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The androgenic potential of a New Zealand pulp and paper mill effluent was measured by applying a combination of in vitro and in vivo bioassays with mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and goldfish (Carassius auratus). The in vivo method assessed the rate of gonopodial development (masculinization) and alterations from normal reproductive behavior in adult female mosquitofish exposed for 21 d to untreated or secondary-treated pulp mill effluent. A second in vivo mosquitofish exposure tested the effect of glass-fiber (type C) filtration of secondary-treated effluent on rates of expression of the same endpoints. Extractable organics analyses of effluents and extracts thereof were conducted. Mosquitofish demonstrated significant masculinization on exposure to either treated or untreated effluent; the frequency of gonopodial development was reduced with effluent secondary-treatment. Male mating behavior was observed in the masculinized adult females. Glass-fiber (type F) filtration of the treated effluent eliminated the masculinizing effect, suggesting that the bioactive compounds were associated with the suspended solids. The in vitro method measured the binding of compounds within a treated thermomechanical/bleached kraft effluent extract to androgen receptors contained in goldfish testis cytosol. Exposure to extracts of either the particulate (glass-fiber filtered) or the dissolved organic fraction of the effluent produced significant binding (as indicated by the displacement of radiolabeled testosterone) to the androgen receptor in goldfish gonadal tissue. Thus, the dissolved organics extract of the treated effluent contained compounds androgenic to goldfish in vitro but not to mosquitofish in vivo. The combined in vitro and in vivo data suggest that the effluent in question could exert effects on the reproductive physiology of fishes through an androgenic mechanism. The androgenic compounds androstenedione and testosterone were not detected in the extracts used for... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author emphasizes the need for New Zealand business organizations to choose sustainably produced office papers from environmentally friendly paper manufacturers. He stresses that companies should be aware of the business practices of their office paper suppliers, describing the possible impact of having such suppliers on the future of the business. He also talks about the efforts of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development to help printers and graphic designers choose sustainable office papers.

The article reports that the New Zealand government, through Environment Minister David Benson-Pope, congratulated the country's paper sector for meeting the paperboard recycling target two years ahead of schedule. The sector registered a 72% recovery rate of paperboard packaging ahead of the 2008 target year. He emphasized that the country's recycling targets are comparable with the rates being achieved overseas. Benson-Pope said that the national targets for the recovery of aluminum, glass, steel, and plastic are all proceeding towards their 2008 targets.

This study investigates factors affecting reproduction in fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents by comparing effluents from countries with varying levels of documented effects. To explore the hypothesis of wood as a common source of endocrine disrupting compounds, feedstocks from each country were analyzed. Analyses included in vitro assays for androgenic activity (binding to goldfish testis androgen receptors), estrogenic activity (yeast estrogen screen), and neurotransmitter enzyme inhibition (monoamine oxidase and glutamic acid decarboxylase). Chemical analyses included conventional extractives, known androgens, and gas chromatograph index (GCI) profiles. All effluents and wood contained androgenic activity, particularly in nonpolar fractions, although known androgens were undetected. Effluents with low suspended solids, having undergone conventional biotreatment had lower androgenic activities. Estrogenic activity was only associated with Brazilian effluents and undetected in wood. All effluents and wood inhibited neurotransmitter enzymes, predominantly in polar fractions. Kraft elemental chlorine free mills were associated with the greatest neurotransmitter inhibition. Effluent and wood GCI profiles were correlated with androgenic activity and neurotransmitter enzyme inhibition. Differences in feedstock bioactivities were not reflected in effluents, implying mill factors mitigate bioactive wood components. No differences in bioactivities could be discerned on the basis of country of origin, thus we predict effluents in regions lacking monitoring would affect fish reproduction and therefore recommend implementing such programs.

In a previous cumulative impacts assessments of fish populations along the Waikato River, New Zealand, reduced ovary pigmentation was observed in the common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus) with an associated reduction in recruitment in the pulp mill-impacted Kopakorahi Arm of Lake Maraetai compared to an upstream reference site. Carotenoid pigments are typically responsible for the yellow to red colouration of fish eggs and a number of functions for these pigments such as pro-vitamins and antioxidants have been proposed. The purpose of the current study was first to quantify the observed pigment reduction and then to establish possible consequences of carotenoid deficiency. Significantly lower levels of all measured carotenoids were observed in the ovaries of fish from below the mill outfall compared to the reference site. Using in vitro incubations of ovarian follicles, it was also found that these fish had a significantly reduced ability to produce the sex steroids testosterone and estradiol. This study demonstrates changes in ovarian carotenoids associated with pulp mill effluent exposure. Significantly reduced biosynthetic capacity of ovarian follicles demonstrates reproductive endocrine disruption potential associated with exposure to this particular effluent. These results may provide an important link between reproductive dysfunction, oxidative stress and food chain modifications in pulp mill-impacted systems.

