Communications, toxic laboratories

In 2006, an interlaboratory exercise was organized by the Community Reference Laboratory for Marine Biotoxins (CRLMB) to evaluate its fitness for purpose for the Official Control of PSP toxins in the EU laboratories [41]. Eighteen European Union (EU) laboratories took part in the study. The participants had to analyze six bivalve mollusks samples with various PSP toxic profiles. The performance of the participant laboratories in the application of the 2005.06 AOAC Official... 

Golbs S, Fuchs V, Leipner E, et al. 1978a. [Studies into effects of pesticide combinations on laboratory rats. 1st communication Determination of the acute oral toxicity (ED50) of pesticide combinations]. Arch Exp Vet Med Leipzig 32 557-561. (German)... 

In the past, copper was believed to be toxic to most microbiological species. Although this may be true in a test tube under laboratory conditions, it is not generally true in the real world. In this real world, microbial communities excrete slime layers which tend to sequester the copper ions and prevent their contact with the actual microbial cells, Aus preventing the copper from killing the microbes. Many cases of MIC in copper and copper alloys have been documented, especially of heat-exchange tubes, potable water, and fire protection system piping. 

Hansen, S.R. and R.R. Garton. 1982. Ability of standard toxicity tests to predict the effects of the insecticide diflubenzuron on laboratory stream communities. Canad. Jour. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 39 1273-1288. 

Those elements of conventional laboratory design that must be refined for facilities in which toxic chemicals will be handled are presented. Alarms, communications, construction materials, containment cabinets, filter systems, floor plans, security, compressed gases, and waste disposal are discussed. Emphasis is given to design considerations dictated by the use of large numbers of fume hoods. 

Toxic operations must be supported by a good communications system. In laboratories where communications are inadequate, workers will naturally use "runners" for communication needs. This practice results in avoidable traffic in and out of toxic areas which increases the opportunities for contamination to spread. In emergencies, a phone or intercom can help ensure that assistance is tailored to the actual need. An "all purpose" response to an alarm will normally be less rapid at a time when speed may be of the essence. Video cameras trained on critical operations add a measure of safety, but annoy the workers who may feel that the purpose of the system is to "spy" on them. As a minimum, the laboratory doors should have windows so that entering personnel don t blunder into a rapidly developing scenario. 

In this framework hazard assessment is mainly based on toxicity testing in clean laboratory conditions. Findings of laboratory studies are then extrapolated to higher levels of natural system hierarchy (from organisms to communities and even ecosystems) using various factors (Smrchek and Zeeman, 1998). 

Aitken, D., D.West, F.Smith, W.Poznanski, J.Cowan, J.Hurtig, E.Peterson, and B.Benoit. Cyanide toxicity following nitropmsside induced hypotension. Can. Anes. Soc. J. 24 651-660. Alarie, Y. 1997. Personal Communication to Sylvia Talmage, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, via e-mail, November 20, 1997. ... 

STEVENS URETHANE UK,DEPT.OF TRADE IND. UK,LABORATORY OF THE GOVERNMENT CHEMIST SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON TOXICITY,ECOTOXICITY ENVIRONMENT AMERICAN COUNCIL ON SCIENCE HEALTH EUROPEAN COMMISSION TNO PLASTICS RUBBER RESEARCH INSTITUTE DENMARK EU EUROPEAN COMMUNITY EUROPEAN UNION FRANCE NETHERLANDS SCANDINAVIA UK USA WESTERN EUROPE WESTERN EUROPE-GENERAL... 

Rydell, CD. 1990. Written communication (March 27) to Barry L. Johnson. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, regarding North Dakota Air Contaminant Limits. North Dakota State Department of Health and Consolidated Laboratories, Bismarck, ND. 

As in many countries, the first attempts at understanding the effects of pollution on aquatic ecosystems in Argentina began within the academic and scientific community [191]. A systematic approach using toxicity tests with aquatic organisms is applied only in scientific laboratories. 

Not only is this expensive but we believe that it is very innacurate at low levels of toxicity. In addition, there are vast shellfish beds in remote areas of coastline that cannot be opened up for commercial exploration both because of the remoteness from mouse monitoring laboratories, and because of the expense. There is a recognized need for a alternative assay, but in reading the title of the communication a first reaction must be "why a Bioassay " and then "why a fly ". 

Ecotoxicology is a natural extension of toxicology that studies the fate and effects of toxic substances on an ecosystem. It is based on scientiflc research that employs both laboratory and held methods. Ecotoxicology requires an understanding of ecologic principles and theories pertaining to how chemicals can affect individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Individuals are single entities, whereas a... 

Whitten MG, Ritchie GSP. 1991. Soil tests for aluminum toxicity in the presence of organic matter Laboratory development and assessment. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 22 343-368. 

In the second publication (Bombardier and Blaise, 2000), laboratory toxicity data derived from two larger projects conducted on freshwater sediments were integrated in the SED-TOX index and it was field validated using four benthic community metrics (species richness, number of taxa in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, and the ICI-SL which is a version of the Invertebrate Community Index modified for the St. Lawrence River). 

Another noteworthy limitation of the SED-TOX index, which is actually a limitation of toxicity bioassays, relates to the fact that results measured in toxicity tests only provide a measure of what is occurring under very specific laboratory test conditions, and an indication of what is or could occur in the field. To maximize the ecological relevance of the laboratory toxicity tests, there is a need to relate the SED-TOX scores with a series of benthic community matrices. 

The Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) is an effects-based conceptual approach that can be used to assess and determine the status of contaminated sediments based on biology (laboratory and/or in situ toxicity tests), chemistry (chemical identification and quantification), and ecology (community structure and/or function). It provides a means for comparing three different lines of evidence (LOE) and arriving at a weight of evidence (WOE) determination regarding the risk posed by contaminated sediments. Effectively, each LOE comprises an independent assessment of hazard combined and integrated, they provide an assessment of risk. 

Toxicity LOE received medium weight, since they measure adverse biological effects on receptor species intended to represent the overall assessment endpoint, and incorporate a measurement of COPC bioavailability. However, toxicity LOE are ranked lower than the benthic community LOE due to the need to extrapolate laboratory results as indicative of field effects. 

It is currently unclear whether toxin-mediated prey capture by mobile invertebrates has a significant impact on prey population size or community composition. In freshwater systems, chemically mediated prey capture by flatworms has been demonstrated to significantly impact prey populations in the laboratory. Neurotoxic chemicals released from the mucus webs of the flatworm Mesostoma can drive entire populations of the cladoceran Daphnia magna to extinction in culture, but the concentration these chemicals normally attain under realistic field conditions is unknown. Nevertheless, because the mucus webs these flatworms build function to trap prey, Dumont and Carels163 likened these flatworms to spiders with toxic webs. Similar impacts may occur in open water marine systems where organisms that employ toxin-mediated prey capture are abundant, or even dominant, predators (e.g., chaetognaths and cnidarians). 

Epidemiological studies show that dietary fat and protein are most frequently correlated with colon cancer incidence in man (10-14). A number of studies in laboratory animals suggest that dietary fat enhances colon tumor incidence (15) although others have failed to show such enhancement (16). Summarized in this communication are animal experiments conducted by our laboratory to examine the effects of dietary protein on DMH induced carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, and toxicity. 

Swartz RC, Schults DW, Ditsworth GR, et al. 1985. Sediment toxicity, contamination, and macrobenthic communities near a large sewage outfall. In Boyle TP, ed. Validation and predictability of laboratory methods for assessing the fate and effects of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. Philadelphia, PA American Society for Testing and Materials, 152-175. 

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