Accidental Release Research Articles

Potential consequences of nitric oxide release: An improved model informing worker safety.

Both nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gasses are toxic to humans but are commonly found in industrial settings such as semiconductor manufacturing sites. Due to the spontaneous oxidation of NO to NO2 under ambient conditions, individuals working with NO may in fact be exposed to both gasses in the case of an accidental release. Unfortunately, most safety materials provided to NO users do not address the potential for associated NO2 toxicity, and, until now, models developed to predict health consequences following a release of NO have not appropriately considered the oxidation kinetics nor the toxicity of both NO and NO2 in their assessments. This paper describes an improved multi-module model that addresses these limitations and explores whether facilities using NO should consider adopting measures that can mitigate the simultaneous health effects of both gasses. The model predicts the morbidity (intoxication/injury), mortality (death), and treatment outcomes that may arise following an industrial NO release by first calculating the doses of both NO and NO2 received by exposed individuals and then applying newly defined toxicity parameters for NO and NO2 to assign dose-dependent probabilities for the onset of intoxication and/or death and the ability of appropriate treatment(s) to save lives. Modeling results indicate low risk to worker health in the likeliest release scenarios while identifying less likely situations that carry substantially higher risk. Moreover, these results indicate that risks to worker health can be mitigated with simple measures like maintaining reliable alarms, adequate ventilation, and on-site supplies of methylene blue, as well as encouraging quick responses by personnel. With appropriate parameterization, the improved modeling framework is generalizable to any chemical release, especially multi-hazard releases resulting from the conversion of one toxic compound into another under likely environmental conditions. By directly addressing the toxicities of multiple compounds, the improved model presents a more realistic picture of the potential health consequences of a chemical release. This generalizable framework for modeling of multi-hazard chemical releases can inform preparedness and risk mitigation strategies for NO release events.

Microplastics in wastewater and sludge from centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment plants: Effects of treatment systems and microplastic characteristics

Domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a vital role in limiting the release of microplastics (MP) into the environment. This study examined MP removal efficiency from five centralized and four decentralized domestic WWTPs in Bangkok, Thailand. MP concentrations in wastewater and sludge were comparable between centralized and decentralized WWTPs, despite these decentralized WWTPs serving smaller populations and having limited treatment capacity. The elimination of MPs ranged from 50 to 96.8% in centralized WWTPs and 14.2–53.6% in decentralized WWTPs. It is noted that the retained MPs concentrations in sludge ranged from 20,000 to 228,100 MP/kg dry weight. The prevalence of synthetic fibers and fragments could be attributed to their pathways from laundry or car tires, and the accidental release of a variety of plastic wastes ended up in investigated domestic WWTPs. Removal of MPs between the centralized and decentralized WWTPs was influenced by several impact factors including initial MP concentrations, longer retention times, MP fragmentation, and variations of MP concentrations in sludge leading to different activated sludge process configurations. Sewage sludge has become a primary location for the accumulation of incoming microplastics in WWTPs. The MPs entering and leaving each unit process were varied due to the unique characteristics of MPs, and their different treatment efficiencies. While the extended hydraulic retention period in decentralized WWTPs decreased the MP removal efficacy, the centralized WWTP with the two-stage activated sludge process achieved the highest MP removal efficiency.

Dominance of African racial ancestry in honey bee colonies of Mexico 30 years after the migration of hybrids from SouthAmerica.

The Africanized honey bee, a hybrid of Apis mellifera scutellata from Africa with European subspecies, has been considered an invasive species and a problem for beekeeping. Africanized bees arrived in Mexico in 1986, 30 years after their accidental release in Brazil. Although government programs were implemented for its eradication, Africanized populations persist in Mexico, but precise information on the patterns of genetic introgression and racial ancestry is scarce. We determined maternal and parental racial ancestry of managed and feral honey bees across the five beekeeping regions of Mexico, using mitochondrial (mtDNA, COI-COII intergenic region) and nuclear markers (94 ancestrally informative SNPs), to assess the relationship between beekeeping management, beekeeping region, altitude, and latitude with the distribution of maternal and parental racial ancestry. Results revealed a predominantly African ancestry in the Mexican honey bees, but the proportion varied according to management, beekeeping regions, and latitude. The Mexican honey bees showed 31 haplotypes of four evolutionary lineages (A, M, C, and O). Managed honey bees had mitochondrial and nuclear higher proportions of European ancestry than feral honey bees, which had a higher proportion of African ancestry. Beekeeping regions of lower latitudes had higher proportions of African nuclear ancestry. Managed and feral honey bees showed differences in the proportion of maternal and nuclear racial ancestry. Managed honey bees from the Yucatan Peninsula and feral honey bees had a higher mtDNA than nuclear proportions of African ancestry. Managed honey bees, except those on the Yucatan Peninsula, had a higher nuclear than mtDNA proportion of African ancestry. Our study demonstrates that Africanized honey bee populations are genetically diverse and well established in Mexico, which highlights the limitations of management and government programs to contain the Africanization process and demands the incorporation of this lineage in any breeding program for sustainable beekeeping.

