Seasonal variation in human reproduction: environmental factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bronson, F H

1995-06-01

Almost all human populations exhibit seasonal variation in births, owing mostly to seasonal variation in the frequency of conception. This review focuses on the degree to which environmental factors like nutrition, temperature and photoperiod contribute to these seasonal patterns by acting directly on the reproductive axis. The reproductive strategy of humans is basically that of the apes: Humans have the capacity to reproduce continuously, albeit slowly, unless inhibited by environmental influences. Two, and perhaps three, environmental factors probably act routinely as seasonal inhibitors in some human populations. First, it seems likely that ovulation is regulated seasonally in populations experiencing seasonal variation in food availability. More specifically, it seems likely that inadequate food intake or the increased energy expenditure required to obtain food, or both, can delay menarche, suppress the frequency of ovulation in the nonlactating adult, and prolong lactational amenorrhea in these populations on a seasonal basis. This action is most easily seen in tropical subsistence societies where food availability often varies greatly owing to seasonal variation in rainfall; hence births in these populations often correlate with rainfall. Second, it seems likely that seasonally high temperatures suppress spermatogenesis enough to influence the incidence of fertilization in hotter latitudes, but possibly only in males wearing clothing that diminishes scrotal cooling. Since most of our knowledge about this phenomenon comes from temperate latitudes, the sensitivity of spermatogenesis in both human and nonhuman primates to heat in the tropics needs further study. It is quite possible that high temperatures suppress ovulation and early embryo survival seasonally in some of these same populations. Since we know less than desired about the effect of heat stress on ovulation and early pregnancy in nonhuman mammals, and nothing at all about it in humans or any of the

Identifying environmental safety and health requirements for an Environmental Restoration Management Contractor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckman, W.H.; Cossel, S.C.; Alhadeff, N.; Lindamood, S.B.; Beers, J.A.

1993-10-01

The purpose of the Standards/Requirements Identification Program, developed partially in response to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-2, was to identify applicable requirements that established the Environmental Restoration Management Contractor's (ERMC) responsibilities and authorities under the Environmental Restoration Management Contract, determine the adequacy of these requirements, ascertain a baseline level of compliance with them, and implement a maintenance program that would keep the program current as requirements or compliance levels change. The resultant Standards/Requirements Identification Documents (S/RIDs) consolidate the applicable requirements. These documents govern the development of procedures and manuals to ensure compliance with the requirements. Twenty-four such documents, corresponding with each functional area identified at the site, are to be issued. These requirements are included in the contractor's management plan

Environmental restoration remedial action quality assurance requirements document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cote, R.F.

1991-01-01

The environmental Restoration Remedial Action Quality Assurance Requirements Document (DOE/RL 90-28) defines the quality assurance program requirements for the US Department of Energy-Richland Field Office Environmental Restoration Remedial Action Program at the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington. This paper describes the objectives outlined in DOE/RL 90-28. The Environmental Restoration Remedial Action Program implements significant commitments made by the US Department of Energy in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order entered into with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency

Human Rights and the Environmental Protection: The Naïveté in Environmental Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Made Adhitya Anggriawan Wisadha

2018-05-01

Full Text Available There are growing trends in the human rights to substantially extend the values to protect the environment or moreover to welcome the ideas of the rights to environment, not to mention the rights of environment. The purpose is to inclusively embrace the environmental problems wherein the humanity challenges posited on, but this agenda may leave a room of doubt how far the human rights body can address the environmental destruction as it needs the interplay of culture and environmental ethics to promoting such concepts. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the justification of how human rights in the environmental protection in the contemporary discourse are bringing to light, as many current cases attempt to linkage the environmental approach to the human rights instrument, such as the rights to life, healthy environment, and intergenerational equity. To analyse further, the theoretical framework in this paper will be explicated by environmental culture paradigm which illustrates the egalitarian concept between human and environment to elicit the clear thoughts of how human rights is naïve to protect the environment. This article will firstly depict the human rights and the environmental protection discourse and then, explore the naïveté narratives of environmental culture about the ecological crisis roots that are fundamentally anthropogenic, as to reflect the ground realities how this nexus will play out. Finally, this paper found the moral justification per se relies on the effort of elaborating the human prudence in their relationship with nature, albeit bringing the naïveté.

Environmental Restoration Remedial Action quality assurance requirements document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

This document defines the quality assurance requirements for the US Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program at the Hanford Site. The Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program implements significant commitments made by the US Department of Energy in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order entered into with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This document combines quality assurance requirements from various source documents into one set of requirements for use by the US Department of Energy-Richland Operations Office and other Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program participants. This document will serve as the basis for developing Quality Assurance Program Plans and implementing procedures by the participants. The requirements of this document will be applied to activities affecting quality, using a graded approach based on the importance of the item, service, or activity to the program objectives. The Quality Assurance Program that will be established using this document as the basis, together with other program and technical documents, form an integrated management control system for conducting the Environmental Restoration Remedial Action program activities in a manner that provides safety and protects the environment and public health

Estimation methods of eco-environmental water requirements: Case study

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YANG Zhifeng; CUI Baoshan; LIU Jingling

2005-01-01

Supplying water to the ecological environment with certain quantity and quality is significant for the protection of diversity and the realization of sustainable development. The conception and connotation of eco-environmental water requirements, including the definition of the conception, the composition and characteristics of eco-environmental water requirements, are evaluated in this paper. The classification and estimation methods of eco-environmental water requirements are then proposed. On the basis of the study on the Huang-Huai-Hai Area, the present water use, the minimum and suitable water requirement are estimated and the corresponding water shortage is also calculated. According to the interrelated programs, the eco-environmental water requirements in the coming years (2010, 2030, 2050) are estimated. The result indicates that the minimum and suitable eco-environmental water requirements fluctuate with the differences of function setting and the referential standard of water resources, and so as the water shortage. Moreover, the study indicates that the minimum eco-environmental water requirement of the study area ranges from 2.84×1010m3 to 1.02×1011m3, the suitable water requirement ranges from 6.45×1010m3 to 1.78×1011m3, the water shortage ranges from 9.1×109m3 to 2.16×1010m3 under the minimum water requirement, and it is from 3.07×1010m3 to 7.53×1010m3 under the suitable water requirement. According to the different values of the water shortage, the water priority can be allocated. The ranges of the eco-environmental water requirements in the three coming years (2010, 2030, 2050) are 4.49×1010m3-1.73×1011m3, 5.99×10m3?2.09×1011m3, and 7.44×1010m3-2.52×1011m3, respectively.

10 CFR 51.94 - Requirement to consider final environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requirement to consider final environmental impact...-Regulations Implementing Section 102(2) Final Environmental Impact Statements-General Requirements § 51.94 Requirement to consider final environmental impact statement. The final environmental impact statement...

Identifying environmental safety and health requirements for the Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckman, W.H.; Cossel, S.C.; Alhadeff, N.; Lindamood, S.B.; Beers, J.A.

1994-01-01

This presentation will describe the Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corporation's (FERMCO) Standards/Requirements Identification Documents (S/RlDs) Program, the unique process used to implement it, and the status of the program. We will also discuss the lessons learned as the program was implemented. The Department of Energy (DOE) established the Fernald site to produce uranium metals for the nation's defense programs in 1953. In 1989, DOE suspended production and, in 1991, the mission of the site was formally changed to one of environmental cleanup and restoration. The site was renamed the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP). FERMCO's mission is to provide safe, early, and least-cost final clean-up of the site in compliance with all regulations and commitments. DOE has managed nuclear facilities primarily through its oversight of Management and Operating contractors. Comprehensive nuclear industry standards were absent when most DOE sites were first established, Management and Operating contractors had to apply existing non-nuclear industry standards and, in many cases, formulate new technical standards. Because it was satisfied with the operation of its facilities, DOE did not incorporate modern practices and standards as they became available. In March 1990, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board issued Recommendation 90-2, which called for DOE to identify relevant standards and requirements, conduct adequacy assessments of requirements in protecting environmental, public, and worker health and safety, and determine the extent to which the requirements are being implemented. The Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Office of DOE embraced the recommendation for facilities under its control. Strict accountability requirements made it essential that FERMCO and DOE clearly identify applicable requirements necessary, determine the requirements' adequacy, and assess FERMCO's level of compliance

Environmental requirements for oil and gas operations in Saskatchewan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nystuen, L.J.

1997-01-01

The administration and regulation of environmental issues regarding the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan were discussed. The political and cultural differences in Saskatchewan that make environmental processes distinct from its neighbouring jurisdictions were described. The following Saskatchewan legislation deals with environmental requirements: Environmental Management and Protection Act, Environmental Assessment Act, Oil and Gas Conservation Act, Wildlife Habitat Protection Act, Clean Air Act, Planning and Development Act, Forest Act, Water Corporation Act, Heritage Property Act, and Parks Act. The Saskatchewan Department of Energy and Mines (SEM) is the primary regulator of the upstream oil and gas industry. It regulates the construction, operation, reporting and abandonment requirements for oilfield operations. SEM also manages crude oil prior to refining and manages the wastes contaminated with crude oil. Provisions of the relevant Acts regarding drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, flaring requirements, transporting and disposing of oilfield wastes, road-building, operating restrictions, emergency response plans, spill clean-up responsibilities, well abandonment and site reclamation responsibilities were discussed. 8 refs., 2 tabs

Air humidity requirements for human comfort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toftum, Jørn; Fanger, Povl Ole

1999-01-01

level near 100% rh. For respiratory comfort are the requirements much more stringent and results in lower permissible indoor air humidities. Compared with the upper humidity limit specified in existing thermal comfort standards, e.g. ASHRAE Addendum 55a, the humidity limit based on skin humidity......Upper humidity limits for the comfort zone determined from two recently presented models for predicting discomfort due to skin humidity and insufficient respiratory cooling are proposed. The proposed limits are compared with the maximum permissible humidity level prescribed in existing standards...... for the thermal indoor environment. The skin humidity model predicts discomfort as a function of the relative humidity of the skin, which is determined by existing models for human heat and moisture transfer based on environmental parameters, clothing characteristics and activity level. The respiratory model...

NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health

Science.gov (United States)

Holubec, Keith; Connolly, Janis

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the history, and development of NASA-STD-3001, NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health, and the related Human Integration Design Handbook. Currently being developed from NASA-STD-3000, this project standard currently in review will be available in two volumes, (i.e., Volume 1 -- VCrew Health and Volume 2 -- Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health) and the handbook will be both available as a pdf file and as a interactive website.

22 CFR 161.11 - Environmental review and consultation requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... requirements. 161.11 Section 161.11 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) Coordination of Other Requirements... comments. (d) Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 16 U.S.C. 661 et seq. (e) Section 309 of the Clean Air...

Human Behavior and Environmental Sustainability: promoting a pro-environmental behavior by harnessing the social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment

Science.gov (United States)

Abusafieh, Shaden; Razem, Maiss

2017-11-01

Recently, technological advancements in the sustainable design field have allowed us to reduce the ecological impact of the built environment, to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, to create healthy environments and in some cases may even rehabilitate the ecosystem. Nevertheless, several studies have been carried out showing that sustainable technology does not automatically lead to environmentally friendly behaviors in its users. Various environmental problems threaten environmental sustainability and many of these problems are rooted in human behavior. Unfortunately, there is a lack in studies which take into consideration the human behavior influences within a sustainable built environment. We believe that the built environment should be used to support human goals and requirements, but at the same time we should consider it as a context in which human values and behaviors are cultivated. This research aimed to help in promoting environmental sustainability by using architectural design in changing relevant human behavior toward an environmentally friendly behavior. In order to achieve this, the research adopted Environment-centered Approach to gain more acute perspective into the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior, focusing on social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment. It appears that environmental psychology's merits have high potential in changing behavior within the built environment. The research provides a systematic approach for selecting, assessing, evaluating the behaviors to be changed and the factors that determine them. Furthermore, this approach helps in choosing the best interventions that could be applied in built environment to encourage such a sustainable behavior. This study tried to construct an agenda for further researches to find particular architectural design elements and strategies that we can harness to develop a pro-environment human behavior.

Environmental radiation protection of non-human vertebrate species: considerations for environmental monitoring and assessment in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDonald, C.R.

1996-01-01

The risk to non-human species from activities associated with the nuclear fuel waste cycle is coming under increased scrutiny from the public and regulators. In the past, protection of the environment was assumed to be an outcome of the protection of humans living in the same area. Thus it was assumed that if nuclides were maintained at low enough levels in water, air and soil to protect humans, then plants and animals inhabiting the same area would be protected. This approach of relying on humans as a sensitive indicator implicitly protects all species, at least at the population level. To adequately predict exposure and response in wild communities requires a detailed knowledge of the ecosystem under study and a method of predicting both the transfer of nuclides to individual species and the consequence of exposure. Detailed environmental, or ecological, risk estimation requires information on the normal levels of radiation and general physiological stress in the exposed group, an estimate of the additional radiation exposure from all pathways and a prediction of the consequences of the total exposure. The purpose of this paper is to review these requirements in the context of ecological radiation protection in the Canadian environment using examples of birds and mammals from the Canadian shield. Our goal is to develop methods which provide better estimates of potential risk to wild animals

Bridging the divide between human and environmental nanotoxicology

Science.gov (United States)

Malysheva, Anzhela; Lombi, Enzo; Voelcker, Nicolas H.

2015-10-01

The need to assess the human and environmental risks of nanoscale materials has prompted the development of new metrological tools for their detection, quantification and characterization. Some of these methods have tremendous potential for use in various scenarios of nanotoxicology. However, in some cases, the limited dialogue between environmental scientists and human toxicologists has hampered the full exploitation of these resources. Here we review recent progress in the development of methods for nanomaterial analysis and discuss the use of these methods in environmental and human toxicology. We highlight the opportunities for collaboration between these two research areas.

Lines of evidence for environmentally driven human migration

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, K. F.; D'Odorico, P.

2012-12-01

International human migration is an important mechanism that affects, and is affected by, various human and natural systems. With the number of people living outside their countries of origin currently estimated at 214 million people and projected to potentially reach more than 400 million people by mid-century, the topic of international human movements presents possible advantages and pitfalls for both sending and receiving countries on multiple fronts (e.g. economic, environmental, political and cultural). Understanding how human migration interacts with human and natural systems is therefore essential in realizing a sustainable and balanced future. While the study of international migration has historically been motivated largely by economic and political interests, the issue of environmentally induced migration has become increasingly important in light of a rapidly changing climate in conjunction with increasing population pressure on many important resources. Particularly in terms of theoretical and conceptual discussions, environmentally induced human migration has been receiving increased attention in the literature. To date, few studies - many of which focus on internal (intra-national) or regional migration - have attempted to quantify the interactions of human migration and the environment, with little attention paid to the global scale as a result of varying regional factors and lack of sufficient data. Recently available global bilateral migration datasets have been developed that allow for a more comprehensive understanding of human movements between all countries. With these datasets, we seek to elucidate environmental drivers of human migration over the past half-century using a multi-pronged approach. First, using a recently developed universal radiation model, we examine human movements based solely on global population distribution. Next, by comparison of migration movements with selected economic, environmental and human welfare indicators, we

System requirements and design description for the environmental requirements management interface (ERMI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biebesheimer, E.

1997-01-01

This document describes system requirements and the design description for the Environmental Requirements Management Interface (ERMI). The ERMI database assists Tank Farm personnel with scheduling, planning, and documenting procedure compliance, performance verification, and selected corrective action tracking activities for Tank Farm S/RID requirements. The ERMI database was developed by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). This document was prepared by SAIC and edited by LMHC

40 CFR 158.1300 - Environmental fate data requirements table.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... transformation products. 7. Environmental chemistry methods used to generate data associated with this study must... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Environmental fate data requirements table. 158.1300 Section 158.1300 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED...

7 CFR 3407.8 - Actions normally requiring an environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Actions normally requiring an environmental impact statement. 3407.8 Section 3407.8 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued... NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT § 3407.8 Actions normally requiring an environmental impact statement. An...

Environmental compliance requirements for uranium mines in northern Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waggit, P.; Zapantis, A.; Triggs, M.

2001-01-01

The current phase of uranium mining in the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia began in the late 70's and is governed by a large number of legislative and administrative requirements. The primary responsibility for environmental regulation rests with the Northern Territory Government but the legislative framework is complex and involves agencies of the Commonwealth Government as well as the Aboriginal traditional owners. Two of the current uranium mining projects, Ranger and Jabiluka, are surrounded by the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park. Thirteen former mines are located within the Park and one former mine, Nabarlek, is in the same catchment as part of the Park, in West Arnhem Land. For these reasons, environmental management at the operating mines has to be of the highest standard and environmental requirements are attached to all laws and agreements controlling the operating facilities. The paper describes the spirit and rationale behind the regulations as well as the operating details and methodology of the regulatory system in place for the operating mines. An integral part of the overall environmental protection regime is a bi-annual program of Environmental Audits and Environmental Performance Reviews and regular reporting to a stakeholder committee. Other elements include internal and external environmental auditing at the minesites as well as programs of routine monitoring, check monitoring and reporting on a scale and frequency rarely seen elsewhere. Public concern and perception is considered to be a valid issue requiring attention

Indigenous environmental values as human values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Gratani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The claim that in natural resource management (NRM a change from anthropocentric values and ethics to eco-centric ones is necessary to achieve sustainability leads to the search for eco-centric models of relationship with the environment. Indigenous cultures can provide such models; hence, there is the need for multicultural societies to further include their values in NRM. In this article, we investigate the environmental values placed on a freshwater environment of the Wet Tropics by a community of indigenous Australians. We discuss their environmental values as human values, and so as beliefs that guide communities’ understanding of how the natural world should be viewed and treated by humans. This perspective represents a step forward in our understanding of indigenous environmental values, and a way to overcome the paradigm of indigenous values as valued biophysical attributes of the environment or processes happening in landscapes. Our results show that the participant community holds biospheric values. Restoring these values in the NRM of the Wet Tropics could contribute to sustainability and environmental justice in the area.

Human exposure assessment to environmental chemicals using biomonitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Calafat, Antonia M; Ye, Xiaoyun; Silva, Manori J; Kuklenyik, Zsuzsanna; Needham, Larry L

2006-02-01

In modern societies, humans may be exposed to a wide spectrum of environmental chemicals. Although the health significance of this exposure for many chemicals is unknown, studies to investigate the prevalence of exposure are warranted because of the chemicals' potential harmful health effects, as often indicated in animal studies. Three tools have been used to assess exposure: exposure history/questionnaire information, environmental monitoring, and biomonitoring (i.e. measuring concentrations of the chemicals, their metabolites, or their adducts in human specimens). We present an overview on the use of biomonitoring in exposure assessment using phthalates, bisphenol A and other environmental phenols, and perfluorinated chemicals as examples. We discuss some factors relevant for interpreting and understanding biomonitoring data, including selection of both biomarkers of exposure and human matrices, and toxicokinetic information. The use of biomonitoring in human risk assessment is not discussed.

Metabolic profiling detects early effects of environmental and lifestyle exposure to cadmium in a human population

OpenAIRE

Ellis, James K; Athersuch, Toby J; Thomas, Laura DK; Teichert, Friederike; Pérez-Trujillo, Miriam; Svendsen, Claus; Spurgeon, David J; Singh, Rajinder; Järup, Lars; Bundy, Jacob G; Keun, Hector C

2012-01-01

Background: The ‘exposome’ represents the accumulation of all environmental exposures across a lifetime. Topdown strategies are required to assess something this comprehensive, and could transform our understanding of how environmental factors affect human health. Metabolic profiling (metabonomics/metabolomics) defines an individual’s metabolic phenotype, which is influenced by genotype, diet, lifestyle, health and xenobiotic exposure, and could also reveal intermediate biomarkers...

The Control of Behavior: Human and Environmental

Science.gov (United States)

Burhoe, Ralph Wendell

1972-01-01

Theological perspective on human and environmental behavior, with a view toward man's ultimate concerns or longest range values and the ultimate controls of behavior. Maintains that all human behavior and destiny is ultimately in the hand of a transcendent power which prevails over any human errors.'' (LK)

Review of orders and regulations requiring environmental protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, E.; Cunningham, R.; Michael, D.

1996-01-01

With the increased awareness of and interest in potential ecological risks associated with past, current, and future Department of Energy (DOE) activities, DOE's Defense Programs (DP) Office of Technical and Environmental Support sponsored a study to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the current compliance-driven environmental protection and assessment efforts relative to ecological concerns; (2) explore the need for a more focused, integrated approach to address ecological impacts; and (3) identify the requirements for an integrated approach. The study explored four questions. (a) Which federal regulations and DOE orders either explicitly require ecological assessments or implicitly require them through environmental protection language? (b) What currently is being done at selected DOE facilities to implement these regulations and orders? (c) What are private sector industries doing in terms of ecological risk assessments and how do industry approaches and issues compare with those of DOE? (d) What, if anything, in addition to current efforts is needed to ensure the protection of ecological resources associated with DOE facilities, to support defensible decision making, and to improve efficiency? The results of this study are presented in a report titled open-quotes Integrated, Comprehensive Ecological Impact Assessments In Support of Department of Energy Decision Makingclose quotes. This report is a companion document to that report. This report provides a more detailed discussion of the document reviews of the relevant environmental protection regulations and current and pending DOE orders. The main goal of the document reviews was to understand existing requirements for ecological data collection and impact assessments

Environmental Modeling and Bayesian Analysis for Assessing Human Health Impacts from Radioactive Waste Disposal

Science.gov (United States)

Stockton, T.; Black, P.; Tauxe, J.; Catlett, K.

2004-12-01

Bayesian decision analysis provides a unified framework for coherent decision-making. Two key components of Bayesian decision analysis are probability distributions and utility functions. Calculating posterior distributions and performing decision analysis can be computationally challenging, especially for complex environmental models. In addition, probability distributions and utility functions for environmental models must be specified through expert elicitation, stakeholder consensus, or data collection, all of which have their own set of technical and political challenges. Nevertheless, a grand appeal of the Bayesian approach for environmental decision- making is the explicit treatment of uncertainty, including expert judgment. The impact of expert judgment on the environmental decision process, though integral, goes largely unassessed. Regulations and orders of the Environmental Protection Agency, Department Of Energy, and Nuclear Regulatory Agency orders require assessing the impact on human health of radioactive waste contamination over periods of up to ten thousand years. Towards this end complex environmental simulation models are used to assess "risk" to human and ecological health from migration of radioactive waste. As the computational burden of environmental modeling is continually reduced probabilistic process modeling using Monte Carlo simulation is becoming routinely used to propagate uncertainty from model inputs through model predictions. The utility of a Bayesian approach to environmental decision-making is discussed within the context of a buried radioactive waste example. This example highlights the desirability and difficulties of merging the cost of monitoring, the cost of the decision analysis, the cost and viability of clean up, and the probability of human health impacts within a rigorous decision framework.

Human Factors, Habitability and Environmental Health and the Human Integration Design Handbook. Volume 2

Science.gov (United States)

Houbec, Keith; Tillman, Barry; Connolly, Janis

2010-01-01

For decades, Space Life Sciences and NASA as an Agency have considered NASA-STD-3000, Man-Systems Integration Standards, a significant contribution to human spaceflight programs and to human-systems integration in general. The document has been referenced in numerous design standards both within NASA and by organizations throughout the world. With research program and project results being realized, advances in technology and new information in a variety of topic areas now available, the time arrived to update this extensive suite of requirements and design information. During the past several years, a multi-NASA center effort has been underway to write the update to NASA-STD-3000 with standards and design guidance that would be applicable to all future human spaceflight programs. NASA-STD-3001 - Volumes 1 and 2 - and the Human Integration Design Handbook (HIDH) were created. Volume 1, Crew Health, establishes NASA s spaceflight crew health standards for the pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight phases of human spaceflight. Volume 2, Human Factors, Habitability and Environmental Health, focuses on the requirements of human-system integration and how the human crew interacts with other systems, and how the human and the system function together to accomplish the tasks for mission success. The HIDH is a compendium of human spaceflight history and knowledge, and provides useful background information and research findings. And as the HIDH is a stand-alone companion to the Standards, the maintenance of the document has been streamlined. This unique and flexible approach ensures that the content is current and addresses the fundamental advances of human performance and human capabilities and constraints research. Current work focuses on the development of new sections of Volume 2 and collecting updates to the HIDH. The new sections in development expand the scope of the standard and address mission operations and support operations. This effort is again collaboration

Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Steven; Ogilvie, A. E. J.; Ingimundarson, Jón Haukur; Dugmore, A. J.; Hambrecht, George; McGovern, T. H.

