Organochlorine pesticide residues in human adipose tissue in Costa Rica

Organochlorine pesticide residues were found in 82 samples of human adipose material from 82 surgical cases in 16 Costa Rica hospitals. Identification was made by gas-liquid chromatography. The highest pesticide concentration was that of DDT and its metabolites (33.16 micrograms/g). Residues of almost all commercial pesticides were also found. Concentrations of alpha-chlordane. Aldrin and Polychlorinated biphenyls were not significant.     

Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Human Fat in the United Kingdom 1969-71

During the period 1969-71 samples of human body fat were taken during routine necropsies on 201 subjects over 5 years old and 20 stillborn babies and infants under 5 years old, and analysis was carried out for organochlorine pesticide residues. By comparing the results from this period with those from similar studies undertaken in 1963-4 and 1965-7, it is clear that a downward trend continues.     

Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81.

A search of the Home Office index of notified drug addicts identified 1499 deaths during 1967-81, of which 226 (15%) were of therapeutic addicts--that is, patients who had become addicted during medical treatment with a notifiable drug--and 1273 (85%) were of non-therapeutic addicts. The crude mortality fell from 23.5/1000/year for the period 1968-70 to 18.4/1000/year for 1978-80. Altogether 416 addicts aged under 50 at notification died after 1972, which was 16 times the number of deaths expected in a population with a similar age and sex composition. A more detailed examination of the cohorts of addicts notified each year showed little variation between them in the first two years of follow up. Nineteen addicts (1.6%) had died by 31 December of the year of their notification and 39 (3.3%) one year later. These figures may be an indication of the clinical course of addiction. Most deaths of non-therapeutic addicts in which a drug was implicated (939 cases (74%] were due to medically prescribed drugs--barbiturates at first and later opiates such as dipipanone hydrochloride and dextromoramide. Heroin was implicated in only 65 (7%) of these deaths. The Home Office index is a valuable source for identifying drugs of abuse and serious problems of addiction. The fact that prescribed drugs are causing the death of so many addicts demands a response from the medical profession.     

Haemophilia A home therapy in the United Kingdom 1975-6.

Data on home treatment for patients with haemophilia A (factor VIII deficient haemophilia) were compiled for 1975 and 1976 from questionnaires answered by directors of haemophilia centres throughout the United Kingdom. There were 48 haemophilia centres in 1975 and 71 in 1976. The number of patients on or in training for home treatment increased from 267 to 488 in the two years, and a further 241 haemophiliacs were considered suitable for home therapy by the end of 1976. Apart from a small (but increasing) number of haemophiliacs on prophylactic treatment, most patients were on low-dose (250-500 units) on-demand regimens, using a mean of 20 000 factor VIII units per patient per year in 1976. An estimated 55% of the blood product used for home therapy in the UK in 1976 was imported from commercial sources. Despite the fact that the numbers of patients on home treatment have increased, so that about 60% of the potential population were receiving or being considered for home treatment in 1976, inadequacies in the service still remain. In some centres follow-up is clearly inadequate; about 15% of patients still rely on cryoprecipitate; and too little money has been invested in making the NHS self-sufficient in factor VIII production.     

Organochlorine residues in the Tunisian market basket

This paper provides preliminary findings on organochlorine residues in Tunisian foodstuffs, i.e.: butter, milk, cheese, fish, canned tuna and sardines, beef, egg yolk, chicken and beef liver. The techniques used are HPLC, MS-GC, ECD-GC.     

Mortality among male anaesthetists in the United Kingdom, 1957-83.

A cohort of 3769 male anaesthetists resident in the United Kingdom between 1957 and 1983 was followed up for a total of 51,431 person years of observation. All subjects were fellows of the Faculty of Anaesthetists and held full registration with the General Medical Council. With all men in social class I being taken as the standard, the standardised mortality ratio among anaesthetists for all causes of death was 68 (95% confidence interval 59 to 77) and the standardised mortality ratio for all cancers was 50 (95% confidence interval 36 to 67). There was no significant excess mortality from lymphomas or leukaemias, but 16 of the 221 deaths in anaesthetists were due to suicide, giving a standardised mortality ratio of 202 (95% confidence interval 115 to 328). When anaesthetists were compared with all doctors the standardised mortality ratio for suicide was only 114, a nonsignificant excess. These findings confirm that the risk of suicide among anaesthetists is twice as high as among other men in social class I but suggest that the risk does not differ significantly from that among doctors as a whole. There was no evidence of a significant excess risk of cancer, and, in particular, the small excess of cancer of the pancreas reported previously could not be confirmed.     

Presymptomatic testing for Huntington's disease in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom Huntington's Disease Prediction Consortium.

OBJECTIVE--To evaluate the United Kingdom Huntington''s disease presymptomatic testing programme. DESIGN--Postal questionnaire survey to collect data on all tests performed by clinical genetics centres between 1987 and 1990. SETTING--Genetic centres providing presymptomatic testing in the United Kingdom. SUBJECTS--248 subjects at risk of Huntington''s disease who had presymptomatic testing at their request. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Sex, age, prior risk, and risk after testing. RESULTS--The risk of carrying the Huntington disease gene was reduced for 151 (61%) of the applicants and raised for 97 (39%). 158 (64%) of the subjects were female and 90 (36%) male. The median age at which the results were given was 32.5 years. CONCLUSIONS--The demand for testing was lower than expected and may have reached its peak in 1990. The excess of low risk results was not fully explained by the age effect. All the genetics centres concerned have agreed a common service protocol which requires extensive pre-test counselling and post-test follow up. The worth of the procedure remains to be decided. The availability of a large body of pooled data from all the United Kingdom testing centres, which individually are likely to have only a few results, will form a valuable resource for monitoring the long term psychosocial impact of testing.     

Surveillance of AIDS in the United Kingdom.

The surveillance of cases of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United Kingdom is described and a preliminary analysis made of the 1012 cases that were reported to the end of August 1987. Homosexuals were the largest risk group. For the first time it is possible to present cases by the date of diagnosis and by the regional health authority of residence. The rate of increase of new cases shows no sign of slowing down. One third of patients with AIDS lived in a different regional health authority from that in which their disease had been diagnosed. The geographical distribution varied with the risk group. The commonest presenting clinical feature at diagnosis was Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Kaposi''s sarcoma was considerably more common among homosexuals than among people in other groups at risk.     

Geochemistry and health in the United Kingdom.

Before the 1960s, comparisons between the distribution of trace elements in the environment and health in the United Kingdom were primarily confined to ad hoc studies in areas associated with particular agricultural disorders or with unusual human mortality or morbidity records. More recently, increasing interest in the importance of trace elements in crop and animal production and in the hazards of environmental pollution have created a need for more systematic geochemical data. Geochemical reconnaissance maps for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland have demonstrated the extent of many known clinical trace element problems in agriculture and have also been valuable in delineating areas within which subclinical disorders may occur. Their application to studies on the composition of soils, food crops and surface waters in relation to public health has proved encouraging. Current knowledge and present investigations into environmental geochemistry and human health in the U.K. are reviewed, together with future research requirements.