696 Information Section--Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol. 33, No.
what role other pollutants, temperature and humidity
played in causing recorded changes in morbidity and
mortality. Despite these difficulties, reductions in
levels in fine particles should be welcomed.
In October 1992 the Committee discussed the
monitoring of exposure of populations at risk of
adverse health effects. Current arrangements for
monitoring and assessment of exposure to air pollu-
tion in the UK were considered inadequate in terms
of accurate prediction of health effects, and there
was a need for results of local authority and DoE
monitoring to be brought together. A similar recom-
mendation by the Quality of Urban Air Review
Group (Urban Air Quality in the United Kingdom:
executive summary and principal recommendations.
First report of the Quality of Urban Air Review
Group, Department of the Environment. December
1992) was endorsed at a later meeting.
Another topic on which the Committee advised
was the measurement of lung function. No single
method could be recommended in all circumstances,
although peak flow and FEV~ were regarded as most
suitable for a range of studies.
Advice was also given on the health effects of
benzene, ozone and carbon monoxide, which were the
subject of reports subsequently issued by the Expert
ABSTRACTS FROM THE LITERATURE
d-Limonene
d-Limonene induced hyaline droplet nephropathy in a
transgenic mouse engineered to express ~%-globulin.
Mice, which normally do not synthesize ~t2~-globulin,
are resistant to hyaline droplet nephropathy. The
engineered mouse excreted about 30% of the ~t2,-
globulin excreted by normal adult male rats. "These
results indicate that expression of ~2,-globulin in a
species that does not normally develop hyaline
droplet nephropathy is necessary and sufficient to
render that species sensitive to this renal toxicity"
(Lehman-McKeeman and Caudill, Fundamental and
Applied Toxicology 1994, 23, 562).
Food allergies?
US investigators have described 11 children (aged 4 -
33 months) whose failure to thrive (height to weight
ratio below the fifth percentile) was associated with
their parents' beliefs that they were allergic to multiple
foods. The resultant, and largely unnecessary, dietary
restriction imposed on them was the main inhibition
to growth. Skin prick tests conducted for foods
suspected of causing allergic reactions were negative
for seven of the 11 children. Only two patients reacted
during double-blind, placebo-controlled food chal-
lenges-one to milk (out of 14 "suspected" foods)
and the other to eggs and milk (out of 15 "suspected"
foods) (Roesler et al., Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine 1994, 148, 1150).
Panel on Air Quality Standards (Benzene. DoE
Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards. HMSO,
London, 1994; Ozone. DoE Expert Panel on Air
Quality Standards. HMSO, London, 1994; Carbon
monoxide. DoE Expert Panel on Air Quality
Standards. HMSO, London, 1994).
The report is published with that of the Advisory
Group on the Medical Aspects of Air Pollution
Episodes, which summarizes the Group's conclusions
on ozone, sulfur dioxide, acid aerosols and particu-
lates, and oxides of nitrogen (Ozone. Doll Advisory
Group on the Medical Aspects of Air Pollution
Episodes, First Report. HMSO, London, 1991; Sul-
phur dioxide, acid aerosols and particulates. Doll
Advisory Group on the Medical Aspects of Air
Pollution Episodes, Second Report. HMSO, London,
1992; Oxides of nitrogen. Doll Advisory Group on
the Medical Aspects of Air Pollution Episodes, Third
Report. HMSO, London, 1993). A fourth report, on
interactive combinations of pollutants, is expected
this spring.
[Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollu-
tants: Report May 1992-December 1993 and Advi-
sory Group on the Medical Aspects of Air Pollution
Episodes Activities Report 1990-1993. HMSO,
London, 1994, pp. v + 25. £8.95.]
Diphenyl ether herbicides
Chlornitrofen (4-nitrophenyl 2,4,6-trichlorophenyl
ether) and chlomethoxynil (2,4-dichlorophenyl 3-
methoxy-4-nitrophenyl ether) were mutagenic to
Salmonella typhimurium bacteria strains YG1026
and YG1021 both in the presence and absence of
rat liver metabolic activation system (S-9). Bifenox
(2,4-dichlorophenyl 3-methoxycarbonyl-4-nitrophenyl
ether) was mutagenic to YG1026 in the presence of
S-9. YG1026 and YGI021 are two new strains of
Salmonella known to be especially sensitive to nitro
compounds (Oguri et al., Mutation Research 1995,
346, 57).
Aminc-functionai methoxysilane
Allergic contact dermatitis to amine-functional
methoxysilane [(vinylbenzylaminoethyl)-aminopropyl-
trimethoxysilane] developed in workers at an Italian
glass-filament factory. 17 of 71 workers developed
itching and reddening on parts of the body directly in
contact with material within an average of 4.5 months
of its introduction into the manufacturing process.
Eight of 14 patients patch tested (generally involving
24/48-hr covered contact) gave positive reactions to
amino-functional methoxysilane (0.4% aqueous sol-
ution). The investigators concluded that the "findings
suggest that it is ... a potent sensitizer" (Toffoletto
et al., Contact Dermatitis 1994, 31, 320).