2017-09-01

This paper contributes to recent studies exploring the longue durée of human impacts on island landscapes, the impacts of climate and other environmental changes on human communities, and the interaction of human societies and their environments at different spatial and temporal scales. In particular, the paper addresses Iceland during the medieval period (with a secondary, comparative focus on Norse Greenland) and discusses episodes where environmental and climatic changes have appeared to cross key thresholds for agricultural productivity. The paper draws upon international, interdisciplinary research in the North Atlantic region led by the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) and the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES) in the Circumpolar Networks program of the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE). By interlinking analyses of historically grounded literature with archaeological studies and environmental science, valuable new perspectives can emerge on how these past societies may have understood and coped with such impacts. As climate and other environmental changes do not operate in isolation, vulnerabilities created by socioeconomic factors also beg consideration. The paper illustrates the benefits of an integrated environmental-studies approach that draws on data, methodologies and analytical tools of environmental humanities, social sciences, and geosciences to better understand long-term human ecodynamics and changing human-landscape-environment interactions through time. One key goal is to apply previously unused data and concerted expertise to illuminate human responses to past changes; a secondary aim is to consider how lessons derived from these cases may be applicable to environmental threats and socioecological risks in the future, especially as understood in light of the New Human Condition, the concept transposed from Hannah Arendt's influential framing of the human condition that is

40 CFR 6.201 - Coordination with other environmental review requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Coordination with other environmental review requirements. 6.201 Section 6.201 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... EFFECTS ABROAD OF EPA ACTIONS EPA's NEPA Environmental Review Procedures § 6.201 Coordination with other...

Human malformations induced by environmental noxae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hecker, W.C.; Angerpointner, T.A.

1980-01-01

The paper reviews congenital malformations in humans and presents possible causes. 60% of all malformations are a result of environmental and other factors; i.e. not hereditary or caused by a disease of the mother. The teratogenic effects of ionizing radiation, drugs, alcohol, polyvinyl chloride and trichlorophenol are discussed as well as the effect of the mother's working in certain fields, e.g. clinical laboratories or printing offices; in the latter case the teratogenic noxae are still unknown. Efficient research requires centralized storage of all data on children born with malformations and on the mother's health situation during pregnancy, and the legislator is asked to do so while observing the law on data protection. Foundation of a German Institute of Teratology is recommended. In order to intensify research, it is suggested to set up groups or departments for research on malformations in some major paediatric hospitals. (MG) [de

24 CFR 1000.18 - What environmental review requirements apply?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What environmental review requirements apply? 1000.18 Section 1000.18 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and... HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES General § 1000.18 What environmental...

10 CFR 205.328 - Environmental requirements for Presidential Permits-Alternative 1.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Facilities for Transmission of Electric Energy at International Boundaries § 205.328 Environmental... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental requirements for Presidential Permits... responsible for the costs of preparing any necessary environmental document, including an Environmental Impact...

Human ecology. Foundations of preventive environmental policy. Humanoekologie. Grundlagen praeventiver Umweltpolitik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glaeser, B [ed.

1989-01-01

Can human ecology contribute towards originating a preventive environmental policy. Following a discussion of the demands of preventive environmental policy between theory and practice, the book presents the scientific approach 'human ecology' from a social-scientific angle. Then the question of the foundation in environmentally-related ethics is dealt with. The application and realizability of human-ecological considerations are tested with reference to different sectors of politics, and positive and negative indications of the chances of realization of a preventive environmental policy are discussed. (orig.).

Human Q fever incidence is associated to spatiotemporal environmental conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Leuken, J. P G; Swart, A. N.; Brandsma, J.; Terink, W.; Van de Kassteele, J.; Droogers, P.; Sauter, F.; Havelaar, A. H.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072306122; Van der Hoek, W.

2016-01-01

Airborne pathogenic transmission from sources to humans is characterised by atmospheric dispersion and influence of environmental conditions on deposition and reaerosolisation. We applied a One Health approach using human, veterinary and environmental data regarding the 2009 epidemic in The

18 CFR 380.6 - Actions that require an environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... environmental impact statement. 380.6 Section 380.6 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY... ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT § 380.6 Actions that require an environmental impact statement. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an environmental impact statement will normally be prepared first...

Integrated Environmental Modelling: Human decisions, human challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, Pierre D.

2015-01-01

Integrated Environmental Modelling (IEM) is an invaluable tool for understanding the complex, dynamic ecosystems that house our natural resources and control our environments. Human behaviour affects the ways in which the science of IEM is assembled and used for meaningful societal applications. In particular, human biases and heuristics reflect adaptation and experiential learning to issues with frequent, sharply distinguished, feedbacks. Unfortunately, human behaviour is not adapted to the more diffusely experienced problems that IEM typically seeks to address. Twelve biases are identified that affect IEM (and science in general). These biases are supported by personal observations and by the findings of behavioural scientists. A process for critical analysis is proposed that addresses some human challenges of IEM and solicits explicit description of (1) represented processes and information, (2) unrepresented processes and information, and (3) accounting for, and cognizance of, potential human biases. Several other suggestions are also made that generally complement maintaining attitudes of watchful humility, open-mindedness, honesty and transparent accountability. These suggestions include (1) creating a new area of study in the behavioural biogeosciences, (2) using structured processes for engaging the modelling and stakeholder communities in IEM, and (3) using ‘red teams’ to increase resilience of IEM constructs and use.

Meeting the requirements for a DOE environmental restoration project. The Fernald strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanoss, R.L.; Risenhoover, G.M.

1994-01-01

Environmental Restoration (ER) of five Operable Units (OU) at Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) includes compliance with the requirements of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and DOE Orders. Each regulatory driver has differing procedural requirements for documenting calculations, decisions, and actions involved in site cleanup. Integration of documentation and avoidance of duplication can save time and money. Such savings are being achieved by OU specific application of supporting studies, revised procedures, and guidance documents. Each OU is seeking appropriate opportunities to produce single documents that simultaneously fulfill the important requirements of the other regulations and DOE orders. These opportunities are evaluated at all phases of decision making, remedial design, and remedial action. Three essential processes precede environmental restoration/remedial action at a DOE site/project: 1. Completion of decision-making documents required by governing or applicable statutes. 2. Completion of important scientific and engineering analyses of remedial alternatives, and design and implementation of the remedial solution established in the CERCLA Record of Decision (ROD). 3. Preparation of DOE-mandated documentation to record engineering evaluations and cost estimates required for budgeting, decision making, and project management. Methodology and requirements for each process have developed from long, successful practice, but independently of each other. FERMCO, as new DOE contractor at Fernald and first Environmental Restoration Management Contractor (ERMC), is committed to a process of Continuous Performance Improvement (CPI). A major reevaluation of documentation and processes for support of environmental decision-making and design of cleanup activities to remediate the five OUs at the FEMP is being undertaken

24 CFR 970.13 - Environmental review requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

.... Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq., or a disaster that has been... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Environmental review requirements. 970.13 Section 970.13 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban...

10 CFR 205.329 - Environmental requirements for Presidential Permits-Alternative 2.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Facilities for Transmission of Electric Energy at International Boundaries § 205.329 Environmental... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental requirements for Presidential Permits... such Presidential Permits: (1) ERA will determine whether an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an...

Proposal for elicitation and analysis of environmental requirements into the construction design process: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila Pegoraro

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Proposal: As new demands from sustainable development, environmental requirements arise as another challenge to design process management. It is already known that companies which design buildings are usually exposed to many managerial difficulties. Faced to the environmental demands, these companies require new facilities to align environmental requirements to the business goals and to include them properly in design process. This paper is based on a case study in a construction company, which was developed through interviews and document analysis. It is intended to present a procedure for the project environmental requirements elicitation, organization and analysis, which is based on the requirements engineering (ER concepts. As results it was concluded that the ER concepts are useful for the environmental requirements integration into the design process and that strategic planning should give directions for the effective environmental requirements adherence. Moreover, a procedure for environmental requirements modeling is proposed. Key-words: Design process, Requirements management, Environmental requirements, Construction

Managing Air Quality - Human Health, Environmental and Economic Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Human health and environmental assessments characterize health and environmental risks associated with exposure to pollution. Economic assessments evaluate the cost and economic impact of a policy or regulation & can estimate economic benefits.

The Emergence of the Environmental Humanities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nye, David Edwin; Rugg, Linda; Flemming, James

In the last decade the Environmental Humanities have emerged as an important synthesis of knowledge, particularly at leading universities in the English and German academic worlds. This report analyzes this new field, assesses the existing centers for research, and makes recommendations for how...

Human exposure, health hazards, and environmental regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinemann, Anne

2004-01-01

United States environmental regulations, intended to protect human health, generally fail to address major sources of pollutants that endanger human health. These sources are surprisingly close to us and within our control, such as consumer products and building materials that we use within our homes, workplaces, schools, and other indoor environments. Even though these indoor sources account for nearly 90% of our pollutant exposure, they are virtually unregulated by existing laws. Even pollutant levels found in typical homes, if found outdoors, would often violate federal environmental standards. This article examines the importance of human exposure as a way to understand and reduce effects of pollutants on human health. Results from exposure studies challenge traditional thinking about pollutant hazards, and reveal deficiencies in our patchwork of laws. And results from epidemiological studies, showing increases in exposure-related diseases, underscore the need for new protections. Because we cannot rely solely on regulations to protect us, and because health effects from exposures can develop insidiously, greater efforts are needed to reduce and prevent significant exposures before they occur. Recommendations include the development and use of safer alternatives to common products, public education on ways to reduce exposure, systematic monitoring of human exposure to pollutants, and a precautionary approach in decision-making

Human/Nature Discourse in Environmental Science Education Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Joan M.

2008-01-01

It is argued that the view of nature and the relationship between human beings and nature that each of us holds impacts our decisions, actions, and notions of environmental responsibility and consciousness. In this study, I investigate the discursive patterns of selected environmental science classroom resources produced by three disparate…

Environmental contaminants, ecosystems and human health

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Majumdar, S.K.; Miller, E.W.; Brenner, F.J. [eds.] [Lafayette College, Easton, PA (United States). Dept. of Biology

1995-12-31

The authors cover a variety of concerns regarding the adverse impacts of contaminants on ecosystems and human health. The twelve chapters in the first section of the text address the impact of contaminants on ecosystem function, and ten of the remaining twenty-two chapters are devoted to the effects of contaminants on human health. Part three presents eight case studies in humans, while the final four chapters provide the reader with an assessment of environmental problems and analyses. Two chapters, on the health effects of power plant generated air pollution and on black lung disease, have been abstracted separately for the IEA Coal Research CD-ROM.

Safety Requirements and Modern Technical Requirements in Human Information Systems in Amman Hotels

OpenAIRE

Farouq Ahmad Alazzam; Sattam Rakan Allahawiah; Mohammad Nayef Alsarayreh; Kafa Hmoud Abdallah al Nawaiseh

2015-01-01

This study aimed to demonstrate the availability of Safety requirements and modern technical requirements in human information systems in Amman hotels. an the most important results of this study is the availability of security and safety requirements in human information systems In Amman hotels and The adequacy of the information that it provided .and show that all departments are not connected by appropriate and effective communication networks in adequate form . Also sophisticated operatin...

Behavioural responses to human-induced environmental change.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuomainen, Ulla; Candolin, Ulrika

2011-08-01

The initial response of individuals to human-induced environmental change is often behavioural. This can improve the performance of individuals under sudden, large-scale perturbations and maintain viable populations. The response can also give additional time for genetic changes to arise and, hence, facilitate adaptation to new conditions. On the other hand, maladaptive responses, which reduce individual fitness, may occur when individuals encounter conditions that the population has not experienced during its evolutionary history, which can decrease population viability. A growing number of studies find human disturbances to induce behavioural responses, both directly and by altering factors that influence fitness. Common causes of behavioural responses are changes in the transmission of information, the concentration of endocrine disrupters, the availability of resources, the possibility of dispersal, and the abundance of interacting species. Frequent responses are alterations in habitat choice, movements, foraging, social behaviour and reproductive behaviour. Behavioural responses depend on the genetically determined reaction norm of the individuals, which evolves over generations. Populations first respond with individual behavioural plasticity, whereafter changes may arise through innovations and the social transmission of behavioural patterns within and across generations, and, finally, by evolution of the behavioural response over generations. Only a restricted number of species show behavioural adaptations that make them thrive in severely disturbed environments. Hence, rapid human-induced disturbances often decrease the diversity of native species, while facilitating the spread of invasive species with highly plastic behaviours. Consequently, behavioural responses to human-induced environmental change can have profound effects on the distribution, adaptation, speciation and extinction of populations and, hence, on biodiversity. A better understanding of

Human ecology and environmentalism: Two different approaches to the relationships ecosystem/culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leon Sicard, Tomas

2001-01-01

A comparative analysis of the human ecology focus versus the environmental dimension analysis, emphasizing that the first one does not have theoretical instruments to adequately consider the human action inside the ecosystems, while the second one considers the concept of culture as an explanation of the human niche and then of the environmental problem. It ends with thoughts about the environmental or ecologist conception that is discussed in the Colombian peace negotiations

Assessing reproductive toxicity of two environmental toxicants with a novel in vitro human spermatogenic model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles A. Easley, IV

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Environmental influences and insults by reproductive toxicant exposure can lead to impaired spermatogenesis or infertility. Understanding how toxicants disrupt spermatogenesis is critical for determining how environmental factors contribute to impaired fertility. While current animal models are available, understanding of the reproductive toxic effects on human fertility requires a more robust model system. We recently demonstrated that human pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into spermatogonial stem cells/spermatogonia, primary and secondary spermatocytes, and haploid spermatids; a model that mimics many aspects of human spermatogenesis. Here, using this model system, we examine the effects of 2-bromopropane (2-BP and 1,2,dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP on in vitro human spermatogenesis. 2-BP and DBCP are non-endocrine disrupting toxicants that are known to impact male fertility. We show that acute treatment with either 2-BP or DBCP induces a reduction in germ cell viability through apoptosis. 2-BP and DBCP affect viability of different cell populations as 2-BP primarily reduces spermatocyte viability, whereas DBCP exerts a much greater effect on spermatogonia. Acute treatment with 2-BP or DBCP also reduces the percentage of haploid spermatids. Both 2-BP and DBCP induce reactive oxygen species (ROS formation leading to an oxidized cellular environment. Taken together, these results suggest that acute exposure with 2-BP or DBCP causes human germ cell death in vitro by inducing ROS formation. This system represents a unique platform for assessing human reproductive toxicity potential of various environmental toxicants in a rapid, efficient, and unbiased format.

Human-induced geomorphic change across environmental gradients

Science.gov (United States)

Vanacker, V.; Molina, A.; Bellin, N.; Christl, M.

2016-12-01

Human-induced land cover changes are causing important adverse effects on the ecological services rendered by mountain ecosystems, and the number of case-studies of the impact of humans on soil erosion and sediment yield has mounted rapidly. Anthropogenic disturbance of natural vegetation can profoundly alter the physical, chemical and biological processes within soils. Rapid removal of topsoil during intense farming can result in an imbalance between soil production through chemical weathering and physical soil erosion, with direct implications on nutrient cycling, soil fertility and agricultural production. In this study, we present a conceptual model for assessing human-induced erosion for a wide variety of environmental settings and pose that human-induced geomorphic change cannot be assessed solely based on modern erosion rates as natural or baseline erosion rates can be important in e.g. mountainous terrain. As such, we assess the vulnerability of a given ecosystem to human-induced land cover change by quantifying the change in catchment-wide erosion rates resulting from anthropogenic changes in vegetation cover. Human-induced erosion is here approximated by the ratio of the total specific sediment yield to the natural erosional mass flux, and is dimensionless. The conceptual model is applied to three contrasting environmental settings where data on soil production, physical soil erosion and long-term denudation are available: the tropical Andes, subtropical southern Brazil, and semi-arid Spanish Cordillera. The magnitude of human-induced geomorphic change strongly differs between the three regions. The data suggest that the sensitivity to human-induced erosion is ecosystem dependent, and related to soil erosivity and potential vegetation cover disturbances as a result of human impact. It may therefore be expected that the potential for erosion regulation is larger in well-vegetated ecosystem where strong differences may exist in vegetation cover between

Advancing Environmental Health: A Ballroom Dance Between Human Health and Earth Sciences Research

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, A.

2016-12-01

The mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives. Translation of this mission into a meaningful reality entails extensive interdisciplinary interactions, expertise, and collaborations between the traditional health and earth sciences communities. Efforts to advance our understanding of adverse effects and illness associated with environmental factors requires not only a refined understanding of the biological mechanisms and pathways (e.g., inflammation, epigenetic changes, oxidative stress, mutagenesis, etc.) related to function and disease, but also the incredibly broad and complex environmental exposures and systems that influence these processes. Further complicating efforts to understand such interactions is the need to take into account individual susceptibility to disease across the human life span. While it is clear that environmental exposures can be readily linked to disease in individuals and to disproportionate health disparities in populations, the underlying risk factors for such findings are often elusive. Health and earth scientists have a long tradition of crossing their scientific divides to work together on a wide range of problems and issues, including disasters. Emergency situations, such as the environmental asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana, the Gulf Oil Spill, numerous chemical releases into air and water, wildfires, the World Trade Center Attack, and responses to Ebola, and now Zika, demand the collective expertise of the "environmental health sciences enterprise" to protect the public's health, facilitate recovery, and improve future preparedness. Furthermore, such high visibility efforts stand as a clear example of what human and earth sciences research can accomplish when transformative interdisciplinary approaches and a diverse well-trained cadre of scientists dance together on the ballroom floor.

Users' Requirements for Environmental Effects From Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems and Their Fuel Cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carreter, M.; Gray, M.; Falck, E.; Bonne, A.; Bell, M.

2002-01-01

The objective of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) is to support the safe, sustainable, economic and proliferation resistant use of nuclear technology to meet the needs of the 21. century. The first part of the project focusses on the development of an understanding of the requirements of possible users of innovative concepts for reactors and fuel cycle applications. This paper reports progress made on the identification of user requirements as they relate to the environment and environmental protection. The user requirements being formulated are intended to limit adverse environmental effects from the different facilities involved in the nuclear fuel cycles to be well below maximum acceptable levels. To determine if the user requirements are met, it is necessary to identify those factors that are relevant to assessment of the environmental performance of innovative nuclear systems. To this effect, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Material Flow accounting (MFA) methodologies are being appraised for the suitability for application. This paper develops and provides the rationale for the 'users' requirements' as they are currently defined. Existing Environmental Impact Assessment and Materials Flow Accounting methodologies that can be applied to determine whether or not innovative technologies conform to the User Requirements are briefly described. It is concluded that after establishing fundamental principles, it is possible to formulate sets of general and specific users' requirements against which, the potential adverse environmental effects to be expected from innovative nuclear energy systems (INES) can be assessed. The application of these users' requirements should keep the adverse environmental effects from INES's within acceptable limits. (authors)

How Can Humanities Interventions Promote Progress in the Environmental Sciences?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sally L. Kitch

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Environmental humanists make compelling arguments about the importance of the environmental humanities (EH for discovering new ways to conceptualize and address the urgent challenges of the environmental crisis now confronting the planet. Many environmental scientists in a variety of fields are also committed to incorporating socio-cultural analyses in their work. Despite such intentions and rhetoric, however, and some humanists’ eagerness to incorporate science into their own work, “radical interdisciplinarity [across the humanities and sciences] is ... rare ... and does not have the impact one would hope for” (Holm et al. 2013, p. 32. This article discusses reasons for the gap between transdisciplinary intentions and the work being done in the environmental sciences. The article also describes a project designed to address that gap. Entitled “From Innovation to Progress: Addressing Hazards of the Sustainability Sciences”, the project encourages humanities interventions in problem definition, before any solution or action is chosen. Progress offers strategies for promoting expanded stakeholder engagement, enhancing understanding of power struggles and inequities that underlie problems and over-determine solutions, and designing multiple future scenarios based on alternative values, cultural practices and beliefs, and perspectives on power distribution and entitlement.

Urban planning with respect to environmental quality and human well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Panagopoulos, Thomas; González Duque, José Antonio; Bostenaru Dan, Maria

2016-01-01

The cities of today present requirements that are dissimilar to those of the past. There are cities where the industrial and service sectors are in decline, and there are other cities that are just beginning their journey into the technological and industrial sectors. In general, the political and social realms have been restructured in terms of economics, which has resulted in an entirely different shape to the primitive structures of civilization. As people begin to understand the dynamic nature of landscapes, they stop seeing landscapes as a static scene. Sustainable cities must be simultaneously economically viable, socially just, politically well managed and ecologically sustainable to maximize human comfort. The present research suggests a multi-disciplinary approach for attaining a holistic understanding of urban environmental quality and human well-being in relation to sustainable urban development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental change and human mobility in the digital age

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boas, Ingrid

2017-01-01

This intervention argues for the need of research to examine how information and communication technologies (ICTs) shape human mobility in the context of environmental change. ICTs are becoming increasingly central in the daily lives of migrants and communities at risk of environmental events.

Perspectives for integrating human and environmental exposure assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciffroy, P; Péry, A R R; Roth, N

2016-10-15

Integrated Risk Assessment (IRA) has been defined by the EU FP7 HEROIC Coordination action as "the mutual exploitation of Environmental Risk Assessment for Human Health Risk Assessment and vice versa in order to coherently and more efficiently characterize an overall risk to humans and the environment for better informing the risk analysis process" (Wilks et al., 2015). Since exposure assessment and hazard characterization are the pillars of risk assessment, integrating Environmental Exposure assessment (EEA) and Human Exposure assessment (HEA) is a major component of an IRA framework. EEA and HEA typically pursue different targets, protection goals and timeframe. However, human and wildlife species also share the same environment and they similarly inhale air and ingest water and food through often similar overlapping pathways of exposure. Fate models used in EEA and HEA to predict the chemicals distribution among physical and biological media are essentially based on common properties of chemicals, and internal concentration estimations are largely based on inter-species (i.e. biota-to-human) extrapolations. Also, both EEA and HEA are challenged by increasing scientific complexity and resources constraints. Altogether, these points create the need for a better exploitation of all currently existing data, experimental approaches and modeling tools and it is assumed that a more integrated approach of both EEA and HEA may be part of the solution. Based on the outcome of an Expert Workshop on Extrapolations in Integrated Exposure Assessment organized by the HEROIC project in January 2014, this paper identifies perspectives and recommendations to better harmonize and extrapolate exposure assessment data, models and methods between Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessments to support the further development and promotion of the concept of IRA. Ultimately, these recommendations may feed into guidance showing when and how to apply IRA in the regulatory decision

38 CFR Appendix C to Part 200 - Actions Requiring Environmental Impact Statement

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Environmental Impact Statement C Appendix C to Part 200 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT Pt. 200, App. C Appendix C to Part 200—Actions Requiring Environmental Impact Statement The following actions are considered to be major Federal...

Safety and environmental requirements and design targets for TIBER-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piet, S.J.

1987-09-01

A consistent set of safety and environmental requirements and design targets was proposed and adopted for the TIBER-II (Tokamak Ignition/Burn Experimental Reactor) design effort. TIBER-II is the most recent US version of a fusion experimental test reactor (ETR). These safety and environmental design targets were one contribution of the Fusion Safety Program in the TIBER-II design effort. The other contribution, safety analyses, is documented in the TIBER-II design report. The TIBER-II approach, described here, concentrated on logical development of, first, a complete and consistent set of safety and environmental requirements that are likely appropriate for an ETR, and, second, an initial set of design targets to guide TIBER-II. Because of limited time in the TIBER-II design effort, the iterative process only included one iteration - one set of targets and one design. Future ETR design efforts should therefore build on these design targets and the associated safety analyses. 29 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs

Companies' human capital required for collaboration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albats, Ekaterina; Bogers, Marcel; Podmetina, Daria

building, relationship building, IPR management and negotiation for the context of collaboration with universities. Our research has revealed an importance of expectation management skills for university-industry collaboration (UIC) context. We found that human capital for UIC is to be continuously......Universities are widely acknowledged as an important source of knowledge for corporate innovation, and collaboration with universities plays an important role in companies’ open innovation strategy. However, little is known about the human capital components required for collaboration...... with universities. Analysing the results of the survey among over 500 company managers we define the universal employees’ skills required for company’ successful collaborations with external stakeholders. Then through analysing qualitative interviews data we distinguish between these skills and capabilities...

