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At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

A case study of tire crumb use on playgrounds: risk analysis and communication when major clinical knowledge gaps exist.

Physicians and public health professionals working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) received several telephone calls requesting information regarding the safety of recycled tire crumb as a playground surface constituent placed below children's play structures. There were no reported symptoms or adverse health effects in exposed children. The literature available on the safety and risk of exposure to crumb rubber constituents was limited and revealed no information quantifying exposures associated with product use. Callers were informed by the PEHSU that no evidence existed suggesting harm from intended use of the product, but gaps in knowledge about the product were identified and communicated. Here the case of crumb rubber on playgrounds is used as a model to present an approach to similar environmental medicine questions. From defining the question, to surveying traditional and nontraditional resources for information, synthesis of findings, and risk communication, the case provides a model to approach similar questions.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Advances in EPA's indirect exposure modeling methodology.

The Environmental Protection Agency's National Center for Environmental Assessment is currently revising and updating its approach to modeling the health risks from indirect exposure to combustor emissions. The updated method is intended to provide the necessary tools for estimating these health risks and to provide the necessary algorithms for the calculation of contaminant concentrations in water bodies, soil, and the terrestrial and aquatic food chains resulting from the deposition and transfer of atmospheric pollutants. Significant additions to the approach include the expansion of the application of exposure methods at a site, the description of procedures for defining the study population at a site, and ways to develop distributions of individual risk for members of the study population. This paper focuses on the changes in the human exposure scenarios of the update method and presents an overview of the development of an exposure scenario.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2000

A review of organotin regulatory strategies, pending actions, related costs and benefits.

Achieving consensus on equitable and effective national and global regulation(s) for the use of organotins as biocides in antifouling boat bottom paints has proven to be very complex and difficult for a variety of reasons as discussed in this paper. There appears to be broad agreement among stakeholders about the effectiveness of tributyltin (TBT) in antifouling paints. A draft Assembly Resolution prepared by the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to propose a global ban on the use of organotins in antifouling paints was approved by the IMO at its 21st regular session (November 1999). In approving the Resolution, the Assembly agreed that a legally binding instrument (global convention--an international treaty) be developed by the Marine Environmental Protection Committee that should ensure by 1 January 2003, a ban on the application of tributyltin (TBT)-based antifouling paints; and 1 January 2008 as the last date for having TBT-based antifouling paint on a vessel. The Assembly also agreed that a diplomatic conference be held in 2001 to consider adoption of the international legal instrument. Monitoring, policing, enforcement, fines and record-keeping are yet to be defined. In addition, the MEPC has also proposed that IMO promotes the use of environmentally-safe anti-fouling technologies to replace TBT. Existing national regulations in the US and Europe have: (1) restricted the use of TBT in antifouling boat bottom paints by vessel size (less than 25 m in length), thus eliminating TBT from the smaller and recreational vessels that exist in shallow coastal waters where the impacted oysters species grow; (2) restricted the release rates of TBT from co-polymer paints; and (3) eliminated the use of free TBT in paints. The present movement toward a global ban suggests that the above regulatory approach has not been sufficient in some countries. Advocates of the ban cite international findings of: (1) higher levels of TBT in surface waters of ports and open waters; (2) imposex still occurring and affecting a larger number of snail species; (3) TBT bioaccumulation in selected fisheries; and (4) the availability of 'comparable' alternatives (to TBT) with less environmental impact. The global ban has been absent of a policy debate on the: (1) lack of 'acceptable and approved' alternatives in many nations; (2) appreciation of market forces in nations without TBT regulations; (3) full consideration of the economic benefits from the use of TBT; (4) 'acceptance' of environmental impacts in marinas, ports and harbors; and (5) realization of the 'real' time period required by ships for antifoulant protection (is 5-7 years necessary or desirable?). Estimates of fuel savings range from $500 million to one billion. In assessing the environmental impact from TBT, there are two sources: the shipyard painting vessels and the painted vessel itself. Today vessels can be painted with regulated or banned antifouling materials by boatyards in a country that does not have TBT regulations and subsequently travel in international and regulated national waters and thus bringing the impact back to the country which was trying to prevent it. Worse, local and national regulations for TBT have proven to be the antithesis of the popular environmental cliché--'Think Globally and Act Locally.' Legislative policies enacted by 'regulated' countries to regulate the use of TBT to protect (their) local marine resources have subsequently had far reaching environmental and economic impacts which have in essence transferred TBT contamination to those countries least able to deal with it. Market forces are selective for cheap labor and cheap environments. 'Unregulated' countries have unknowingly accepted the environmental and human health risks to gain the economic benefits from painting TBT on ships. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2006

