ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2019-2308
Current Organisations
Macquarie University
,
University of Toronto
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Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 02-08-2023
DOI: 10.5194/ESSD-15-3387-2023
Abstract: Abstract. Nineteen years of atmospheric composition measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO 43.66∘ N, 79.40∘ W 174 m a.s.l.) are presented. These are retrieved from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) solar absorption spectra recorded with an ABB Bomem DA8 spectrometer from May 2002 to December 2020. The retrievals have been performed for 14 species: O3, HCl, HF, HNO3, CH4, C2H6, CO, HCN, N2O, C2H2, H2CO, CH3OH, HCOOH, and NH3 using the SFIT4 algorithm. The measurements have been archived in the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) data repository in Hierarchical Data Format version 4 (HDF4) files following the Generic Earth Observation Metadata Standard (GEOMS) and are also publicly available on Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository (0.5683/SP2/VC8JMC, Yamanouchi et al., 2022). In this paper, we describe the instrumentation, the retrieval strategy, the vertical sensitivity of the retrievals, the quality assurance process, and the error analysis of the TAO FTIR measurements and present the current version of the time series.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 07-07-2023
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1039/C4EM00572D
Abstract: Elevated lead and zinc concentrations in remote environments can be traced to uncovered transport of ore concentrates from mining operations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1111/J.1574-6968.2007.00992.X
Abstract: Integrons are bacterial genetic elements capable of capturing and expressing potentially adaptive genetic material. Class 1 integrons constitute the most intensely studied group of these elements to date, mainly due to their well-established role in the acquisition and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes in clinical environments. However, virtually nothing is known about the distribution or abundance of class 1 integrons outside of the clinical context. Here we develop a SYBR Green-based real-time quantitative PCR assay capable of quantifying the abundance of class 1 integrons in environmental s les. It was shown that the abundance of the intI1 gene in creek sediment correlates with ecological condition, implying that class 1 integrons provide selective advantages relevant to environmental pressures other than the use of antibiotics. By comparing the quantities of intI1 and 16S rRNA gene in each s le, it was demonstrated that approximately 2.7% of cells potentially harbour a class 1 integron. These findings suggest that class 1 integrons are widespread in natural environments removed from clinical settings and occur in a broader range of host organisms than had previously been assumed on the basis of culture-dependent estimates.
Publisher: Apple Academic Press
Date: 16-03-2015
DOI: 10.1201/B18221
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2021.118462
Abstract: Trace metal exposure from environmental sources remains a persistent global problem, particularly in communities residing adjacent to metal extraction and processing industries. This study examines front yard soil and house dust from 62 residences throughout the Australian Ag-Pb-Zn mining city of Broken Hill to better understand spatial variability in metal distributions, compositions and exposures across an industrially polluted urban environment. X-ray fluorescence analysis of paired soil/dust s les indicated that geomean concentrations (mg/kg) of Cu (32/113), Zn (996/1852), As (24/34) and Pb (408/587) were higher in house dust while Ti (4239/3660) and Mn (1895/1101) were higher in outdoor soil. Ore associated metals and metalloids (Mn, Zn, As, Pb) in soil and house dust were positively correlated and declined in concentration away from mining areas, the primary source of metalliferous emissions in Broken Hill. The rate of decline was not equivalent between soil and house dust, with the indoor/outdoor concentration ratio increasing with distance from mining areas for Zn/Pb (geomean = 1.25/1.05 ( 2 km)). House dust and Broken Hill ore Pb isotopic compositions (
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2022.119798
Abstract: Increased interest in backyard food production has drawn attention to the risks associated with urban trace element contamination, in particular lead (Pb) that was used in abundance in Pb-based paints and gasoline. Here we examine the sources, pathways and risks associated with environmental Pb in urban gardens, domestic chickens and their eggs. A suite of other trace element concentrations (including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) are reported from the s led matrices. Sixty-nine domestic chickens from 55 Sydney urban gardens were s led along with potential sources (feed, soil, water), blood Pb concentrations and corresponding concentrations in eggs. Age of the s led chickens and house age was also collected. Commercial eggs (n = 9) from free range farms were analysed for comparative purposes. Study outcomes were modelled using the large Australian VegeSafe garden soil database (>20,000 s les) to predict which areas of inner-city Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are likely to have soil Pb concentrations unsuitable for keeping backyard chickens. Soil