Surveillance of environmental

Center for Environmental Health Flemish biomonitoring program for surveillance of environmental health Program will include development of an early warning system based on biomarker measurements in people living in Flanders. Study population includes 1,600 people (European Commission 2004). 

The results of routine measurements at various stations are evaluated and can be fed into a computerized network in which all the data are collected. By suitable programs such as IMIS (integrated measuring and information system for the surveillance of environmental radioactivity) the data can be evaluated further to give, at any time, an up-to-date overview of the radioactivity in various regions of the country. 

Alpers W, Huhnerfuss H (1988) Radar signatures of oil films floating on the sea surface and the Marangoni effect. J Geophys Res 93 3642-3648 Attema EPW, Hoogeboom IP (1978) Microwave measurements over sea in the Netherlands, pp 291-298 in, Surveillance of environmental pollution and resources by electromagnetic waves, eds T Lund... 

S. Svanberg, Fundamentals of atmospheric spectroscopy, in Surveillance of Environmental Pollution and Resources by El. Mag. Waves, ed. by I. Lund (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1978) Ph.N. Slater, Remote Sensing (Addison-Wesley, London, 1980)... 

Hebert C, Nordstrom R, Weseloh DV. 1999. A quarter century of environmental surveillance the Canadian Wildhfe Service s Great Lakes Herring Gull Monitoring Program. Environ Rev 7 147-166. 

In recent years, several initiatives have been launched to establish or strengthen surveillance systems, both in EU member states and at an international level, to monitor the presence of these residues in environmental matrices. When implementing measures, water bodies relevant for drinking water should receive priority. Furthermore, research is required to determine whether observations made from regional sample sets are representative of environmental concentrations nationwide [3], being essential to perform contamination maps and implement surveillance models, needed for the establishment of a sustainable strategy, to minimize environmental impact of medicines. 

The greater ease of clinical communication about biomarkers and health than of other biomonitoring communication comes with several caveats. First, not all clinical communication involves people who were study subjects for example, announcement of local (if not national) surveillance results might prompt members of the wider population to visit their doctors for consultation. The experience of environmental-risk assessors in communicating the distinction between population risks (the usual focus of risk estimates) and individual risks does not augur well for either professionals ability to communicate the difference well or constituents ability to comprehend. Second, some people subject to biomonitoring (including those... 

Michael PR, Adams WJ, Wemer AF, et al. 1984. Surveillance of phthalate esters in surface waters and sediments in the U.S. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 3 377. 

I Tracking of Oil Spills on Water Surveillance of Other Types of Spills Monitoring of Atmospheric and Environmental Conditions Sampling/Monitoring of Environmental Contamination Documentation of Activities during Emergencies... 

Watanabe, L, Yakushiji, T., et al. (1979) Surveillance of the daily PCB intake from diet of Japanese women from 1972 through 1976. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 8(1) 67-75. 

The floods that accompany a tsunami result in potential health risks from contaminated water and food supplies. Loss of shelter leaves people vulnerable to exposure to insects, heat, and other environmental hazards. Further, the lack of medical care may result in exacerbations of chronic disease. Tsunamis have long-lasting effects and recovery necessitates long-term surveillance of infectious and water- or insect-transmitted diseases, an infusion of medical supplies and medical personnel, and the provision of mental health and social support services. 

NEDH. 1989. Nebraska Department of Health. Domestic well water sampling in Nebraska, 1987 laboratory findings and their implications. Division of Environmental Health and Housing Surveillance, Lincoln, NE. 

The evolution of environmental radioactivity and radiation measurements in Japan originated essentially in the survey of widespread radioactivity contamination due to the nuclear explosion tests at Bikini atoll on 1st March, 1954. Today, environmental radiation monitoring in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities has become more important than radioactive fallout surveillance, since 38 nuclear power plants are already in operation or under construction in Japan. 

The Swedish National Defence Research Institute (FOA), which from 1978 until 1983 was connected to the SSI, runs a system of high-volume aerosol samplers that normally detects very small amounts of radionuclides by high-resolution gamma spectrometry. The FOA also has access to army airplanes and helicopters to take air samples at different heights, to record measurements from the air, and to transport equipment and personnel to remote areas quickly to perform in situ measurements with portable germanium detectors. At the SSI, routine measurements of milk were run before the Chernobyl accident. Routine programs concerning environmental surveillance of nuclear power plants currently exist. 

This procedure has been used in the analysis of environmental water samples over the past 3.5 yr. Plutonium measurements have been made since mid-1971, neptunium-237 since mid-1972, and transplutonium since mid-1973. The application of this procedure to routine surveillance can be illustrated by previously published results for several transuranium nuclides (6-9). 

Human health biomonitoring using biomarkers and chemical analyses are used in the following applications (1) Health surveillance of persons who are known to have high occupational or environmental exposures to potentially toxic chemicals. This may include those who work with chemicals, radioactive materials, or biohazards as part of their occupation. Examples include factory workers, chemical industry employees, farmers, health care professionals, nuclear plant employees, and veterans of the Gulf War I. This may also consist of those who are involuntarily exposed to such hazards in their everyday surroundings. Some examples are people living near land fills, factories, hazardous waste sites, or environmental catastrophes such as the Chernobyl... 

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