Using data from drug discovery and development to aid the aquatic environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals: concepts, considerations, and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, Matthew J; Owen, Stewart F; Murray-Smith, Richard; Panter, Grace H; Hetheridge, Malcolm J; Kinter, Lewis B

2010-01-01

Over recent years, human pharmaceuticals have been detected in the aquatic environment. This, combined with the fact that many are (by design) biologically active compounds, has raised concern about potential impacts in wildlife species. This concern was realized with two high-profile cases of unforeseen environmental impact (i.e., estrogens and diclofenac), which have led to a flurry of work addressing how best to predict such effects in the future. One area in which considerable research effort has been made, partially in response to regulatory requirements, has been on the potential use of preclinical and clinical pharmacological and toxicological data (generated during drug development from nonhuman mammals and humans) to predict possible effects in nontarget, environmentally relevant species: so-called read across. This approach is strengthened by the fact that many physiological systems are conserved between mammals and certain environmentally relevant species. Consequently, knowledge of how a pharmaceutical works (the “mode-of-action,” or MoA) in nonclinical species and humans could assist in the selection of appropriate test species, study designs, and endpoints, in an approach referred to as “intelligent testing.” Here we outline the data available from the human drug development process and suggest how this might be used to design a testing strategy best suited to the specific characteristics of the drug in question. In addition, we review published data that support this type of approach, discuss the potential pitfalls associated with read across, and identify knowledge gaps that require filling to ensure accuracy in the extrapolation of data from preclinical and clinical studies, for use in the environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals.

The impact of environmental conditions on human performance: A critical review of the literature. Volume 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Echeverria, D.; Barnes, V.; Bittner, A.

1994-09-01

The Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers (HARC) conducted a comprehensive review of the technical literature regarding the impact of environmental conditions on human performance applicable to nuclear power plant workers. The environmental conditions considered were vibration, noise, heat, cold, and light. Research staff identified potential human performance deficits along a continuum of increasing occupational exposure, ranging from deficits that occur at low exposures to deficits that occur at high exposures. Specific deficits were included in the review if scientists demonstrated the exposure caused an effect, using sound methodology. The levels associated with each deficit were then compared to the protection afforded by existing occupational exposure standards. Volume 2 presents several conclusions regarding the applicability of the research literature to environmental conditions in nuclear power plants. The findings presented suggest that occupational standards for vibration, noise, and heat, which were developed to protect health, are inadequate for preventing deficits in cognitive or motor performance in tasks likely to be performed in nuclear power plants. Also, there is little information in the literature on simultaneous conditions; for example, the effects of simultaneous exposure to heat and noise on cognition require more research. As many exposures in nuclear power plants will be simultaneous, this limitation should be kept in mind when using Volume 1

International environmental issues and requirements for new power projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newman, J.R. [Golder Associates Inc., Gainesville, FL (United States); Maltby, J.H. [Golder Associates Inc., Washington, DC (United States)

1997-12-31

The purpose of this presentation was to discuss the emerging role of financial entities in determining environmental requirements for international power projects. The paper outlines the following: emerging conditions; examples of announced privatization energy projects by country; types of government and international financial entity sources; problems for IPPs; similarity and differences between the World Bank and the USEPA; comparison of the international standards and regulations for power plants; recent trends/issues involving international power project approval; and recommendations for understanding/expediting the financial entities` environmental approval process and how to expedite this process.

Environmental drivers of human migration in drylands - A spatial picture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neumann, K.; Sietz, D.; Hilderink, H.; Janssen, P.; Kok, M.; Dijk, van H.

2015-01-01

It is widely accepted that environmental change can influence human migration. In particular, the environment plays a role in migration processes in drylands, in which environmental change—including increasing variability of rainfall, increasing frequency of droughts, chronic water shortage, and

Environmental requirements in thermochemical and biochemical conversion of biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frings, R.M.; Mackie, K.L.; Hunter, I.R.

1992-01-01

Many biological and thermochemical processing options exist for the conversion of biomass to fuels. Commercially, these options are assessed in terms of fuel product yield and quality. However, attention must also be paid to the environmental aspects of each technology so that any commercial plant can meet the increasingly stringent environmental legislation in the world today. The environmental aspects of biological conversion (biogasification and bioliquefaction) and thermal conversion (high pressure liquefaction, flash pyrolysis, and gasification) are reviewed. Biological conversion processes are likely to generate waste streams which are more treatable than those from thermal conversion processes but the available data for thermal liquefaction are very limited. Close attention to waste minimisation is recommended and processing options that greatly reduce or eliminate waste streams have been identified. Product upgrading and its effect on wastewater quality also requires attention. Emphasis in further research studies needs to be placed on providing authentic waste streams for environmental assessment. (author)

43 CFR 46.415 - Environmental impact statement content, alternatives, circulation and filing requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Environmental impact statement content... Impact Statements § 46.415 Environmental impact statement content, alternatives, circulation and filing requirements. The Responsible Official may use any environmental impact statement format and design as long as...

Teachers' Perspectives on the Human-Nature Relationship: Implications for Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Antonio; Vasconcelos, Clara

2013-01-01

This study based on a theoretical framework of three main environmental perspectives in the human-nature relationship (anthropocentrism, biocentrism and ecocentrism), aimed to identify their incidence in teachers involved with environmental projects when confronted with diverse environmental issues. 60 teachers drawn from four school cycles in…

Constellation Program Human-System Integration Requirements. Revision E, Nov. 19, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Dory, Jonathan

2010-01-01

The Human-Systems Integration Requirements (HSIR) in this document drive the design of space vehicles, their systems, and equipment with which humans interface in the Constellation Program (CxP). These requirements ensure that the design of Constellation (Cx) systems is centered on the needs, capabilities, and limitations of the human. The HSIR provides requirements to ensure proper integration of human-to-system interfaces. These requirements apply to all mission phases, including pre-launch, ascent, Earth orbit, trans-lunar flight, lunar orbit, lunar landing, lunar ascent, Earth return, Earth entry, Earth landing, post-landing, and recovery. The Constellation Program must meet NASA's Agency-level human rating requirements, which are intended to ensure crew survival without permanent disability. The HSIR provides a key mechanism for achieving human rating of Constellation systems.

Facing global environmental change. Environmental, human, energy, food, health and water security concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brauch, Hans Guenter [Freie Univ. Berlin (Germany). Dept. of Political and Social Sciences; United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); AFES-Press, Mosbach (Germany); Oswald Spring, Ursula [National Univ. of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, MOR (MX). Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidiscipinarias (CRIM); United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Grin, John [Amsterdam Univ. (Netherlands). Amsterdam School for Social Science Research; Mesjasz, Czeslaw [Cracow Univ. of Economics (Poland). Faculty of Management; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia [Nairobi Univ. (Kenya). School of Law; International Environmental Law Research Centre, Nairobi (Kenya); Behera, Navnita Chadha [Jamia Millia Islamia Univ., New Delhi (India). Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution; Chourou, Bechir [Tunis-Carthage Univ., Hammam-Chatt (Tunisia); Krummenacher, Heinz (eds.) [swisspeace, Bern (Switzerland). FAST International

2009-07-01

This policy-focused, global and multidisciplinary security handbook on Facing Global Environmental Change addresses new security threats of the 21st century posed by climate change, desertification, water stress, population growth and urbanization. These security dangers and concerns lead to migration, crises and conflicts. They are on the agenda of the UN, OECD, OSCE, NATO and EU. In 100 chapters, 132 authors from 49 countries analyze the global debate on environmental, human and gender, energy, food, livelihood, health and water security concepts and policy problems. In 10 parts they discuss the context and the securitization of global environmental change and of extreme natural and societal outcomes. They suggest a new research programme to move from knowledge to action, from reactive to proactive policies and to explore the opportunities of environ-mental cooperation for a new peace policy. (orig.)

Meeting Human Reliability Requirements through Human Factors Design, Testing, and Modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

R. L. Boring

2007-06-01

In the design of novel systems, it is important for the human factors engineer to work in parallel with the human reliability analyst to arrive at the safest achievable design that meets design team safety goals and certification or regulatory requirements. This paper introduces the System Development Safety Triptych, a checklist of considerations for the interplay of human factors and human reliability through design, testing, and modeling in product development. This paper also explores three phases of safe system development, corresponding to the conception, design, and implementation of a system.

Metabolic profiling detects early effects of environmental and lifestyle exposure to cadmium in a human population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellis James K

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The 'exposome' represents the accumulation of all environmental exposures across a lifetime. Top-down strategies are required to assess something this comprehensive, and could transform our understanding of how environmental factors affect human health. Metabolic profiling (metabonomics/metabolomics defines an individual's metabolic phenotype, which is influenced by genotype, diet, lifestyle, health and xenobiotic exposure, and could also reveal intermediate biomarkers for disease risk that reflect adaptive response to exposure. We investigated changes in metabolism in volunteers living near a point source of environmental pollution: a closed zinc smelter with associated elevated levels of environmental cadmium. Methods High-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy (metabonomics was used to acquire urinary metabolic profiles from 178 human volunteers. The spectral data were subjected to multivariate and univariate analysis to identify metabolites that were correlated with lifestyle or biological factors. Urinary levels of 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine were also measured, using mass spectrometry, as a marker of systemic oxidative stress. Results Six urinary metabolites, either associated with mitochondrial metabolism (citrate, 3-hydroxyisovalerate, 4-deoxy-erythronic acid or one-carbon metabolism (dimethylglycine, creatinine, creatine, were associated with cadmium exposure. In particular, citrate levels retained a significant correlation to urinary cadmium and smoking status after controlling for age and sex. Oxidative stress (as determined by urinary 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine levels was elevated in individuals with high cadmium exposure, supporting the hypothesis that heavy metal accumulation was causing mitochondrial dysfunction. Conclusions This study shows evidence that an NMR-based metabolic profiling study in an uncontrolled human population is capable of identifying intermediate biomarkers of response to toxicants at true environmental

Foetal exposure to food and environmental carcinogens in human beings.

Science.gov (United States)

Myöhänen, Kirsi; Vähäkangas, Kirsi

2012-02-01

Exposure to many different chemicals during pregnancy through maternal circulation is possible. Transplacental transfer of xenobiotics can be demonstrated using human placental perfusion. Also, placental perfusion can give information about the placental kinetics as well as metabolism and accumulation in the placenta because it retains the tissue structure and function. Although human placental perfusion has been used extensively to study the transplacental transfer of drugs, the information on food and environmental carcinogens is much more limited. This review deals with the foetal exposure to food and environmental carcinogens in human beings. In particular, human transplacental transfer of the food carcinogens such as acrylamide, glycidamide and nitrosodimethylamine are in focus. Because these carcinogens are genotoxic, the functional capacity of human placenta to induce DNA adduct formation or metabolize these above mentioned CYP2E1 substrates is of interest in this context. © 2011 The Authors. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology © 2011 Nordic Pharmacological Society.

Environmental assessments required to support nomination of sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mussler, R.M.

1984-01-01

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 establishes a schedule for siting the nation's first repository for nuclear waste and spent fuel. The Act assigns the primary responsibility for conducting this siting program to the Department ofEnergy. The provisions of the Act are reviewed, including six legal requirements that must be considered for each environmental assessment, each of which is discussed in detail

77 FR 35471 - National Environmental Policy Act Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-13

... determined do not individually or cumulatively have significant effects on the human or natural environment and thus, do not require the preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact... have significant impacts on the human or natural environment. The Substantiation Document is available...

Requirements, guidance and logic in planning environmental investigations: Approval versus implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brice, D.A.; Meredith, D.V.; Harris, M.Q.

1993-01-01

In today's litigious society, it is important for both private parties and government to plan and conduct environmental investigations in a scientifically sound manner, documenting the purpose, methods, and results in a consistent fashion throughout the exercise. Planning documents are prepared during the initial phases of environmental investigations. Project objectives, including data quality requirements, specific work to be conducted to fulfill data needs, and operating procedures are specified. Regulatory agency approval of these documents is often required prior to plan implementation. These approvals are necessary and appropriate to fulfilling the agency's mandated role. Many guidance documents prepared by regulatory agencies suggest the content and format of various scoping documents. These guidances help standardize thought processes and considerations in planning, and provide a template to ensure that both the plan and the proposed work will fulfill regulatory requirements. This work describes the preparation and use of guidance documents for planning environmental studies. The goals and some of the pitfalls of such documents are discussed. Guidance should include the following elements: the purpose of the guidance and a description of where it applies; the type of items to be addressed in planning; identification of requirements are applicable to all projects for which the guidance is intended; identification of requirements only applicable in certain situations; a description of items to facilitate planning; a suggested format for fulfilling requirements; example applications of the guidance. Disagreements arise between planners and reviewers/approvers when elements of guidance are used as leverage to require work not directly related to project objectives. Guidance may be inappropriately used as a milestone by which site-specific plans are judged. Regulatory agency review and approval may be regarded as a primary objective of the plan

10 CFR 503.34 - Inability to comply with applicable environmental requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... requirements. 503.34 Section 503.34 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ALTERNATE FUELS NEW FACILITIES... use of alternate fuels in compliance with applicable Federal or state environmental requirements, are... presented as part of a demonstration submitted under § 503.32 (Lack of alternate fuel supply). (2) Prior to...

24 CFR 1000.20 - Is an Indian tribe required to assume environmental review responsibilities?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Is an Indian tribe required to assume environmental review responsibilities? 1000.20 Section 1000.20 Housing and Urban Development... § 1000.20 Is an Indian tribe required to assume environmental review responsibilities? (a) No. It is an...

Visualizing the Anthropocene: Human Land Use History and Environmental Management

Science.gov (United States)

Richard D. Periman

2006-01-01

The term “Anthropocene” defines the current, human-dominated, geological epoch of human-caused environmental influences. Some researchers believe that the beginning of this epoch coincides with the inception of the Industrial Revolution (Crutzen and Stoermer 2000). Research is revealing that humans have affected environments on global and local scales for millennia....

Information management systems for integrating the technical data and regulatory requirements of environmental restoration activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geffen, C.A.; Garrett, B.A.; Walter, M.B.

1990-03-01

Current environmental regulations require that comprehensive planning be conducted before remediating a hazardous waste site to characterize the nature and extent of site contamination, calculate the risk to the public, and assess the effectiveness of various remediation technologies. Remediation of Department of Energy (DOE) sites contaminated with hazardous or mixed wastes will require the effective integration of scientific and engineering data with regulatory and institutional requirements. The information management challenge presented by waste site cleanup activities goes beyond merely dealing with the large quantity of data that will be generated. The information must be stored, managed, and presented in a way that provides some consistency in approach across sites, avoids duplication of effort, and facilitates responses to requests for information from the regulators and the public. This paper provides background information on the regulatory requirements for data gathering and analysis for environmental restoration activities, and outlines the data and information management requirements for completing the pre-remediation phases of an environmental restoration project. Information management systems for integrating the regulatory and institutional requirements of the environmental restoration process with the technical data and analysis requirements are also described. 7 refs

A genomic point-of-view on environmental factors influencing the human brain methylome.

Science.gov (United States)

LaSalle, Janine M

2011-07-01

The etiologic paradigm of complex human disorders such as autism is that genetic and environmental risk factors are independent and additive, but the interactive effects at the epigenetic interface are largely ignored. Genomic technologies have radically changed perspective on the human genome and how the epigenetic interface may impact complex human disorders. Here, I review recent genomic, environmental, and epigenetic findings that suggest a new paradigm of "integrative genomics" in which genetic variation in genomic size may be impacted by dietary and environmental factors that influence the genomic saturation of DNA methylation. Human genomes are highly repetitive, but the interface of large-scale genomic differences with environmental factors that alter the DNA methylome such as dietary folate is under-explored. In addition to obvious direct effects of some environmental toxins on the genome by causing chromosomal breaks, non-mutagenic toxin exposures correlate with DNA hypomethylation that can lead to rearrangements between repeats or increased retrotransposition. Since human neurodevelopment appears to be particularly sensitive to alterations in epigenetic pathways, a further focus will be on how developing neurons may be particularly impacted by even subtle alterations to DNA methylation and proposing new directions towards understanding the quixotic etiology of autism by integrative genomic approaches.

Human Rights Practice: A Means to Environmental Ends?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Donald

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Can human rights practice in its current dominant forms tackle the challenge of climate change and global environmental degradation? This article argues that although there is now increased recognition of the links between human rights and the environment, and while human rights tools and principles can contribute in some concrete ways in moving forward the environmental agenda, their potential for doing is so far largely unrealised. The article analyses three different approaches used by advocates and activists in this field, before discussing potential alternatives and examples of radical or hybrid approaches, with a view to articulating a strategy for activism and praxis that can capture the real and lived inter-connectedness of human rights enjoyment and environmental factors more meaningfully. ¿Puede la práctica de los derechos humanos en sus formas dominantes actuales hacer frente al desafío del cambio climático y la degradación global del medio ambiente? Este artículo sostiene que, aunque ahora hay un mayor reconocimiento de los vínculos entre los derechos humanos y el medio ambiente, y mientras que las herramientas y principios de los derechos humanos pueden contribuir en avanzar de manera concreta la agenda ambiental, su potencial se encuentra frustrado en gran parte hasta el momento. El artículo analiza tres enfoques diferentes utilizados por los defensores y activistas en este campo, antes de discutir alternativas y ejemplos de enfoques radicales o híbridos, con el fin de articular una estrategia para el activismo y la praxis que pueda capturar de manera más significativa la interconexión real y vivida del disfrute de los derechos humanos y de los factores medioambientales.

Environmental and ecological water requirement of river system: a case study of Haihe-Luanhe river system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

In order to reduce the environmental and ecological problems induced by water resources development and utilization, this paper proposes a concept of environmental and ecological water requirement. It is defined as the minimum water amount to be consumed by the natural water bodies to conserve its environmental and ecological functions. Based on the definition, the methods on calculating the amount of environmental and ecological water requirement are determined. In the case study on Haihe-Luanhe river system, the water requirement is divided into three parts, i.e., the basic in-stream flow, water requirement for sediment transfer and water consumption by evaporation of the lakes or everglades. The results of the calculation show that the environmental and ecological water requirement in the river system is about 124×108 m3, including 57×108 m3 for basic in-stream flow, 63×108m3 for sediment transfer and 4×l08m3 for net evaporation loss of lakes. The total amount of environmental and ecological water requirement accounts for 54% of the amount of runoff (228×108 m3). However, it should be realized that the amount of environmental and ecological water requirement must be more than that we have calculated. According to this result, we consider that the rational utilization rate of the runoff in the river systems must not be more than 40%. Since the current utilization rate of the river system, which is over 80%, has been far beyond the limitation, the problems of environment and ecology are quite serious. It is imperative to control and adjust water development and utilization to eliminate the existing problems and to avoid the potential ecological or environmental crisis.

78 FR 18562 - Economic and Environmental Principles and Requirements for Water and Related Land Resources...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-27

... COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Economic and Environmental Principles and Requirements for Water... ``Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation... Secretary of the Army to revise the ``Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and...

Human and environmental nuclear toxicology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menager, M.Th.; Garnier-Laplace, J.; Goyffon, M.

2009-01-01

This work is divided in five parts: the first one is devoted to the behaviour of chemical species in biosphere, particularly for the living, speciation, biological availabilities, transfer paths, biological and chemical flux, molecular actors of transport in living. The second and third parts tackle the molecular and cellular mechanisms of interactions in living of retained elements by analyzing the impact on the organisms big functions and the consequences on human health and ecosystems. The fourth part proposes a synthesis of the knowledge state, element by element. Besides operational information on their physico-chemical properties, their origin, their concentration in different media of biosphere, will be found indications in matter of risk management, and the data of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of environmental and human exposure ways. The fifth part treats the new technological developments with the knowledge progress. the application fields come from the detection to the treatments of contaminations, from environment to man. (N.C.)

Greening the work force in Brazilian hotels: the role of environmental training.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias-Angelo, Fernanda; Jabbour, Charbel J C; Calderaro, José Armando

2014-01-01

Organizations are increasingly required to reduce their environmental impact through the adoption of environmental management, which requires the support of human resource practices. The objective of this study is to determine whether human resource management practices, especially training, are supporting environmental management practices at four hotels located in Brazil. This research is qualitative, based on the analysis of four hotels in Brazil. Based on the systematized empirical evidence collected from four hotels (Hotels A, B, C, and D), it can be concluded that: (1) human resource management is still not fully aligned with environmental objectives at the hotels studied; (2) only Hotel B has implemented environmental management practices and aligned with human resource management in a more developed manner, which may indicate that these two variables of analysis could have interrelations; (3) environmental training as a human resource management practice was verified in all hotels analyzed. The greening of human resources practices is not fully aligned with environmental objectives in the hotels studied. If these hotels really wish to "go green," environmental training will be necessary. Hotel stakeholders play a major role in implementing the greening of the hotel industry.

[The physiological classification of human thermal states under high environmental temperatures].

Science.gov (United States)

Bobrov, A F; Kuznets, E I

1995-01-01

The paper deals with the physiological classification of human thermal states in a hot environment. A review of the basic systems of classifications of thermal states is given, their main drawbacks are discussed. On the basis of human functional state research in a broad range of environmental temperatures the system of evaluation and classification of human thermal states is proposed. New integral one-dimensional multi-parametric criteria for evaluation are used. For the development of these criteria methods of factor, cluster and canonical correlation analyses are applied. Stochastic nomograms capable of identification of human thermal state for different intensity of influence are given. In this case evaluation of intensity is estimated according to one-dimensional criteria taking into account environmental temperature, physical load and time of man's staying in overheating conditions.

Human and environmental analysis of wearable thermal energy harvesting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, Amanda; Hodges, Ryan; Jur, Jesse S.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A series of TEGs are integrated into a wearable, flexible form factor. • Human trials are performed to study environmental and human effects on the TEGs. • Correlations are drawn between human induced movement and environmental conditions. • User movement is the most significant factor in wearable TE harvesting. - Abstract: In considering wearable energy harvesting, one must recognize the wide array of factors that lead to variations of energy harvesting. The objective of this work is to define analytical methods to study the effect of environmental and human factors on thermal energy generator (TEG) performance in a variety of use case scenarios. A test method for evaluating the performance of a TEG in a wearable form is developed and demonstrated using both in-lab and out-of-lab procedures. The fabrication procedure of an energy harvesting wearable device demonstrates a method of integrating rigid devices into a flexible substrate. The wearable device is used in a human trial which covered a series of activities in different environmental conditions. The results of these trials demonstrate the significant effect of movement, or convection, on thermal energy harvesting. Humidity levels do not have a significant correlation to power; however, wet bulb temperature must be taken into consideration due to the additional cooling effect of evaporation on temperature. The data collected indicates that while dry-bulb temperature does not have the greatest effect on TEG power generation, wet-bulb temperature is indicative of TEG performance. Additionally, user generated movement is the main consideration when designing a wearable device with TEGs as it had the largest effects on power generation. The results of this work quantify how a wearable device will perform throughout daily activities, allowing the definition of an operational scenario of a self-powered wearable device while choosing the most appropriate design for a particular application

Environmental requirements for flat plate photovoltaic modules for terrestrial applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, A. R.; Ross, R. G., Jr.

1979-01-01

The environmental test requirements that have been developed for flat plate modules purchased through Department of Energy funding are described. Concurrent with the selection of the initial qualification tests from space program experience - temperature cycling and humidity - surveys of existing photovoltaic systems in the field revealed that arrays were experiencing the following failure modes: interconnect breakage, delamination, and electrical termination corrosion. These coupled with application-dependent considerations led to the development of additional qualification tests, such as cyclic pressure loading, warped mounting surface, and hail. Rationale for the selection of tests, their levels and durations is described. Comparisons between field-observed degradation and test-induced degradation show a positive correlation with some of the observed field effects. Also, the tests are proving useful for detecting design, process, and workmanship deficiencies. The status of study efforts for the development of environmental requirements for field-related problems is reviewed.

