Environmental Health and Protection Commons^™

Pan-Baltic Stakeholders’ Dialogue On Msp : Synthesis Report From Partiseapate Single-Sector Workshops Held In 2013, Anda Ruskele, Ilze Kalvane, Kristina Veidemane, Joanna Przedrzymirska, Angela Schultz-Zehden, Daniel Depellegrin, Nerijus BlažAuskas, Peter Askman, Henrik Nilsson, Jonas Pålsson, Bettina Käppeler, ElīNa Veidemane

Jonas Pålsson

For a sustainable and integrated planning of the sea space across the Baltic Sea region, planners and stakeholders have to be engaged in holistic, pan-Baltic thinking where the whole Baltic Sea is considered as one ecosystem and one planning space. However MSP related experiences so far shows that interests are often expressed from one sector or one national or regional perspective only. There is a lack of information exchange between the different maritime sectors as well MSP support structures (i.e. data providers and researchers) and spatial planners. And at the same time there is insufficient communication within the sectors at …

Pan-Baltic Stakeholders’ Dialogue On Msp : Synthesis Report From Partiseapate Single-Sector Workshops Held In 2013, Anda Ruskele, Ilze Kalvane, Kristina Veidemane, Joanna Przedrzymirska, Angela Schultz-Zehden, Daniel Depellegrin, Nerijus BlažAuskas, Peter Askman, Henrik Nilsson, Jonas Pålsson, Bettina Käppeler, ElīNa Veidemane

Jonas Pålsson

For a sustainable and integrated planning of the sea space across the Baltic Sea region, planners and stakeholders have to be engaged in holistic, pan-Baltic thinking where the whole Baltic Sea is considered as one ecosystem and one planning space. However MSP related experiences so far shows that interests are often expressed from one sector or one national or regional perspective only. There is a lack of information exchange between the different maritime sectors as well MSP support structures (i.e. data providers and researchers) and spatial planners. And at the same time there is insufficient communication within the sectors at …

Ambient Air Concentrations Exceeded Health Based Standards For Fine Particulate Matter And Benzene During The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Earthea Nance, Denae King, Beverly Wright, Robert D. Bullard

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

Deadly Waiting Game: An Environmental Justice Framework For Examining Natural And Man-Made Disasters Beyond Hurricane Katrina [Abstract], Robert D. Bullard

Robert D Bullard

Presenter: Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Clark Atlanta University 1 page.

The Impacts Of Climate Change Mitigation Strategies On Animal Welfare, Sara Shields, Geoffrey Orme-Evans

Sara Shields, PhD

The objective of this review is to point out that the global dialog on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in animal agriculture has, thus far, not adequately considered animal welfare in proposed climate change mitigation strategies. Many suggested approaches for reducing emissions, most of which could generally be described as calls for the intensification of production, can have substantial effects on the animals. Given the growing world-wide awareness and concern for animal welfare, many of these approaches are not socially sustainable. This review identifies the main emission abatement strategies in the climate change literature that would negatively affect animal welfare and …

Attitudes And Perspectives Of Front-Line Workers In Environmental Policy: A Case Study Of Ohio Epa And Wisconsin Dnr, Sara Rinfret, Michelle Pautz

Michelle Pautz

This research is an effort to focus on frontline regulators with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. An online survey was conducted of frontline regulators in these agencies to explore their knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives on policy implementation. More specifically, we endeavor to answer how frontline workers implement environmental policy. To analyze these data, we use two categorizations of factors (knowledge and attitudes, and contextual factors) offered by May and Winter (2009) to examine what influences the decision making of frontline regulators in their regulatory interactions. We find that despite common presumptions of adversarialism in …

Video Feature — Banned Books And The Stuart Rose Collection, Robert Brecha, Una Cadegan, John Inglis, Paul Morman

Robert J. Brecha

A faculty panel discussion in two sessions:

Session 1:
The Index: Una Cadegan (history) looks at the current scholarship on the Index of Forbidden Books.
Galileo: Robert Brecha (physics) highlights the banning of Galileo and observational science.

Session 2:
Thomas Aquinas: John Inglis (philosophy) speaks on the banning of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica, the most important book in Catholic intellectual tradition.
Descartes and the Index of Forbidden Books: Paul Morman (history, Distinguished Service Professor) highlights the book by Descartes that he was not allowed to study while a student at UD in the 1960s.

