Do the total mercury concentrations detected in fish from Czech ponds represent a risk for consumers?

Mercury is one of the important pollutants of the environment. Therefore, it’s necessary to monitor quantity of mercury especially in aquatic ecosystems. The main goal of the presented study was to compare the content of total mercury in tissues of fish coming from the Czech Republic, an important carp exporter, with focus on comparison of mercury content between 3 different ponds, its comparison between different fish species and between different tissues of the same species, and estimation whether the mercury content in tissues meets the limit given in the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 or not. Total mercury concentration was measured in 90 fish specimen sampled from three ponds (Velky Kocelovicky, Mysliv and Zehunsky) in autumn 2018. The values of total mercury in fish tissues was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. The content of total mercury in the tissues decreased as follows: muscle > liver > gonads > scales. The highest average content of total mercury in muscle was 0.1517 ± 0.0176 mg/kg coming from pike caught in Velky Kocelovicky pond. In contrast, the lowest average content of total mercury in muscle 0.0036 ± 0.0003 mg/kg was found in carp tissue coming from the locality of Zehunsky pond. We confirmed that the predatory fish are more exposed to mercury than non-predatory fish. None of the monitored localities exceeded the set regulatory limit. Thus, our study shows that fish coming from these ponds are safe in terms of total mercury content.

EFFECT OF LOCAL HONEY PRODUCTION AREAS ON ITS CONTENT OF SOME HEAVY METALS

This study was conducted to estimate some heavy metals cadmium, lead, nickel and iron in 15 samples of Iraqi honey with 3 replicates for each sample which were collected from apiaries near potential contamination areas in five Iraqi governorates, including Baghdad, Karbala, Babylon, Diyala and Salah al-Din. The atomic absorption technique was used to estimate the concentrations of heavy metals, the results showed that there were significant differences at (P≤0.05) between the concentrations of these elements in the honey samples, the highest concentrations of cadmium 0.123 mg/kg were recorded in Baghdad, near the petrochemical production complex, lead 4.657 mg/kg and nickel 0.023 mg/kg in Babylon near the power plant, iron was 1.863 mg/kg in Karbala near the waste collection and incineration plant, and all the concentrations of cadmium and lead in the studied honey samples were higher than the acceptable limits set by the European Commission Regulation.

ACRYLAMIDE IN FRENCH FRIES PREPARED IN AT HOME AND FAST FOOD CONDITIONS

French fries, prepared either at home or in fast food restaurants, are one of the most desired dishes of Romanians and the main contributors to the intake of acrylamide through the diet. The aim of this study was to investigate how the frying in at home and fast food conditions influences the acrylamide level of French fries and to establish a correlation between acrylamide content and the color parameters. Potatoes from the Queen Anne variety and two types of oil (sunflower, palm) were used. Frying in at home conditions was realized in a pan in sunflower and palm oils (103°C for 13-15 minutes) and frying in fast food conditions was performed in a fryer using only palm oil (170°C for 11 minutes). Determination of acrylamide was achieved fallowing the GC-MS/MS method. The level of acrylamide in French fries fried in at home conditions showed higher acrylamide content when the sunflower oil was used (764.58 µg/kg) compared to the samples fried in palm oil (541.65 µg/kg). Also, a variation between the two types of frying was observed when using palm oil and a lower acrylamide level was obtained for French fries fried in at home conditions (541.65 µg/kg) than for potatoes fried in fast food conditions (684.37 µg/kg). For all the samples analyzed the acrylamide content exceeded the benchmark level of 500 µg/kg set by the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2158. Linear correlations between acrylamide levels, expressed in % d.m., and the color parameters (L*, a* and b*) were found: as the level of acrylamide increased, the parameters L* and b* (R2 = 0.80) decreased, and a* increased (R2 = 0.68).

EFFECT OF LOCAL HONEY PRODUCTION AREAS ON ITS CONTENT OF SOME HEAVY METALS

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to estimate some heavy metals cadmium, lead, nickel and iron in 15 samples of Iraqi honey with 3 replicates for each sample which were collected from apiaries near potential contamination areas in five Iraqi governorates, including Baghdad, Karbala, Babylon, Diyala and Salah al-Din. The atomic absorption technique was used to estimate the concentrations of heavy metals, the results showed that there were significant differences at (P≤0.05) between the concentrations of these elements in the honey samples, the highest concentrations of cadmium 0.123 mg/kg were recorded in Baghdad, near the petrochemical production complex, lead 4.657 mg/kg and nickel 0.023 mg/kg in Babylon near the power plant, iron was 1.863 mg/kg in Karbala near the waste collection and incineration plant, and all the concentrations of cadmium and lead in the studied honey samples were higher than the acceptable limits set by the European Commission Regulation.