Human health and ecological risks from environmental restoration and waste management activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pehlman, P.A.; Wollert, D.A.; Phillippi, R.H.

1994-01-01

This paper summarizes the methodologies for estimating human health and ecological risks resulting from Environmental Restoration and Waste Management activities across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. DOE is currently assessing these activities as part of the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EM-PEIS)

Contemporary debates on social-environmental conflicts, extractivism and human rights in Latin America

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raftopoulos, Malayna

2017-01-01

This opening contribution to ‘Social-Environmental Conflicts, Extractivism and Human Rights’ analyses how human rights have emerged as a weapon in the political battleground over the environment as natural resource extraction has become an increasingly contested and politicised form of development....... It examines the link between human rights abuses and extractivism, arguing that this new cycle of protests has opened up new political spaces for human rights based resistance. Furthermore, the explosion of socio-environmental conflicts that have accompanied the expansion and politicisation of natural...... resources has highlighted the different conceptualisations of nature, development and human rights that exist within Latin America. While new human rights perspectives are emerging in the region, mainstream human rights discourses are providing social movements and activists with the legal power...

36 CFR 223.218 - Consistency with plans, environmental standards, and other management requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., environmental standards, and other management requirements. 223.218 Section 223.218 Parks, Forests, and Public... Special Forest Products § 223.218 Consistency with plans, environmental standards, and other management... with applicable land management plans. Each contract, permit, or other authorizing instrument shall...

Environmental chemicals in human milk: a review of levels, infant exposures and health, and guidance for future research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaKind, Judy S.; Amina Wilkins, A.; Berlin, Cheston M.

2004-01-01

The aim of this review is to introduce the reader to various science and policy aspects of the topic of environmental chemicals in human milk. Although information on environmental chemicals in human milk has been available since the 1950s, it is only relatively recently that public awareness of the issue has grown. This review on environmental chemicals in human milk provides a resource summarizing what is currently known about levels and trends of environmental chemicals in human milk, potential infant exposures, and benefits of breast-feeding relative to the risks of exposures to environmental chemicals. The term 'environmental chemicals', as it pertains to human milk, refers to many classes of exogenous chemicals that may be detected in human milk. For example, pharmaceutical agents and alcohol are environmental chemicals that have been found in human milk. Other chemicals, such as heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, have also been detected in human milk. Most research on environmental chemicals in human milk has concentrated on persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals. In this review, a description of human milk is provided, including a brief review of endogenous substances in human milk. Determinants of levels of PBTs are discussed, as are models that have been developed to predict levels of PBTs in human milk and associated body burdens in breast-feeding infants. Methodologies for human milk sampling and analysis, and concepts for consideration in interpretation and communication of study results, as developed by the Technical Workshop on Human Milk Surveillance and Research for Environmental Chemicals in the United States are described. Studies which have compared the health risks and benefits associated with breast-feeding and formula-feeding are discussed

Biological and Environmental Research Network Requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balaji, V. [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Earth Science Grid Federation (ESGF); Boden, Tom [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Cowley, Dave [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Dart, Eli [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Dattoria, Vince [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Desai, Narayan [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Egan, Rob [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Foster, Ian [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Goldstone, Robin [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Gregurick, Susan [U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States). Biological Systems Science Division; Houghton, John [U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Program; Izaurralde, Cesar [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Johnston, Bill [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Joseph, Renu [U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States). Climate and Environmental Sciences Division; Kleese-van Dam, Kerstin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lipton, Mary [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Monga, Inder [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Pritchard, Matt [British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC), Oxon (United Kingdom); Rotman, Lauren [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Strand, Gary [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); Stuart, Cory [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Tatusova, Tatiana [National Inst. of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD (United States); Tierney, Brian [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). ESNet; Thomas, Brian [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Zurawski, Jason [Internet2, Washington, DC (United States)

2013-09-01

The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is the primary provider of network connectivity for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC), the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. In support of SC programs, ESnet regularly updates and refreshes its understanding of the networking requirements of the instruments, facilities, scientists, and science programs that it serves. This focus has helped ESnet be a highly successful enabler of scientific discovery for over 25 years. In November 2012, ESnet and the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the DOE SC organized a review to characterize the networking requirements of the programs funded by the BER program office. Several key findings resulted from the review. Among them: 1) The scale of data sets available to science collaborations continues to increase exponentially. This has broad impact, both on the network and on the computational and storage systems connected to the network. 2) Many science collaborations require assistance to cope with the systems and network engineering challenges inherent in managing the rapid growth in data scale. 3) Several science domains operate distributed facilities that rely on high-performance networking for success. Key examples illustrated in this report include the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) and the Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase). This report expands on these points, and addresses others as well. The report contains a findings section as well as the text of the case studies discussed at the review.

Environmental transport and human exposure: A multimedia approach in health-risk policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McKone, T.E.

1992-05-01

In his treatise Air, Water, and Places, the ancient-Greek physician Hippocrates demonstrated that the appearance of disease in human populations is influenced by the quality of air, water, and food; the topography of the land; and general living habits. This approach is still relevant and, indeed, the conerstone of modem efforts to relate public health to environmental factors. What has changed is the precision with which we can measure and model these long-held relationships. Environmental scientists recognize that plants, animals, and humans encounter environmental contaminants via complex transfers through air, water, and food and use multimedia models to evaluate these transfers. In this report, I explore the use of multimedia models both to examine pollution trends and as a basis for characterizing human health risks and ecological risks. The strengths and weaknesses of the approach are discussed.

From Environmental Connectedness to Sustainable Futures: Topophilia and Human Affiliation with Nature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Beery

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Human affiliation with nonhuman nature is an important dimension of environmental concern and support for pro-environmental attitudes. A significant theory of human connectedness with nature, the Biophilia Hypothesis, suggests that there exists a genetically based inclination for human affiliation with the biological world. Both support and challenge to the Biophilia Hypothesis are abundant in the literature of environmental psychology. One response that both challenges and builds upon the Biophilia Hypothesis is the Topophilia Hypothesis. The Topophilia Hypothesis has extended the ideas of biophilia to incorporate a broader conception of nonhuman nature and a co-evolutionary theory of genetic response and cultural learning. While the Topophilia Hypothesis is a new idea, it is built upon long-standing scholarship from humanistic geography and theories in human evolution. The Topophilia Hypothesis expands previous theory and provides a multidisciplinary consideration of how biological selection and cultural learning may have interacted during human evolution to promote adaptive mechanisms for human affiliation with nonhuman nature via specific place attachment. Support for this possible co-evolutionary foundation for place-based human affiliation with nonhuman nature is explored from multiple vantage points. We raise the question of whether this affiliation may have implications for multifunctional landscape management. Ultimately, we propose that nurturing potential topophilic tendencies may be a useful method to promote sustainable efforts at the local level with implications for the global.

45 CFR 96.128 - Requirements regarding human immunodeficiency virus.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requirements regarding human immunodeficiency virus. 96.128 Section 96.128 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL... human immunodeficiency virus. (a) In the case of a designated State as described in paragraph (b) of...

An Environmental Risk Assessment for Human-Use Trimethoprim in European Surface Waters

OpenAIRE

Straub, J?rg Oliver

2013-01-01

An environmental risk assessment (ERA) for the aquatic compartment in Europe from human use was developed for the old antibiotic Trimethoprim (TMP), comparing exposure and effects. The exposure assessment is based on European risk assessment default values on one hand and is refined with documented human use figures in Western Europe from IMS Health and measured removal in wastewater treatment on the other. The resulting predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) are compared with measured...

Guidelines for the Deployment of Product-Related Environmental Legislation into Requirements for the Product Development Process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferraz, Mariana; Pigosso, Daniela Cristina Antelmi; Teixeira, Cláudia Echevenguá

2013-01-01

Environmental legislation is increasingly changing its focus from end-of-pipe approaches to a life cycle perspective. Therefore, manufacturing companies are increasingly identifying the need of deploying and incorporating product-related environmental requirements into the product development...... process. This paper presents twelve guidelines, clustered into three groups, to support companies in the identification, analysis and deployment of product requirements from product-related environmental legislation....

USER principle as relating the human environmental management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kernakis

2005-01-01

The environmental variable can be understood as the resulting biosphere space that has suffered the occurrence of pre-biotic, biotic and anthropic processes. This necessary expansion of the environmental frontier allows understand clearly the magnitude the great complexity of the process immersed in the current environmental problematic. This, taking into account the analysis of the reference systems used by the different species to face their interaction with the nature. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the human referential process of reality, as a responsible specie of the derange shown by the Environmental Mother Eve. The latest hominid development of an Artificial Reference System (ARS) (linguistic symbols), points to the constitution of the casual factor that triggers such an environmental problematic. The expansive dynamics accomplished by the ARS has not always made reference to the natural ambience that created them. The formulation of the Unprivilegeness of Symbolic Endogenous Referents (USER) Principle (Kernakis 1986, 1997), as a necessary epistemological consequence of the Special Relativity from Einstein, entails to the reversion of the local privileges created by the ARS, stating a referential crisis as alternative to a potential environmental collapse. AII these could lead to the most intra-specific understanding with the nature, antonomastical fragmented by the privileges of the ARS. Such integration species-nature would allow to make possible an spontaneous natural-cultural arranging of the environmental balance

Surface Environmental Surveillance Procedures Manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanf, Robert W.; Poston, Ted M.

2000-01-01

Shows and explains certain procedures needed for surface environmental surveillance. Hanford Site environmental surveillance is conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Surface Environmental Surveillance Project (SESP). The basic requirements for site surveillance are set fourth in DOE Order 5400.1, General Environmental Protection Program Requirements. Guidance for the SESP is provided in DOE Order 5484.1, Environmental Protection, Safety, and Health Protection Information Reporting Requirements and DOE Order 5400.5, Radiation Protection of the Public and Environment. Guidelines for environmental surveillance activities are provided in DOE/EH-0173T, Environmental Regulatory Guide for Radiological Effluent Monitoring and Environmental Surveillance. An environmental monitoring plan for the Hanford Site is outlined in DOE/RL 91-50 Rev. 2, Environmental Monitoring Plan, United States Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office. Environmental surveillance data are used in assessing the impact of current and past site operations on human health and the environment, demonstrating compliance with applicable local, state, and federal environmental regulations, and verifying the adequacy of containment and effluent controls. SESP sampling schedules are reviewed, revised, and published each calendar year in the Hanford Site Environmental Surveillance Master Sampling Schedule. Environmental samples are collected by SESP staff in accordance with the approved sample collection procedures documented in this manual. Personnel training requirements are documented in SESP-TP-01 Rev.2, Surface Environmental Surveillance Project Training Program.

Stable lead isotopes in environmental health with emphasis on human investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulson, Brian

2008-01-01

There has been widespread use of stable lead isotopes in the earth sciences for more than 40 years focussed on the origin and age of rocks and minerals with lesser application in environmental investigations where the emphasis has been directed typically to the source of lead in environmental media such as air, water and soils. In contrast, the number of environmental health investigations focussed on humans (and primates) is limited in spite of the demonstrated utility of the approach in pioneering studies in the early 1970's. This paper reviews the status of lead isotopes in human investigations especially over the past 2 decades, the period over which most activity has taken place. Following a brief introduction to the method, examples are provided illustrating the use of lead isotopes in a wide spectrum of activities including sources and pathways of lead in diverse environments from urban to mining communities, various applications associated with pregnancy, the contribution of bone lead to blood lead including in the elderly, the half-life of lead in blood, and lead in bones and other media. A brief outline of critical research on non-human primates is also given. The lead isotope method is a powerful technique for tracing lead and could be employed more widely in human investigations

Environmental effects of human exploration of the Moon

Science.gov (United States)

Mendell, Wendell

Aerospace engineers use the term Environment to designate a set of externally imposed bound-ary conditions under which a device must operate. Although the parameters may be time-varying, the engineer thinks of the operating environment as being fixed. Any effect the device might have on the environment generally is neglected. In the case where the device is intended to measure the environment, its effect on the measured quantities must be considered. For example, a magnetometer aboard a spacecraft must be extended on a boom to minimize the disturbing influence of the spacecraft on the magnetic field, particularly if the field is weak. In contrast, Environment has taken on political and even ethical connotations in modern Western society, referring to human-induced alterations to those aspects of the terrestrial environment that are required for a healthy and productive life. The so-called Green Movement takes preservation of the environment as its mantra. Scientists are at the center of the debate on environmental issues. However, the concern of scientists over irreversible consequences of hu-man activity extend beyond ecology to preservation of cultural artifacts and to effects that alter the ability to conduct investigations such as light pollution in astronomy. The policy of Planetary Protection applied to science and exploration missions to other bodies in the solar system arises from the concern for deleterious effects in terrestrial ecology from hypothetical extraterrestrial life forms as well as overprints of extraterrestrial environments by terrestrial biology. Some in the scientific community are advocating extension of the planetary protection concept beyond exobiology to include fragile planetary environments by might be permanently altered by human activity e.g., the lunar exosphere. Beyond the scientific community, some environmentalists argue against any changes to the Moon at all, including formation of new craters or the alteration of the natural

Implications of leading crop production practices on environmental quality and human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Udeigwe, Theophilus K; Teboh, Jasper M; Eze, Peter N; Stietiya, M Hashem; Kumar, Vipan; Hendrix, James; Mascagni, Henry J; Ying, Teng; Kandakji, Tarek

2015-03-15

Globally, much weight is currently being placed on agriculture to provide food for the growing population as well as feedstock for the bioenergy industry. Unfortunately, the intensification of agricultural operations to satisfy these growing needs has been associated with a number of environmental and human health risks. A review of publications on the subject was conducted and emphasis was placed on articles focusing on agriculture, environment, and public health as well as their interactions. Supporting information was also gathered from publications of various agricultural and environmental agencies. Agricultural practices with potential negative implications on the environment and human health were identified broadly as: (a) utilization of biosolids and animal manures, (b) use of agricultural chemicals, (c) management of post-harvest residue, (d) irrigation, and (e) tillage operations. Soil, water, and air contamination by nutrients, heavy metals, pathogens, and pesticides, as well as air contamination by particulate matters, noxious gases, and pathogens were among the leading environmental impacts. Some of the human-health impacts identified included neurological and reproductive defects, cardiovascular risks, cancers and other diseases (of kidney, liver, lung, and skin), skin allergies, gastroenteritis, and methemoglobinemia. Continual awareness on the impacts of the reviewed agricultural practices on environmental quality and human health and the implementation of experimentally-backed best management practices in agricultural systems remain indispensable. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Human Factor Management Requirements and Human Error Classification for the Prevention of Railway Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, Sang Log; Park, Chan Woo; Shin, Seung Ryoung

2008-08-01

Railway accident analysis results show that accidents cased by human factors are not decreasing, whereas H/W related accidents are steadily decreasing. For the efficient management of human factors, many expertise on design, conditions, safety culture and staffing are required. But current safety management activities on safety critical works are focused on training, due to the limited resource and information. In order to improve railway safety, human factors management requirements for safety critical worker and human error classification is proposed in this report. For this accident analysis, status of safety measure on human factor, safety management system on safety critical worker, current safety planning is analysis

13 CFR 500.206 - Environmental requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) Responsibilities and procedures for preparation of an environmental assessment. (i) The Executive Director will...) Responsibilities and procedures for preparation of an environmental impact statement. (i) If after an environmental... integrated use of the natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts.” 42 U.S.C. 4332(A). If...

Integrating Environmental and Human Health Databases in the Great Lakes Basin: Themes, Challenges and Future Directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate L. Bassil

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Many government, academic and research institutions collect environmental data that are relevant to understanding the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. Integrating these data with health outcome data presents new challenges that are important to consider to improve our effective use of environmental health information. Our objective was to identify the common themes related to the integration of environmental and health data, and suggest ways to address the challenges and make progress toward more effective use of data already collected, to further our understanding of environmental health associations in the Great Lakes region. Environmental and human health databases were identified and reviewed using literature searches and a series of one-on-one and group expert consultations. Databases identified were predominantly environmental stressors databases, with fewer found for health outcomes and human exposure. Nine themes or factors that impact integration were identified: data availability, accessibility, harmonization, stakeholder collaboration, policy and strategic alignment, resource adequacy, environmental health indicators, and data exchange networks. The use and cost effectiveness of data currently collected could be improved by strategic changes to data collection and access systems to provide better opportunities to identify and study environmental exposures that may impact human health.

40 CFR 158.2150 - Microbial pesticides nontarget organisms and environmental fate data requirements table.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Microbial pesticides nontarget... Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR PESTICIDES Microbial Pesticides § 158.2150 Microbial pesticides nontarget organisms and environmental fate data...

On the development, environmental effects and human dimension of weed management strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riemens, M.M.

2009-01-01

On the development, environmental effects and human dimension of weed management strategies. On farm weed management is influenced by many factors. These factors comprise the development and availability of weed management tools, the environmental impact of these tools and the attitude and

The Socio-ecological Fit of Human Responses to Environmental Degradation: An Integrated Assessment Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Briassoulis, Helen

2015-12-01

The scientific and policy interest in the human responses to environmental degradation usually focuses on responses sensu stricto and `best practices' that potentially abate degradation in affected areas. The transfer of individual, discrete instruments and `best practices' to different contexts is challenging, however, because socio-ecological systems are complex and environmental degradation is contextual and contingent. To sensibly assess the effectiveness of formal and informal interventions to combat environmental degradation, the paper proposes an integrative, non-reductionist analytic, the `response assemblage', for the study of `responses-in-context,' i.e., products of human decisions to utilize environmental resources to satisfy human needs in socio-ecological systems. Response assemblages are defined as geographically and historically unique, provisional, open, territorial wholes, complex compositions emerging from processes of assembling biophysical and human components, including responses sensu stricto, from affected focal and other socio-ecological systems, to serve human goals, one of which may be combatting environmental degradation. The degree of match among the components, called the socio- ecological fit of the response assemblage, indicates how effectively their contextual and contingent interactions maintain the socio-ecological resilience, promote sustainable development, and secure the continuous provision of ecosystem services in a focal socio-ecological system. The paper presents a conceptual approach to the analysis of the socio-ecological fit of response assemblages and details an integrated assessment methodology synthesizing the resilience, assemblage, and `problem of fit' literature. Lastly, it summarizes the novelty, value, and policy relevance of conceptualizing human responses as response assemblages and of the integrated assessment methodology, reconsiders `best practices' and suggests selected future research directions.

Identifying Requirements for Effective Human-Automation Teamwork

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeffrey C. Joe; John O' Hara; Heather D. Medema; Johanna H. Oxstrand

2014-06-01

Previous studies have shown that poorly designed human-automation collaboration, such as poorly designed communication protocols, often leads to problems for the human operators, such as: lack of vigilance, complacency, and loss of skills. These problems often lead to suboptimal system performance. To address this situation, a considerable amount of research has been conducted to improve human-automation collaboration and to make automation function better as a “team player.” Much of this research is based on an understanding of what it means to be a good team player from the perspective of a human team. However, the research is often based on a simplified view of human teams and teamwork. In this study, we sought to better understand the capabilities and limitations of automation from the standpoint of human teams. We first examined human teams to identify the principles for effective teamwork. We next reviewed the research on integrating automation agents and human agents into mixed agent teams to identify the limitations of automation agents to conform to teamwork principles. This research resulted in insights that can lead to more effective human-automation collaboration by enabling a more realistic set of requirements to be developed based on the strengths and limitations of all agents.

Working group 4B - human intrusion: Design/performance requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Channell, J.

1993-01-01

There is no summary of the progress made by working group 4B (Human Intrusion: Design/performance Requirements) during the Electric Power Research Institute's EPRI Workshop on the technical basis of EPA HLW Disposal Criteria, March 1993. This group was to discuss the waste disposal standard, 40 CFR Part 191, in terms of the design and performance requirements of human intrusion. Instead, because there were so few members, they combined with working group 4A and studied the three-tier approach to evaluating postclosure performance

CCA 3101/4101 Environmental Humanities: The History of a Unit through an Ecopedagogical Lens

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, John Charles

2012-01-01

In 2011 the author taught, for the first time, the well-established unit CCA3101/4101 Environmental Humanities in the School of Communications and Arts at ECU (Edith Cowan University) in Western Australia. The unit has a 20-year history through associate professor Rod Giblett and parallels the development of the environmental humanities as a field…

18 CFR Appendix A to Part 380 - Minimum Filing Requirements for Environmental Reports Under the Natural Gas Act

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Requirements for Environmental Reports Under the Natural Gas Act A Appendix A to Part 380 Conservation of Power... Filing Requirements for Environmental Reports Under the Natural Gas Act Environmental Reports Under the Natural Gas Act. Resource Report 1—General Project Description 1. Provide a detailed description and...

A new approach to determine the environmental qualification requirements for the safety related equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasnaoui, C.; Parent, G.

2000-01-01

The objective of the environmental qualification of safety related equipment is to ensure that the plant defense-in-depth is not compromised by common mode failures following design basis accidents with a harsh environment. A new approach based on safety functions has been developed to determine what safety-related equipment is required to function during and after a design basis accident, as well as their environmental qualification requirements. The main feature of this approach is to use auxiliary safety functions established from safety requirements as credited in the safety analyses. This approach is undertaken in three steps: identification of the auxiliary safety functions of each main safety function; determination of the main equipment groups required for each auxiliary safety function; and review of the safety analyses for design basis accidents in order to determine the credited auxiliary safety functions and their mission times for each accident scenario. Some of the benefits of the proposed approach for the determination of the safety environmental qualification requirements are: a systematic approach for the review of safety analyses based on a safety function check list, and the insurance, with the availability of the safety functions, that Gentilly-2 defense-in-depth would not be compromised by design basis accidents with a harsh environment. (author)

Examples of coupled human and environmental systems from the extractive industry and hydropower sector interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Marcia C; Krieger, Gary R; Balge, Marci Z; Tanner, Marcel; Utzinger, Jürg; Whittaker, Maxine; Singer, Burton H

2016-12-20

Large-scale corporate projects, particularly those in extractive industries or hydropower development, have a history from early in the twentieth century of creating negative environmental, social, and health impacts on communities proximal to their operations. In many instances, especially for hydropower projects, the forced resettlement of entire communities was a feature in which local cultures and core human rights were severely impacted. These projects triggered an activist opposition that progressively expanded and became influential at both the host community level and with multilateral financial institutions. In parallel to, and spurred by, this activism, a shift occurred in 1969 with the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act in the United States, which required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for certain types of industrial and infrastructure projects. Over the last four decades, there has been a global movement to develop a formal legal/regulatory EIA process for large industrial and infrastructure projects. In addition, social, health, and human rights impact assessments, with associated mitigation plans, were sequentially initiated and have increasingly influenced project design and relations among companies, host governments, and locally impacted communities. Often, beneficial community-level social, economic, and health programs have voluntarily been put in place by companies. These flagship programs can serve as benchmarks for community-corporate-government partnerships in the future. Here, we present examples of such positive phenomena and also focus attention on a myriad of challenges that still lie ahead.

Environmental assessment for the Processing and Environmental Technology Laboratory (PETL)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) on the proposed Processing and Environmental Technology Laboratory (PETC) at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM). This facility is needed to integrate, consolidate, and enhance the materials science and materials process research and development (R ampersand D) currently in progress at SNL/NM. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

Environmental assessment for the Processing and Environmental Technology Laboratory (PETL)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) on the proposed Processing and Environmental Technology Laboratory (PETC) at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM). This facility is needed to integrate, consolidate, and enhance the materials science and materials process research and development (R&D) currently in progress at SNL/NM. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

Human and animal salmonellosis in Scotland associated with environmental contamination, 1973-79.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, W J; Forbes, G I; Paterson, G M; Sharp, J C

1981-06-27

Twenty-six incidents of salmonellosis occurring in Scotland between 1973 and 1979 and attributed to environmental pollution are reviewed. The apparent sources of pollution were sewage effluent (10 incidents), septic tank effluent (eight), sewage sludge (three), seagulls (three) and abattoir effluents (two). Cattle were the species predominantly affected. Human infection was primary in three incidents and was secondary to bovine infection in another four. Thirteen salmonella serotypes were recovered from infected humans or animals and 17 during related environmental investigations. The factors causing pollutions and possible control measures are discussed.