Monitoring of Sulfur Mustard (HD) Vapor in the Presence of Absorptive Building Materials.

In the event of an accidental or intentional release of a chemical warfare agent (CWA), environmental samples must be collected and analyzed to assess the level of the contamination. Equally important is an understanding of the fate and transport of a CWA in the presence of porous materials, which may impact the ability to collect environmental samples. Air monitoring techniques may be used to rule in/out the presence of a CWA. Here, relationships between the CWA sulfur mustard (HD) surface contamination levels and the associated HD vapor concentration were investigated. Results indicate that absorption of HD into vinyl, concrete, and sealed concrete followed by slow diffusion out of these materials significantly prolonged the presence of HD vapor concentrations. The extracted material recovery data suggest that positive correlations can be established between residual material contamination and vapor concentration but also that surface wiping alone would fail to detect absorbed HD.

How does evacuation risk change over time? Influences on evacuation strategies during accidental toxic gas releases

Evacuation may be the most necessary and effective method of saving human lives in an emergency where toxic gases are released. Therefore, there is a need for a rational assessment of the risk of evacuees from the affected area at different times. In this paper, a modeling framework is developed to assess and control the risk of the emergency evacuation process under toxic gas release. Data from geographic information systems, big data on the spatial aggregation of population activities, and multi-agent-based modeling are combined to formulate and simulate evacuation event scenarios under toxic gas release. The characteristics of evacuation message dissemination at different times were explored, while the risk of people evacuating at different times was assessed in terms of two dimensions: health and fear emotion. In this case study, the proposed modeling framework was used to assess the potential risks faced by people when following the original evacuation plan in the event of an accidental release of toxic gas. The results of the assessment show that the factors affecting the risk of the evacuation process include the geometric parameters of the sub-evacuation area (SEA; location of the SEA, delineation pattern of SEA, degree of crowding, complexity of the SEA environment, population density, and age structure of the population) and the rate of information communication. Therefore, a control strategy is proposed based on geometric optimization and emergency communication optimization. The results of evacuation risk control show that the latter has a wider range of applicability, while the former has a weaker impact on evacuation risk in densely populated areas. The study results can provide information for public emergency authorities to develop effective emergency evacuation plans.

Rural community response to accidental toxic gas release: An individual emergency response model during self-organized evacuations

The emergency response ability in rural areas is weaker than in urban areas. Once a major accident occurs in a rural area, it is more likely to cause serious consequences. Thus, we propose a individual emergency response model during self-organized evacuations after accidental toxic gas releases in rural areas. The proposed model can reproduce emergency information dissemination and individual emergency decision-making in self-organized evacuations. We propose an improved susceptible infected recovered model for emergency information dissemination process. At the same time, we propose a emergency decision-making mechanism to simulate individual emergency actions. In this model, individual personality characteristics will affect the accessing and disseminating individual emergency information. Then, we conduct a simulation experiment based on methanol leakage in a rural community. Through comparative experiments, we found that the traditional model may be too pessimistic in estimating emergency information dissemination results, underestimating shadow evacuation. In noncompliance evacuation areas, loudspeakers can inhibit individuals from unnecessarily evacuating who are close to it, and may cause individuals far away from it to evacuate unnecessarily. When formulating emergency response strategies, managers should focus on groups with weak access to information and consider the impact of loudspeaker locations on individual emergency response actions.