Health and environmental threats associated with the destruction of chemical weapons.

Still existing arsenals of chemical weapons (CW) pose not only security threats for possible use in hostilities by state actors or misuse by terrorists but also safety threats to humans and biota due to leakages and possible accidents. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) commits the States Parties (SPs) to destroy CW using technologies taking into consideration human health and environmental protection. It does not allow methods, routinely used up to the 1970s, such as earth burial, open-pit burning, and sea dumping. Long-term health and environmental threats and some accidents that have already occurred in the known localities of the sea-dumped and earth-buried arsenals of Nazi-German armed forces in the Baltic Region and of Imperial Japanese forces in the Far East Region are analyzed according to the impact of major CW and ammunition types (i.e., sulfur mustard--HD, tabun--GA, arsenicals--DA, DC, DM, arsine oil, and chloroacetophenone--CN). Any possible operations and handling with CW envisaged by the CWC as well as their verification are summarized taking into account the health threat they pose. CW and toxic armament waste to be destroyed and applied technologies (both developed and under current use in operational CW destruction facilities [CWDF]) are reviewed as are systems of health safety and environmental protection of the destruction/demilitarization stems from the extraordinary high toxicity of supertoxic lethal agents in man and biota. Problems of currently used Russian and U.S. standards for maximum allowable workplace concentrations and general population limits and possibilities of their determination by available analytical instrumentation are discussed.

Chemical Warfare↗
PubMed2005

Improved light extinction reconstruction in interagency monitoring of protected visual environments.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Regional Haze Rule (RHR) in 1999. The RHR default goal is to reduce haze linearly from the baseline period of 2000 through 2004 to natural background in 2064. EPA-recommended method for estimating baseline and natural haze uses the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) light extinction formula. The IMPROVE formula predicts light extinction from measured aerosol chemical concentrations and estimates of the relative humidity multiplier. On average, the IMPROVE formula overpredicts 6156 nephelometer days (24-hr average measured particle light scattering, bsp) of data by 25%. A new IMPROVED method that reconstructs light extinction using a concentration power law model overpredicts these nephelometer days of data by just 2%. Ignoring the 20% lowest light scattering days, this new IMPROVED formula has a 3% underprediction bias over the 4925 highest nephelometer days with light scattering > or =8 inverse megameters. For comparison, the IMPROVE formula has a 12% overprediction bias for the same days. The IMPROVE formula overprediction averages 77%, 27%, 17%, 9%, and -5% broken down by quintile from lowest to highest nephelometer measured light scattering days. The new IMPROVED formula average overprediction is 21%, -5%, -5%, -2%, and 0%. So, agreement between measured and predicted light scattering improves by modifying the current IMPROVE light extinction formula.

Air↗
PubMed2004

Lead in residential soil and dust in a mining and smelting district in northern Armenia: a pilot study.