Human and animal salmonellosis in Scotland associated with environmental contamination, 1973-79

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reilly, W J; Forbes, G I; Paterson, G M; Sharp, J C

1981-06-27

Twenty-six incidents of salmonellosis occurring in Scotland between 1973 and 1979 and attributed to environmental pollution are reviewed. The apparent sources of pollution were sewage effluent (10 incidents), septic tank effluent (eight), sewage sludge (three), seagulls (three) and abattoir effluents (two). Cattle were the species predominantly affected. Human infection was primary in three incidents and was secondary to bovine infection in another four. Thirteen salmonella serotypes were recovered from infected humans or animals and 17 during related environmental investigations. The factors causing pollutions and possible control measures are discussed.

Environmental restoration disposal facility applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements study report. Revision 00

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeck, F.V.; Vedder, B.L.; Rugg, J.E.

1995-10-01

The Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) will be a landfill authorized under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and will comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) substantive requirements. The facility will also comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARAR), including portions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, Washington Administrative Code (WAC), and to-be-considered (TBC) elements such as U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Orders. In considering the requirements of CERCLA, a detailed analysis of various alternatives for ERDF was completed using the nine CERCLA criteria, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and public comments. The ERDF record of decision (ROD) selected an alternative that includes a RCRA-compliant double-lined trench for the disposal of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes resulting from the remediation of operable units (OU) within the National Priorities List (NPL) sites in the 100, 200, and 300 Areas. Only wastes resulting from the remediation of Hanford NPL sites will be allowed in the ERDF. Of the various siting and design alternatives proposed for ERDF, the selected alternative provides the best combination of features by balancing the nine CERCLA criteria, ARAR compliance, environmentally protective site, and various stakeholder and public recommendations. The ERDF trench design, compliant with RCRA Subtitle C minimum technical requirements (MTR), will be double lined and equipped with a leachate collection system. This design provides a more reliable system to protect groundwater than other proposed alternatives. The ERDF is located on the Hanford Site Central Plateau, southeast of the 200 West Area

Human health risk assessment (HHRA) for environmental development and transfer of antibiotic resistance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ashbolt, Nicholas J.; Amézquita, Alejandro; Backhaus, Thomas

2013-01-01

to enable human health risk assessments (HHRA) that focus on the role of the environment in the failure of antibiotic treatment caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Methods: The authors participated in a workshop held 4-8 March 2012 in Québec, Canada, to define the scope and objectives...... of an environmental assessment of antibiotic-resistance risks to human health. We focused on key elements of environmental-resistance-development "hot spots," exposure assessment (unrelated to food), and dose response to characterize risks that may improve antibiotic-resistance management options. Discussion: Various...... novel aspects to traditional risk assessments were identified to enable an assessment of environmental antibiotic resistance. These include a) accounting for an added selective pressure on the environmental resistome that, over time, allows for development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB); b...

Assessment of environmental flow requirements for river basin planning in Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Mazvimavi, D.; Madamombe, E.; Makurira, H.

There is a growing awareness and understanding of the need to allocate water along a river to maintain ecological processes that provide goods and services. Legislation in Zimbabwe requires water resources management plans to include the amount of water to be reserved for environmental purposes in each river basin. This paper aims to estimate the amount of water that should be reserved for environmental purposes in each of the 151 sub-basins or water management units of Zimbabwe. A desktop hydrological method is used to estimate the environmental flow requirement (EFR). The estimated EFRs decrease with increasing flow variability, and increase with the increasing contribution of base flows to total flows. The study has established that in order to maintain slightly modified to natural habitats along rivers, the EFR should be 30-60% of mean annual runoff (MAR) in regions with perennial rivers, while this is 20-30% in the dry parts of the country with rivers, which only flow during the wet season. The inclusion of EFRs in water resources management plans will not drastically change the proportion of the available water allocated to water permits, since the amount of water allocated to water permit holders is less than 50% of the MAR on 77% of the sub-basins in the country.

The National Environmental Policy Act and DOE's programmatic environmental impact statement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wisenbaker, W.E.

1991-01-01

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires that all agencies of the federal government prepare a detailed statement on any action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Such a statement must include the environmental impact of the proposed action, any adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided should the proposed action be implemented, and alternatives to the proposed action. In requiring environmental statements, NEPA encourages viewing related actions collectively and looking at cumulative impacts. A programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) is a broad environmental analysis of a program or policy prepared when actions are connected and may have cumulative environmental impacts. The PEIS benefits include providing input into an agency's planning and decision making, assessing potential environmental consequences of a wide range of alternatives before options have been foreclosed, and allowing consideration of systemwide impacts of various alternatives early in the decision-making process. The US Department of Energy (DOE) will prepare its PEIS on Environmental Restoration and Waste Management program. The PEIS will consider programmatic issues and integrated approaches to the program; address national, program-wide alternatives rather than site-specific actions; and provide for subsequent NEPA documents of narrower scope to be prepared to address site-specific or project-specific actions

The Socio-ecological Fit of Human Responses to Environmental Degradation: An Integrated Assessment Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Briassoulis, Helen

2015-12-01

The scientific and policy interest in the human responses to environmental degradation usually focuses on responses sensu stricto and 'best practices' that potentially abate degradation in affected areas. The transfer of individual, discrete instruments and 'best practices' to different contexts is challenging, however, because socio-ecological systems are complex and environmental degradation is contextual and contingent. To sensibly assess the effectiveness of formal and informal interventions to combat environmental degradation, the paper proposes an integrative, non-reductionist analytic, the 'response assemblage', for the study of 'responses-in-context,' i.e., products of human decisions to utilize environmental resources to satisfy human needs in socio-ecological systems. Response assemblages are defined as geographically and historically unique, provisional, open, territorial wholes, complex compositions emerging from processes of assembling biophysical and human components, including responses sensu stricto, from affected focal and other socio-ecological systems, to serve human goals, one of which may be combatting environmental degradation. The degree of match among the components, called the socio-ecological fit of the response assemblage, indicates how effectively their contextual and contingent interactions maintain the socio-ecological resilience, promote sustainable development, and secure the continuous provision of ecosystem services in a focal socio-ecological system. The paper presents a conceptual approach to the analysis of the socio-ecological fit of response assemblages and details an integrated assessment methodology synthesizing the resilience, assemblage, and 'problem of fit' literature. Lastly, it summarizes the novelty, value, and policy relevance of conceptualizing human responses as response assemblages and of the integrated assessment methodology, reconsiders 'best practices' and suggests selected future research directions.

Advancing environmental health surveillance in the US through a national human biomonitoring network.

Science.gov (United States)

Latshaw, Megan Weil; Degeberg, Ruhiyyih; Patel, Surili Sutaria; Rhodes, Blaine; King, Ewa; Chaudhuri, Sanwat; Nassif, Julianne

2017-03-01

The United States lacks a comprehensive, nationally-coordinated, state-based environmental health surveillance system. This lack of infrastructure leads to: • varying levels of understanding of chemical exposures at the state & local levels • often inefficient public health responses to chemical exposure emergencies (such as those that occurred in the Flint drinking water crisis, the Gold King mine spill, the Elk river spill and the Gulf Coast oil spill) • reduced ability to measure the impact of public health interventions or environmental policies • less efficient use of resources for cleaning up environmental contamination Establishing the National Biomonitoring Network serves as a step toward building a national, state-based environmental health surveillance system. The Network builds upon CDC investments in emergency preparedness and environmental public health tracking, which have created advanced chemical analysis and information sharing capabilities in the state public health systems. The short-term goal of the network is to harmonize approaches to human biomonitoring in the US, thus increasing the comparability of human biomonitoring data across states and communities. The long-term goal is to compile baseline data on exposures at the state level, similar to data found in CDC's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Barriers to success for this network include: available resources, effective risk communication strategies, data comparability & sharing, and political will. Anticipated benefits include high quality data on which to base public health and environmental decisions, data with which to assess the success of public health interventions, improved risk assessments for chemicals, and new ways to prioritize environmental health research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Environmental monitoring of low-level radioactive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jester, W.A.; Yu, C.

1985-01-01

The authors discuss some of the current rationale behind the environmental monitoring of low-level radioactive materials are as follows: Committee 4 of the International commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) defined three broad objectives for environmental monitoring: 1) assessment of the actual or potential exposure of humans to radioactive materials or radiation present in their environment or the estimation of the probable upper limits of such exposure; 2) scientific investigation, sometimes related to the assessment of exposures, sometimes to other objectives; 3) improved public relations. Various regulations have been written requiring environmental monitoring to ensure that the public is not being exposed to excessive amounts of radiation from natural sources or from human activities. An example of the monitoring of natural sources of radiation is a requirement of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations whereby U.S. water supply companies must have drinking water monitored at least once every four years for radionuclides, primarily the naturally occurring radium-226

28 CFR 91.57 - Actions that normally require the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Actions that normally require the preparation of an environmental impact statement. 91.57 Section 91.57 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF... process. Environmental Review Procedures ...

Environmental management requirements/defensible costs project. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-02-01

Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company (LITCO) used a systems engineering approach to develop the first formal requirements baseline for Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) Environmental Management (EM) Programs. The recently signed Settlement Agreement with the State of Idaho (Batt Agreement), along with dramatically reduced EM funding targets from Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters, drove the immediacy of this effort. Programs have linked top-level requirements to work scope to cost estimates. All EM work, grouped by decision units, was scrubbed by INEL EM programs and by an independent open-quotes Murder Board.close quotes Direct participation of upper level management from LITCO and the DOE-Idaho Operations Office ensured best information and decisions. The result is a scrubbed down, defensible budget tied to top-level requirements for use in the upcoming DOE-Headquarters' budget workout, the Internal Review Board, the FY98 Activity Data Sheets submittal, and preparation of the FY97 control accounts and out-year plans. In addition to the remarkable accomplishments during the past eight weeks, major issues were identified and documented and follow-on tasks are underway which will lead to further improvements in INEL EM program management

Environmental management requirements/defensible costs project. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-02-01

Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company (LITCO) used a systems engineering approach to develop the first formal requirements baseline for Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) Environmental Management (EM) Programs. The recently signed Settlement Agreement with the State of Idaho (Batt Agreement), along with dramatically reduced EM funding targets from Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters, drove the immediacy of this effort. Programs have linked top-level requirements to work scope to cost estimates. All EM work, grouped by decision units, was scrubbed by INEL EM programs and by an independent {open_quotes}Murder Board.{close_quotes} Direct participation of upper level management from LITCO and the DOE-Idaho Operations Office ensured best information and decisions. The result is a scrubbed down, defensible budget tied to top-level requirements for use in the upcoming DOE-Headquarters` budget workout, the Internal Review Board, the FY98 Activity Data Sheets submittal, and preparation of the FY97 control accounts and out-year plans. In addition to the remarkable accomplishments during the past eight weeks, major issues were identified and documented and follow-on tasks are underway which will lead to further improvements in INEL EM program management.

Epidemiology and quantitation of environmental risk in humans from radiation and other agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castellani, Amleto

1985-01-01

The identification and quantitation of environmental risk in humans is one of the main problems to be solved in order to improve the protection of individuals and of human populations against physical and chemical pollutants. Epidemiology plays a central role in the evaluation of health risk directly in human populations. In this volume are collected 33 lectures presented at the AS! course on ''Epidemiology and quantitation of environmental risk in humans from radiation and other agents: potential and limitations'', sponsored by NATO and Italian Association of Radiobiology and organized by ENEA. The course has been devoted to a number of aspects of environmental risk analysis and evaluation based on epidemiological investigation. Basic epidemiological concepts and methods have been reviewed. Fundamentals of dosimetry and microdosimetry were presented in relation to the contribution of epidemiology in defining the dose effect relationships for radiation carcinogenesis and its relation with age, sex and ethnicity. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis as a multi-stage process were illustrated. One of the main topics was 'cancer epidemiology' and its correlation with: - occupational and non-occupational exposure to radiation - diagnostic and therapeutic irradiation - cancer proneness - hereditary and familiar diseases - abnormal response to carcinogens - environmental pollution in air and water - exposure to radon in mines and in building material - atomic bomb explosion - chemotherapy - dioxin and related compounds

Genetic and environmental factors in experimental and human cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takayama, S.; Takebe, H.; Gelboin, H.V.; MaChahon, B.; Matsushima, T.; Sugimura, T.

1980-01-01

Recently technological advances in assaying mutagenic principles have revealed that there are many mutagens in the environment, some of which might be carcinogenic to human beings. Other advances in genetics have shown that genetic factors might play an important role in the induction of cancer in human beings, e.g., the high incidence of skin cancers in patients with xeroderma pigmentosum. These proceedings deal with the relationships between genetic and environmental factors in carcinogenesis. The contributors cover mixed-function oxidases, pharmacogenetics, twin studies, DNA repair, immunology, and epidemiology.

3. Poor countries: Breaking the cycle of poverty, environmental degradation, and human deprivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philips, R.

1992-01-01

In the poor countries, where poverty, environmental degradation, and human deprivation are closely linked and are aggravated by high population growth, measures to address these problems can be mutually reinforcing. Improvements in people's health and skills contribute to economic progress and - when available to women - to reduced births. Slower population growth increases the opportunities available to the current population, which in turn increases the people's capacity for responding to opportunities and incentives that protect the environment and promote economic development. A secure resource base and increases in nonagricultural employment opportunities - again, especially for women - in turn contribute to economic growth and to improved human prospects. Because of these synergistic relationships, simultaneously pursuing action on all fronts - investing in the development of people, promoting economic growth, and arresting massive environmental destruction - offers the possibility of turning a vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle. But the challenge is formidable and will require political commitment and a host of policies to foster equity, participation, and resource conservation. The alternative, however, may well be increased ecological disaster and poverty - and the social cleavages they create - in poor countries. People are their own best advocates when they have the opportunity. They know what they want and understand better than outsiders the local ecological, social, political, and cultural context. Initiatives that respect local knowledge, support rather than supplant local leadership, and work within existing institutions, supplementing but not replacing local wisdom with technical expertise, have the best chances of success

Environmental contamination and its impact on human health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornescu, A.

2009-01-01

Chernobyl, site of the worst accident in the history of peaceful use of atomic energy, remain, a huge danger for Europe in the overall levels of exposure to ionizing radiation continues to increase, which is demonstrated by recording new information on biological effects of exposure to radiation (Regional and global aspects of Radiation Protection, IRPA 2007). Criteria fundamental radiation, which is necessary today as result of various practical applications of nuclear energy, obliges us to carefully analyze environmental issue as a result of the presence of radioactive isotopes into the environment. This is due to the fact that the study of correlated environmental contamination and transmission vectors of radionuclides to humans is a primary means to protect public health. (authors)

Analysis the Human and Environmental Consequences of Power Pplants Using Combined Delphi and AHP Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jozi, S. A.; Saffarian, Sh.; Shafiee, M.; Akbari, A.

2016-01-01

Power plants, due to the nature of their processes and activities and also by producing the effluents, emitting the air pollutants and hazardous wastes, have the potential to cause negative human and environmental consequences. Given the importance of the issue, for determining the most important consequences of Abadan Gas Power Plant and also their impact on the human and natural environment, as a case study, a questionnaire was developed with Delphi method. This questionnaire was distributed within the environmentalists and experts of power plant. The human and environmental consequences of Power Plant were analyzed by Multiple Criteria Decision-Making methods including AHP and eigenvector technique. For this purpose, with applying of AHP method, the hierarchical structure of the human and environmental consequences of Abadan Gas Power Plant was constructed and then the decision making matrix was formed. The pair wise matrices were formed separately for criteria pair wise comparisons with respect to severity and occurrence probability of indoor and outdoor environment of power plant .With entering the data in EXPERT CHOICE software, criteria weights were computed with applying the eigenvector method. Then the final weights of consequences in terms of severity and occurrence probability of risk were computed. The results from the compution of Abadan Gas Power Plant consequences indicate that in human consequences, shallow wounds with a .105 weight and in environmental consequences, air pollution by weighing 0.66 are the most important consequences of power plant. Finally, the most important executable strategies and actions for mitigation of negative human and environmental consequences were presented.

Integrating NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) requirements during remedial responses at DOE facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levine, M.B.; Smith, E.D.; Sharples, F.E.; Eddlemon, G.K.

1990-07-01

US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.4, issued October 6, 1989, calls for integrating the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with those of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for DOE remedial actions under CERCLA. CERCLA requires that decisions on site remediation be made through a formal process called a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS). According to the DOE order, integration is to be accomplished by conducting the NEPA and CERCLA environmental planning and review procedures concurrently. The primary instrument for integrating the processes is to be the RI/FS process, which will be supplemented as needed to meet the procedural and documentational requirements of NEPA. The final product of the integrated process will be a single, integrated set of documents; namely, an RI report and an FS-EIS that satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and CERCLA. The contents of the report include (1) an overview and comparison of the requirements of the two processes; (2) descriptions of the major tasks included in the integrated RI/FS-EIS process; (3) recommended contents for integrated RI/FS-EIS documents; and (4)a discussion of some potential problems in integrating NEPA and CERCLA that fall outisde the scope of the RI/FS-EIS process, with suggestions for resolving some of these problems. 15 refs.

Integrating NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] and CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act] requirements during remedial responses at DOE facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levine, M.B.; Smith, E.D.; Sharples, F.E.; Eddlemon, G.K.

1990-07-01

US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.4, issued October 6, 1989, calls for integrating the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with those of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for DOE remedial actions under CERCLA. CERCLA requires that decisions on site remediation be made through a formal process called a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS). According to the DOE order, integration is to be accomplished by conducting the NEPA and CERCLA environmental planning and review procedures concurrently. The primary instrument for integrating the processes is to be the RI/FS process, which will be supplemented as needed to meet the procedural and documentational requirements of NEPA. The final product of the integrated process will be a single, integrated set of documents; namely, an RI report and an FS-EIS that satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and CERCLA. The contents of the report include (1) an overview and comparison of the requirements of the two processes; (2) descriptions of the major tasks included in the integrated RI/FS-EIS process; (3) recommended contents for integrated RI/FS-EIS documents; and (4)a discussion of some potential problems in integrating NEPA and CERCLA that fall outisde the scope of the RI/FS-EIS process, with suggestions for resolving some of these problems. 15 refs

Pathways of understanding: The interactions of humanity and global environmental change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobson, H.K.; Katzenberger, J.; Lousma, J.; Mooney, H.A.; Moss, R.H.; Kuhn, W.; Luterbacher, U.; Wiegandt, E.

1992-01-01

How humans, interacting within social systems, affect and are affected by global change is explored. Recognizing the impact human activities have on the environment and responding to the need to document the interactions among human activities, the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) commissioned a group of 12 scientists to develop a framework illustrating the key human systems that contribute to global change. This framework, called the Social Process Diagram, will help natural and social scientists, educators, resource managers and policy makers envision and analyze how human systems interact among themselves and with the natural system. The Social Process Diagram consists of the following blocks that constitute the Diagram's structural framework: (1) fund of knowledge and experience; (2) preferences and expectations; (3) factors of production and technology; (4) population and social structure; (5) economic systems; (6) political systems and institutions; and (7) global scale environmental processes. To demonstrate potential ways the Diagram can be used, this document includes 3 hypothetical scenarios of global change issues: global warming and sea level rise; the environmental impact of human population migration; and energy and the environment. These scenarios demonstrate the Diagram's usefulness for visualizing specific processes that might be studied to evaluate a particular global change issues. The scenario also shows that interesting and unanticipated questions may emerge as links are explored between categories on the Diagram

Pathways of Understanding: the Interactions of Humanity and Global Environmental Change

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Harold K.; Katzenberger, John; Lousma, Jack; Mooney, Harold A.; Moss, Richard H.; Kuhn, William; Luterbacher, Urs; Wiegandt, Ellen

1992-01-01

How humans, interacting within social systems, affect and are affected by global change is explored. Recognizing the impact human activities have on the environment and responding to the need to document the interactions among human activities, the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) commissioned a group of 12 scientists to develop a framework illustrating the key human systems that contribute to global change. This framework, called the Social Process Diagram, will help natural and social scientists, educators, resource managers and policy makers envision and analyze how human systems interact among themselves and with the natural system. The Social Process Diagram consists of the following blocks that constitute the Diagram's structural framework: (1) fund of knowledge and experience; (2) preferences and expectations; (3) factors of production and technology; (4) population and social structure; (5) economic systems; (6) political systems and institutions; and (7) global scale environmental processes. To demonstrate potential ways the Diagram can be used, this document includes 3 hypothetical scenarios of global change issues: global warming and sea level rise; the environmental impact of human population migration; and energy and the environment. These scenarios demonstrate the Diagram's usefulness for visualizing specific processes that might be studied to evaluate a particular global change issues. The scenario also shows that interesting and unanticipated questions may emerge as links are explored between categories on the Diagram.

Waste management programmatic environmental impact statement methodology for estimating human health risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergenback, B.; Blaylock, B.P.; Legg, J.L.

1995-05-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has produced large quantities of radioactive and hazardous waste during years of nuclear weapons production. As a result, a large number of sites across the DOE Complex have become chemically and/or radiologically contaminated. In 1990, the Secretary of Energy charged the DOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste management (EM) with the task of preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). The PEIS should identify and assess the potential environmental impacts of implementing several integrated Environmental Restoration (ER) and Waste Management (WM) alternatives. The determination and integration of appropriate remediation activities and sound waste management practices is vital for ensuring the diminution of adverse human health impacts during site cleanup and waste management programs. This report documents the PEIS risk assessment methodology used to evaluate human health risks posed by WM activities. The methodology presents a programmatic cradle to grave risk assessment for EM program activities. A unit dose approach is used to estimate risks posed by WM activities and is the subject of this document

The impact of environmental conditions on human performance: A handbood of environmental exposures. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Echeverria, D.; Barnes, V.; Bittner, A.

1994-09-01

A comprehensive review of the technical literature was conducted regarding the impact of environmental conditions on hyman performance applicable to nuclear power plant workers. The environmental conditions considered were vibration, noise, heat, cold, and light. Research staff identified potential human performance deficits (e.g., decreased dexterity, impaired vision, hearing loss, memory deficiency) along a continuum of increasing occupational exposure, ranging from exposures that result in no deficit to exposures that resulted in significant performance problems. Specific deficits were included in the report if there was sound scientific evidence that environmental exposure resulted in those performance deficits. The levels associated with each deficit were then compared to the protection afforded by existing occupational exposure standards. Volume 1 is a handbook for use by NRC inspectors to help them determine the impact of specific environmental conditions on licensee personnel performance. it discusses the units used to measure each condition, discusses the effects of the condition on task performance, presents an example of the assessment of each condition in a nuclear power plant, and discusses potential methods for reducing the effects of

Schopenhauer’s Mitleid, Environmental Outrage and Human Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Kerns

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Suffering which results from environmental exposures often evokes a sense of moral outrage. In this paper, two complementary sources of grounding for that outrage are explored: Arthur Schopenhauer's close analysis of compassion, grounded in the metaphysical identity of all being, provides explanatory grounding for moral outrage as well as for the long-recognized importance of personal narratives in human rights work. Secondly, the broadly endorsed human rights tradition provides an additional confirmatory, more public, level of validation for moral outrage. Human rights norms confirm what the experience of compassion first intuited. Three practical implications for environmental activism follow: 1 the importance of personal narratives detailing the direct impacts that environmental assaults have caused; 2 the practical value of formal, detailed human rights impact assessments specified to a given situation; and 3 the value of community-led public inquiries, such as the 2006 People's Inquiry in New Zealand (Goven et al. 2007 and the 2011 Permanent People's Tribunal (2011 in India. El sufrimiento que resulta de la exposición ambiental a menudo evoca un sentimiento de indignación moral. En este trabajo se analizan dos fuentes complementarias de nociones para la indignación: un análisis detallado de Arthur Schopenhauer sobre la compasión, basada en la identidad metafísica de todo ser, que ofrece nociones explicativas para la indignación moral, así como para la reconocida importancia de las narrativas personales en el trabajo de los derechos humanos. En segundo lugar, la ampliamente respaldada tradición de los derechos humanos proporciona una confirmación adicional y más pública del nivel de validación de indignación moral. Las normas de derechos humanos confirman lo que la experiencia de la compasión intuyó primero. A continuación, se incluyen tres implicaciones prácticas para el activismo medioambiental: 1 la importancia de las

Production of environmentally friendly aerated concrete with required construction and operational properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tkach Evgeniya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of these studies is to justify the feasibility of recycling different types of industrial waste instead of conventional expensive raw materials in production of environmentally friendly aerated concrete with required construction and operational properties. The impact of wastes from various industries on the environmental condition of affected areas, as well as the results of their environmental assessment were analyzed to determine whether these wastes could be used in production of high-performance building materials. The assessment of industrial wastes in aerated concrete production suggests that industrial wastes of hazard class IV can be recycled to produce aerated concrete. An environmentally friendly method for large-scale waste recycling, including a two-step environmentally sustainable mechanism, was developed. The basic quality indicators of the modified aerated concrete proved that the environmental safety could be enhanced by strengthening the structure, increasing its uniformity and improving thermal insulation properties. The modified non-autoclaved aerated concrete products with improved physical and operational properties were developed. They have the following properties: density – D700; class of concrete – B3.5; thermal transmittance coefficient – 0.143 W/(m·°C; frost resistance – F75.