Single-benzene-based fluorescent probe for the detection of inhale-toxic triphosgene and its practical applications

Overexposure, or the use of triphosgene, poses a threat to public safety and health due to the chance of accidental release or intentional misuse in terrorist activities. Therefore, developing fluorescence materials for detecting triphosgene in solid, liquid, and vapor states is significant for real-time monitoring of environmental pollutant triphosgene. This work introduces a noble fluorescent molecular probe (SBBF–P-1) utilizing a single-benzene moiety to detect triphosgene. The newly developed triphosgene probe, SBBF–P-1, can rapidly and specifically identify triphosgene (within 1 min). SBBF–P-1 exhibits high selectivity, sensitivity, specificity, photostability, and cell viability, which are pivotal for practical applications in diverse environmental conditions. The practical applications performed involve solid, liquid, and vapor states to validate the capability of SBBF–P-1 as a triphosgene sensing agent. SBBF–P-1 can selectively detect and absorb triphosgene vapor when embedded in paper and cotton materials. Soil tests also performed on SBBF–P-1 reaffirmed its ability to detect and monitor pollutant triphosgene in environmental samples. Overall, this study presents a noble triphosgene-specific fluorescent probe based on a single-benzene head, showcasing the immense potential for widespread utility across various environmental monitoring and safety areas.

Uranium contamination of bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis, speciation and localization

Uranium is a natural radioelement (also a model for heavier actinides), but may be released through anthropogenic activities. In order to assess its environmental impact in a given ecosystem, such as the marine system, it is essential to understand its distribution and speciation, and also to quantify its bioaccumulation. Our objective was to improve our understanding of the transfer and accumulation of uranium in marine biota with mussels taken here as sentinel species because of their sedentary nature and ability to filter seawater.We report here on the investigation of uranium accumulation, speciation, and localization in Mytilus galloprovincialis using a combination of several analytical (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, ICP-MS), spectroscopic (X ray Absorption Spectroscopy, XAS, Time Resolved Laser Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy, TRLIFS), and imaging (Transmission Electron Microscopy, TEM, μ-XAS, Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, SIMS) techniques. Two cohorts of mussels from the Toulon Naval Base and the Villefranche-sur-Mer location were studied. The measurement of uranium Concentration Factor (CF) values show a clear trend in the organs of M. galloprovincialis: hepatopancreas ≫ gill > body ≥ mantle > foot. Although CF values for the entire mussel are comparable for TNB and VFM, hepatopancreas values show a significant increase in those from Toulon versus Villefranche-sur-Mer.Two organs of interest were selected for further spectroscopic investigations: the byssus and the hepatopancreas. In both cases, U(VI) (uranyl) is accumulated in a diffuse pattern, most probably linked to protein complexing functions, with the absence of a condensed phase.While such speciation studies on marine organisms can be challenging, they are an essential step for deciphering the impact of metallic radionuclides on the marine biota in the case of accidental release. Following our assumptions on uranyl speciation in both byssus and hepatopancreas, further steps will include the inventory and identification of the proteins or metabolites involved.

Assessment of genetically modified maize MON 94804 (application GMFF-2022-10651).

Genetically modified (GM) maize MON 94804 was developed to achieve a reduction in plant height by introducing the GA20ox_SUP suppression cassette. The molecular characterisation and bioinformatic analyses do not identify issues requiring food/feed safety assessment. None of the agronomic/phenotypic and compositional differences identified between maize MON 94804 and its conventional counterpart needs further assessment, except for ear height, plant height and levels of carbohydrates in forage, which do not raise safety or nutritional concerns. The Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of the GA20ox_SUP precursor-miRNA and derived mature miRNA as expressed in maize MON 94804 and finds no evidence that the genetic modification would change the overall allergenicity of maize MON 94804. In the context of this application, the consumption of food and feed from maize MON 94804 does not represent a nutritional concern in humans and animals. The GMO Panel concludes that maize MON 94804 is as safe as the conventional counterpart and non-GM maize varieties tested, and no post-market monitoring of food/feed is considered necessary. In the case of accidental release of viable maize MON 94804 grains into the environment, this would not raise environmental safety concerns. The post-market environmental monitoring plan and reporting intervals are in line with the intended uses of maize MON 94804. The GMO Panel concludes that maize MON 94804 is as safe as its conventional counterpart and the tested non-GM maize varieties with respect to potential effects on human and animal health and the environment.

