Hygienic regulation of harmful chemicals absorbed by skin]

Data of toxicants uptake through the skin are generalized. Equivations for the acceptable levels of skin pollutants to calculate are worked up. The classification of the danger of chemicals for skin uptake is given.     

A photometric method of analysis of cyanides]

The contributors propose a selective photometric technique for detection of sodium and potassium cyanides in different washings, sewage, overalls extraction. The technique was based on the formation of a polymetyne dye, and barbituric acid and pyridine reactions. It proved efficient in detecting the cyanides within 0.01-0.054 mg/dm3, 1-100 mg/l, 0.08-1.24 mg/dm3 with deviations not exceeding 23%. Duration of the test was limited to 25-30 min.     

Indoor 222Rn levels in New York State, North Carolina, and South Carolina

Results are presented from approximately 9000 Rn measurements made in New York state, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The estimated statewide geometric mean concentrations were 28.1 Bq m-3 and 55.8 Bq m-3 for basements in New York state, 27.5 Bq m-3 for living rooms and 108.9 Bq m-3 for basements in North Carolina, and 25.0 Bq m-3 for living rooms in South Carolina.     

Chick nutritional encephalomalacia and prostanoid formation

Nutritional encephalomalacia (NE) was induced in young chicks using a diet low in vitamin E and containing 8% ethyl esters derived from safflower oil fatty acids (S-E group). The same diet with added alpha-tocopheryl acetate (S+E) failed to produce the pathology, and chicks receiving aerated linseed oil--high in alpha-linolenic acid and low in alpha-tocopherol (L-E)--did not develop symptoms. Formation of metabolites from labeled arachidonic acid (AA) by thrombocytes was similar in the S+E and S-E groups, yielding thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and hydroxy fatty acids as the major products. Collagen-induced thrombocyte aggregation and TXB2 production were not significantly different in the S-E and S+E groups, but aggregation values and TXB2 synthesis were significantly less in the L-E group than in the ataxic S-E chicks. Prostaglandin E2 production by aortal rings was significantly influenced by the diet; S-E yielded the highest value and L-E the lowest. These results show that alpha-linolenic acid causes alterations in the AA metabolism and thrombocyte function in young chicks.