Incorporating environmental justice measures during environmental impact statement scoping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imam, J.; Poles, J.S.

1995-01-01

Executive Order 12898, open-quote Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income populations,close-quote directs Federal agencies to make environmental justice part of their mission by involving minorities and low-income populations and by identifying and addressing as appropriate disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. In the Presidential Memorandum transmitting the Executive Order it was stated that environmental justice should be taken into consideration under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). NEPA, with its systematic approach and requirements for alternatives analysis and comprehensive public participation, has served as one of the main mechanisms for involving the public in environmental decision-making. This paper addresses challenges faced by the Department of Energy in involving minority and low-income populations in the public involvement activities associated with a national-level environmental impact statement (EIS) and suggests ways to improve agencies' incorporation of environmental justice considerations in NEPA scoping

Human Decisions: Nitrogen Footprints and Environmental Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Leach, A. M.; Bleeker, A.; Galloway, J. N.; Erisman, J.

2012-12-01

would reduce the food N footprint by ~60%. Such a reduction would result in significant lessening of the impacts of societal use of food resources on both ecosystem and human health. The personal food nitrogen footprints will then be linked to environmental effects based on the N species of the nitrogen footprint. Environmental effects considered will include global warming, air quality, drinking water quality, eutrophication, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Each of the scenarios will be scaled up to represent the full population of the United States, and the total national nitrogen reductions and the impact on environmental effects will be reported. The results of this analysis will help us begin to solve the human dimension of the nitrogen challenge by showing how different personal choices impact nitrogen losses and the environment. This information can then educate and empower consumers to make informed decisions about their food choices.

Quality assurance and reference material requirements and considerations for environmental sample analysis in nuclear forensics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swindle, D.W. Jr.; Perrin, R.E.; Goldberg, S.A.; Cappis, J.

2002-01-01

Full text: High-sensitivity nuclear environmental sampling and analysis techniques have been proven in their ability to verify declared nuclear activities, as well as to assist in the detection of undeclared nuclear activities and facilities. Following the Gulf War, the capability and revealing power of environmental sampling and analysis techniques to support international safeguards was demonstrated and subsequently adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as routine safeguards measures in safeguards inspections and verifications. In addition to having been proved useful in international safeguards, environmental sampling and analysis techniques have demonstrated their utility in identifying the origins of 'orphaned' nuclear material, as well as the origin of intercepted smuggled nuclear material. Today, environmental sampling and analysis techniques are now being applied in six broad areas to support nonproliferation, disarmament treaty verification, national and international nuclear security, and environmental stewardship of weapons production activities. Consequently, more and more laboratories around the world are establishing capabilities or expanding capabilities to meet these growing applications, and as such requirements for quality assurance and control are increasing. The six areas are: 1) Nuclear safeguards; 2) Nuclear forensics/illicit trafficking; 3) Ongoing monitoring and verification (OMV); 4) Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); 5) Weapons dismantlement/materials disposition; and 6) Research and development (R and D)/environmental stewardship/safety. Application of environmental sampling and analysis techniques and resources to illicit nuclear material trafficking, while embodying the same basic techniques and resources, does have unique requirements for sample management, handling, protocols, chain of custody, archiving, and data interpretation. These requirements are derived from needs of how data from nuclear forensics

The High-mountain Cryosphere: Environmental Changes and Human Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Shahgedanova

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Reviewed: The High-mountain Cryosphere: Environmental Changes and Human Risks Edited by Christian Huggel, Mark Carey, John J. Clague, and Andreas Kääb. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. xii + 363 pp. Hardcover: US$ 140.00, ISBN 978-1-107-06584-0. E-book: US$ 112.00, ISBN 978-1-316-35515-2.

The U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and human exposure to environmental chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Calafat, Antonia M

2012-02-01

Researchers are increasingly interested in using human biomonitoring - the measurement of chemicals, their metabolites or specific reaction products in biological specimens/body fluids - for investigating exposure to environmental chemicals. General population human biomonitoring programs are useful for investigating human exposure to environmental chemicals and an important tool for integrating environment and health. One of these programs, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted in the United States is designed to collect data on the health and nutritional status of the noninstitutionalized, civilian U.S. population. NHANES includes a physical examination, collecting a detailed medical history, and collecting biological specimens (i.e., blood and urine). These biological specimens can be used to assess exposure to environmental chemicals. NHANES human biomonitoring data can be used to establish reference ranges for selected chemicals, provide exposure data for risk assessment, and monitor exposure trends. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Screening-level assays for potentially human-infectious environmental Legionella spp.

Science.gov (United States)

In spite of the fact that Legionella species can be isolated from nonclinical settings, there is no standard method to determine whether environmental legionellae may be infectious to humans. In this study, an in vivo murine model of pneumonia and three in vitro proliferation as...

Environmental qualification design for NPP refurbishment to comply with revised licensing requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacBeth, M. J.; Hemmings, R. L.

2002-01-01

Recent Canadian Nuclear Regulatory decisions have imposed Environmental Qualification (EQ) requirements for twenty-four Reactor Building (RB) airlocks at the four-unit Pickering Nuclear Generating Station-B (PNGS-B) facility. This paper describes the EQ modification design work completed by CANATOM-NPM for the problematic aspects for such projects. The airlocks allow RB access while providing a containment boundary and are designed to prevent a potential breach of containment for all analysed station conditions. Each PNGS-B unit has three large equipment airlocks and three smaller personnel airlocks. The airlocks must function under postulated worst-case design basis accident(DBA) conditions for assigned mission durations. The design must ensure that accident conditions cannot spuriously initiate an un-requested door opening. CANATOM-NPM reviewed site data to specify the necessary EQ modifications required to satisfy licensing requirements while providing a correct and complete as-found record of the existing airlock installation. The design team assessed the installed airlocks configuration against environmental qualification requirements to finalize the list of necessary modifications. A comprehensive, cross-discipline review of proposed design changes was completed to identify any further changes required to satisfy the final EQ licensing goal. The design team also conducted a design review of the EQ modification installation strategy to integrate the design deliverables with the installation team requirements while attempting to minimize necessary outage time for EQ modification installations. This project was completed on schedule and within the cost limitations required by the client with comprehensive, high quality final design packages. Overall improvements were realized for OPG system drawings and the electronic documentation of design data. The EQ modifications designed by CANATOM-NPM will ensure the continued operation of the PNGS-B NPP past December 31

The big challenges in modeling human and environmental well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuljapurkar, Shripad

2016-01-01

This article is a selective review of quantitative research, historical and prospective, that is needed to inform sustainable development policy. I start with a simple framework to highlight how demography and productivity shape human well-being. I use that to discuss three sets of issues and corresponding challenges to modeling: first, population prehistory and early human development and their implications for the future; second, the multiple distinct dimensions of human and environmental well-being and the meaning of sustainability; and, third, inequality as a phenomenon triggered by development and models to examine changing inequality and its consequences. I conclude with a few words about other important factors: political, institutional, and cultural.

Environmental impact statements: new legal technique for environmental protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldwin, M F

1975-02-01

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has required Federal agencies to re-examine all their programs affecting the environment, to consider alternative policies, to coordinate their actions with other agencies, and to disclose their environmental analyses to the public. In short, it has attempted to change decision processes markedly, in order to respond to wide-spread public concern about a deteriorating natural and human environment. The mandates of the policy are listed, but knowing that these were not sufficient to change existing agency practices, Congress established what has been called an ''action-forcing mechanism.'' Each federal agency must ''include in every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the responsible official.'' This statement must cover the following five points as specified in Section 102(2)(c): the environmental impact of the proposed action; any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented; alternatives to the proposed action; the relationship between local and short-term uses of man's environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented. Section 102 has been considered the heart of the National Environmental Policy Act. The specific five-point environmental report--known as an environmental impact statement--is the visible evidence of an agency's compliance with the environmental policy articulated by Congress. (MCW)

Ethics and data protection in human biomarker studies in environmental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Casteleyn, Ludwine; Dumez, Birgit; Van Damme, Karel; Anwar, Wagida A

2013-08-01

Human biomarker studies in environmental health are essential tools to study the relationship between health and environment. They should ultimately contribute to a better understanding of environmentally induced adverse health effects and to appropriate preventive actions. To ensure the protection of the rights and dignity of study participants a complex legal and ethical framework is applied, consisting of several international directives, conventions, and guidelines, whether or not translated in domestic laws. Main characteristics of ethics and data protection in studies using biomarkers in the field of environmental health are summarized and current discussions on related questions and bottlenecks highlighted. In the current regulatory context, dominated by the protection of the individual study participant, difficulties are reported due to the different interpretation and implementation of the regulations of concern within and across borders. Advancement of consistency and compatibility is recommended and efforts are ongoing. An increasing demand for secondary use of data and samples poses additional challenges in finding a right balance between the individual rights of the study participants on the one hand and the common interest of, and potential benefit for the public or community at large on the other. Ethics committees could play a key role in assessing problems originating from the sometimes competing needs at individual and societal level. Building trust in science amongst (potential) study participants and within the community allows the inclusion of arguments from the societal perspective. This requires increased attention for respectful communication efforts. Striving for public participation in decision making processes may promote policy relevant research and the related translation of study results into action. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Environmental factors in causing human cancers: emphasis on tumorigenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sankpal, Umesh T; Pius, Hima; Khan, Moeez; Shukoor, Mohammed I; Maliakal, Pius; Lee, Chris M; Abdelrahim, Maen; Connelly, Sarah F; Basha, Riyaz

2012-10-01

The environment and dietary factors play an essential role in the etiology of cancer. Environmental component is implicated in ~80 % of all cancers; however, the causes for certain cancers are still unknown. The potential players associated with various cancers include chemicals, heavy metals, diet, radiation, and smoking. Lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption, exposure to certain chemicals (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorines), metals and pesticides also pose risk in causing human cancers. Several studies indicated a strong association of lung cancer with the exposure to tobacco products and asbestos. The contribution of excessive sunlight, radiation, occupational exposure (e.g., painting, coal, and certain metals) is also well established in cancer. Smoking, excessive alcohol intake, consumption of an unhealthy diet, and lack of physical activity can act as risk factors for cancer and also impact the prognosis. Even though the environmental disposition is linked to cancer, the level and duration of carcinogen-exposure and associated cellular and biochemical aspects determine the actual risk. Modulations in metabolism and DNA adduct formation are considered central mechanisms in environmental carcinogenesis. This review describes the major environmental contributors in causing cancer with an emphasis on molecular aspects associated with environmental disposition in carcinogenesis.

Effects of environmental pollutants on cellular iron homeostasis and ultimate links to human disease

Science.gov (United States)

Chronic disease has increased in the last several decades, and environmental pollutants have been implicated. The magnitude and variety of diseases indicate the malfunctioning of some basic mechanism underlying human health. Environmental pollutants demonstrate a capability to co...

Corporate sustainability: the environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadatsafavi, Hessam; Walewski, John

2013-01-01

Purpose of the Paper: The purpose of this study is to provide healthcare organizations with a new perspective for developing strategies to enrich their human resource capabilities and improve their performance outcomes. The focus of this study is on leveraging the synergy between organizational management strategies and environmental design interventions. This paper proposes a framework for linking the built environment with the human resource management system of healthcare organizations. The framework focuses on the impact of the built environment regarding job attitudes and behaviors of healthcare workers. Research from the disciplines of strategic human resource management, resource-based view of firms, evidence-based design, and green building are utilized to develop the framework. The positive influence of human resource practices on job attitudes and behaviors of employees is one mechanism to improve organizational performance outcomes. Organizational psychologists suggest that human resource practices are effective because they convey that the organization values employee contributions and cares about their well-being. Attention to employee socio-emotional needs can be reciprocated with higher levels of motivation and commitment toward the organization. In line with these findings, healthcare environmental studies imply that physical settings and features can have a positive influence on job attitudes and the behavior of caregivers by providing for their physical and socio-emotional needs. Adding the physical environment as a complementary resource to the array of human resource practices creates synergy in improving caregivers' job attitudes and behaviors and enhances the human capital of healthcare firms. Staff, evidence-based design, interdisciplinary, modeling, perceived organizational supportPreferred Citation: Sadatsafavi, H., & Walewski, J. (2013). Corporate sustainability: The environmental design and human resource management interface in

Human AP Endonuclease 1: A Potential Marker for the Prediction of Environmental Carcinogenesis Risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae Sung Park

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1 functions mainly in DNA repair as an enzyme removing AP sites and in redox signaling as a coactivator of various transcription factors. Based on these multifunctions of APE1 within cells, numerous studies have reported that the alteration of APE1 could be a crucial factor in development of human diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. In fact, the study on the combination of an individual’s genetic make-up with environmental factors (gene-environment interaction is of great importance to understand the development of diseases, especially lethal diseases including cancer. Recent reports have suggested that the human carcinogenic risk following exposure to environmental toxicants is affected by APE1 alterations in terms of gene-environment interactions. In this review, we initially outline the critical APE1 functions in the various intracellular mechanisms including DNA repair and redox regulation and its roles in human diseases. Several findings demonstrate that the change in expression and activity as well as genetic variability of APE1 caused by environmental chemical (e.g., heavy metals and cigarette smoke and physical carcinogens (ultraviolet and ionizing radiation is likely associated with various cancers. These enable us to ultimately suggest APE1 as a vital marker for the prediction of environmental carcinogenesis risk.

Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) for Environmental Development and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Amézquita, Alejandro; Backhaus, Thomas; Borriello, Peter; Brandt, Kristian K.; Collignon, Peter; Coors, Anja; Finley, Rita; Gaze, William H.; Heberer, Thomas; Lawrence, John R.; Larsson, D.G. Joakim; McEwen, Scott A.; Ryan, James J.; Schönfeld, Jens; Silley, Peter; Snape, Jason R.; Van den Eede, Christel; Topp, Edward

2013-01-01

Background: Only recently has the environment been clearly implicated in the risk of antibiotic resistance to clinical outcome, but to date there have been few documented approaches to formally assess these risks. Objective: We examined possible approaches and sought to identify research needs to enable human health risk assessments (HHRA) that focus on the role of the environment in the failure of antibiotic treatment caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Methods: The authors participated in a workshop held 4–8 March 2012 in Québec, Canada, to define the scope and objectives of an environmental assessment of antibiotic-resistance risks to human health. We focused on key elements of environmental-resistance-development “hot spots,” exposure assessment (unrelated to food), and dose response to characterize risks that may improve antibiotic-resistance management options. Discussion: Various novel aspects to traditional risk assessments were identified to enable an assessment of environmental antibiotic resistance. These include a) accounting for an added selective pressure on the environmental resistome that, over time, allows for development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB); b) identifying and describing rates of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the relevant environmental “hot spot” compartments; and c) modifying traditional dose–response approaches to address doses of ARB for various health outcomes and pathways. Conclusions: We propose that environmental aspects of antibiotic-resistance development be included in the processes of any HHRA addressing ARB. Because of limited available data, a multicriteria decision analysis approach would be a useful way to undertake an HHRA of environmental antibiotic resistance that informs risk managers. Citation: Ashbolt NJ, Amézquita A, Backhaus T, Borriello P, Brandt KK, Collignon P, Coors A, Finley R, Gaze WH, Heberer T, Lawrence JR, Larsson DG, McEwen SA, Ryan JJ, Schönfeld J, Silley P, Snape JR

Environmental Safety and Health Analytical Laboratory, Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas. Final Environmental Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-06-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) of the construction and operation of an Environmental Safety and Health (ES ampersand H) Analytical Laboratory and subsequent demolition of the existing Analytical Chemistry Laboratory building at Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality requirements contained in 40 CFR 1500--1508.9, the Environmental Assessment examined the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and discussed potential alternatives. Based on the analysis of impacts in the EA, conducting the proposed action, construction of an analytical laboratory and demolition of the existing facility, would not significantly effect the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations in 40 CFR 1508.18 and 1508.27

Requirements for quality control of analytical data for the Environmental Restoration Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engels, J.

1992-12-01

The Environmental Restoration (ER) Program was established for the investigation and remediation of inactive US Department of Energy (DOE) sites and facilities that have been declared surplus in terms of their previous uses. The purpose of this document is to Specify ER requirements for quality control (QC) of analytical data. Activities throughout all phases of the investigation may affect the quality of the final data product, thus are subject to control specifications. Laboratory control is emphasized in this document, and field concerns will be addressed in a companion document Energy Systems, in its role of technical coordinator and at the request of DOE-OR, extends the application of these requirements to all participants in ER activities. Because every instance and concern may not be addressed in this document, participants are encouraged to discuss any questions with the ER Quality Assurance (QA) Office, the Analytical Environmental Support Group (AESG), or the Analytical Project Office (APO)

User requirements for the Harmonization of Environmental Measurement Information System HEMIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crain, I.K.

1992-03-01

The purpose of this study was to define as much as possible, the functional requirements of the potential main users of the Harmonization of Environmental Measurement Information System, HEMIS. The resulting report is to be used as a basis for a rapid decision on technical approaches to system development, planning of schedule and costs, and to guide the system development and implementation process

Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) for Remedial Action at the Oak Ridge Reservation: A compendium of major environmental laws. Environmental Restoration Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Etnier, E.L.; McDonald, E.P.; Houlberg, L.M.

1993-07-01

Section 121 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 specifies that remedial actions for cleanup of hazardous substances must comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARS) or standards under federal and state environmental laws. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was placed on the National Priorities List by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 21, 1989, effective December 21, 1989. As a result of this listing, DOE, EPA, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have signed a Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) for the environmental restoration of the ORR. Section XXI(F) of the FFA calls for the preparation of a draft listing of all ARARs as mandated by CERCLA {section}121. This report supplies a preliminary list of available federal and state ARARs that might be considered for remedial response at the ORR. A description of the terms ``applicable`` and ``relevant and appropriate`` is provided, as well as definitions of chemical-, location-, and action-specific ARARS. ARARs promulgated by the federal government and by the state of Tennessee are listed in tables. In addition, the major provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air and other acts, as they apply to hazardous waste cleanup, are discussed. In the absence of ARARS, CERCLA {section}121 provides for the use of nonpromulgated federal criteria, guidelines, and advisories in evaluating the human risk associated with remedial action alternatives. Such nonpromulgated standards are classified as ``to-be-considered`` (TBC) guidance. A ion of available guidance is given; summary tables fist the available federal standards and guidance information. In addition, the substantive contents of the DOE orders as they apply to remediation of radioactively contaminated sites are discussed as TBC guidance.

7 CFR 3550.5 - Environmental requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) Policy. RHS will consider environmental quality as equal with economic, social, and other relevant factors in program development and decision-making processes. RHS will take into account potential environmental impacts of proposed projects by working with RHS applicants, other federal agencies, Indian tribes...

A decision-making framework to model environmental flow requirements in oasis areas using Bayesian networks

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Jie; Gui, Dongwei; Zhao, Ying; Lei, Jiaqiang; Zeng, Fanjiang; Feng, Xinlong; Mao, Donglei; Shareef, Muhammad

2016-09-01

The competition for water resources between agricultural and natural oasis ecosystems has become an increasingly serious problem in oasis areas worldwide. Recently, the intensive extension of oasis farmland has led to excessive exploitation of water discharge, and consequently has resulted in a lack of water supply in natural oasis. To coordinate the conflicts, this paper provides a decision-making framework for modeling environmental flows in oasis areas using Bayesian networks (BNs). Three components are included in the framework: (1) assessment of agricultural economic loss due to meeting environmental flow requirements; (2) decision-making analysis using BNs; and (3) environmental flow decision-making under different water management scenarios. The decision-making criterion is determined based on intersection point analysis between the probability of large-level total agro-economic loss and the ratio of total to maximum agro-economic output by satisfying environmental flows. An application in the Qira oasis area of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China indicates that BNs can model environmental flow decision-making associated with agricultural economic loss effectively, as a powerful tool to coordinate water-use conflicts. In the case study, the environmental flow requirement is determined as 50.24%, 49.71% and 48.73% of the natural river flow in wet, normal and dry years, respectively. Without further agricultural economic loss, 1.93%, 0.66% and 0.43% of more river discharge can be allocated to eco-environmental water demands under the combined strategy in wet, normal and dry years, respectively. This work provides a valuable reference for environmental flow decision-making in any oasis area worldwide.

CRISPR Diversity in E. coli Isolates from Australian Animals, Humans and Environmental Waters.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxim S Sheludchenko

Full Text Available Seventy four SNP genotypes and 54 E. coli genomes from kangaroo, Tasmanian devil, reptile, cattle, dog, horse, duck, bird, fish, rodent, human and environmental water sources were screened for the presence of the CRISPR 2.1 loci flanked by cas2 and iap genes. CRISPR 2.1 regions were found in 49% of the strains analysed. The majority of human E. coli isolates lacked the CRISPR 2.1 locus. We described 76 CRISPR 2.1 positive isolates originating from Australian animals and humans, which contained a total of 764 spacer sequences. CRISPR arrays demonstrated a long history of phage attacks especially in isolates from birds (up to 40 spacers. The most prevalent spacer (1.6% was an ancient spacer found mainly in human, horse, duck, rodent, reptile and environmental water sources. The sequence of this spacer matched the intestinal P7 phage and the pO111 plasmid of E. coli.

Step 1: Human System Integration Pilot-Technology Interface Requirements for Weather Management

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

This document involves definition of technology interface requirements for Hazardous Weather Avoidance. Technology concepts in use by the Access 5 Weather Management Work Package were considered. Beginning with the Human System Integration (HIS) high-level functional requirement for Hazardous Weather Avoidance, and Hazardous Weather Avoidance technology elements, HSI requirements for the interface to the pilot were identified. Results of the analysis describe (1) the information required by the pilot to have knowledge of hazardous weather, and (2) the control capability needed by the pilot to obtain hazardous weather information. Fundamentally, these requirements provide the candidate Hazardous Weather Avoidance technology concepts with the necessary human-related elements to make them compatible with human capabilities and limitations. The results of the analysis describe how Hazardous Weather Avoidance operations and functions should interface with the pilot to provide the necessary Weather Management functionality to the UA-pilot system. Requirements and guidelines for Hazardous Weather Avoidance are partitioned into four categories: (1) Planning En Route (2) Encountering Hazardous Weather En Route, (3) Planning to Destination, and (4) Diversion Planning Alternate Airport. Each requirement is stated and is supported with a rationale and associated reference(s).

Integrated approaches for determination of environmental and human risks of persistent toxic substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blaha, L.; Cupr, P.; Dusek, L.; Hilscherova, K.; Holoubek, I.; Klanova, J.

