11. LIST OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED

ADI - acceptable daily intake comparable with the term tolerable daily intake. Exposure limit presented in ug of contaminants per day and per 1 kg of body mass.

ADI [%] - the quotient of ADI in percent which is possible to intake with drinking water.

Allergenicity - content of guanine in 1 g of dust. This test is used in evaluation of quality of indoor.

AIM - Automated immission monitoring.

ARO - acute respiratory disease.

Basal population minimum - minimal requirement for the continuous intake of substance E in the population which is essential for the prevention of pathologically relevant and clinically diagnosable functions that are the consequence of the lack of substance E (WHO, 1996).

Biomarker - whatever measurable characteristic in a biological system which reflects the interaction of the organism and environmental factors (biomarkers of exposure, effect and sensitivity).

BMI - body mass index = body weight/(body height)2 [kg/m]2.

Carentia - disorder of nourishment owing to an insufficiency of some necessary substance in foodstuffs and/or in water.

CINDI - Countrywide integrated noncomunicable diseases intervention program, project managed by WHO.

Clastogenic effect - ability of a substance or mixture to induce chromosomal breaks.

Congener - a member of a class, group or other category, in this case isomers. Isomers are chemical substances of identical empirical (proportional) composition and molecular mass, differing in certain physical or chemical characteristics due to another arrangement of atoms in the molecule.

Correlation - gives information on the statistical relationship between certain characteristics in a sample A. A hypothesis that the characteristics under study is not statistically correlated (it is randomly distributed) and can be tested at a selected level of significance.

Critical value - in this text a value describing the attainment of a limit concentration, exposure limit and exposure dose resp., signaling any risk of possible health harm in population scale.

ČHMU - Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.

ČSÚ - Czech Bureau of Statistics.

Direct standardization - method in which relative incidences in each age category in a group under study are applied to numbers of the same age categories in a chosen standard (e.g. European or World Standard Population).

Dose - measure of the amount received by the subject under follow-up, either human or animal.

EPIDAT - database of epidemiological information dealing with infectious diseases in the Czech Republic.

Evaluation of quality of living conditions - overall evaluation of areas (districts) according to the environmental health level, social conditions and mortality rate. Scale: relatively high level - A, above average - B, mostly below average - C, extremely disrupted - D.

Evaluation of quality of environment - worked out for sites according to the environmental health level and of well-being from the point of view of landscape and urban parameters. Scale: high level - I, satisfactory - II, disrupted - III, very disrupted - IV, extremely disrupted - V.

Estimate - a term used namely in mathematical statistics and means that the calculation of a quantity is carried out with a previously defined probability. It does not have anything in common with “estimate” that substitutes the quantitative evaluation of the characteristics of a sample.

Exposure - to be accessible to the influence of a physical, chemical or biological factor or action.

Exposure limits - are defined by the commission of JECFA FAO/WHO as ADI, PTWI, PMTDI or by US EPA as RfD. In certain an internationally recognized exposure limit has not been set. Then TDI is temporarily used to national or international levels. The basic definition of limits, as limit values: a given exposure dose, which probably will not have harmful effects, not even if exposure be lifelong.

FAO - Food and agriculture organization under the WHO.

Food poisoning - it takes place by transmission through foodstuffs contaminated with toxins of bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy animals or in suppurative affections of man. Here belongs botulism, intoxications due to Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin, Clostridium perfringens type A and Bacillus cereus.

Genotoxic substance - a substance with the ability to induce various types of damage to the genome of a cell that may lead to an alteration of a genetic information transfer.

Glykemia - level of sugar in blood.

Human alimentary diseases - alimentary infections and intoxications the transmission of which takes place through fecal-oral transfer, hands contaminated by the stool or urine. Here belong e.g. typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, bacillary dysentery, acute diarrhoeal affections, type-A virus hepatitis.

HS - Public Health Service.

IH - Indicative value, the value of the water quality indicator of a non-specific character or a selective indicator used for deciding on a more detailed investigation of water quality.

IHd - acceptable 24-h concentration of contaminants in the atmosphere (daily immission limit) expressed in micrograms per cubic meter. In the case of asbestos it is expressed in the number of fibbers in the same volume.

IHr - acceptable annual concentration of contaminants in the atmosphere (annual immission limit) expressed in micrograms per cubic meter. In the case of asbestos it is expressed in the number of fibbers in the same volume.

IISŽP - Integrated Information System of the Environment.

IKO - air quality index. The measured concentration of contaminants measured are compared with corresponding limit values and transformed into a dimensionless parameter which describes the state of ambient air quality at six levels. For IKO of 0 - 1 it is clean atmosphere, 1 - 2 acceptable, 2 - 3 moderately polluted, 3 - 4 polluted, 4 - 5 highly polluted, 5 - 6 harmful to health.

IKOd - daily air quality index. Parameter that takes into account short-term exposures of the population to monitored pollutants within the scope of 24-hour immission characteristics.

IKOr - annual air quality index. Parameter that takes into account long-term exposures of the population to monitored pollutants within the scope of annual immission characteristics.

Incidence - number of newly occurring affections, e.g. per 1 000 or 100 000 inhabitants within a defined time period.

IPd – recalculated daily immission limit for dust fraction PM10. It is derived from a minimal reported quotient of fraction PM10 and total suspended particles (0,55).

LAeq - permanently continuous sound level of acoustic pressure (A weighed) expressed in dB (decibel).

LH - types of limit concerning drinking water quality. NMH (1), MH (2) and MHPR (3) are presented in the Supplement.

L90 - 90% quantile of a sound level of acoustic pressure (A weighed) of the total period of measuring expressed in dB (decibel).

Limit - the largest or the lowest quantity or amount allowed.

