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Programme for the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Pharmacy
The final conference programme is now available for this meeting to be held in Osnabruck from February 22nd to 23rd 2010.
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Bioavailability based standards for metals are practical and accessible tools for regulators and stakeholders
The Environment Agency recently published a report by Graham, Bruce Brown and me on the use of biotic ligand models to help implement environmental quality standards for copper and zinc under the Water Framework Directive. The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) is a predictive tool that allows site-specific estimates of aquatic toxicity to be made based on the concentration of metal and the prevailing water chemistry (such as its pH or the concentrations of specific dissolved ions or dissolved organic matter). In essence, it models a metal’s bioavailability.
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Thresholds of Toxicological Concern for Endocrine Active Substances in the Aquatic Environment
A forthcoming paper by Mel, me and several other colleagues in January’s issue of the SETAC journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management looks at use of the threshold of toxicological concern. The threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) concept proposes that an exposure threshold value can be derived for chemicals, below which no significant risk to human health or the environment is expected. This concept goes further than setting acceptable exposure levels for individual chemicals, because it attempts to set a de minimis value for chemicals, including those of unknown toxicity, by taking the chemical’s structure or mode of action (MOA) into consideration.
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