A diazotroph capable of accumulating significant amounts of polyhydroxyalkanoate was isolated in New Zealand from a bioreactor treating nitrogen-deficient pulp and paper-mill effluent. Strain Y88T is Gram-negative, rod-shaped and positive for catalase, nitrate reductase and urease activities. The complete 16S rRNA gene sequence was most similar to those of other members of the genus Novosphingobium, the highest level of similarity (94.7%) being found with respect to the type strain of Novosphingobium stygium. The combined phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and sequence data show that while strain Y88T belongs to the genus Novosphingobium, it is distinct from all currently recognized Novosphingobium species. Therefore, strain Y88T represents the first nitrogen-fixing species of the genus Novosphingobium, for which the name Novosphingobium nitrogenifigens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Y88T (=ICMP 16470T=DSM 19370T).

Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to 0, 10, 30, and 70% (v/v) of a secondary-treated, integrated thermomechanical-bleached kraft pulp and paper mill effluent. The immunological parameters oxidative burst and phagocytosis of head kidney macrophages and total and differential circulating leukocytes were measured after 21 d of exposure. General parameters of stress and exposure including erythrocyte counts, numbers of degenerating erythrocytes, splenic pigmented macrophage aggregates (PMAs), spleen size, bile chemistry, and hepatic EROD activity were also assessed. Contrary to parallel chronic studies on the same effluent, EROD induction did not occur. Analyses of bile indicated uptake and accumulation of resin acids and some sterols. There was no measurable macrophage-related immunological dysfunction. However, circulating leukocytes, specifically lymphocytes, were reduced. The density of splenic PMAs increased over the exposure period, possibly in association with degenerating blood cells. There were statistical differences between staggered days of sampling in head kidney oxidative burst, white and mature red blood cell counts, and spleen size, indicating that relatively minor capture and handling stress could result in rapid changes in some parameters. Overall, it was concluded that the observed minor, indirect alterations in the immune response were likely the result predominantly of a nonspecific mechanism such as a cortisol-mediated stress response.

Rainbow trout were exposed to a secondary treated, thermomechanical/bleached kraft pulp and paper effluent in 12,000-L, flow-through exposure tanks at an environmental research facility located at a pulp and paper mill in Kawerau, New Zealand. Trout (age, 2+ years) were obtained from a local hatchery and exposed either to upstream river water or a nominal concentration of 12% (v/v) effluent diluted in upstream river water. Three treatment groups were used: Effluent exposure that started approximately three months before gonadal growth (eight-month total exposure), effluent exposure that started approximately halfway through gonadal development (two-month total exposure), and trout exposed to reference water alone for the total duration of the experiment. Trout were sacrificed just before spawning; exposure, growth, and reproductive endpoints were assessed during and at the termination of the experiment. Reduction in growth was observed in both sexes in the eight-month treatment group relative to the river water reference treatment group. No differences were observed in condition factor or liver size in either treatment. Females in the eight-month exposure group also had significantly lower ovary weight. The two-month exposure group showed no differences from the reference group in growth or somatic indices. Estradiol and testosterone were reduced in blood samples taken from the eight-month exposure group by four months into the experiment as compared to the reference treatment. Steroid and vitellogenin levels in individual female trout from this treatment were significantly correlated with gonadosomatic indices (GSI) measured at the termination of the experiment. The GSI was not correlated strongly or consistently with pregnenolone, nor were any treatment-related pregnenolone differences observed, indicating that the steroid hormone reductions likely were not related to cholesterol side-chain cleavage. Male trout showed significant induction of vitellogenin and lower 11-ketotestosterone during the experiment (only the eight-month group was examined), but this did not result in any significant differences in testes development. Thus, this study has shown an impact of pulp mill effluent exposure on the reproductive physiology of female trout that appeared to be hormonally mediated. Furthermore, the effect could only be manifest when the exposure was initiated before the start of gonad development.

Aims: To evaluate mortality and cancer incidence in a cohort of workers employed in the New Zealand pulp and paper industry, and to identify the exposures responsible for any increased risk., Methods: A total of 8456 workers employed for at least one year in three pulp and paper mills between 1978 and 1990 were followed up until 1992. The observed number of deaths and cancer cases was compared with expected numbers calculated using five-year age-specific rates for the New Zealand population., Results: Vital status was determined for 81% of the cohort, and for 93% of the total person-years at risk. Mortality from all causes (standardised mortality ratios (SMR) = 0.80, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.71-0.89; 314 deaths), and from all malignant neoplasms (SMR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.78-1.15, 103 deaths), was lower than expected. Mortality from lung cancer (SMR = 1.33, 95% CI 0.94-1.83, 37 deaths) was marginally increased., Conclusions: No overall increase in mortality from cancer or other causes was observed in this cohort. A small increase in lung cancer risk is suggested, although this was not statistically significant. Numbers of cases were too small for detailed analyses of associations between disease and specific exposures.

This is a study of the number, and trends in lost-time work accidents in a paper-manufacturing plant using company records. The accident statistics have changed since the introduction of the Accident Compensation Act on 1 April 1974. There was a 150% increase in reported lost-time work accidents from 1973 to 1977, a period during which the workforce increased only by 24%. The main reason is due to the different benefit rates that are payable to lost-time accident cases under the Accident Compensation Act. This study also shows management commitment to safety programmes can effectively reduce the number of reported lost time accidents. The average accident frequency rate of this firm from 1961 to 1982 was 5.71 accidents per 100 000 man-hours.