RESUMO
About 3 billion new tires are produced each year and about 800 million tires become waste annually. Global dependence upon tires produced from natural rubber and petroleum-based compounds represents a persistent and complex environmental problem with only partial and often-times, ineffective solutions. Tire emissions may be in the form of whole tires, tire particles, and chemical compounds, each of which is transported through various atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic routes in the natural and built environments. Production and use of tires generates multiple heavy metals, plastics, PAH's, and other compounds that can be toxic alone or as chemical cocktails. Used tires require storage space, are energy intensive to recycle, and generally have few post-wear uses that are not also potential sources of pollutants (e.g., crumb rubber, pavements, burning). Tire particles emitted during use are a major component of microplastics in urban runoff and a source of unique and highly potent toxic substances. Thus, tires represent a ubiquitous and complex pollutant that requires a comprehensive examination to develop effective management and remediation. We approach the issue of tire pollution holistically by examining the life cycle of tires across production, emissions, recycling, and disposal. In this paper, we synthesize recent research and data about the environmental and human health risks associated with the production, use, and disposal of tires and discuss gaps in our knowledge about fate and transport, as well as the toxicology of tire particles and chemical leachates. We examine potential management and remediation approaches for addressing exposure risks across the life cycle of tires. We consider tires as pollutants across three levels: tires in their whole state, as particulates, and as a mixture of chemical cocktails. Finally, we discuss information gaps in our understanding of tires as a pollutant and outline key questions to improve our knowledge and ability to manage and remediate tire pollution.
RESUMO
A microscopic study of microplankton in two coastal lagoons in the Florida Keys coincidently, and unexpectedly, revealed the widespread presence of high concentrations of polystyrene microplastic particles. The polystyrene particles were first observed in the second year of a 2-year study of phytoplankton communities, with peak densities in the spring/summer of 2019 at all ten sampling sites in the two lagoons. Polystyrene particle densities reached levels up to 76,000 L-1. The particles ranged in size from 33 to 190 µm, similar to the size range of microplanktonic algae (20-200 µm). Over the period of peak polystyrene densities, average particle densities were similar to average densities of microplanktonic algae cells. The latter observation highlights the potential significance of the microplastic particles for the ecology of the pristine waters of the Florida Keys, if they persist.
RESUMO
Introduction The integration of behavioral health services into primary care has led to enhanced use of brief screening measures to identify mental health problems. Although useful, such instruments are largely symptom based and diagnosis specific. This narrow focus can potentially limit the identification of broader social or relational distress in patients that affect medical outcomes, as well as present feasibility challenges using a multi-measure approach in identifying mental health comorbidities. METHOD: This exploratory study of adult primary care patients compared an ultra-brief, and widely used measure of global distress across life functioning, the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9 and PHQ-2). RESULTS: Correlations between the ORS and the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 indicated agreement between the measures in classifying patients, and the ORS identified significantly more patients in the clinical range. Discussion Although results are preliminary, the ORS may cast a wider net in identifying patients with significant distress in primary care.