Pb concentrations was a strong predictor of chicken blood and egg Pb (p= 20 μg/dL, the level at which adverse effects may be observed. Older homes were correlated with higher chicken blood Pb (p = 0.00002) and egg Pb (p = 0.005), and younger chickens (<12 months old) had greater Pb concentrations, likely due to increased Pb uptake during early life development. Two key findings arose from the study data: (i) in order to retain chicken blood Pb below 20 μg/dL, soil Pb needs to be < 166 mg/kg (ii) to retain egg Pb < 100 μg/kg (i.e. a food safety benchmark value), soil Pb needs to be < 117 mg/kg. These concentrations are significantly lower than the soil Pb guideline of 300 mg/kg for residential gardens. This research supports the conclusion that a large number of inner-city homes may not be suitable for keeping chickens and that further work regarding production and consumption of domestic food is warranted.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 26-02-2021
DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091987
Abstract: Throughout spring and summer 2020, ozone stations in the northern extratropics recorded unusually low ozone in the free troposphere. From April to August, and from 1 to 8 kilometers altitude, ozone was on average 7% (≈4 nmol/mol) below the 2000–2020 climatological mean. Such low ozone, over several months, and at so many stations, has not been observed in any previous year since at least 2000. Atmospheric composition analyses from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and simulations from the NASA GMI model indicate that the large 2020 springtime ozone depletion in the Arctic stratosphere contributed less than one‐quarter of the observed tropospheric anomaly. The observed anomaly is consistent with recent chemistry‐climate model simulations, which assume emissions reductions similar to those caused by the COVID‐19 crisis. COVID‐19 related emissions reductions appear to be the major cause for the observed reduced free tropospheric ozone in 2020.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-12-2020
Publisher: MIT Press - Journals
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1162/LMJ_A_01032
Abstract: This article discusses Heavy Metal, an interactive installation work by Nigel Helyer. The authors situate this work within the context of a collaboration among environmental science, art and media theory, a three-year research project entitled When Science Meets Art: An Environmental Portrait of the Shoalhaven River Valley.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-08-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S10653-018-0144-6
Abstract: Soils in inner city areas internationally and in Australia have been contaminated with lead (Pb) primarily from past emissions of Pb in petrol, deteriorating exterior Pb-based paints and from industry. Children can be exposed to Pb in soil dust through ingestion and inhalation leading to elevated blood lead levels (BLLs). Currently, the contribution of soil Pb to the spatial distribution of children's BLLs is unknown in the Melbourne metropolitan area. In this study, children's potential BLLs were estimated from surface soil (0-2 cm) s les collected at 250 locations across the Melbourne metropolitan area using the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model. A dataset of 250 surface soil Pb concentrations indicate that soil Pb concentrations are highly variable but are generally elevated in the central and western portions of the Melbourne metropolitan area. The mean, median and geometric soil Pb concentrations were 193, 110 and 108 mg/kg, respectively. Approximately 20 and 4% of the soil s les exceeded the Australian HIL-A residential and HIL-C recreational soil Pb guidelines of 300 and 600 mg/kg, respectively. The IEUBK model predicted a geometric mean BLL of 2.5 ± 2.1 µg/dL (range: 1.3-22.5 µg/dL) in a hypothetical 24-month-old child with BLLs exceeding 5 and 10 µg/dL at 11.6 and 0.8% of the s ling locations, respectively. This study suggests children's exposure to Pb contaminated surface soil could potentially be associated with low-level BLLs in some locations in the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 23-03-2023
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 05-2021
DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2020-044833
Abstract: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a erse group of compounds that have been used in hundreds of industrial applications and consumer products including aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for many years. Multiple national and international health and environmental agencies have accepted that PFAS exposures are associated with numerous adverse health effects. Australian firefighters have been shown to have elevated levels of PFAS in their blood, specifically perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), due to the historical use of AFFF. While PFAS concentrations decline over time once the source of exposure has been removed, their potential adverse health effects are such that it would be prudent to develop an intervention to lower levels at a faster rate than occurs via natural elimination rates. This is a randomised controlled trial of current and former Australian firefighters in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade/Fire Rescue Victoria, and contractors, with previous occupational exposure to PFAS and baseline elevated PFOS levels. The study is investigating whether whole blood donation every 12 weeks or plasma donation every 6 weeks will significantly reduce PFAS levels, compared with a control group. We have used covariate-adaptive randomisation to balance participants’ sex and blood PFAS levels between the three groups and would consider a 25% reduction in serum PFOS and PFHxS levels to be potentially clinically significant after 12 months of whole blood or plasma donation. A secondary analysis of health biomarkers is being made of changes between screening and week 52 in all three groups. This trial has been approved by Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee (reference number: 3855), final protocol V.2 dated 12 June 2019. Study results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000204145).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2017.08.021