Structural impact under accidental LNG release on the LNG bunkering ship: Implementation of advanced cryogenic risk analysis

The potential risk associated with the accidental release of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a notable concern during the design phase of gas-handling facilities. One of the risk is an excessive cryogenic exposure to structures or equipment, leading to hazardous situations. This study aims to introduce a novel method that implements Advanced Cryogenic Risk Analysis (ACRA) to enhance the safety of LNG bunkering ship structure in case of cryogenic flow leakage. The method involves evaluating thermal loads based on the preceding simulated LNG release scenarios using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). These thermal parameters are then employed in structural analysis through the Finite Element (FE) approach.The integration of thermal data from CFD simulations into the FE model was achieved using the Random Forest algorithm. The LNG bunkering structure is represented using DH36-grade steel material. Furthermore, to accurately capture the mechanical properties of DH36 steel, cryogenic tensile tests were conducted across a temperature range from 298.15 K to 113.15 K. The resulting stress-strain data from these tests were utilized to establish a reliable material model for conducting FE analysis.This paper comprehensively presents a novel ACRA procedure by utilizing physical parameter of the gas release cosnequence such as the steel temperature profile to identify the brittle failure under the accidental gas release on the LNG bunkering ship. In addition, quantitative risk analysis (QRA) was also presented regarding the cryogenic spill hazard, to link the probability and consequence aspects of the LNG bunkering risk, particularly the results of steel temperature, stress, and strain experienced by the ship’s structure. Furthermore, the individual risk was also estimated. The implications of the findings are discussed in detail regarding the cryogenic risk, cryogenic tensile test and numerical analyses.

A probabilistic analysis of non-military hangar fire protection systems

The United States Air Force (USAF) dictates policy for foam fire suppression systems in their hangars. In November 2021, the USAF issued a Sundown Policy for Foam Fire Suppression Systems. The National Fire Protection Association’s Standard on Aircraft Hangars, NFPA 409 serves a similar function. This article uses a real-world installation and analysis of the hangar fire protection scheme stipulated in the USAF Sundown Policy as compared to an installation in compliance with NFPA 409. Applying the Poisson process for a zero-inflated probability distribution, the data referenced for the event tree were evaluated and thereafter validated. The analysis shows that the installation of hangar fire protection stipulated in the USAF Sundown Policy achieves a better performance for the fire protection system than an installation in compliance with NFPA 409, insofar as the risk analysis is concerned. Second, the installation of a fire protection system that complies with the requirements of NFPA 409 fails to achieve the basic probabilistic performance promulgated by the International Code Council’s Performance Code (ICCPC). The validation also demonstrated that the scenario involving the accidental discharge of fire foam was significantly more likely to occur compared to that involving only fire occurrences.

An Integrated Solution for Nuclear Power Plant On-Site Optimal Evacuation Path Planning Based on Atmospheric Dispersion and Dose Model

Safety in nuclear energy utilization is crucial. In the event of a radioactive release incident, coupled with meteorological uncertainties, a radioactive plume can impact personnel evacuation. This paper presents an integrated solution for radionuclide release accident assessment and emergency evacuation decision making. The solution consists of three processes: atmospheric dispersion calculation, dose calculation, and path planning. The individual processes are connected through data exchange, thus allowing users to choose specific models based on experience. The proposed scheme combination is the Gaussian plume model, the dose conversion factor method, and an improved Dijkstra’s path planning algorithm. This algorithm, combined with dispersion and dose results, weighs nodes using the moving expected dose, facilitating the path with minimum dose risk. A program for Atmospheric Diffusion and Dose Calculation (ADDC) is developed based on the recommended scheme. Advantages include ease of use, minimal data requirements, data accessibility, and efficient evacuation. Dose estimates and optimal evacuation routes can be obtained quickly and at very low cost in response to rapidly changing environmental conditions. In a case study at a Chinese planned nuclear plant, we consider a spent fuel pool water loss scenario, assessing dose risks from 2020 to 2022 meteorological statistics. In dose calculation, results reveal that during an SFP drying accident, the radiation dose in the core area (100 m away) can reach 30–150 mSv within 2 h, and at 500 m away, it can reach 5–15 mSv. The dose in all downwind directions can drop below 250 mSv within 60 m. In path planning, results reveal the program is capable of accurately and efficiently calculating the minimum dose evacuation route. The program’s path reduces the effective dose by up to 67.3% compared to the shortest route, enhancino safety, and guiding post-accident decision making and planning.

Ensemble Detection of DNA Engineering Signatures.

