Workman McNamara (fanmetal11)

Indium tin oxide exposure poses a potential health risk, but the exposure assessment in occupational setting remains incomplete and continues to be a significant challenge. To this end, we investigated the association of work type, airborne indium concentration, respirable fraction of total indium, and cumulative indium exposure index (CEI) with the levels of plasma indium (P-In) and urinary indium (U-In) among 302 indium tin oxide target manufacturing and recycling workers in Taiwan. We observed that recycling-crushing produced the highest concentrations of total indium (area 2084.8 μg/m3; personal 3494.5 μg/m3) and respirable indium (area 533.4 μg/m3; personal 742.0 μg/m3). Powdering produced the highest respirable fraction of total indium (area 58.6%; personal 81.5%), where the workers had the highest levels of P-In (geometric mean 2.0 μg/L) and U-In (1.0 μg/g creatinine). After adjusting for the confounder, the CEIs of powdering (βPR = 0.78; βPR = 0.44), bonding (βPT = 0.61; βPT = 0.37), and processing workers (βPT = 0.43; βPT = 0.28) showed significant associations with P-In and U-In, validating its utility in monitoring the exposure. Also, the respirable fraction of total indium significantly contributed to the increased levels of P-In and U-In among workers. The varying levels of relationship noted between indium exposure and the levels of P-In and U-In among workers with different work types suggested that setting the exposure limits among different work types is warranted.The levels and characteristics of atmospheric metals vary in time and location, can result in various health impacts, which increases the challenge of air quality management. We aimed to investigate PM2.5-bound metals in multiple locations and propose a methodology for comparing metal elements across study regions and prioritizing source contributions through integrated health risk assessments. PM2.5-bound metals were collected in the urban, suburban, rural, and industrial regions of Taiwan between 2016 and 2018. We incorporated the positive matrix factorization (PMF) with health risk assessments (considering estimates of the margin of exposure (MOE) and excess cancer risk (ECR)) to prioritize sources for control. We found that the concentrations of Fe, Zn, V, Cu, and Mn (industry-related metals) were higher at the industrial site (Kaohsiung) and Ba, Cr, Ni, Mo, and Co (traffic-related metals) were higher at the urban site (Taipei). The rural site (Hualian) had good air quality, with low PM2.5 and metal concentrations. Most metal concentrations were higher during the cold season for all study sites, except for the rural. Ambient concentrations of Mn, Cr, and Pb obtained from all study sites presents a higher health risk of concern. In Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, PM2.5-bound metals from the iron ore and steel factory is suggested as the first target for control based on the calculated health risks (MOE 10-6). Overall, we proposed an integrated strategy for initiating the source management prioritization of PM2.5-bound metals, which can aid an effort for policymaking.In the environment, microalgae are exposed to a multitude of stressors simultaneously, inducing physiological adjustments. It is well documented that both phosphorus (P) limitation and trace metals exposure affect microalgal physiology. However, investigations regarding the combination of both P limitation and excess trace metals still deserve attention. selleckchem In the present study, we evaluated the changes in photosynthetic parameters in the green microalga Ankistrodesmus densus acclimated to different P concentrations prior to exposure to Cd. Our results indicate that different concentrations of P in the medium were responsible for significant changes in some parameters, especially those related to photoprotection mechanisms. Cadmium also altered some of these variables in all P scenarios, and greater damage (i.e., synergism) was observed in the combination P-limited and high Cd, w