Analysis of the possibility of implementing interoperability tests on Polish railways

Ensuring the greatest possible interoperability of rail transport, especially for railways in Europe, is one of the key projects to be implemented using the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), including the European Train Control System (ETCS) and the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railways (GSM-R). The ERTMS system aims to replace many different rail traffic control systems with one, common and unified European solution (Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/919, 2016), (Directive (EU) 2016/797, n.d.). Its creation was dictated by the desire to standardize the traffic control systems present in the territories of various European countries, at the same time extending their functionality and eliminating the existing technical barriers. The aim of this article is to present the possibility of implementation interoperability tests - IOP tests, on Polish railways. These tests are intended to provide a faster, more accurate and less costly demonstration of compliance with the ETCS interoperability requirements compared to field tests. The work defines the concept of interoperability tests as well as the purpose of their application. The general principles and procedures for conducting interoperability tests are presented. In the further part of the work, the operation of laboratories in the European Union is analysed. The laboratories functional in Switzerland and Spain were selected for this analysis. Following, the paper presents the validity of implementing interoperability tests on the territory of the Republic of Poland. On the basis of the pan-European procedure of conducting interoperability tests and the experience of foreign independent laboratories, conditions for the implementation of tests in the Polish railways were developed, which could be used in the future to introduce IOP tests in Poland.

Ochratoxin A and 2′R-Ochratoxin A in Selected Foodstuffs and Dietary Risk Assessment

The aim of this study was to estimate the contamination of grain coffee, roasted coffee, instant coffee, and cocoa purchased in local markets with ochratoxin A (OTA) and its isomerization product 2′R-ochratoxin A (2′R-OTA), and to assess risk of dietary exposure to the mycotoxins. OTA and 2′R-OTA content was determined using the HPLC chromatography with immunoaffinity columns dedicated to OTA. OTA levels found in all the tested samples were below the maximum limits specified in the European Commission Regulation EC 1881/2006. Average OTA concentrations calculated for positive samples of grain coffee/roasted coffee/instant coffee/cocoa were 0.94/0.79/3.00/0.95 µg/kg, with the concentration ranges: 0.57–1.97/0.44–2.29/0.40–5.15/0.48–1.97 µg/kg, respectively. Average 2′R-OTA concentrations calculated for positive samples of roasted coffee/instant coffee were 0.90/1.48 µg/kg, with concentration ranges: 0.40–1.26/1.00–2.12 µg/kg, respectively. In turn, diastereomer was not found in any of the tested cocoa samples. Daily intake of both mycotoxins with coffee/cocoa would be below the TDI value even if the consumed coffee/cocoa were contaminated with OTA/2′R-OTA at the highest levels found in this study. Up to now only a few papers on both OTA and 2′R-OTA in roasted food products are available in the literature, and this is the first study in Poland.

Expansion of the Low-Risk Substances in the Framework of the European Pesticide Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009

Signed in 2009, the plant protection Commission Regulation EC No 1107/2009 created a new category of active substances, the low-risk substances, with specific status defined in Article 22. The initial and specific criteria, not suitable for microorganisms and natural substances, were modified in 2018, and the first low-risk substance, allocating Part D of Regulation EC No 540/2011, was granted in the same year. Since then, thirty-three low-risk substances have been granted with this specific status through approvals and renewals, while a larger list of potential low-risk substances from already-approved active substances was published. This list is only exploited during renewals, and this process would take another five years to complete. After four years of the implementation of this status, the number of such substances is still low, but is intended to increase slowly. Two more low-risk substances are already pending in 2021, which will bring the number of low-risk substances to thirty-five, while the initial list of potential low-risk substances (only renewals) included fifty-seven substances.