2008-01-01

Substances that are persistent and bioaccumulative often posses toxic characteristics and cause adverse human health or environmental effects. Basic objective of the long-term research project INCHEMBIOL undertaken by the Centre RECETOX are the complex studies of interactions among chemical compounds present in environmental compartments and their biological effects and studies of the fate of mainly persistent chemical compounds in the environment, their effects on the environment and living organisms including human. Destiny in this concept consists of a summary of transport (from their input in the environment, transport within the environmental compartment, where they are discharged, transport among compartments and long-range transport in the environment) and transformation processes (abiotic and biotic transformations). It also includes study of distribution equilibriums, properties conditioning their environmental behaviour, study of the transformation processes and their products. This complex approach is a part of long-term research activities of the centre RECETOX. In the contribution methods used and results obtained in exploration of the causality among chemical (presence of chemical compounds in the environment) and biological (mechanisms of effects on the living organisms) are described.

Assessing data quality for a federal environmental restoration project: Rationalizing the requirements of multiple clients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiszka, V.R.; Carlsen, T.M.

1994-07-01

Most environmental restoration projects at federal facilities face the difficult task of melding the quality assurance (QA) requirements of multiple clients, as well as dealing with historical data that are often of unknown quality. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), we have successfully integrated the requirements of our multiple clients by carefully developing a QA program that efficiently meets our clients' needs. The Site 300 Experimental Test Site is operated by LLNL in support of its national defense program. The responsibility for conducting environmental contaminant investigations and restoration at Site 300 is vested in the Site 300 Environmental Restoration Project (Site 300 ERP) of LLNL's Environmental Restoration Division. LLNL Site 300 ERP must comply with the QA requirements of several clients, which include: the LLNL Environmental Protection Department, the DOE, the US Environmental Protection Agency-Region IX (EPA), the California Regional Water Quality Control Board -- Central Valley Region, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. This comprehensive QA program was used to determine the acceptability of historical data. The Site 300 ERP began soil and ground water investigations in 1982. However, we did not begin receiving analytical quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) data until 1989; therefore, the pre-1989 data that were collected are of unknown quality. The US EPA QAMS-005/80 defines data quality as the totality of features and characteristics of data that bears on its ability to satisfy a given purpose. In the current context, the characteristics of major importance are accuracy, precision, completeness, representativeness, and comparability. Using our established QA program, we determined the quality of this historical data based on its comparability to the post-1989 data. By accepting this historical data, we were able to save a considerable amount of money in recharacterization costs

Bulk Fuel Storage Requirements for Maintenance, Repair, and Environmental Projects at Fort Hood, Texas

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Carros, Deborah

2000-01-01

This report is one in a series that addresses the accuracy and reliability of maintenance, repair, environmental, and construction requirements for bulk fuel storage and delivery systems infrastructure...

Electronic document management meets environmental restoration recordkeeping requirements: A case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burnham, S.L.

1995-01-01

Efforts at migrating records management at five Department of Energy sites operated under management by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc. for Environmental Restoration (ER) business activities are described. The corporate environment, project definition, records keeping requirements are described first. Then an evaluation of electronic document management technologies and of internal and commercially available systems are provided. Finally adopted incremental implementation strategy and lessons learned are discussed

Bacterial Human Virulence Genes across Diverse Habitats As Assessed by In silico Analysis of Environmental Metagenomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søborg, Ditte A; Hendriksen, Niels B; Kilian, Mogens

2016-01-01

of natural environments in the evolution of bacterial virulence. Twenty four bacterial virulence genes were analyzed in 46 diverse environmental metagenomic datasets, representing various soils, seawater, freshwater, marine sediments, hot springs, the deep-sea, hypersaline mats, microbialites, gutless worms......The occurrence and distribution of clinically relevant bacterial virulence genes across natural (non-human) environments is not well understood. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of homologs to bacterial human virulence genes in a variety of ecological niches to better understand the role...... in non-human environments point to an important ecological role of the genes for the activity and survival of environmental bacteria. Furthermore, the high degree of sequence conservation between several of the environmental and clinical genes suggests common ancestral origins....

Proposed environmental remediation at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-05-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment evaluating proposed environmental remediation activity at Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL-E), Argonne, Illinois. The environmental remediation work would (1) reduce, eliminate, or prevent the release of contaminants from a number of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and two radiologically contaminated sites located in areas contiguous with SWMUs, and (2) decrease the potential for exposure of the public, ANL-E employees, and wildlife to such contaminants. The actions proposed for SWMUs are required to comply with the RCRA corrective action process and corrective action requirements of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; the actions proposed are also required to reduce the potential for continued contaminant release. Based on the analysis in the EA, the DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required

A research agenda for helminth diseases of humans: social ecology, environmental determinants, and health systems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Gazzinelli

Full Text Available In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4, established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR, with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed.

International environmental governance: Lessons learned from Human Rights Institutional Reform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fauchald, Ole Kristian

2011-07-01

This report focuses on the possibility of establishing a High Commissioner for the Environment and transforming the UNEP Governing Council into a Council for the Environment. For this purpose, it considers the parallels between human rights regimes and environmental regimes. It provides a short-list of functions to be covered by a reformed environmental governance regime, and discusses how the reform can be coordinated with UNEP, as well as with the current and future institutional framework for sustainable development. The report also discusses how the reform can be related to fifteen core multilateral environmental agreements. Finally, the report considers how the reform can be carried out through a discussion of five separate options: a decision by the UN General Assembly, by the ECOSOC, or by the UNEP Governing Council, as well as through agreements between conferences of parties of environmental agreements, or directly between states. A main purpose of the report, which has been commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry for the Environment, is to provide input to the preparations for the Rio+20 Conference in 2012.(auth)

An Environmental Risk Assessment for Human-Use Trimethoprim in European Surface Waters

Science.gov (United States)

Straub, Jürg Oliver

2013-01-01

An environmental risk assessment (ERA) for the aquatic compartment in Europe from human use was developed for the old antibiotic Trimethoprim (TMP), comparing exposure and effects. The exposure assessment is based on European risk assessment default values on one hand and is refined with documented human use figures in Western Europe from IMS Health and measured removal in wastewater treatment on the other. The resulting predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) are compared with measured environmental concentrations (MECs) from Europe, based on a large dataset incorporating more than 1800 single MECs. On the effects side, available chronic ecotoxicity data from the literature were complemented by additional, new chronic results for fish and other organisms. Based on these data, chronic-based deterministic predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) were derived as well as two different probabilistic PNEC ranges. The ERA compares surface water PECs and MECs with aquatic PNECs for TMP. Based on all the risk characterization ratios (PEC÷PNEC as well as MEC÷PNEC) and risk graphs, there is no significant risk to surface waters. PMID:27029296

An Environmental Risk Assessment for Human-Use Trimethoprim in European Surface Waters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jürg Oliver Straub

2013-03-01

Full Text Available An environmental risk assessment (ERA for the aquatic compartment in Europe from human use was developed for the old antibiotic Trimethoprim (TMP, comparing exposure and effects. The exposure assessment is based on European risk assessment default values on one hand and is refined with documented human use figures in Western Europe from IMS Health and measured removal in wastewater treatment on the other. The resulting predicted environmental concentrations (PECs are compared with measured environmental concentrations (MECs from Europe, based on a large dataset incorporating more than 1800 single MECs. On the effects side, available chronic ecotoxicity data from the literature were complemented by additional, new chronic results for fish and other organisms. Based on these data, chronic-based deterministic predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs were derived as well as two different probabilistic PNEC ranges. The ERA compares surface water PECs and MECs with aquatic PNECs for TMP. Based on all the risk characterization ratios (PEC÷PNEC as well as MEC÷PNEC and risk graphs, there is no significant risk to surface waters.

Human response to environmental change in the perspective of future, global climate

Science.gov (United States)

Butzer, Karl W.

1983-05-01

Human response to severe environmental stress is conceived and implemented by individuals, but must be approved by the group. These decisions are made with respect to perceived circumstances. Societies are enmeshed within adaptive systems that provide a matrix of opportunities and constraints for a wide range of potential behavioral variability. Such systems repeatedly readjust to short-term crises, e.g., droughts, but persistent and severe environmental stress may require substantial revision of adaptive strategies. The Sahel drought of 1968-1973 is an example of a brief but severe crisis, recurring along the Saharan margins perhaps once every 30 years. Closer inspection shows links between intensified intertribal warfare and ecological stress in the lower Omo Valley. The decline of the Egyptian New Kingdom during the 12th century B.C., in response to economic stagnation, sociopolitical instability, dynastic weakness, foreign pressures, and poor Nile floods over 50-70 years, represents a more complex and fundamental modification, with systemic simplification lasting 450 years. Such insights can be applied to future, global climatic change due to increasing atmospheric CO 2. Simulation and paleoclimatic experience suggest a drier climate for the North American and Soviet breadbaskets, to threaten world food supplies at a time of maximum demographic pressures and declining resources. Public perception and remedial planning should receive the attention of Quaternary scientists, in order to preempt an involuntary, global, systemic simplification.

Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico existing environmental analyses bounding environmental test facilities.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May, Rodney A.; Bailey-White, Brenda E. (Sandia Staffing Alliance, LLC, Albuquerque, NM); Cantwell, Amber (Sandia Staffing Alliance, LLC, Albuquerque, NM)

2009-06-01

This report identifies current environmental operating parameters for the various test and support facilities at SNL/NM. The intent of this report is solely to provide the limits which bound the facilities' operations. Understanding environmental limits is important to maximizing the capabilities and working within the existing constraints of each facility, and supports the decision-making process in meeting customer requests, cost and schedule planning, modifications to processes, future commitments, and use of resources. Working within environmental limits ensures that mission objectives will be met in a manner that protects human health and the environment. It should be noted that, in addition to adhering to the established limits, other approvals and permits may be required for specific projects.

Monitoring for environmental mutagenesis in wild animals - lessons from human studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tawn, E.J.

1999-01-01

The increasing realisation that environmental monitoring practices need to demonstrate radiological protection of the whole ecosystem has led to suggestions that genotoxic techniques derived from human monitoring of radiation exposure could be applied to other animal species. Human studies have highlighted the need to establish the relationship between exposure, genetic effect and biological consequence so that different study objectives, e.g. hazard identification, dose estimation, risk evaluation, can be addressed by the application of the most appropriate and informative assay. (author)

Probabilistic integrated risk assessment of human exposure risk to environmental bisphenol A pollution sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Keng-Yen; Cheng, Yi-Hsien; Chio, Chia-Pin; Liao, Chung-Min

2016-10-01

Environmental bisphenol A (BPA) exposure has been linked to a variety of adverse health effects such as developmental and reproductive issues. However, establishing a clear association between BPA and the likelihood of human health is complex yet fundamentally uncertain. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential exposure risks from environmental BPA among Chinese population based on five human health outcomes, namely immune response, uterotrophic assay, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and behavior change. We addressed these health concerns by using a stochastic integrated risk assessment approach. The BPA dose-dependent likelihood of effects was reconstructed by a series of Hill models based on animal models or epidemiological data. We developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model that allows estimation of urinary BPA concentration from external exposures. Here we showed that the daily average exposure concentrations of BPA and urinary BPA estimates were consistent with the published data. We found that BPA exposures were less likely to pose significant risks for infants (0-1 year) and adults (male and female >20 years) with human long-term BPA susceptibility in relation to multiple exposure pathways, and for informing the public of the negligible magnitude of environmental BPA pollution impacts on human health.

ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY IN OIL COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALBU MĂDĂLINA

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Like any other industrial activity, the production of hydrocarbons affects the environment both through the performance of actual technological process and through undesired accidents, which may occur. This paper presents environmental protection as an integral part of the sustainable development concept and it outlines the matter of environmental protection in connection with oil rigs and the assessment of ecologic impact. Environmental impact is direct or indirect effect of human activity that produces a change in the direction of development of the quality status of ecosystems. Control the impact requires detailed knowledge of the phenomenon, which involves the stages of identification, estimation, evaluation, etc. This is what is intended by the general concept of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA. The orientation of the economy towards sustainable development requires achieving a growth process conducted in terms of ensuring a social welfare of the population as high ensuring time and preserving the Earth and its natural resources. The purpose of all economic activity, as well as the activities in the oil industry, is getting competitive and efficient economic outcomes in the context of environmental-economic requirements imposed by the accession of Romania to the European Union . It is located at the interface eco-efficiency economic and social efficiency, which takes into account the ecological component in economic decision making because environmental issues are inseparable from the welfare and economic processes in general.

Human-induced environmental degradation during Anthropocene in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Efe, Recep; Curebal, Isa; Soykan, Abdullah; Sönmez, Suleyman

2015-04-01

affected by humans (Sanderson et al., 2002; Braje&Erlandson, 2014). The area left in its natural state corresponds to only 15%. Due to population increase, agricultural areas shrinked, forests were destroyed, and pastures declined in size. More chemical fertilizers and agricultural pesticides were used in order to obtain more products. A greater number of machines were employed in agriculture, which led to a rise in the number of products. The human pressure on the environment in Anatolia dates back to thousands of years. Nomadic peoples on these lands have settled in the last 200 years due to settlement policies (Cürebal et al., 2015). This process saw the establishment of villages in higher and inclined areas as a result of the effects of the nomadic culture of Turkomans and other people in Anatolia. Forests in the inclined areas around these villages were destroyed and turned into agricultural areas. Machines, fertilizers, and pesticides were utilized in agricultural activities in order to produce more crops. This transformation led to an increased erosion effect, deterioration of soil, agricultural and environmental pollution (Chin et al., 2013; Hoang et al., 2014; Matteo et al., 2014). The change caused by industrialization gained ground in the 1950s in Turkey. In particular, migration from rural areas to cities gaining pace after the World War II brought about an increased human pressure in and around big cities. Areas around the cities became centers of attraction for many people. Plains around settlement areas were opened to settlement, and most industrial facilities were established there. As a consequence, first class agricultural areas were lost. Settlements and industrial areas generated large amounts of solid and liquid waste. Uncontrolled discharge of liquid waste and intensely stored solid waste caused the physical and chemical pollution of rivers, lakes, and seas to increase in Turkey and other parts of the world (Andersson et al., 2006; Steffen et al

Risk management frameworks for human health and environmental risks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jardine, Cindy; Hrudey, Steve; Shortreed, John; Craig, Lorraine; Krewski, Daniel; Furgal, Chris; McColl, Stephen

2003-01-01

A comprehensive analytical review of the risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication approaches currently being undertaken by key national, provincial/state, territorial, and international agencies was conducted. The information acquired for review was used to identify the differences, commonalities, strengths, and weaknesses among the various approaches, and to identify elements that should be included in an effective, current, and comprehensive approach applicable to environmental, human health and occupational health risks. More than 80 agencies, organizations, and advisory councils, encompassing more than 100 risk documents, were examined during the period from February 2000 until November 2002. An overview was made of the most important general frameworks for risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication for human health and ecological risk, and for occupational health risk. In addition, frameworks for specific applications were reviewed and summarized, including those for (1)contaminated sites; (2) northern contaminants; (3) priority substances; (4) standards development; (5) food safety; (6) medical devices; (7) prescription drug use; (8) emergency response; (9) transportation; (10) risk communication. Twelve frameworks were selected for more extensive review on the basis of representation of the areas of human health, ecological, and occupational health risk; relevance to Canadian risk management needs; representation of comprehensive and well-defined approaches; generalizability with their risk areas; representation of "state of the art" in Canada, the United States, and/or internationally; and extent of usage of potential usage within Canada. These 12 frameworks were: 1. Framework for Environmental Health Risk Management (US Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, 1997). 2. Health Risk Determination: The Challenge of Health Protection (Health and Welfare Canada, 1990). 3. Health Canada Decision

Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health

Science.gov (United States)

Tilman, David; Clark, Michael

2014-11-01

Diets link environmental and human health. Rising incomes and urbanization are driving a global dietary transition in which traditional diets are replaced by diets higher in refined sugars, refined fats, oils and meats. By 2050 these dietary trends, if unchecked, would be a major contributor to an estimated 80 per cent increase in global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from food production and to global land clearing. Moreover, these dietary shifts are greatly increasing the incidence of type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and other chronic non-communicable diseases that lower global life expectancies. Alternative diets that offer substantial health benefits could, if widely adopted, reduce global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, reduce land clearing and resultant species extinctions, and help prevent such diet-related chronic non-communicable diseases. The implementation of dietary solutions to the tightly linked diet-environment-health trilemma is a global challenge, and opportunity, of great environmental and public health importance.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory Operations System: Version 4.0 - system requirements specification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kashporenko, D.

1996-07-01

This document is intended to provide an operations standard for the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory OPerations System (EMSL OPS). It is directed toward three primary audiences: (1) Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) facility and operations personnel; (2) laboratory line managers and staff; and (3) researchers, equipment operators, and laboratory users. It is also a statement of system requirements for software developers of EMSL OPS. The need for a finely tuned, superior research environment as provided by the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory has never been greater. The abrupt end of the Cold War and the realignment of national priorities caused major US and competing overseas laboratories to reposition themselves in a highly competitive research marketplace. For a new laboratory such as the EMSL, this means coming into existence in a rapidly changing external environment. For any major laboratory, these changes create funding uncertainties and increasing global competition along with concomitant demands for higher standards of research product quality and innovation. While more laboratories are chasing fewer funding dollars, research ideas and proposals, especially for molecular-level research in the materials and biological sciences, are burgeoning. In such an economically constrained atmosphere, reduced costs, improved productivity, and strategic research project portfolio building become essential to establish and maintain any distinct competitive advantage. For EMSL, this environment and these demands require clear operational objectives, specific goals, and a well-crafted strategy. Specific goals will evolve and change with the evolution of the nature and definition of DOE`s environmental research needs. Hence, EMSL OPS is designed to facilitate migration of these changes with ease into every pertinent job function, creating a facile {open_quotes}learning organization.{close_quotes}

Integrating mechanistic and polymorphism data to characterize human genetic susceptibility for environmental chemical risk assessment in the 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mortensen, Holly M.; Euling, Susan Y.

2013-01-01

Response to environmental chemicals can vary widely among individuals and between population groups. In human health risk assessment, data on susceptibility can be utilized by deriving risk levels based on a study of a susceptible population and/or an uncertainty factor may be applied to account for the lack of information about susceptibility. Defining genetic susceptibility in response to environmental chemicals across human populations is an area of interest in the NAS' new paradigm of toxicity pathway-based risk assessment. Data from high-throughput/high content (HT/HC), including -omics (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) technologies, have been integral to the identification and characterization of drug target and disease loci, and have been successfully utilized to inform the mechanism of action for numerous environmental chemicals. Large-scale population genotyping studies may help to characterize levels of variability across human populations at identified target loci implicated in response to environmental chemicals. By combining mechanistic data for a given environmental chemical with next generation sequencing data that provides human population variation information, one can begin to characterize differential susceptibility due to genetic variability to environmental chemicals within and across genetically heterogeneous human populations. The integration of such data sources will be informative to human health risk assessment

Mine planning and scheduling at Ranger Uranium Mine - environmental requirements and economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bath, L.J.

1984-01-01

Ranger Uranium Mines operates an open cut located in the Northern Territory. Strict environmental controls govern all operations and the water management requirements have the greatest impact on mine planning. The two main goals of planning are to provide mill feed and to mine sufficient suitable quality waste rock for ongoing construction of the tailings dam. Early planning concentrated on staged development of the pit to provide access to as much ore as possible for a given amount of development. All waste was considered to be suitable construction material. Grade control of crusher feed was the main problem in planning, as wide variations occur in ore grade over relatively short distances. Water management for the site operates a 'no release' system for contaminated waters. Design storage has proven inadequate, and the open cut has been used as the extra storage. As construction of future stages of the tailings dam requires non-mineralised rock materials which meet specific quality criteria, the mine has had to re-examine long term planning and pit development strategies. This has entailed the collection of much data not required under normal mining conditions, such as the assaying of waste drill core. The overall impact on mine planning of the environmental regulations has been to alter the philosophy of earlier planning, making it necessary to create a new strategy for pit development with the accent on exposing waste

Impacts of environment on human diseases: a web service for the human exposome

Science.gov (United States)

Karssenberg, Derek; Vaartjes, Ilonca; Kamphuis, Carlijn; Strak, Maciek; Schmitz, Oliver; Soenario, Ivan; de Jong, Kor

2017-04-01

The exposome is the totality of human environmental exposures from conception onwards. Identifying the contribution of the exposome to human diseases and health is a key issue in health research. Examples include the effect of air pollution exposure on cardiovascular diseases, the impact of disease vectors (mosquitos) and surface hydrology exposure on malaria, and the effect of fast food restaurant exposure on obesity. Essential to health research is to disentangle the effects of the exposome and genome on health. Ultimately this requires quantifying the totality of all human exposures, for each individual in the studied human population. This poses a massive challenge to geoscientists, as environmental data are required at a high spatial and temporal resolution, with a large spatial and temporal coverage representing the area inhabited by the population studied and the time span representing several decades. Then, these data need to be combined with space-time paths of individuals to calculate personal exposures for each individual in the population. The Global and Geo Health Data Centre is taking this challenge by providing a web service capable of enriching population data with exposome information. Our web service can generate environmental information either from archived national (up to 5 m spatial and 1 h temporal resolution) and global environmental information or generated on the fly using environmental models running as microservices. On top of these environmental data services runs an individual exposure service enabling health researchers to select different spatial and temporal aggregation methods and to upload space-time paths of individuals. These are then enriched with personal exposures and eventually returned to the user. We illustrate the service in an example of individual exposures to air pollutants calculated from hyper resolution air pollution data and various approaches to estimate space-time paths of individuals.

Uncertainties in human health risk assessment of environmental contaminants: A review and perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zhaomin; Liu, Yanju; Duan, Luchun; Bekele, Dawit; Naidu, Ravi

2015-12-01

Addressing uncertainties in human health risk assessment is a critical issue when evaluating the effects of contaminants on public health. A range of uncertainties exist through the source-to-outcome continuum, including exposure assessment, hazard and risk characterisation. While various strategies have been applied to characterising uncertainty, classical approaches largely rely on how to maximise the available resources. Expert judgement, defaults and tools for characterising quantitative uncertainty attempt to fill the gap between data and regulation requirements. The experiences of researching 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) illustrated uncertainty sources and how to maximise available information to determine uncertainties, and thereby provide an 'adequate' protection to contaminant exposure. As regulatory requirements and recurring issues increase, the assessment of complex scenarios involving a large number of chemicals requires more sophisticated tools. Recent advances in exposure and toxicology science provide a large data set for environmental contaminants and public health. In particular, biomonitoring information, in vitro data streams and computational toxicology are the crucial factors in the NexGen risk assessment, as well as uncertainties minimisation. Although in this review we cannot yet predict how the exposure science and modern toxicology will develop in the long-term, current techniques from emerging science can be integrated to improve decision-making. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revitalization of Space-Related Human Factors, Environmental and Habitability Data

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Dane; Pickett, Lynn K.; Tillman, Barry; Foley, Tico

2007-01-01

The NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer (CHMO) recently directed that the agency establish crew health standards to aid in the development of requirements for future vehicles and habitats. Response to this direction includes development of a new NASA habitability and human factors standard and an accompanying design handbook. The new standard contains high-level, over-arching principles to assure its applicability and usability across all NASA development programs. The handbook will provide detailed design requirements and suggestions that will meet the standards. The information contained in NASA-STD-3000 will be updated and included in the new design handbook. In this approach, each new program will derive detailed program-specific requirements from the new standard using the handbook as a design guide and resource. With the completion of the standard, the focus of this year s effort is the development of the new handbook: Human Integration Design Handbook (HIDH). This is an opportunity for the space flight human factors and habitability community to consolidate up-to-date data for use by NASA programs and designers as well as outside researchers and policy makers looking for the next research focus. The goal of the handbook is to help NASA design and build human space flight systems which accommodate the capabilities and limitations of the crew so as to provide an environment where the crew can live and work effectively, safely, and comfortably. Handbook contents will address that primary goal, addressing unique aspects of space flight and habitation, including reduced gravity conditions, time lags, EVA systems and day/night cycles, not addressed in other standards or handbooks. The handbook will be divided into topics similar to NASA-STD-3000 (anthropometrics, architecture, workstations, etc.) and each topic area will contain elements for designers, human factors practitioners, program managers, operators, and researchers. The handbook will include the

Importance of considering riparian vegetation requirements for the long-term efficiency of environmental flows in aquatic microhabitats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Rivaes

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Environmental flows remain biased toward the traditional biological group of fish species. Consequently, these flows ignore the inter-annual flow variability that rules species with longer lifecycles and therefore disregard the long-term perspective of the riverine ecosystem. We analyzed the importance of considering riparian requirements for the long-term efficiency of environmental flows. For that analysis, we modeled the riparian vegetation development for a decade facing different environmental flows in two case studies. Next, we assessed the corresponding fish habitat availability of three common fish species in each of the resulting riparian landscape scenarios. Modeling results demonstrated that the environmental flows disregarding riparian vegetation requirements promoted riparian degradation, particularly vegetation encroachment. Such circumstance altered the hydraulic characteristics of the river channel where flow depths and velocities underwent local changes of up to 10 cm and 40 cm s−1, respectively. Accordingly, after a decade of this flow regime, the available habitat area for the considered fish species experienced modifications of up to 110 % when compared to the natural habitat. In turn, environmental flows regarding riparian vegetation requirements were able to maintain riparian vegetation near natural standards, thereby preserving the hydraulic characteristics of the river channel and sustaining the fish habitat close to the natural condition. As a result, fish habitat availability never changed more than 17 % from the natural habitat.

