ThomasBackhaus

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Are you kidding me…?!

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Sometimes it’s hard to decide on whether a piece of news that you stumble across is satire or for real. Like this one, which was published on Forbes’ website:

I’m not working in the US, but even from a European perspective… I don’t even know where to begin. Not sure what I like most: the “minimum travel demands” (I’ll be traveling to six countries in October), or the “cozy working conditions” or the “long breaks” that I’m supposed to have.

But looking at the comments that this piece of work sparked (564 and counting…), I’m not the only one who finds it ever so slightly lacking. Fortunately, there’s a later rebuttal also on Forbes’ website, which paints a far more realistic picture.

Thomas

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Follow-up to the recent symposium on pharmaceuticals in the environment by EUFEPS (in German)

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We have recently held a symposium entitled “Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment – Challenges in research and the need for societal action”, see here, in the context of a broader EUFEPS conference (EUFEPS is the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences). The German ”Pharmazeutische Zeitung” has now published a quite good summary of the issue (in German), flanked by an editorial.

Unfortunately, there is just one error in the text, to which I reacted in a letter to the editor (see here, in German). It concerns an erroneous statement in the article, indicating that pharmaceuticals are only tested for acute toxicity during the environmental assessment.

Obviously, this does not hold true. According to EMA guideline EMEA/CHMP/SWP/4447/00 human pharmaceuticals are tested (only) for chronic toxicity. The guideline clearly states that:

For the Tier A assessment approach, a standard long-term toxicity test set on fish, daphnia and algae is proposed […] Short-term testing is generally not applicable for human pharmaceuticals since continuous exposure of the aquatic environment via STP effluents is assumed

Thomas

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SETAC Glasgow coming up…

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…and here’s a nice overview of how things were in at the SETAC World Congress in Berlin in 2012:

I wonder whether the weather in Glasgow will be the same as in Berlin… 😉
Thomas

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New publication on mixtox assessment for the registration of new biocidal products

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Here’s a new one that has just been published in its final version:

Backhaus, T, Altenburger R, Faust M, Frein D, Frische T, Johansson P, Kehrer A, Porsbring T: Proposal for environmental mixture risk assessment in the context of the biocidal product authorization in the EU, Environmental Sciences Europe, 2013, 25:4, DOI: 10.1186/2190-4715-25-4

It’s Open Access, so can directly download the paper here: http://www.enveurope.com/content/25/1/4

Thomas

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A whole new level…

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Seen a videoclip lately that made you speechless? Here’s one:

Easily qualifies for the most embarrassing, sexist and condescending advertisement attempt that I’ve seen in a looong time. I guess one can conclude that the guys in Brussels have a slight communication problem – and a huge problem in their gender perception.

But let’s look on the bright side: they managed to make even the Catholic church look progressive…

Oh, and let’s look at how they describe their youtube-channel:

Seriously: they start the description of a youtube-channel aimed for making science interesting for young women with the sentence

Science is the basis for our make-up, fashion, music and so much more

and then later on continue with

‘Science it’s a girl thing!’ will challenge stereotypes around science

 

Well, they certainly have balls. One has to give them that…

Thomas

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