. Our aim is to investigate how beneficial it would be to acquire higher resolution inventories at the cost of additional effort and resources. Seismic damage computations are used to evaluate the relative influence of varying spatial resolution on a given damage model, where other parameters were held constant. We use soil characterization maps and building exposure inventories, provided at different scales from different sources: the European database, a national dataset at the municipality scale, and local field investigations. Soil characteristics are used to evaluate site effects and to assign amplification factors to the strong motion applied to the exposed areas. Exposure datasets are used to assign vulnerability indices to sets of buildings, from which a damage distribution is produced (based on the applied seismic intensity). The different spatial resolutions are benchmarked in a case-study area which is subject to moderate-to-average seismicity levels (Luchon valley in the Pyrénées, France). It was found that the proportion of heavily damaged buildings is underestimated when using the European soil map and the European building database, while the more refined databases (national/regional vs. local maps) result in similar estimates for moderate earthquake scenarios. Finally, we highlight the importance of pooling open access data from different sources, but caution the challenges of combining different datasets, especially depending on the type of application that is pursued (e.g., for risk mitigation or rapid response tools). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The ECETOC Targeted Risk Assessment (TRA) tool is widely used for estimation of worker exposure levels in the development of dossiers for REACH registration of manufactured or imported chemical substances in Europe. A number of studies have been published since 2010 in which the exposure estimates of the tool are compared with workplace exposure measurement results and in some instances an underestimation of exposure was reported. The quality and results of these studies are being reviewed by ECETOC. (2) Methods: Original exposure measurement data from published comparison studies for which six or more data points were available for each workplace scenario and a TRA estimate had been developed to create a curated database to examine under what conditions and for which applications the tool is valid or may need adaptation. (3) Results: The published studies have been reviewed for completeness and clarity and TRA estimates have been constructed based on the available information, following a set of rules. The full review findings are expected to be available in the course of 2021. (4) Conclusions: The ECETOC TRA tool developers periodically review the validity and limitations of their tool, in line with international recommendations.

This study aims to evaluate occupational exposure models by comparing model estimations of Stoffenmanager, version 8.2, and exposure scores calculated using a new exposure model with personal exposure measurements for styrene used in the fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) lamination processes in Korea. Using the collected exposure measurements ( n = 160) with detailed contextual information about the type of process, working conditions, local exhaust ventilation, respiratory protections, and task descriptions, we developed a new model algorithm to estimate the score for occupational exposures on situation level. We assumed that the source of exposure originates from the near field only (within the breathing zone of workers). The new model is designed as a simple formula of multiplying scores for job classification, exposure potential, engineering controls, chemical hazard, and exposure probability and then dividing the score for workplace size. The final score is log-transformed, ranging from 1 to 14, and the exposure category is divided into four ratings: no exposure (1), low (2), medium (3), and high (4) exposures. Using the contextual information, all the parameters and modifying factors are similarly entered into the two models through direct translation and coding processes with expert judgement, and the exposure estimations and scores using the two models are calculated for each situation. Overall bias and precision for Stoffenmanager are -1.00 ± 2.07 (50th) and -0.32 ± 2.32 (90th) for all situations ( n = 36), indicating that Stoffenmanager slightly underestimated styrene exposures. Pearson's correlation coefficients are significantly high for Stoffenmanager ( r = 0.87) and the new model ( r = 0.88), and the correlation between the two models is significantly high ( r = 0.93) ( p < 0.01). Therefore, the model estimations using Stoffenmanager and the new model are significantly correlated with the styrene exposures in the FRP lamination process. Further studies are needed to validate and calibrate the models using a larger number of exposure measurements for various substances in the future.

Health impacts of air pollutants, especially fine particles (PM2.5) and NO2, have been documented worldwide by epidemiological studies. Most of the existing studies utilised the concentration measured at the ambient stations to represent the pollutant inhaled by individuals. However, these measurement data are in fact not able to reflect the real concentration a person is exposed to since people spend most of their time indoors and are also affected by indoor sources. The authors developed a probabilistic methodology framework to simulate the lifelong exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 simultaneously for population subgroups that are characterised by a number of indicators such as age, gender and socio-economic status. The methodology framework incorporates the methods for simulating the long-term outdoor air quality, the pollutant concentration in different micro-environments, the time-activity pattern of population subgroups and the retrospective life course trajectories. This approach was applied to the population in the EU27 countries plus Norway and Switzerland and validated with the measurement data from European multi-centre study, EXPOLIS. Results show that the annual average exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 at European level kept increasing from the 1950s to a peak between the 1980s and the 1990s and showed a decrease until 2015 due to the implementation of a series of directives. It is also revealed that the exposure to both pollutants was affected by geographical location, gender and income level. The average annual exposure over the lifetime of an 80-year-old European to PM2.5 and NO2 amounted to 23.86 (95% CI: 2.95–81.86) and 13.49 (95% CI: 1.36–43.84) µg/m3. The application of this methodology provides valuable insights and novel tools for exposure modelling and environmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Advanced REACH Tool (ART) is a mechanistic higher tier model to estimate inhalation exposure to chemicals using a Bayesian approach. Currently the ART model does not include exposure to welding fumes within its applicability domain; it has only been calibrated for vapours, mists, and dusts. To extend the scope to metal fumes it is necessary to review the model structure to ensure that it is appropriate, and to calibrate the updated model using available welding fume exposure measurements. This paper provides a discussion of the key modifying factors (MFs) that should be considered to extend the ART model to include welding fume exposure. Based on our literature review, welding process type, input power level, shield gas, and welding electrodes have important impact on fume formation rates (FFRs). In addition, the convective dispersion of the fume away from the weld and the interaction of the welder with the fume plume should be incorporated into the ART model. Other aspects of the ART, such as the local ventilation, do not require modification to accommodate welding fume exposure. The ART does not include the impact of wearing personal protective equipment and so this is not included in our evaluation. Proposals are made for extending the scope of the ART to include welding processes.