This pilot study of sources of lead exposure in residential settings was conducted in a mining and smelting district in northern Armenia. Samples of exterior soil and dust and interior house dust were collected in and around apartment buildings in Alaverdi where the country's largest polymetallic smelter is located, and in nearby mining towns of Aghtala and Shamlugh. The NITON XL-723 Multi-Element XRF analyzer was used for lead testing. Lead levels in samples from Alaverdi were higher than those in Shamlugh and Aghtala. In all three towns, the highest lead levels were found in loose exterior dust samples, and lead concentrations in yard soil were higher than those in garden soil. Many soil samples (34%) and the majority of loose dust samples (77%) in Alaverdi exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency standard of 400 mg/kg for bare soil in children's play areas. In addition, 36% of floor dust samples from apartments in Alaverdi exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency standard of 40 microg/ft(2) for lead loading in residential floor dust. The Armenian Ministry of Health and other interested agencies are being informed about the findings of the study so that they can consider and develop educational and preventive programs including blood lead screening among sensitive populations.

Armenia↗
PubMed1995

Air toxics and asthma: impacts and end points.

The National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) hosted a medical/scientific workshop focused on possible asthma/air toxics relationships, with the results of the NUATRC's first research contract with the University of Cincinnati as the point of discussion. The workshop was held at the Texas Medical Center on 4 February 1994 and featured presentations by distinguished academic, government, and industry scientists. This one-day session explored the impact of various environmental factors, including air toxics, on asthma incidence and exacerbation; an emphasis was placed on future research directions to be pursued in the asthma/air toxics area. A key research presentation on the association of air toxics and asthma, based on the study sponsored by NUATRC, was given by Dr. George Leikauf of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Additional presentations were made by H. A. Boushey, Jr., Cardiovascular Research Institute/University of California at San Francisco, who spoke on of the Basic Mechanisms of Asthma; K. Sexton, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who spoke on hazardous air pollutants: science/policy interface; and D. V. Bates, Department of Health Care and Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia, who spoke on asthma epidemiology. H. Koren, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and M. Yeung, of the Respiratory Division/University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital, discussed occupational health impacts on asthma. Doyle Pendleton, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, reviewed air quality measurements in Texas. The information presented at the workshop suggested a possible association of asthma exacerbations with ozone and particulate matter (PM10); however, direct relationships between worsening asthma and air toxic ambient levels were not established. Possible respiratory health effects associated with air toxics will require considerably more investigation, especially in the area of human exposure assessment. Two major recommendations for future research resulted from this workshop and an accompanying NUATRC Scientific Advisory Panel meeting: a need for more complete individual personal exposure assessments so that accurate determinations of actual personal exposures to various pollutants can be made; and a need for field experiments utilizing biomarkers of exposure and effect to more accurately assess the extent and variability of the biological effects, if any, of individual air toxics.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2001

Environmental management of quarries as waste disposal facilities.

Problems associated with the disposal of municipal solid waste have become a source of public concern worldwide as awareness of potential adverse environmental impacts and health threats from solid waste has increased. Communities are concerned about the generation and management of solid waste to the extent of refusing to allow new disposal facilities near their homes, often after witnessing the legacy of existing facilities. Under these conditions, the development of national policies for the management of solid waste becomes highly political, all while requiring appropriate technical solutions that ensure environmental protection and proper management plans that support an acceptable solution for the disposal of municipal solid waste. In some locations, the conversion of old quarries into well-engineered and controlled landfills appears as a promising solution to a continuously increasing problem, at least for many decades to come. This paper describes the environmental impacts associated with solid waste disposal in a converted quarry site and the mitigation measures that can be adopted to alleviate potential adverse impacts. Environmental management and monitoring plans are also discussed in the context of ensuring adequate environmental protection during and after the conversion process.

Environment↗
PubMed1999

An examination of the educational needs for environmental health and protection.