Abstract: The Pacific Islands carry a perception of having clean air, yet emissions from transport and burning activities are of concern in regard to air quality and health. Ultrafine particle number concentrations (PNCs), one of the best metrics to demonstrate combustion emissions, have not been measured either in Suva or elsewhere in the Islands. This work provides insight into PNC variation across Suva and its relationship with particle mass (PM) concentration and composition. Measurements over a short monitoring c aign provide a vignette of conditions in Suva. Ambient PNCs were monitored for 8 day at a fixed location, and mobile PNC s ling for two days. These were compared with PM concentration (TSP, PM
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 23-01-2023
Abstract: Abstract. Nineteen years of atmospheric composition measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO, 43.66° N, 79.40° W, 174 m.a.s.l.) are presented. These are retrieved from Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) solar absorption spectra recorded with an ABB Bomem DA8 spectrometer from May 2002 to December 2020. The retrievals have been optimized for fourteen species: O3, HCl, HF, HNO3, CH4, C2H6, CO, HCN, N2O, C2H2, H2CO, CH3OH, HCOOH and NH3 using the SFIT4 algorithm. The measurements have been archived in the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) data repository in Hierarchical Data Format version 4 (HDF4) files following the Generic Earth Observation Metadata Standard (GEOMS) and are also publicly available on Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository. In this paper, we describe the instrumentation, the retrieval strategy, the vertical sensitivity of the retrievals, the quality assurance process, and error analysis of the TAO FTIR measurements, and present the current version of the time series.
Publisher: American Medical Association (AMA)
Date: 08-04-2022
DOI: 10.1001/JAMANETWORKOPEN.2022.6257
Abstract: Elevated levels of blood perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. Firefighters have been exposed to PFASs in firefighting foams and have previously been shown to have higher PFAS levels in blood s les than the general population. No interventions have been shown to reduce PFAS levels. To examine the effect of blood or plasma donations on PFAS levels in firefighters in Australia. This 52-week, open-label, randomized clinical trial enrolled participants from May 23 to August 23, 2019. Participants were 285 Fire Rescue Victoria staff or contractors with serum levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) of 5 ng/mL or more who were eligible to donate blood, had not donated blood in the 3 months prior to randomization, and were able to provide written informed consent. Analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat basis from May to July 2021. Firefighters with baseline PFOS levels of 5 ng/mL or more were randomly assigned to donate plasma every 6 weeks for 12 months, donate blood every 12 weeks for 12 months, or be observed only. The primary end points were changes in the serum PFOS and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) levels after 12 months of plasma or blood donations or after observation only. Secondary end points included changes in serum PFAS levels from week 52 to week 64, changes in other PFASs, and changes in complete blood count, biochemistry, thyroid function, and lipid profile from screening to week 52. A total of 285 firefighters (279 men [97.9%] mean [SD] age, 53.0 [8.4] years) were enrolled 95 were randomly assigned to donate plasma, 95 were randomly assigned to donate blood, and 95 were randomly assigned to be observed. The mean level of PFOS at 12 months was significantly reduced by plasma donation (-2.9 ng/mL 95% CI, -3.6 to -2.3 ng/mL P < .001) and blood donation (-1.1 ng/mL 95% CI, -1.5 to -0.7 ng/mL P < .001) but was unchanged in the observation group. The mean level of PFHxS was significantly reduced by plasma donation (-1.1 ng/mL 95% CI, -1.6 to -0.7 ng/mL P < .001), but no significant change was observed in the blood donation or observation groups. Analysis between groups indicated that plasma donation had a larger treatment effect than blood donation, but both were significantly more efficacious than observation in reducing PFAS levels. Plasma and blood donations caused greater reductions in serum PFAS levels than observation alone over a 12-month period. Further research is needed to evaluate the clinical implications of these findings. anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12619000204145.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-02-2016
No related grants have been discovered for Shoma Yamanouchi.