Abandonment of fibreglass reinforced plastic fishing boats in Kerala, India, and chemical emissions arising from their burning.

Little information exists on the fate and impacts of boats constructed of fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) once they reach their end-of-life. In this study, the number of abandoned fishing boats constructed of FRP or constructed of plywood-wood and sheathed by FRP has been determined along the coast of Kerala, India, and chemical emissions have been estimated when boats are burned as a means of disposal. A total of 292 abandoned boats were observed across eight coastal transects constructed around selected landing centres, with abandonment ranging from 13 to 48 per km (average = 29 km-1). This results in the generation of 1420 kg of FRP debris (glass mat and epoxy resin) per km of coastline. A controlled combustion experiment, simulating open burning, revealed that 63% of original boat mass is emitted to the atmosphere, with the remainder forming a burnt residue. Total concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans emitted and remaining were found to be 2.6 ng Nm-3 and 249.6 µg kg-1, respectively, with respective calculated toxicity equivalence (TEQ) levels of 437.6 pg TEQ Nm-3 in air emissions and 26.6 µg TEQ kg-1 in the residue. These figures are equivalent to the total emission from FRP boat burning of about 17,000 µg TEQ t-1. Burning also generates significant quantities of potentially toxic metals, with resulting concentrations of Co, Cr and Cu close to or exceeding soil guideline values. The study calls for a greater awareness of the impacts arising from boat abandonment and burning amongst fishermen, and guidelines or regulatory protocols regarding safe and sustainable boat disposal or recycling.

Occurrence and characteristics of fibreglass-reinforced plastics and microplastics on a beach impacted by abandoned fishing boats: A case study from Chellanam, India.

Plastics and microplastics have been quantified and characterised at disposal sites of abandoned fishing boats and along the high-water line (HWL) of a fish landing centre in Chellanam, India. Fibreglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) made a greater contribution to the plastic pool at the disposal sites (~ 4.5 n m-2 and 18 g m-2) than the HWL (~ 0.25 n m-2 and < 1 g m-2) and was an abundant component of the microplastic pool at the former. Infrared analysis of micro-sized FRPs revealed various resins (e.g., alkyd, polyester, epoxy), while X-ray fluorescence analysis of the painted surfaces of meso-sized FRPs returned variable concentrations of copper and lead. Concentrations of Pb were high enough to contaminate sand up to ~400 mg kg-1. The relatively high density of FRP and its association with glass fibres and metal-bearing paints results in particles with potentially very different fates and toxicities to more "conventional" (non-composite) thermoplastics.

Clinical experience with insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with type 2 diabetes: Results from the Kerala cohort of the A1chieve study.

BACKGROUND: The A1chieve, a multicentric (28 countries), 24-week, non-interventional study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with T2DM (n = 66,726) in routine clinical care across four continents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected at baseline, at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks. This short communication presents the results for patients enrolled from Kerala, India. RESULTS: A total of 1732 patients were enrolled in the study. Four different insulin analogue regimens were used in the study. Patients had started on or were switched to biphasic insulin aspart (n = 1203), insulin detemir (n = 212), insulin aspart (n = 312), basal insulin plus insulin aspart (n = 1) and other insulin combinations (n = 1). At baseline glycaemic control was poor for both insulin naïve (mean HbA1c: 10.0%) and insulin user (mean HbA1c: 8.3%) groups. After 24 weeks of treatment, both the groups showed improvement in HbA1c (insulin naïve: -2.4%, insulin users: -0.5%). SADRs including major hypoglycaemic events or episodes did not occur in any of the study patients. CONCLUSION: Starting or switching to insulin analogues was associated with improvement in glycaemic control with a low rate of hypoglycaemia.

In vitro evaluation of different methods of ligation on friction in sliding mechanics.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different methods of ligation in tie configurations on friction in dry and wet conditions. METHODS: Four methods of ligations were used: regular round tie, figure eight, twist, and diagonal. Materials used were Alastik (3M Unitek), Power O module (ORMCO), O-ring ligatures (JES), stainless steel ligatures (TP Orthodontics), 0.019 × 0.025-inch straight-length stainless steel archwires and stainless steel MBT 0.022-inch slot brackets (3M Unitek). RESULTS: Figure eight ligation had the highest friction, followed by round, twist, and diagonal ligation, in the descending order. Comparisons were statistically significant with a 100-g load. Dry group samples had higher friction than the wet group. These comparisons were statistically significant with a 50-g load. CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that figure eight ligation had the highest friction, and diagonal ligation produced the least friction. Among the dry and wet groups, lubrication showed significant reduction in friction.