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Discusses the use of ink attachment force to paper in paper recycling operations by researchers from Vancouver, British Columbia. Introduction of a range of ink and paper combinations into the feed furnish of a newspaper deinking plant; Problems encountered in attaining pulp quality targets during changes in furnish composition; Measurement of the ink removal as a function of applied force for various ink-paper combination found in a typical old newspaper feed furnish.

The article discusses the association between the evolution of environmental protection in British Columbia and the economic relations of the state and examines the implications for regulatory efforts. It states that Canada is one of the largest pulp and paper producers in the world. The development of pulp pollution regulation is discussed. Criticisms on the development of the state's regulatory powers and the regulatory process are also offered.

Introduction: The Canadian Perinatal Network (CPN) is a national database focused on threatened very pre-term birth. Women with one or more conditions most commonly associated with very pre-term birth are included if admitted to a participating tertiary perinatal unit at 22 weeks and 0 days to 28 weeks and 6 days., Methods: At BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, we compared traditional paper-based ward logs and a search of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) electronic database of inpatient discharges to identify patients., Results: The study identified 244 women potentially eligible for inclusion in the CPN admitted between April and December 2007. Of the 155 eligible women entered into the CPN database, each method identified a similar number of unique records (142 and 147) not ascertained by the other: 10 (6.4%) by CIHI search and 5 (3.2%) by ward log review. However, CIHI search achieved these results after reviewing fewer records (206 vs. 223) in less time (0.67 vs. 13.6 hours for ward logs)., Conclusion: Either method is appropriate for identification of potential research subjects using gestational age criteria. Although electronic methods are less time-consuming, they cannot be performed until after the patient is discharged and records and charts are reviewed. Each method's advantages and disadvantages will dictate use for a specific project.

The question of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bioavailability and its relationship to specific PAH sources with different PAH binding characteristics is an important one, because bioavailability drives PAH accumulation in biota and ultimately the biochemical responses to the PAH contaminants. The industrial harbour at Kitimat (British Columbia, Canada) provides an ideal location to study the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of sediment hydrocarbons to low trophic level biota. Samples of soft shell clams (Mya arenaria) and intertidal sediment collected from multiple sites over six years at various distances from an aluminium smelter and a pulp and paper mill were analysed for 106 PAHs, plant diterpenes and other aromatic fraction hydrocarbons. Interpretation using PAH source ratios and multivariate data analysis reveals six principal hydrocarbon sources: PAHs in coke, pitch and emissions from anode combustion from the aluminium smelter, vascular plant terpenes and aromatised terpenes from the pulp and paper mill, petroleum PAHs from shipping and other anthropogenic activities and PAHs from natural plant detritus. Harbour sediments predominantly contain either pitch or pyrogenic PAHs from the smelter, while clams predominantly contain plant derived PAHs and diterpenes from the adjacent pulp mill. PAHs from the smelter have low bioavailability to clams (Biota-Sediment Accumulation Factors; BSAFs <1 for pitch and coke; <10 for anode combustion, decreasing to ∼0.1 for the mass 300 and 302 PAHs), possibly due to binding to pitch or soot carbon matrices. Decreases in PAH isomer ratios between sediments and clams likely reflect a combination of variation in uptake kinetics of petroleum PAHs and compound specific metabolism, with the importance of petroleum PAHs decreasing with increasing molecular weight. Plant derived compounds exhibit little natural bioaccumulation at reference sites, but unsaturated and aromatised diterpenes released from resins by industrial pulping processes are readily accumulated by the clams (BSAFs >500). Thus while most of the smelter associated PAHs in sediments may not be bioavailable to benthic organisms, the plant terpenes (including retene, totarol, ferruginol, manool, dehydroabietane and other plant terpenes that form the chemical defence mechanism of conifers) released by pulp mills are bioavailable and possess demonstrated toxic properties. The large scale release of plant terpenes by some of the many pulp mills located in British Columbia and elsewhere represents a largely undocumented risk to aquatic biota., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hybrid environments (i.e. where part of the patient record is paper-based and part of it is electronic) upon aspects of novice nurse information seeking (i.e. amount of information accessed, choice of key information sources, type of information and use of information seeking tactics)., Methods: A within group, laboratory, experimental study was conducted using two simulated environments (i.e. a paper environment and a hybrid environment). Thirty-five novice nurses participated in the study., Results: Findings revealed significant differences between the paper and hybrid environments in terms of their effects upon aspects of novice nurse information seeking. Subjects accessed: 1) less information in the hybrid environment than the paper environment, 2) more non-electronic sources of information were accessed by novice nurses in the hybrid environment, and 3) novice nurses used more passive information seeking tactics in the hybrid environment than the paper environment. Qualitative findings from the cued recall data revealed subjects experienced increased cognitive load in the hybrid environment., Conclusions: Hybrid environments may affect aspects of novice nurse information seeking. Future research should explore the effects of hybrid environments upon the information seeking of other types of health professionals (e.g. physicians, physiotherapists) with differing levels of expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and expert).

