Biomedical subjects
S J T Pollard
Publications and source records attributed to S J T Pollard.
Recent developments in the application of risk analysis to waste technologies.
The European waste sector is undergoing a period of unprecedented change driven by business consolidation, new legislation and heightened public and government scrutiny. One feature is the transition of the sector towards a process industry with increased pre-treatment of wastes prior to the disposal of residues and the co-location of technologies at single sites, often also for resource recovery and residuals management. Waste technologies such as in-vessel composting, the thermal treatment of clinical waste, the stabilisation of hazardous wastes, biomass gasification, sludge combustion and the use of wastes as fuel, present operators and regulators with new challenges as to their safe and environmentally responsible operation. A second feature of recent change is an increased regulatory emphasis on public and ecosystem health and the need for assessments of risk to and from waste installations. Public confidence in waste management, secured in part through enforcement of the planning and permitting regimes and sound operational performance, is central to establishing the infrastructure of new waste technologies. Well-informed risk management plays a critical role. We discuss recent developments in risk analysis within the sector and the future needs of risk analysis that are required to respond to the new waste and resource management agenda.
Estimating fugitive bioaerosol releases from static compost windrows: feasibility of a portable wind tunnel approach.
An assessment of the fugitive release of bioaerosols from static compost piles was conducted at a green waste composting facility in South East England; this representing the initial stage of a programme of research into the influence of process parameters on bioaerosol emission flux. Wind tunnel experiments conducted on the surface of static windrows generated specific bioaerosol emission rates (SBER2s) at ground level of between 13 and 22 x 10(3) cfu/m2/s for mesophilic actinomycetes and between 8 and 11 x 10(3)cfu/m2/s for Aspergillus fumigatus. Air dispersion modelling of these emissions using the SCREEN3 air dispersion model in area source term mode was used to generate source depletion curves downwind of the facility for comparative purposes.
Integrating decision tools for the sustainable management of land contamination.
The approach to taking decisions on the management of land contamination has changed markedly over 30 years. Change has been rapid with policy makers and regulators, practitioners and researchers having to keep pace with new technologies, assessment criteria and diagnostic methods for their measurement, techniques for risk analysis and the frameworks that support decision-makers in their efforts to regenerate historically contaminated land. Having progressed from simple hazard assessment through to 'sustainability appraisal' we might now consider piecing together the experience of decision-making for managing land contamination. Here, we critically review recent developments with a view to considering how better decisions can be made by integrating the decision tools available. We are concerned with the practicality of approach and the issues that arise for practitioners as decision criteria are broadened.
Feasibility of biological aerated filters (BAFs) for treating landfill leachate.
Ammonia can be removed from landfill leachate using aerobic biological treatment processes. The biological aerated filter (BAF) combines biological treatment and subsequent biomass separation in one reactor providing a small footprint alternative to conventional systems. Leachate from an operational landfill was found to be aerobically treatable using the OECD recommended Modified Zahn-Wellens test. This leachate was used as feed to a pilot-scale BAF at influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammoniacal-nitrogen concentrations of 765 mg l(-1) and 568 mg l(-1) respectively. During an initial period of stable operation without pH control, 33 %w/w of influent ammonia was removed. The reactor pH was 9.2 with little conversion to total oxidized nitrogen (< 45 mg l(-1)), this removal was accounted for primarily by air stripping. In a second period of stable operation, the reactor pH was reduced to pH 7.2 and ammonia removal increased to 97 %w/w with a concomitant increase in effluent nitrite concentration to an average of 524 mg l(-1). Biological aerated filters (BAFs) can be used to nitrify landfill leachates though onward denitrification of nitrite-nitrogen and COD polishing is required to reach typical discharge consent standards.
Matrix effects in applying mono- and polyclonal ELISA systems to the analysis of weathered oils in contaminated soil.
Commercial mono- and polyclonal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems were applied to the on-site analysis of weathered hydrocarbon-contaminated soils at a former integrated steelworks. Comparisons were made between concentrations of solvent extractable matter (SEM) determined gravimetrically by Soxhlet (dichloromethane) extraction and those estimated immunologically by ELISA determination over a concentration range of 2000-330,000 mg SEM/kg soil dry weight. Both ELISA systems tinder-reported for the more weathered soil samples. Results suggest this is due to matrix effects in the sample rather than any inherent bias in the ELISA systems and it is concluded that, for weathered hydrocarbons typical of steelworks and coke production sites, the use of ELISA requires careful consideration as a field technique. Consideration of the target analyte relative to the composition of the hydrocarbon waste encountered appears critical.