Synthetic biology is creating genetically engineered organisms at an increasing rate for many potentially valuable applications, but this potential comes with the risk of misuse or accidental release. To begin to address this issue, we have developed a system called GUARDIAN that can automatically detect signatures of engineering in DNA sequencing data, and we have conducted a blinded test of this system using a curated Test and Evaluation (T&E) data set. GUARDIAN uses an ensemble approach based on the guiding principle that no single approach is likely to be able to detect engineering with perfect accuracy. Critically, ensembling enables GUARDIAN to detect sequence inserts in 13 target organisms with a high degree of specificity that requires no subject matter expert (SME) review.

ORCA: A Tool for Radiological Consequences for Accidental Releases

Evaluating atmospheric dispersion and radiological doses in the vicinity of buildings is required for small modular reactors (SMRs) because of the reduced size of their exclusion area boundary. The current Canadian nuclear industry tool for these calculations implements the methodology defined in CSA Standard N288.2-M91, which was written to support large Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors as opposed to SMRs. The ORCA (On/offsite Radiological Consequences of Accidents) code has been developed to address this technical concern in addition to evaluating atmospheric dispersion and doses in the far field. The code calculates worker and public doses following an airborne release of radioactive material into the atmosphere under postulated accident conditions at a nuclear facility. The current paper presents the key assumptions and methods utilized in ORCA and discusses qualification of the software to the requirements of CSA Standard N286.7-16. The new model is applicable to SMRs and existing reactor designs and reduces conservatisms in the near field (i.e., <1 km from the source) relative to the methods in CSA N288.2-M91.

Response of Typha domingensis during an accidental discharge of high Cr(VI) concentration in a full-scale treatment wetland

This work assesses the Cr accumulation and tolerance of Typha domingensis after an accidental discharge of wastewater that produced a concentration of Cr(VI) of approximately 120 mg L−1 in a free-water surface wetland. The wetland was constructed for the final wastewater treatment of a metallurgical manufacturing plant. It is 7 m wide, 20 m long, and waterproofed with a geomembrane. A 1.5 m soil layer was placed on top of the geomembrane. Water, plants, and sediment were sampled before and after an accidental discharge. The root anatomical measurements of the plants from the treatment wetland were compared with those of plants from an uncontaminated wetland (control). Roots and dead leaves from the inlet plants showed the highest Cr concentrations after the accidental discharge (12.4 and 11.6 mg g−1, respectively). SEM-EDX mapping determined that Cr was accumulated in root epidermis. Cr accumulation in plant detritus, plant roots, and sediment were the mechanisms for Cr removal. Plants accumulated Cr in belowground tissues demonstrating their potential for phytostabilization. T. domingensis was capable of modifying its morphology to respond to high Cr concentrations. This macrophyte is a suitable species for wetlands constructed for the treatment of a wastewater with high Cr(VI) concentration. The studied system was capable of minimizing the impact and preserving the environment.

Assessment of genetically modified maize DP202216 for food and feed uses, under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (application EFSA-GMO-NL-2019-159).

Genetically modified maize DP202216 was developed to confer tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium-containing herbicides and to provide an opportunity for yield enhancement under field conditions. These properties were achieved by introducing the mo-pat and zmm28 expression cassettes. The molecular characterisation data and bioinformatic analyses do not identify issues requiring food/feed safety assessment. None of the identified differences in the agronomic/phenotypic and compositional characteristics tested between maize DP202216 and its comparator needs further assessment, except for the levels of stearic acid (C18:0), which do not raise nutritional and safety concerns. The GMO Panel does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of the PAT and ZMM28 proteins as expressed in maize DP202216, and finds no evidence that the genetic modification would change the overall allergenicity of maize DP202216. In the context of this application, the consumption of food and feed from maize DP202216 does not represent a nutritional concern in humans and animals. The GMO Panel concludes that maize DP202216 is as safe as the comparator and non-GM reference varieties tested, and no post-market monitoring of food/feed is considered necessary. In the case of accidental release of viable maize DP202216 grains into the environment, this would not raise environmental safety concerns. The post-market environmental monitoring plan and reporting intervals are in line with the intended uses of maize DP202216. The GMO Panel concludes that maize DP202216 is as safe as its comparator and the tested non-GM reference varieties with respect to potential effects on human and animal health and the environment.

Cascaded Semantic Fractionation for identifying a domain in social media.

