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Summary and conclusionsThe clinical features of 49 children who had eaten bread contaminated with methylmercury in rural Iraq were reviewed. Symptoms and signs relating to the nervous system-varying degrees of ataxia, weakness, and visual and sensory changes-dominated the clinical picture. The severity of poisoning was related to the blood mercury concentration, as was the degree of recovery. Follow-up over two years showed that children who had had mild or moderate poisoning slowly but steadily improved, some of them recovering normal function, though all had a residual generalised hyperreflexia. In some patients ataxia and motor weakness disappeared. Visual changes also improved, though less completely, and of 17 blind children, only five had recovered partial sight by the end of two years. Seven of the 18 children who suffered very severe poisoning were left physically and mentally incapacitated.The degree of clinical progress shown by these children was better than that shown by some other groups of patients, possibly because the poisoning was relatively acute and mercury consumption was stopped immediately after its effects had become obvious.

A new condensed toluene mechanism is incorporated into the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling system. Model simulations are performed using the CB05 chemical mechanism containing the existing (base) and the new toluene mechanism for the western and eastern US for a summer month. With current estimates of tropospheric emission burden, the new toluene mechanism increases monthly mean daily maximum 8-h ozone by 1.0–3.0 ppbv in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Cleveland, northeastern US, and Detroit compared to that with the base toluene chemistry. It reduces model mean bias for ozone at elevated observed ozone concentrations. While the new mechanism increases predicted ozone, it does not enhance ozone production efficiency. A sensitivity study suggests that it can further enhance ozone if elevated toluene emissions are present. While it increases in-cloud secondary organic aerosol substantially, its impact on total fine particle mass concentration is small

Eighty-four Iraqi mothers and their infants had been exposed to methylmercury during pregnancy. The methylmercury had been ingested as a fungicide. Peak maternal hair mercury concentrations were related to the frequency of maternal symptoms during pregnancy and to neurological effects in the infants. These include various degrees of psychomotor retardation. Severe neurological deficits were observed in five children whose maternal peak hair mercury concentrations were 165 to 320 ppm. Minimal symptoms were reported for mothers and children when peak maternal hair levels were below 68 ppm. Minimal clinical neurological signs occurred in children when peak maternal hair mercury concentrations were at an undetermined point between 68 and 180 ppm. Greater fetal risk appears to be associated with exposure during the second trimester. This exposure to methylmercury was acute and the results may not be extrapolated to a constant level of exposure throughout pregnancy. The effects of fetal exposure to methylmercury in marine fish may differ.

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Wheat flour is staple diet and is mainly consumed in the form of chapatti and bread in Pakistan. Wheat is deficient in lysine which is the first limiting amino acid in wheat. Proteins are indispensable constituents of human diet and are considered crucial for the growth, maintenance and repair of the body tissues. They are one of the essential building blocks of all life. The objective of this study was to prepare the composite flour by blending straight grade flour with oyster mushroom powder (OMP) in different proportions for the baking of bread. The flour was also evaluated for rheological properties. The supplemented bread was subjected to sensory evaluation and physical analysis by Farinograph measurements of the following characteristics affected by mushroom powder: water absorption, dough development time, softening of dough, dough stability and mixing tolerance index. Results showed that OMP increased water absorption capacity of dough with highest absorption recorded in T5 (66.4%) and minimum in T0 (56.4%). Dough development time increased with the increasing amount of OMP. It was minimum in T0 (1.5 min) and maximum in T5 (4.6 min). The capacity of dough to get soft also increased with increasing treatment level. Dough stability also decreased with increasing level of OMP. Mixing tolerance index was also significantly affected by OMP. Results of amylograph indicated that peak viscosity increased from 1595 to 1700 BU from T1 (3% mushroom powder) to T5 (15% mushroom powder) with the increase of OMP.