KAJIAN HUKUM TERHADAP PERANGKAT DESA YANG IKUT SERTA DALAM KAMPANYE PEMILU DI KABUPATEN INDRAGIRI HILIR

The general election or regional head election (hereinafter referred to as the Regional Head Election) in a country is an effort to realize good governance and the realization of a democratic state. However, it raises legal problems in the field, such as the occurrence of the attitudes of state officials or state apparatus in this case, one of which is village officials who participate in efforts to win one of the candidates for election and post-conflict local election. This needs to be investigated through legal studies using normative legal research methods, with legal research sources namely primary legal materials and secondary legal materials and the analysis used in this study using qualitative analysis. The Village Head is one part of the Government Bureaucracy which has been clearly regulated in the Election Law. All government bureaucracies may not be involved or support one candidate, including one of them is the Village Head, but in practice there are still many Village Heads who support certain candidates. In article 66 clause 2 part C about The General Election Commission Regulation Number 7 of 2015 was emphasized in the campaign, candidate pairs and/or campaign teams are prohibited from involving “village head or other designations/lurah and village apparatus or other designations/kelurahan.” The prohibition to include village heads and village apparatus is contained in Article 280 paragraph (2) of the Election Law. It is clear that if the campaign involves the village apparatus, it is included in the election violation and is included in an election crime and can be given a criminal sanction if it is proven to have committed an election crime. Pemilihan umum ataupun juga pemilihan kepala daerah (yang selanjutnya disebut dengan Pemilukada) dalam suatu negara merupakan upaya untuk mewujudkan pemerintahan yang baik serta terwujudnya negara demokrasi. Namun menimbulkan persoalan-persoalah hukum di lapangan seperti terjadinya sikap-sikap aparat negara atau perangkat-perangkat negara dalam hal ini salah satunya adalah perangkat desa yang ikut serta dalam upaya memenangkan salah satu calon peserta pemilu maupun pemilukada. Hal ini perlu diteliti melalui kajian hukum dengan metode penelitian hukum normatif, dengan sumber penelitian hukum yakni bahan hukum primer dan bahan hukum sekunder serta analisa yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini dengan menggunakan analisis kualitatif. Kepala Desa merupakan salah satu bagian dari Birokrasi Pemerintah yang telah diatur secara jelas di dalam Undang-Undang Pemilu. Semua birokrasi pemerintahan tidak boleh terlibat ataupun mendukung salah satu calon termasuk salah satunya adalah Kepala Desa namun dalam pelaksanaannya masih banyak seorang Kepala Desa menjadi pendukung bagi calon tertentu. Pada pasal 66 ayat 2 bagian C Peraturan Komisi Pemilihan Umum Nomor 7 tahun 2015 ditegaskan dalam kampanye, pasangan calon dan/atau tim kampanye dilarang melibatkan “kepala desa atau sebutan lain/lurah dan perangkat desa atau sebutan lain/kelurahan ”Larangan mengikut sertakan kepala desa dan perangkat desa terdapat dalam Pasal 280 ayat (2) Undang-Undang Pemilu. Jelas bahwa apabila dalam kampanye melibatkan dan perangkat desa termasuk dalam pelanggaran pemilu dan masuk dalam tindak pidana pemilu dan dapat diberi sanksi berupa pidana apabila terbukti melakukan tindak pidana pemilu.

Undertaking a New Regulatory Challenge: Monitoring of Ergot Alkaloids in Italian Food Commodities

The present manuscript reports on monitoring data of 12 ergot alkaloids (EAs) in cereal and cereal-derived products, collected in Italy over the period 2017–2020, for official control purposes under the edge of the Commission Recommendation 2012/154/EU on the monitoring of the presence of EAs in feed and food. To these purposes, an LC-MS/MS method was set up and applied, after in-house verification of its analytical performance. Besides satisfactory recoveries and precision, the method’s quantification limits proved suitable to assess the compliance of cereals and cereal-based foods with the recently issued EU maximum permitted levels (Commission Regulation 2021/1399/EU). The validity of the generated data was also evaluated through the adoption of four proficiency tests, from which acceptable z-score values (−2 ≤ z ≤ 2) were obtained. The method was then applied to analyse a total of 67 samples, collected in Italy over the period 2017–2020. The samples consisted of 18 cereal grains, 16 flours (14 of wheat and 2 of spelt) and 31 other types of cereals derivatives (including 9 for infants). Overall, the EAs analysis returned a high percentage of left-censored data (>86%). Among the positive samples, the highest contamination levels, up to 94.2 µg/kg, were found for ergocristine (12% incidence), followed by ergocristinine (7% incidence) with levels of up to 48.3 µg/kg.

Grounding of Pilots: Medical Reasons and Recommendations for Prevention

BACKGROUND: This article presents the results of an EASA-commissioned study aimed at analyzing the medical causes of grounding of a broad European pilot population and recommending measures to reduce the risk of in-flight incapacitation in commercial air transport pilots.METHOD: European National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) were requested to provide data concerning the total number of pilots that were examined, their age and license category, number of unfit pilots, and the medical causes of each case of grounding. Diagnoses were classified according to the format and definitions laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1178/2011 Part Med.RESULTS: Analyzed were 82,435 cases assessed by 6 NAAs. Of these cases, 2.1% were assessed as unfit to fly. Frequent causes for grounding a pilot were cardiovascular (19%), psychiatric (11%), neurological (10%), and psychological (9%). Cardiovascular conditions were the most frequent cause for grounding in the older age groups, with 21% in the age 51–60 cohort, 28% in the age 61–65 cohort, and 48% in those beyond 65 yr. Psychiatric and psychological diagnoses were most frequent in the age 20–40 cohort.DISCUSSION: Cardiovascular conditions were the most frequent cause for grounding. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are associated with modifiable risk factors. Tackling these risk factors gives aeromedical examiners the opportunity to improve the health of pilots and reduce CVD-related flight safety risks by reducing the number of pilots at risk of in-flight incapacitation. The mandatory periodical medical examination of pilots provides an excellent framework for risk prevention and follow-up of preventive measures.Simons R, Maire R, Van Drongelen A, Valk P. Grounding of pilots: medical reasons and recommendations for prevention. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(12):950–955.