Searching social media to find relevant semantic domains often results in large text files, many of which are irrelevant due to cross-domain content resulting from word polysemy, abstractness, and degree centrality. Through an iterative pruning process, Cascaded Semantic Fractionation (CSF) systematically removes these cross-domain links. The social network procedure performs community detection in semantic networks, locates the semantic groups containing the terms of interest, excludes intergroup links, and repeats community detection on the pruned intragroup network until the domain of interest is clarified. To illustrate CSF, we analyzed public Facebook posts, using the CrowdTangle app for historical data search, from February 3, 2020, to March 13, 2021, about the possible Wuhan lab leak of COVID-19 over a daily interval. The initial search using keywords located six multi-day bursts of posts of more than 500 per day among 95 K posts. These posts were network analyzed to find the domain of interest using the iterative community detection and pruning process. CSF can be applied to capture the evolutions in semantic domains over time. At the outset, the lab leak theory was presented in conspiracy theory terms. Over time, the conspiratorial elements washed out in favor of an accidental release as the issue moved from social to mainstream media and official government views. CSF identified the relevant social media semantic domain and tracked its changes.

A simplified approach to assess dynamic amplification due to accidental release of formwork traveller during the construction stages of bridges

Construction of bridges by the cantilever method needs to consider the accidental release of the formwork traveller (ARFT) in the design phase. Often this phase is a critical situation that current regulations treat as a static analysis amplified by a dynamic factor due to the difficulty in setting up a model able to simulate the complex interaction between the formwork and the structure in the time domain during the accidental release. To overcome the simplistic approach of the regulations and to avoid the complexity of detailed ARFT modelling, in this research the release of the formwork is modelled as a simple force-time function applied to the bridge. This function has an equivalent effect on the structure as the accidental release, and it has been tuned using experimental tests on a 1:100 scale aeroelastic model of the cable-stayed Bioceanic Bridge. To test the applicability of the proposed time-function the Chilina continuous beam Bridge was also analysed. The article shows that the simplified procedure in the regulations can sometimes underestimate and overestimate dynamic amplification and, thus, a methodology is proposed to carry out the specific dynamic calculation that the regulations suggest for those cases where it is necessary.

Mist-control of polyalphaolefin (PAO) lubricants using long pairwise end-associative polymers

Accidental release of pressurized hydrocarbon fuels and lubricants are a major fire hazard due to the formation of small droplet mists that can readily evaporate and ignite. Mist control through increasing droplet size and suppressing droplets has been previously demonstrated with high molecular weight polymer additives, but traditional long polymer additives do not survive the pumping that would usually precede accidental release. This constraint inspired associative polymer additives that can transiently form the high molecular weights needed for mist control, while reversibly breaking during pumping. A prior study demonstrated the efficacy of such a system in fuel: long telechelic polycyclooctadiene (PCOD) with pairwise associating acid and base end-groups. Here, we address an obstacle to applying this same polymeric system in a polyalphaolefin (PAO) solvent—its poorer solvent quality for PCOD than fuel. We measured the effects of the end-associative PCOD compared to a non-associative control on the rheological properties of solutions in both PAO (a common lubricant and heat transfer fluid) and decahydronapthalene (decalin, a solvent with PCOD solubility similar to fuel) in shear and extension, and connect those rheological modifications to observed changes in PAO spray under simulated accidental release conditions. The PCOD additives demonstrated substantial mist control in PAO, both in terms of reduced spray angle and droplet suppression. Despite the worse solubility in PAO and thus smaller effective coil size, these associative PCOD additives are effective at the low concentrations (¡0.1 wt %) necessary for practical use as a safety measure.

Biological Containment for African Swine Fever (ASF) Laboratories and Animal Facilities: The Italian Challenge in Bridging the Present Regulatory Gap and Enhancing Biosafety and Biosecurity Measures

The African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, Asfivirus genus. It is responsible for massive losses in pig populations and drastic direct and indirect economic impacts. The ever-growing handling of ASFV pathological material in laboratories, necessary for either diagnostic or research activities, requires particular attention to avoid accidental virus release from laboratories and its detrimental economic and environmental effects. Recently, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 repealed the Commission Decision of 26 May 2003 reporting an ASF diagnostic manual (2003/422/EC) with the minimum and supplementary requirements for ASF laboratories. This decision generated a regulatory gap that has not been addressed yet. This paper aims to describe the Italian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) efforts to develop an effective and reliable biological containment tool for ASF laboratories and animal facilities. The tool consists of comprehensive and harmonized structural and procedural requirements for ASF laboratories and animal facilities that have been developed based on both current and repealed legislation, further entailing a risk assessment and internal audit as indispensable tools to design, adjust, and improve biological containment measures.