Objectives: A study was conducted to investigate cancer risks in a cohort of pulp and paper workers., Methods: All male workers with > or =1 years of employment in 14 pulp and paper mills in 1950-1992 were studied. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were used to compare the cancer incidence of the cohort with that of the Canadian male population. Record linkage with the National Cancer Registry was performed using the generalized iterative record linkage method., Results: Altogether 1756 cancer cases were observed in the entire cohort. For > or =15 years of work, the entire cohort had significantly increased SIR values for pleural and prostate cancer and skin melanoma; there was also a significantly increased risk for skin melanoma among workers in the kraft process only, rectal cancer among workers in the sulfite process only, and stomach and prostate cancer and all leukemias combined among workers in both the kraft and sulfite processes. A separate analysis comparing workers in pulping and papermaking with those in the pulping process only did not reveal any difference in cancer risk and hence did not modify the results. The SIR values for skin melanoma were not significantly increased in a comparison using the British Columbia male population. Nine of 10 pleural cancers were mesotheliomas, which likely reflect past asbestos exposure., Conclusions: The results suggest that long-term work in the pulp and paper industry is associated with excess risks of prostate and stomach cancers and all leukemias for work in both kraft and sulfite processes and of rectal cancer for work in the sulfite process only.

To validate exposure estimates used to investigate correlations between exposure and cancer risk, 1678 personal measurements were collected for 46 job titles during 73 day shifts at a bleached-kraft pulp mill. Measurements included shift-long average and short-term exposures to carbon monoxide, chlorine dioxide (ClO2), and hydrogen sulfide; and shift-long average exposures to calcium oxide and wood dust (WD). Overall results indicate low levels of exposure with a few noteworthy exceptions. Although ClO2 was the exclusive bleaching agent, 77 area samples indicated that chlorine (Cl2), not ClO2 was present in all areas apart from the chemical preparation area (chem-prep) and during a pulp spill. The highest shift-long exposures to Cl2 were measured in the chip yard and are attributed to uncontrolled stack emissions. Finally, WD samples collected from several laborers significantly exceeded regulatory limits, with the highest exposures measured in the steam and recovery area. For short-term exposures to ClO2 in chem-prep, 12 of 17 data-logging electro-chemical sensor sample results showed at least one peak that exceeded the short-term exposure limit of 0.3 ppm. The use of data-logging equipment quantified short-term exposures that previously had been characterized only anecdotally. The peaks were correlated with tasks and upset conditions and, given their transient nature, these exceedances could not have been detected using shift-long average-based sampling devices. Since the respiratory effects of significant short-term exposures to irritant gases such as Cl2 and ClO2 are well-documented, data-logging instruments are necessary to characterize exposures in the pulp and paper industry.

