Chemical residue trends for Australian and New Zealand wool

Textile consumer trends towards improved product safety and high environmental standards have significantly influenced regulators in key consumer markets. The apparel wool industry sector has responded to regulators, and for three decades the Australia and New Zealand wool industries have managed advancements in ectoparasiticides and improved sheep treatments targeting high environmental, animal health and welfare standards leading to safe wool products. Australian and New Zealand chemical residue data from greasy wool have been consolidated and analysed for organophosphate, synthetic pyrethroid, insect growth regulator, neonicotinoid, macrocyclic lactone and spinosad active. Trend analysis has been applied to time domain data to evaluate advancements in ectoparasiticide technology after revising environmental, animal health and welfare standards. Analysis shows impacts from technology improvement, regulatory change and compliance by sheep farmers meeting or exceeding published European Union residue limits for regulated ectoparasiticides namely organochlorine, organophosphate, synthetic pyrethroid and insect growth regulators. Implications from advancements in ectoparasiticide technology, industry management and regulatory measures, include healthy sheep growing in clean pastoral environments with evidence of reduced wool residue levels which complement high and rising proportions of Australian and New Zealand wool fibre meeting European Union Ecolabel criteria.

The Evolution of Smoking and Intoxicant Plant Use in Ancient Northwestern North America

Smoking pipes discovered in archaeological contexts demonstrate that Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America have practiced smoking for over 4,500 years. Archaeometry and ancient residue metabolomics provide evidence for the association of particular plants with these artifacts. In this article, we synthesize recent research on ancient smoking and present current knowledge on the spatiotemporal distribution of smoking in the past. The presence of stone smoking pipes in the archaeological record is paired with our understanding of past plant use based on chemical residue analyses to create a picture of precontact smoking practices. Archaeological pipe data demonstrate that smoking was a widely distributed practice in the inland Northwest over the past several thousand years, but not on the coast. Distributional data—including positive and negative evidence from chemical residue studies—show that tobacco was an important smoke plant in the region as early as around 1,410 years ago and as far north as the mid-Columbia region. Ancient residue metabolomics contributes to a richer understanding of past use of specific plants through the identification of tobacco species and other indigenous plants, including Rhus glabra, Cornus sericia, and Salvia sp., as contributing to the chemical residues in ancient pipes.

Análisis de áreas de actividad en el Grupo Guzmán de El Palmar, Campeche, México.

The chemical residue analysis is a powerful method to identify specific activities took place on the plaster floor of a building which was gradually abandoned without leaving artifacts. We analyzed four structures of the Guzmán Group, a plazuela group of the El Palmar archaeological site, which was a residential compound of non-royal elites who held the title of lakam. The results together with other material evidence suggest that lakamob were engaged in a wide variety of activities that include food storage, consumption and serving, as well as feasting, meeting, and ritual.

FORMS OF ORE COMPONENT OCCURRENCE AND CONDITIONS OF THEIR TRANSPORT INTO BROWN COALS WITHIN THE ZONES OF CONTRAST JUNCTION BETWEEN SEDIMENTARY BASINS AND OROGENS USING THE ZEYA-BUREYA BASIN AND TURAN MASSIF AS AN EXAMPLE (FAR EAST, RUSSIA)

The conditions for the formation of Paleogene-Neogene metalliferous coals in a setting of tectonic movement intensification in the zone of junction between the Turan massif and Zeya-Bureya basin have been studied. The massif with the Selemdzha-Tomsk and Arkhara grabens separated by the Bureya horst and bounded by the systems of northeastern strike-slip faults was found to have a keyboard structure. The research showed that the most favorable conditions for the ore microcomponent accumulation in coals through the erosion of the Late Cretaceous ore-bearing chemical residue were within the submerged blocks of the massif. The paleodrainage system carrying microcomponents drained the grabens and the associated sedimentary sub-basins of the Zeya-Bureya basin eastern margin. Ore components were transported mainly in solution and as solid clasts to the areas of coal accumulation as evidenced by the resemblance of the elementary composition of coals in the Zeya-Bureya basin and geochemical anomalies of the Turan massif.

Consequences of chemical residue formation during potentiation of final irrigation

Seeking to increase the efficiency of endodontic irrigation, the association of different solutions as final irrigant has been investigated, such as sodium hypochlorite with chlorhexidine. The literature shows that the combination of these substances leads to the formation of a brownish precipitate, but does not reveal measurements of the intensity of this precipitate and its consequences. Aim: The present study aimed to evaluate the change in dentin color and the obliteration of the dentinal tubules after the association of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with chlorhexidine (CHX) in the final irrigation. Methods: Fifty sterile human lower premolars were prepared with a ProDesign R 35.05 files and divided into 6 groups. Four different NaOCl concentrations (0.5%; 1%, 2.5% and 5.25%) associated with 2% CHX were tested, in addition to 2 control groups, using only 2.5% NaOCl and 2% CHX, respectively. After the final irrigation protocol, the dentin color change was evaluated by spectrophotometry immediately and after 24 hours, and the dentinal tubule obliteration was assessed by scanning electron microscopy. Results: It was possible to verify that regardless the NaOCl concentration used when associated with CHX, a chemical residue was formed, with consequent dentin pigmentation and tubular obstruction. There was a trend towards increased dentin pigmentation and tubular obstruction due to the deposition of the chemical residue formed by this association. Conclusion: It can be concluded that all concentrations of NaOCl associated with CHX caused color changes and tubular obstruction, being proportional to the concentration of NaOCl used.

The origins of cannabis smoking: Chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the Pamirs

Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated plants in East Asia, grown for grain and fiber as well as for recreational, medical, and ritual purposes. It is one of the most widely used psychoactive drugs in the world today, but little is known about its early psychoactive use or when plants under cultivation evolved the phenotypical trait of increased specialized compound production. The archaeological evidence for ritualized consumption of cannabis is limited and contentious. Here, we present some of the earliest directly dated and scientifically verified evidence for ritual cannabis smoking. This phytochemical analysis indicates that cannabis plants were burned in wooden braziers during mortuary ceremonies at the Jirzankal Cemetery (ca. 500 BCE) in the eastern Pamirs region. This suggests cannabis was smoked as part of ritual and/or religious activities in western China by at least 2500 years ago and that the cannabis plants produced high levels of psychoactive compounds.