An Evaluation Of The Us High Production Volume (Hpv) Chemical-Testing Programme: A Study In (Ir)Relevance, Redundancy And Retro Thinking, Andrew Nicholson, Jessica Sandler, Troy Seidle

Troy Seidle, PhD

Under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Programme, chemical companies have volunteered to conduct screening-level toxicity tests on approximately 2800 widely-used industrial chemicals. Participating companies are committed to providing available toxicity information to the EPA and presenting testing proposals for review by the EPA and posting on the EPA Web site as public information. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a coalition of animal protection organisations have reviewed all the test plans submitted by the participating chemical companies for compliance with the original HPV framework, as well as with animal welfare guidelines …

A Modular One-Generation Reproduction Study As A Flexible Testing System For Regulatory Safety Assessment, Richard Vogel, Troy Seidle, Horst Spielmann

Troy Seidle, PhD

The European Union’s Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation mandates testing and evaluation of approximately 30,000 existing substances within a short period of time, beginning with the most widely used “high production volume” (HPV) chemicals. REACH testing requirements for the roughly 3000 HPV chemicals specify three separate tests for reproductive toxicity: two developmental toxicity studies on different animal species (OECD Test Guideline 414) and a two-generation reproduction toxicity study (OECD TG 416). These studies are highly costly in both economic and animal welfare terms. OECD TG 416 is a fertility study intended to evaluate reproductive performance of animals …

Cetaceans And Marine Debris: The Great Unknown, Mark Peter Simmonds

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

Plastics and other marine debris have been found in the gastrointestinal tracts of cetaceans, including instances where large quantities of material have been found that are likely to cause impairment to digestive processes and other examples, where other morbidity and even death have resulted. In some instances, debris may have been ingested as a result of the stranding process and, in others, it may have been ingested when feeding. Those species that are suction or “ram” feeders may be most at risk. There is also evidence of entanglement of cetaceans in marine debris. However, it is usually difficult to distinguish …

Transportation Safety And Access: A Case Study Of The St. Claude Bridge In New Orleans, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

The community-university collaborative model, first developed in early-1990s public health research, expands opportunities for new research partnerships and joint problem-solving. This model is ideally suited to land-grant colleges and urban research universities whose mission involves community engagement. At the University of New Orleans, this model is employed in “practicum” graduate courses offered in the Department of Planning and Urban Studies. One such practicum partnered with the Lower 9th Ward community in spring 2012 to address serious safety problems with the St. Claude Bridge. The bridge, which linked the lower and upper halves of the community and served as an essential …

The Public Health Impacts Of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations On Local Communities, Michael Greger, Gowri Koneswaran

Michael Greger, MD, FACLM

Large-scale farm animal production facilities, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), release a significant amount of contaminants into the air and water. Adverse health effects related to exposure to these contaminants among CAFO workers have been welldocumented; however, less is known about their impact on the health of residents in nearby communities. Epidemiological research in this area suggests that neighboring residents are at increased risk of developing neurobehavioral symptoms and respiratory illnesses, including asthma. Additional research is needed to better understand community-scale exposures and health outcomes related to the management practices and emissions of CAFOs.

An Evaluation Of Mercury Concentrations In Three Brands Of Canned Tuna, Shawn Gerstenberger, Adam Martinson, Joanna Kramer

Shawn Gerstenberger

There is widespread concern over the presence of Hg in fish consumed by humans. While studies have been focused on determining the Hg concentration in sport fish and some commercial fish, little attention has been directed to canned tuna; it is widely held that concentrations are low. In the present study, the amount of Hg present in canned tuna purchased in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, was examined, and the brand, temporal variation, type, and packaging medium impacts on Hg concentrations in tuna were explored. A significant (p < 0.001) brand difference was noted: Brand 3 contained higher Hg concentrations ($\bar x$ …

Paradoxes Of Democratisation: Environmental Politics In East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

This chapter examines environmental politics in four polities that run the full spectrum of political regimes: mainland China (authoritarian), South Korea and Taiwan (newly democratic), and Japan (mature democracy). The chapter argues that variation in environmental politics in each place resulted primarily from the timing of their environmental movements, with subsequent movements learning from predecessors and gaining increasing access to global NGO networks. Paradoxically, when environmental movements became linked to democratization movements (in South Korea and Taiwan), they also became linked to political parties, which hindered access to government policymaking when non-allied parties were in power.