The authors studied a cohort of 30,157 male pulp and paper workers in British Columbia, Canada. Of these, 20,373 worked in kraft mills only, 5,249 in sulfite mills only, and 4,535 in both kraft and sulfite mills. All workers with at least 1 year of employment on January 1, 1950, or thereafter until December 31, 1992, were studied. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were used to compare the mortality rates of the cohort with those of the Canadian male population. Ninety percent confidence intervals (CIs) for the SMRs were obtained. Cancer risks significantly associated with work duration and time from first employment of 15 years or more were observed: 1) total cohort: pleura (SMR = 3.61, 90% CI 1.42-7.58); kidney (SMR = 1.69, 90% CI 1.13-2.43); brain (SMR = 1.51, 90% CI 1.03-2.16); 2) workers in kraft mills only: kidney (SMR = 1.92, 90% CI 1.04-3.26); 3) workers in sulfite mills only: Hodgkin's disease (SMR = 4.79, 90% CI 1.29-12.37); 4) workers ever employed in both kraft and sulfite mills: esophagus (SMR = 1.91, 90% CI 1.00-3.33). These malignancies have been associated with the following known or suspected carcinogens to which pulp and paper workers may have been exposed: asbestos (pleura), biocides (kidney), formaldehyde (kidney, brain, Hodgkin's disease), hypochlorite (esophagus). A nested case-control study with detailed exposure assessment is under way to help determine whether excess risks for specific cancers reflect exposure among subsets of workers.

Health authorities are often alerted to suspected cancer clusters near the vicinity of potential point sources by members of the public. A surveillance system, where administrative regions around the potential point sources are regularly monitored for high disease rates, would allow for responses which are easier to obtain, timelier, and less expensive than individual thorough investigations. The monitoring could be done by using the so-called 'focused' tests for detecting disease clustering. However, these tests, generally designed to detect clusters of a fixed size around the foci, are not particularly effective when dealing with administrative regions with substantial differences in populations. In this work, an approach which overcomes the problem to a certain extent is described. Here the selected cluster sizes are based on the populations of the administrative regions under examination. The approach is used to investigate whether cancer clustering appears in the vicinity of the pulp and paper mills in British Columbia for the years 1983-1989. The results indicate that the approach performs reasonably well in identifying cancer sites for which elevated risks have also been suggested in the epidemiologic literature. Consequently, this methodology could be utilized to provide guidance for further investigation even in the absence of local reports. Similarly, it could be readily utilized to provide timely responses to local reports.

Extremely low frequency (60 Hz) electric and magnetic field levels were measured at three Canadian pulp and paper mills, using area point-in-time measurements. Most electric field levels were below the limit of detection of 1 V/m (92 of 132 measurements); the highest measured field was 47 V/m. Measured magnetic field strengths ranged from less than the limit of detection (0.125 mG, 2 of 132 measurements) to 706 mG, with a median of 1.6 mG. Magnetic field levels were higher in mills that consume more electric power, but worker exposures could not be predicted according to plant power consumption. Overall, electric and magnetic field levels in the three pulp and paper mills were similar to those experienced by the general population. However, maximum magnetic field intensities in some areas were as high as those experienced by electrical workers.

Workers in pulpmills can be exposed to a multitude of gases hazardous to respiratory function, the most common of which is chlorine gas. First-aid reports of acute gas overexposure incidents ("gassings") over an 8 year period were used to generate exposure data on a group of pulpmill workers whose respiratory function had been studied cross-sectionally in 1981 and 1988. Three hundred forty-eight incidents representing 174 workers were identified, 78% of these being treated solely by the first-aid attendant with the administration of O2 and cough suppression medication. Among 316 workers tested during a 1988 respiratory health survey, 78 had at least one chlorine or chlorine dioxide "gassing" incident. There was a significant decrease in the FEV1/FVC ratio (p less than .05) as well as increased risk for workplace associated chest symptoms in this group with at least one "gassing" incident. In an age- and smoking-matched analysis, among workers tested both in 1981 and 1988, there was a greater decline in FEV2/FVC ratio and MMF (p less than .05) in the "gassed" group than in the nonexposed group over the 7 year period of observation. These results emphasize the need for worker protection against accidental chlorine gas exposures.