Limit of detection - (M.D.) - lowest concentration of a substance that can still be identified and presented with a 99% probability. It is determined by analysis in a blind experiment and it is such a concentration of the substance the response of which is equivalent to an average response of a blind experiment plus a three-fold standard deviation estimate.

Limit of quantitation - (M.S.) - lowest concentration of a substance that can be determined with an acceptable degree of accuracy and precision. It is usually the lowest point in a calibration curve under exclusion of a blind experiment.

Malnutrition - incorrect, unbalanced nutrition lacking in certain essential components.

Median - is the value of a set of values for which the cumulative frequency function is equal 0,5. Median = 50% quantile.

Metabolite - a product of metabolic reaction, as a part of the chemical processes that occur in living organism.

Metalloid - a non-metallic element, such as arsenic or silicon, that has some of the properties of a metal.

MH - limit value is an indicator of water quality, mostly the upper limit of the range of admissible values by the exceeding of which water loses its satisfactory quality as regards the indicator the value of which has been exceeded.

MHPR - limit value of reference risk is the value of quality indicator, usually of delayed toxic effects (carcinogen, mutagen) derived on the principle of non-threshold effect which induces one lethal case more in a population of 100 000 average consumers upon lifelong consumption.

Mortality rate - number of deceased persons per defined number of individuals:

NIPH - National Institute of Public Health.

NMH - maximal limit value is the value of a quality indicator the exceeding of which excludes the use of the water as drinking water.

Normative population minimum - a requirement for the continuous intake of substance E in the population which is essential for the retainment of tissue and/or other reserve of substance E (WHO, 1996).

Nutrient - substance serving as or providing nourishment, in this case namely chemical elements the presence of which in foodstuffs is important for ensuring a balanced diet.

Odds ratio (questionnaire on health status) - city with minimal incidence rate of evaluated phenomenon is defined as a reference level. Similarly, male population is a reference level for evaluation of genders.

Organoleptic quality - method of sensory assessment of drinking water, foodstuffs, etc. on a professional basis.

Photochemical reaction - type of reaction concerned with the chemical effects of light and other electromagnetic radiation.

PK - Control manual for provide of analytic quality BIOLMON.

PMTDI - provisional maximal tolerable daily intake. Exposure limit presented in micrograms of contaminant per day and per 1 kg of body mass.

PM10 - a fraction of particulate matter with mean value of size distribution equals 10 µm.

Prevalence - number of registrated cases, e.g. per 100 000 inhabitants to a defined date.

PTWI - provisional tolerable weekly intake. Exposure limit presented in micrograms of contaminant per week and per 1 kg of body mass.

Quantile (p - percent) - is that value of a set of values for which the cumulative frequency function equals p% (50% quantile = median).

RDA - recommended daily allowance. Recommended long-term average daily intake covering individual variability in requirements of the majority of normal subjects living in the USA under the usual environmental burden.

Revertant - bacteria, that through a back mutation have returned to a former genetic trait, e.g. histidine independence.

RfD - reference dose. Exposure limit defined by US EPA as a daily exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) expressed in micrograms of contaminant per unit of body weight. Meaning: daily exposure (estimated within the range of one order) which on lifelong exposure shall most likely cause no damage to health. It is defined by the share of the maximum dose (NOAEL) at which there is observed at a statistically significant level no unfavorable response in comparison with a control group and by the product of a modifying factor (MF) and factor of uncertainty (UF): RfD = NOAEL/(UF*MF).

Risk - the probability of injury, disease, or death under specific circumstances. In quantitative terms, risk is expressed in values ranging from zero (representing the certainty that harm will not occur) to one (representing the certainty that harm will occur). Individual risk is the probability that an individual person will experience an adverse effect. This is identical to population risk unless specified. The numeric values are identical in both cases, but as a fictitious level of “safety” we consider the value of probability equals 1.0E-04 for individual and 1.0E-06 for population.

SOP - Standard operation procedure in QA/QC system.

Standardized incidence ratio - the ratio of the incidence number of cases of a specified condition in the study population to the incidence number that would be expected if the study population had the same incidence rate as a standard or other population for which the incidence rate is known. This ratio is usually expressed as a percentage.

Standardized mortality - coefficient that determines the mean probability of death in a population of the so-called European standard, i.e. in a population defined by its age structure. This standardization allows the comparison of various populations and various time periods respectively.

System QA/QC - all the planned and systematic activities realized within the framework of the system of quality and applied according to need, necessary to gain adequate confidence that the requirement for quality shall be met. Operation methods and activities used to fill the requirement for quality.

TCDD - 2,3,7,8 - tetrachlorodibenzo(p)dioxine, substance with maximal known toxic effect, used as the standard of toxicity (toxic equivalent) for PCB, dioxins and dibenzofurans.

TDI - tolerable daily intake. It is presented in micrograms of contaminant per day and per 1 kg of body mass.

Toxic equivalent (I-TEQ) - method facilitating a mutual comparison of substances belonging to the same chemical group eliciting various toxic effects and to present them at a comparable level in relation to the most toxic one of the group (e.g. benzo(a)pyrene and TCDD in this report).

TSP - total suspended particles.

US EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency.

ÚZIS - Institute of Health Care Information and Statistics.

WHO - World Health Organization.

Xenobiotics - extraneous substances for organism. They are not inevitable for its metabolism and they are not customary component of foodstuffs, e.g. drugs, industrial chemicals and poisons.

Zoonoses - group of diseases in which on the one hand transmission takes place through intravital (primary) contamination of foodstuffs where meat, eggs or milk come from a diseased animal and contain the infective agent or on the other hand secondarily by contaminated hands, environment, insects, rodents, etc. Herein belong e.g. salmonellosis, listeriosis, yersiniosis, toxoplasmosis, and tularemia.


Main page

CONTENTS