Towards Respecting Indigenous Rights In Development Policy: The Case Of A Community-Based Forest Management Project In Panama, Benjamin Goodman

Benjamin Goodman

As Latin American countries reach new heights of development, perched on the shoulders of an increasingly globalized economy, their local indigenous communities continue to be the most marginalized and impoverished people in the world. Sustainable development initiatives present themselves as a way to contribute to global economic development, while at the same time, respecting the livelihoods of rural peoples and preserving natural resources for future generations. However, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources continues to threaten the livelihoods and identities of many rural indigenous communities. As the economic, legal and political marginalization of indigenous peoples persists, the inevitable result of these …

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention To Promote Sustainable And Healthy Eating In College Students, Kelleigh E. Eastman

Geoffrey Greene

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention to Promote Sustainable and Healthy Eating in College Students Kelleigh Eastman Sponsor: Geoffrey Greene, Nutrition and Dietetics A topic of interest that is growing in the general population is the idea of being sustainable, or “green”, and there is a rising awareness in sustainable practices involving food and the environment. Some of the “green” eating behaviors identified through my research included eating a plant-based (i.e. vegetarian or semi-vegetarian) diet, eating locally grown foods, eating organically grown foods, and eating foods that are labeled fair-trade. Frequently, these “green” eating behaviors are healthful eating behaviors …

The Reclamation Of Boston Harbor: A Scientist's Perspective, Gordon T. Wallace Jr.

Gordon Wallace

A major effort, costing in the neighborhood of $2 billion, is under way to restore the environmental quality of Boston Harbor. While Boston Harbor is unquestionably one of the most polluted urban estuaries in the world, it is also one of the least understood with respect to the basic physics, chemistry, and biology involved. This information is essential for the purpose of identifying processes that control the transport, effect, and fate of contaminants entering the estuary. Failure to obtain this information may lead to continued inappropriate and unnecessarily expensive solutions to a complex environmental problem. An effective solution will require …

Recommendations For Integrating Environmental Justice Into The Epa's Research Enterprise

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

Dealing With The Uncertainties Of Climate Engineering: Warnings From A Psychological Complex Problem Solving Perspective, Dorothee Amelung, Joachim Funke

Joachim Funke

Geography Of Waste As A New Approach In Waste Management Study,, Florin C. Mihai

Florin C MIHAI

Municipal waste management in the last two decades has become a global environmental priority in the context of increasing amounts of waste generated due to the development of a mass consumer society. Various issues of waste management , territorial and temporal variability, spatial analysis of treatment or disposal facilities, systemic implications on the environment, the harmonization of international policy at national, regional and local level are solid arguments for studying this field by geography. Mostly technical or economic studies, lacking a vision of territory are supplemented in the conceptual and methodological level by geographers. This paper performed on the one …

The Usage Of Natural Fertilizers - A Practice That Favors The Ecological Agriculture Development In Romania, Andreea Ghiurcă, Andreea Lămășanu, Florin C. Mihai

Florin C MIHAI

Natural fertilizers were used in agriculture since ancient times and are still the best method of soil fertilization. Traditional agriculture, practiced in rural areas of Romania, contributes to the maintenance of soils fertilization ecological practices. Our research shows the evolution of the quantity of natural fertilizers used in the past 20 years at the national level and at the level of NeamŃ County captures the evolution over the seven years of natural fertilizers areas. In the analyzed period, the quantity of natural fertilizers on agricultural land is growing, but fertilized land record low values, showing that it has increased the …

High Speed Flight At Low Altitude: Hazard To Commercial Aviation ?, Paul F. Eschenfelder , Capt.

Paul F. Eschenfelder

Commercial aircraft are capable of, and in fact, do, operate at high speed (>250 knots indicated airspeed [KIAS]) at low altitude (below 10,000’ above ground level) worldwide. Design, construction and certification standards for these aircraft were developed over 40 years ago. Since the development of these standards populations of large flocking birds have increased dramatically in many parts of the world. Yet neither design/construction standards nor operational practice have changed to reflect the new threat. Subsequent serious damage resulting from recent collisions indicates change is necessary. Since 2003, flight rules in Canada and the United States have been amended, …

Integrating Avian Radar Into The Aviation Operating Environment, Richard Sowden, Paul Eschenfelder

Paul F. Eschenfelder

Avian radar technology has matured to the point where robust data and analysis tools are now able to provide the aviation industry with high quality information to support bird strike risk mitigation activities. The aviation operating environment is dynamic and challenging with complex interactions between the primary bird strike risk mitigation stakeholders; airport operators, air traffic service providers and flight crews. The transfer of this proof of concept technology into a suite of tools that is integrated into the aviation industry requires the engagement and support of the user community in the next critical evolutionary step of this emerging technology. …