The practice of environmental health and protection is at a crossroads. Expanded responsibilities throughout this nation's agencies, prescriptive statutory mandates, and shrunken resources for fundamental public health services have combined to change the infrastructure and the workforce. This article presents the results of the Crossroads Colloquium, a forum of leaders in environmental health, convened to address the educational needs of the workforce. Major recommendations from the Crossroads Colloquium include redefining training by moving from discipline-specific to multidisciplinary training, developing collaborations among agencies, academia, and industry for training and education, and providing opportunities ranging from distance education to graduate degree programs.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2002

Communication strategy of transboundary air pollution findings in a US-Mexico Border XXI program project.

From 1996 to 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) conducted an air quality study known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Transboundary Air Pollution Project (TAPP). The study was a US-Mexico Border XXI program project and was developed in response to local community requests on a need for more air quality measurements and concerns about the health impact of local air pollutants; this included concerns about emissions from border-dependent industries in Mexico, known as maquiladoras. The TAPP was a follow-up study to environmental monitoring done by EPA in this area in 1993 and incorporated scientific and community participation in development, review of results, and public presentation of findings. In spite of this, critical remarks were leveled by community activists against the study's preliminary "good news" findings regarding local air quality and the influence of transboundary air pollution. To resolve these criticisms and to refine the findings to address these concerns, analyses included comparisons of daily and near real-time measurements to TNRCC effects screening levels and data from other studies along with wind sector analyses. Reassessment of the data suggested that although regional source emissions occurred and outliers of elevated pollutant levels were found, movement of air pollution across the border did not appear to cause noticeable deterioration of air quality. In spite of limitations stated to the community, the TAPP was presented as establishing a benchmark to assess current and future transboundary air quality in the Valley. The study has application in Border XXI Program or other air quality studies where transboundary transport is a concern since it involved interagency coordination, public involvement, and communication of scientifically sound results for local environmental protection efforts.

Air Movements↗
PubMed2000

The use of DCS and info systems in protection of environmental health.

New millennium will foster advances in different face of information age. The world is already prepared for global Large Seale Networking. Existing PC-Based DCS could be able to achieve higher intelligence, integrity, speed, memory capacity. Currently in this climate IT will develop and demonstrate revolutionary applications in basic science, medicine, environment protection, etc. The main goal of this paper is to show basic architecture and system software functionality at DCS. Totally specific principle and approach to system philosophy needs to be used for next generations at QC with HECC. DCS are helping and it will do in future to overcome limitations of traditional technology to make better environment. In same time IT allow to gain high speed access to scientific and medicine instruments, surgical and other therapeutic interventions and better organisation of primary health care what Bosnian people have to do! The people at Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to design move competitive education and training system.

Bosnia and Herzegovina↗
PubMed2001

Validation of a geographic information system for the evaluation of the soil radon exhalation potential in South-Tyrol and Veneto, Italy.

The PERS (soil radon exhalation potential) project was promoted by ANPA (Italian Environmental Protection Agency) together with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Rome: the aim was to produce a geographic information system allowing the discovery of regions with different radon exhalation potential starting from some territorial knowledge. Some environmental measurements were carried out within this project in selected areas in South-Tyrol and Veneto. The measurement of radon in springwater and groundwater as well as in soil gas plays a decisive role for the validation of the algorithm for computing the PERS. Along with technical aspects, a possible use of the PERS method by the Regional Environmental Protection Agencies and by other agencies is discussed with the scope of identifying radon prone areas, as stated in the Italian 'Decreto Legislativo' 26 May 2000, n. 241. Moreover the forecasting power of PERS regarding indoor radon concentration is analysed.

Geography↗
PubMed2003

New Jersey and MARSSIM: perfect together (well, almost).

In order to encourage the timely and efficient cleanup of sites contaminated with radioactive materials, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection revised its Sampling Procedures Manual to follow the MARSSIM (NRC 2000) methodology. This was done concurrently with the proposal and subsequent adoption of its Soil Remediation Standards for Radioactive Materials (New Jersey Administrative Code Title 7, Department of Environmental Protection, Chapter 28 Radiation Protection Programs, Subchapter 12, Soil Remediation Standards for Radioactive Materials).

