Rosemaund Pesticide Transport Study 1987-1993

This report comprised the results, conclusions and recommendations of a project in the early 1990s to study the pesticide concentrations in soil and water that resulted from normal use of agrochemicals on arable crops at a farm in the Rosemaund catchment. The main purpose of the project was to monitor the water-borne transfer of pesticides from fields into the stream draining the catchment. It concluded that at least some of the environmental degradation in the stream was due to pesticide

Müssen Epistemische Rechte öffentlich zugänglich sein?

In jüngeren Arbeiten zum Begriff der epistemischen Berechtigung (epistemic entitlement) wird vorgeschlagen, dass diese Art epistemischer Rechte in subjektiven Sinneserfahrungen gründet. Ich kritisiere diesen Ansatz, da Rechte wegen ihrer Implikationen für die Pflichten anderer öffentlich zugänglich sein müssen, und präsentiere ein alternatives Modell, demzufolge epistemische Berechtigung in Wahrnehmungssituationen gründet

Rapid bioconcentration of steroids in the plasma of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus exposed to waterborne testosterone and 17β-oestradiol

The relationship over time between the concentrations of two steroids, singly and in combination, in a static exposure system and in the blood of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, held within the exposure system was investigated. Groups of three-spined stickleback were exposed (nominally) to either 1000 ng l1 17β-oestradiol (E2), testosterone (T) or E2 and T in combination at the same concentrations for 6 days. Both water and fish were sampled at intervals and steroid concentrations in both compartments were determined. The plasma steroid time profile revealed a rapid bioconcentration within the first 6 h of exposure. The plasma steroid levels attained at this time point (20–90 ng ml1) were up to 50-fold (E2) and 200-fold (T) greater than the actual levels of steroid measured in the exposure water, while levels in the blood of control fish did not exceed 4 ng ml1. The substantial elevation of plasma steroid levels relative to the concentrations of steroid to which the fish were exposed in the ambient water gives scope for delivery of the steroids to target endocrine tissues at levels far in excess of what might be predicted on the basis of passive branchial uptake alone. These results are discussed in relation to endocrine disruption, and in particular the occurrence of effects in fish exposed to levels of endocrine active substances that are seemingly physiologically irrelevant