Decontamination↗
PubMed1996

Jobs and the Environment: An Overview

This paper provides an overview of economic research on the relationship between environmental protection and employment. The paper addresses, first, the impact of existing regulation on overall employment rates, shutdowns and layoffs, and regulation-induced capital flight from developed countries. Second, the paper provides a framework for evaluating claims that, over the longer run, environmental protection measures will boost overall employment and provide the foundation for a robust, sustainable economy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Cleanup protocol for 226Ra-contaminated cobbly soil at UMTRA Project sites.

The nonuniform distribution of 226Ra and other radiological contamination of cobbly soil encountered on several Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project sites is presented and discussed, and the concomitant challenges to the intent and implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's soil cleanup standards are noted. In response to technical assessments and information presented to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently resolved the dilemma by concluding that compliance with Environmental Protection Agency soil cleanup standards for cobby soil at Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project sites would be adequately attained using bulk radionuclide concentrations, instead of requiring that the radionuclide concentration of the finer soil fraction passing a #4 mesh sieve met the standards. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved procedure developed for cobbly soil remediation is outlined and discussed. The site-specific implementation of this procedure at Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project sites containing cobbly soil is estimated to save millions of dollars.

Colorado↗
PubMed1994

The vegetation-to-air concentration ratio in a specific activity atmospheric tritium model.

Specific activity models are frequently used to estimate the concentration of tritium oxide in vegetation. In such models, a single value represents the ratio (R) of the specific activity of tritium oxide in vegetation to the specific activity of atmospheric tritium oxide. Federal agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have not established a consensus default for R. Literature on this topic suggests that a site-specific distribution of R should be developed when feasible. In this study, a distribution of R is established for the Savannah River Site. Environmental tritium concentrations in air and vegetation measured on and around the Savannah River Site over a 9-y period form the basis for the analysis. For dose assessments of chronic atmospheric tritium releases at the Savannah River Site, R is best parameterized by a normal distribution with a mean of 0.54 and one standard deviation of 0.10. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission default for R is approximately equal to the Savannah River Site site-specific estimate. Based on the results, the default value for R recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency overestimates tritium concentrations in vegetation and, therefore, doses from foodstuff consumption pathways at humid sites. For the Savannah River Site, the magnitude of the error is on the order of a factor of 2. This consideration may be important if an estimated dose approaches an as-low-as-reasonably-achievable or regulatory threshold. Conversely, without the benefit of site-specific data, ingestion doses may be underestimated in regions with dry climates.

Atmosphere↗
PubMed1983

[Technology of waste incineration].

Refuse incineration as one of the methods of controlled waste disposal was introduced as early as the last century. However, in Germany, comparable technologies have only seen moderate attempts up to the middle of this century. The increasing volume of refuse as a result of growing prosperity, as well as new laws for environmental protection made it necessary for the technology of refuse incineration to be restarted or developed further. The technical development of these methods was pushed on the basis of the following prerequisites: The incinerator plants must not give rise to new problems of environmental protection. The plants should operate continuously and ensure waste disposal as complete as possible in the long term. Wherever possible, the energy set free by the incineration process, should be utilized. As a rule, for the incineration of solid refuse modern plants use mechanically actuated grate systems of different design, which in part had been developed from known power-generating plant components. For the destruction of special refuse rotary drum furnaces are prevalently employed. In evaluating the entire system of refuse incineration the following 3 points are worthy of note: The energy produced by incineration is mainly used for the generation of electric current or heat for long-distance supply lines. However, other applications are also possible. For the purification of the exhaust gases originating from incineration, nowadays technical facilities are available for separating out solid substrances and noxious gases. The solid incineration residues can be recycled into the economic system after separation and processing. The state of the art of present refuse incinerators is comparable to that of conventional power generating plants operating on solid fossil fuels. Alternative waste disposal technologies still have to prove their ability to give a comparable performance.

Air Pollution↗