Human Q fever incidence is associated to spatiotemporal environmental conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.P.G. Van Leuken

2016-12-01

We conclude that environmental conditions are correlated to human Q fever incidence rate. Similar research with data from other outbreaks would be needed to more firmly establish our findings. This could lead to better estimations of the public health risk of a C. burnetii outbreak, and to more detailed and accurate hazard maps that could be used for spatial planning of livestock operations.

Human Resources Requirements for New Nuclear Power Programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodnight, Charles T.

2014-01-01

Summary: Planning to Meet HR Requirements for New Nuclear Power Programs Must Begin Early. Many years of preparation are required before the “Right Number of the Right People” … will be … “In the Right Place at the Right Time”. • Seven key steps which must be taken include: 1) Identify detailed Human Resources requirements, based on the selected site and reactor design; 2) Conduct an assessment of national capacity to develop and/or provide those resources; 3) Conduct a Gap Analysis to determine what additional steps will be needed to fill any capacity shortfalls; 4) Develop initial and recurring recruiting and training plans; 5) Begin recruiting and training; 6) Review and adjust as personnel move and/or leave; 7) Ensure adequate relationships are in place for sources of future recruiting

Examining the Extent of Environmental Compliance Requirements on Mechatronic Products and Their Implementation through Product Lifecycle Management

Science.gov (United States)

Jovanovic, Vukica

2010-01-01

The present mixed-methods study examined the opinions of industry practitioners related to the implementation of environmental compliance requirements into design and manufacturing processes of mechatronic and electromechanical products. It focused on the environmental standards for mechatronic and electromechanical products and how Product…

Environmental impacts of polluted effluents on human health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, M.S.

2005-01-01

One of the major environmental problems confronting Pakistan is water pollution. Human health is being affected by water pollution. The major sources of pollution for surface and groundwater resources are municipal sewage and industrial wastewater. The indiscriminate discharges of untreated sewage and industrial effluents into the water bodies have affected not only the water quality but also human health. Groundwater is also being contaminated by the discharge of untreated sewage into land. Water pollution is responsible for water borne diseases such as hepatitis, dysentery, typhoid, cholera, paratyphoid fever etc. This paper presents a general overview of the wastewater pollution in Pakistan, an evaluation and a specific reference to Lahore city and the effects on human health. Finally, sustainable treatment methods have been proposed to mitigate the water pollution problem. The analysis of water bodies at wastewater discharge points shows depletion of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and high levels of E. Coli. There is an evidence of groundwater pollution in many areas due to the discharge of wastewater on open land. To protect the water sources from contamination, appropriate treatment methods/treatment technologies have also been discussed in this paper. In the end conclusion and recommendations are given. (author)

Environmental impacts of polluted effluents on human health

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmad, M S [NESPAK, Lahore (Pakistan). Geo-Environmental Engineering Div.

2005-07-15

One of the major environmental problems confronting Pakistan is water pollution. Human health is being affected by water pollution. The major sources of pollution for surface and groundwater resources are municipal sewage and industrial wastewater. The indiscriminate discharges of untreated sewage and industrial effluents into the water bodies have affected not only the water quality but also human health. Groundwater is also being contaminated by the discharge of untreated sewage into land. Water pollution is responsible for water borne diseases such as hepatitis, dysentery, typhoid, cholera, paratyphoid fever etc. This paper presents a general overview of the wastewater pollution in Pakistan, an evaluation and a specific reference to Lahore city and the effects on human health. Finally, sustainable treatment methods have been proposed to mitigate the water pollution problem. The analysis of water bodies at wastewater discharge points shows depletion of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and high levels of E. Coli. There is an evidence of groundwater pollution in many areas due to the discharge of wastewater on open land. To protect the water sources from contamination, appropriate treatment methods/treatment technologies have also been discussed in this paper. In the end conclusion and recommendations are given. (author)

Strengthening the capacity of SMEs and local authorities in developing countries to tackle environmental requirements in the supply chain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sonnemann, G. [Div. of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Paris (France)

2004-07-01

UNEP DTIE, through its Life Cycle Initiative, proposes to join with industry to strengthen the capacity of the weakest economic actors in the global supply chains to tackle environmental requirements. Two particularly important target groups for this project are SMEs and local authorities. Although the SMEs are the immediate actors, they need appropriate political institutions to provide an enabling framework. Multinational companies are continuously increasing the environmental requirements that their suppliers have to meet in order to provide a green image for the final product reaching western markets. Some multinational companies have accompanied these requirements with information and training of suppliers. By joining with UNEP they will be able to expand the effectiveness of their outreach and also gain greater visibility for their environmental policies. For SMEs this project is an opportunity to develop environmental management expertise and thus position themselves as reliable suppliers to leading companies. (orig.)

Environmental and human exposure as a result of radioactive discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-02-01

Nuclear accidents can lead to the discharge of radioactive particulates, gases, and liquid effluents into the environment. Effluents are characterized by their composition, duration and by other characteristics which can influence the dispersion of radioactivity in the environment. Populations can be exposed directly or through the contamination of the terrestrial and aquatic environments. Therefore, it is necessary to take into consideration both the environmental contamination pathways and the human contamination pathways through the environment. This document summarizes these different pathways: contamination by atmospheric discharge (surface contamination, surface waters, terrestrial fauna and flora); contamination by liquid discharge; spreading of contaminated areas; human contamination pathways (external irradiation, internal contamination, skin contamination). (J.S.)

Final report on the Project Research 'Assessment of Human Exposure to Environmental Radiation'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-03-01

This is the final report of the Project Research, 'Assessment of Human Exposure to Environmental Radiation', which has been conducted during the period 1983-1988. With the objective of assessing risk of environmental radioactivity to the population, the Project was divided into the following five research groups: (1) research for establishing calculation models and parameters in transfer of radionuclides from crop species through the human body; (2) research for analyzing transfer of radionuclides in the ocean and their contributions to exposure doses in the human body; (3) research for surveying accuracy of exposure models for the external body and respiratory organ and the influential factors; (4) research for determining uptake and biokinetics of radionuclides in the body; and (5) research for estimating and evaluating physical and physiological characteristics of reference Japanese man and the populaltion doses. Effluents from nuclear power plants and reprocessing plants were regarded as radionuclide sources in the water and atmosphere. (N.K.)

An Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Simulating Human Exposure to Environmental Stresses in Urban Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Emlyn Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Several approaches have been used to assess potential human exposure to environmental stresses and achieve optimal results under various conditions, such as for example, for different scales, groups of people, or points in time. A thorough literature review in this paper identifies the research gap regarding modeling approaches for assessing human exposure to environment stressors, and it indicates that microsimulation tools are becoming increasingly important in human exposure assessments of urban environments, in which each person is simulated individually and continuously. The paper further describes an agent-based model (ABM framework that can dynamically simulate human exposure levels, along with their daily activities, in urban areas that are characterized by environmental stresses such as air pollution and heat stress. Within the framework, decision-making processes can be included for each individual based on rule-based behavior in order to achieve goals under changing environmental conditions. The ideas described in this paper are implemented in a free and open source NetLogo platform. A basic modeling scenario of the ABM framework in Hamburg, Germany, demonstrates its utility in various urban environments and individual activity patterns, as well as its portability to other models, programs, and frameworks. The prototype model can potentially be extended to support environmental incidence management through exploring the daily routines of different groups of citizens, and comparing the effectiveness of different strategies. Further research is needed to fully develop an operational version of the model.

Access to human, animal, and environmental journals is still limited for the One Health community*

Science.gov (United States)

Vreeland, Carol E.; Alpi, Kristine M.; Pike, Caitlin A.; Whitman, Elisabeth E.; Kennedy-Stoskopf, Suzanne

2016-01-01

Objective “One Health” is an interdisciplinary approach to evaluating and managing the health and well-being of humans, animals, and the environments they share that relies on knowledge from the domains of human health, animal health, and the environmental sciences. The authors' objective was to evaluate the extent of open access (OA) to journal articles in a sample of literature from these domains. We hypothesized that OA to articles in human health or environmental journals was greater than access to animal health literature. Methods A One Health seminar series provided fifteen topics. One librarian translated each topic into a search strategy and searched four databases for articles from 2011 to 2012. Two independent investigators assigned each article to human health, the environment, animal health, all, other, or combined categories. Article and journal-level OA were determined. Each journal was also assigned a subject category and its indexing evaluated. Results Searches retrieved 2,651 unique articles from 1,138 journals; 1,919 (72%) articles came from 406 journals that contributed more than 1 article. Seventy-seven (7%) journals dealt with all 3 One Health domains; the remaining journals represented human health 487 (43%), environment 172 (15%), animal health 141 (12%), and other/combined categories 261 (23%). The proportion of OA journals in animal health (40%) differed significantly from journals categorized as human (28%), environment (28%), and more than 1 category (29%). The proportion of OA for articles by subject categories ranged from 25%–34%; only the difference between human (34%) and environment (25%) was significant. Conclusions OA to human health literature is more comparable to animal health than hypothesized. Environmental journals had less OA than anticipated. PMID:27076796

Access to human, animal, and environmental journals is still limited for the One Health community.

Science.gov (United States)

Vreeland, Carol E; Alpi, Kristine M; Pike, Caitlin A; Whitman, Elisabeth E; Kennedy-Stoskopf, Suzanne

2016-04-01

"One Health" is an interdisciplinary approach to evaluating and managing the health and well-being of humans, animals, and the environments they share that relies on knowledge from the domains of human health, animal health, and the environmental sciences. The authors' objective was to evaluate the extent of open access (OA) to journal articles in a sample of literature from these domains. We hypothesized that OA to articles in human health or environmental journals was greater than access to animal health literature. A One Health seminar series provided fifteen topics. One librarian translated each topic into a search strategy and searched four databases for articles from 2011 to 2012. Two independent investigators assigned each article to human health, the environment, animal health, all, other, or combined categories. Article and journal-level OA were determined. Each journal was also assigned a subject category and its indexing evaluated. Searches retrieved 2,651 unique articles from 1,138 journals; 1,919 (72%) articles came from 406 journals that contributed more than 1 article. Seventy-seven (7%) journals dealt with all 3 One Health domains; the remaining journals represented human health 487 (43%), environment 172 (15%), animal health 141 (12%), and other/combined categories 261 (23%). The proportion of OA journals in animal health (40%) differed significantly from journals categorized as human (28%), environment (28%), and more than 1 category (29%). The proportion of OA for articles by subject categories ranged from 25%-34%; only the difference between human (34%) and environment (25%) was significant. OA to human health literature is more comparable to animal health than hypothesized. Environmental journals had less OA than anticipated.

[Characterization of the training and practice of human talent working in environmental health in Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Agudelo-Calderón, Carlos A; García-Ubaque, Juan C; Robledo-Martínez, Rocío; García-Ubaque, Cesar A; Vaca, Martha L

2015-07-01

Objectives To characterize the peculiarities in the training, exercise, and performance of human talent working in environmental health in Colombia. Method Documentary and database reviews. Surveys and semi-structured interviews. Results Approximately 70 % of professionals in the area of environmental health work in health management, food engineering, environmental engineering, sanitary engineering, veterinary medicine, and pharmaceutical chemistry. 63 % of technologists belong to the field of sanitation technology. Only 20 % of surveyed educational institutions apply the competence approach to training to their students and the identification of occupational characteristics in the labor market is only used at the undergraduate level as a criterion of academic analysis and design. Only 20 % of educational institutions identify educational trends in Colombian and or international environmental health as a contribution to their programs. In prospective practices, the following topics to be strengthened were identified: risk factor identfication, measurement, and control; design and implementation of mechanisms for controlling environmental risks; forms of interdisciplinary work between the natural, social and health sciences; preventative and environmental protection measures and the concept of environment (natural, social, and cultural). Conclusion The human talent currently working in environmental health in the country is concentrated in primary care activities (inspection, monitoring and control) and a large spread exists in mission processes and competences, both professionally and technologically. A lack of coordination between the environmental sector and the education sector can be observed. A great diversity exists among the profiles offered by the different educational programs related to environmental health.

Landscape requirements of a primate population in a human-dominated environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoffman Tali S

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction As urban and rural land development become widespread features of the global landscape so an understanding of the landscape requirements of displaced and isolated wildlife species becomes increasingly important for conservation planning. In the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, rapid human population growth, and the associated urban and rural land transformation, threatens the sustainability of the local chacma baboon population. Here we analyse spatial data collected from nine of the 12 extant troops to determine their population-level landscape requirements. We use hurdle models to ascertain the key landscape features influencing baboon occurrence and abundance patterns on two hierarchical spatial scales. Results Both spatial scales produced similar results that were ecologically reliable and interpretable. The models indicated that baboons were more likely to occur, and be more abundant, at low altitudes, on steep slopes and in human-modified habitats. The combination of these landscape variables provides baboons with access to the best quality natural and anthropogenic food sources in close proximity to one another and suitable sleeping sites. Surface water did not emerge as an influential landscape feature presumably as the area is not water stressed. Conclusions The model results indicate that land development in the Cape Peninsula has pushed baboons into increasingly marginal natural habitat while simultaneously providing them with predictable and easily accessible food sources in human-modified habitats. The resultant spatial competition between humans and baboons explains the high levels of human-baboon conflict and further erosion of the remaining land fragments is predicted to exacerbate competition. This study demonstrates how the quantification of animal landscape requirements can provide a mechanism for identifying priority conservation areas at the human-wildlife interface.

78 FR 55230 - Safety and Environmental Management System Requirements for Vessels on the U.S. Outer Continental...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-10

...\\ including the regulation of workplace safety and health.\\2\\ The Coast Guard's regulatory authority extends... 147 [Docket No. USCG-2012-0779] RIN 1625-AC05 Safety and Environmental Management System Requirements... a vessel-specific Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) that incorporates the management...

Human Environmental Disease Network: A computational model to assess toxicology of contaminants.

Science.gov (United States)

Taboureau, Olivier; Audouze, Karine

2017-01-01

During the past decades, many epidemiological, toxicological and biological studies have been performed to assess the role of environmental chemicals as potential toxicants associated with diverse human disorders. However, the relationships between diseases based on chemical exposure rarely have been studied by computational biology. We developed a human environmental disease network (EDN) to explore and suggest novel disease-disease and chemical-disease relationships. The presented scored EDN model is built upon the integration of systems biology and chemical toxicology using information on chemical contaminants and their disease relationships reported in the TDDB database. The resulting human EDN takes into consideration the level of evidence of the toxicant-disease relationships, allowing inclusion of some degrees of significance in the disease-disease associations. Such a network can be used to identify uncharacterized connections between diseases. Examples are discussed for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Additionally, this computational model allows confirmation of already known links between chemicals and diseases (e.g., between bisphenol A and behavioral disorders) and also reveals unexpected associations between chemicals and diseases (e.g., between chlordane and olfactory alteration), thus predicting which chemicals may be risk factors to human health. The proposed human EDN model allows exploration of common biological mechanisms of diseases associated with chemical exposure, helping us to gain insight into disease etiology and comorbidity. This computational approach is an alternative to animal testing supporting the 3R concept.

Development of concepts for human labour accounting in Emergy Assessment and other Environmental Sustainability Assessment methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamp, Andreas; Morandi, Fabiana; Østergård, Hanne

2016-01-01

of labour intensive processes and a systematic underestimation of environmental impacts has implications for decision-making. A brief review of the evaluation of human labour in ESAs reveals that only Emergy Assessment (EmA) accounts for labour as standard. Focussing on EmA, we find, however......Human labour is central to the functioning of any human-influenced process. Nevertheless, Environmental Sustainability Assessments (ESAs) do not systematically include human labour as an input. Systematic omission of labour inputs in ESAs may constitute an unfortunate, significant bias in favour......, that there is no agreement on the calculation method for labour. We formalise the calculation of human labour unit emergy values (UEVs) as being the ratio between the emergy resource basis of the labour system and a proxy for labour, with or without allocation to account for different qualities of labour. The formalised...

Genetic relatedness of Legionella longbeachae isolates from human and environmental sources in Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanser, J.A.; Doyle, R.; Sangster, N.; Steele, T.W.; Adams, M.

1990-01-01

The genetic relatedness of Legionella longbeachae isolated in Australia since 1987 was investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and allozyme electrophoresis. Three radiolabeled probes were used in Southern hybridizations for the RFLP studies. They were Escherichia coli 16S and 23S rRNA and cloned fragments of L. longbeachae selected empirically from genomal banks in lambda and a cosmid. The legionellae included in the study comprised 11 Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1 organisms isolated form humans, 28 L. longbeachae serogroup 1 isolates from environmental sources, 3 L. longbeachae serogroup 2 environmental isolates. These were compared with the American Type Culture Collection reference strains of both serogroups and some other related Legionella species. Results of allozyme and RFLP analysis showed that all the isolates from humans and all but three of the environmental L. longbeachae serogroup 1 isolates were closely related. They were also closely related to L. longbeachae serogroup 1 ATCC 33462. There was wider variation among the three L. longbeachae serogroup 2 environmental isolates. One of these was closely related to L. longbeachae serogroup 2 ATCC 33484. RFLP studies with the rRNA probe provided the most discrimination among isolates but did not distinguish between the two serogroups

Comparative environmental and human health evaluations of thermolysis and solvolysis recycling technologies of carbon fiber reinforced polymer waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Y F

2018-06-01

This quantitative research aims to compare environmental and human health impacts associated with two recycling technologies of CFRP waste. The 'baseline' recycling technology is the conventional thermolysis process via pyrolysis and the 'alternative' recycling technology is an emerging chemical treatment via solvolysis using supercritical water (SCW) to digest the thermoset matrix. Two Gate-to-Gate recycling models are developed using GaBi LCA platform. The selected functional unit (FU) is 1 kg CFRP waste and the geographical boundary of this comparative LCIA is defined to be within the U.S. The results of this comparative assessment brought to light new insights about the environmental and human health impacts of CFRP waste recycling via solvolysis using SCW and, therefore, helped close a gap in the current state of knowledge about sustainability of SCW-based solvolysis as compared to pyrolysis. Two research questions are posed to identify whether solvolysis recycling offers more environmental and human health gains relative to the conventional pyrolysis recycling. These research questions lay the basis for formulating two null hypotheses (H 0,1 and H 0,2 ) and their associated research hypotheses (H 1,1 and H 1,2 ). LCIA results interpretation included 'base case' scenarios, 'sensitivity studies,' and 'scenarios analysis.' The results revealed that: (a) recycling via solvolysis using SCW exhibits no gains in environmental and human health impacts relative to those impacts associated with recycling via pyrolysis and (b) use of natural gas in lieu of electricity for pyrolyzer's heating reduces the environmental and human health impacts by 37% (lowest) and up to 95.7% (highest). It is recommended that on-going experimental efforts that focus only on identifying the best solvent for solvolysis-based recycling should also consider quantification of the energy intensity as well as environmental and human health impacts of the proposed solvents. Copyright © 2018

Treatment of human-computer interface in a decision support system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heger, A.S.; Duran, F.A.; Cox, R.G.

1992-01-01

One of the most challenging applications facing the computer community is development of effective adaptive human-computer interface. This challenge stems from the complex nature of the human part of this symbiosis. The application of this discipline to the environmental restoration and waste management is further complicated due to the nature of environmental data. The information that is required to manage environmental impacts of human activity is fundamentally complex. This paper will discuss the efforts at Sandia National Laboratories in developing the adaptive conceptual model manager within the constraint of the environmental decision-making. A computer workstation, that hosts the Conceptual Model Manager and the Sandia Environmental Decision Support System will also be discussed

Land use change in China: implication for human-environmental interactions

Science.gov (United States)

cui, Xuefeng

2013-04-01

China's land use has undergone significant changes in history due to the continuous transformations caused by natural and human factors. This paper will review the history of land use changes in China during the past 300 years to identify the major transition periods and discuss the implications for environmental management. Population changes are found to be the primary driving factor in cropland expansion and deforestation in history for a long period. In 1950s, after the foundation of the Republic of China, all land use types experience a huge transition showing the determination of socio-economic policies in modern time after agricultural intensifications. Several current environmental policy in China will also be discussed to explore the effect of policy on land use changes.

Large Scale Computing and Storage Requirements for Biological and Environmental Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DOE Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program Office (BER),

2009-09-30

In May 2009, NERSC, DOE's Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), and DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) held a workshop to characterize HPC requirements for BER-funded research over the subsequent three to five years. The workshop revealed several key points, in addition to achieving its goal of collecting and characterizing computing requirements. Chief among them: scientific progress in BER-funded research is limited by current allocations of computational resources. Additionally, growth in mission-critical computing -- combined with new requirements for collaborative data manipulation and analysis -- will demand ever increasing computing, storage, network, visualization, reliability and service richness from NERSC. This report expands upon these key points and adds others. It also presents a number of"case studies" as significant representative samples of the needs of science teams within BER. Workshop participants were asked to codify their requirements in this"case study" format, summarizing their science goals, methods of solution, current and 3-5 year computing requirements, and special software and support needs. Participants were also asked to describe their strategy for computing in the highly parallel,"multi-core" environment that is expected to dominate HPC architectures over the next few years.

Effect of the Environmental Stimuli upon the Human Body in Winter Outdoor Thermal Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshihito Kurazumi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In order to manage the outdoor thermal environment with regard to human health and the environmental impact of waste heat, quantitative evaluations are indispensable. It is necessary to use a thermal environment evaluation index. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and winter outdoor thermal environment variables. Subjective experiments were conducted in the winter outdoor environment. Environmental factors and human psychological responses were measured. The relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and the outdoor thermal environment index ETFe (enhanced conduction-corrected modified effective temperature in winter was shown. The variables which influence the thermal sensation vote of the human body are air temperature, long-wave thermal radiation and short-wave solar radiation. The variables that influence the thermal comfort vote of the human body are air temperature, humidity, short-wave solar radiation, long-wave thermal radiation, and heat conduction. Short-wave solar radiation, and heat conduction are among the winter outdoor thermal environment variables that affect psychological responses to heat. The use of thermal environment evaluation indices that comprise short-wave solar radiation and heat conduction in winter outdoor spaces is a valid approach.

Effect of the Environmental Stimuli upon the Human Body in Winter Outdoor Thermal Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kurazumi, Yoshihito; Kondo, Emi; Ishii, Jin; Sakoi, Tomonori; Fukagawa, Kenta; Bolashikov, Zhecho Dimitrov; Tsuchikawa, Tadahiro; Matsubara, Naoki; Horikoshi, Tetsumi

2013-01-01

In order to manage the outdoor thermal environment with regard to human health and the environmental impact of waste heat, quantitative evaluations are indispensable. It is necessary to use a thermal environment evaluation index. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and winter outdoor thermal environment variables. Subjective experiments were conducted in the winter outdoor environment. Environmental factors and human psychological responses were measured. The relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and the outdoor thermal environment index ETFe (enhanced conduction-corrected modified effective temperature) in winter was shown. The variables which influence the thermal sensation vote of the human body are air temperature, long-wave thermal radiation and short-wave solar radiation. The variables that influence the thermal comfort vote of the human body are air temperature, humidity, short-wave solar radiation, long-wave thermal radiation, and heat conduction. Short-wave solar radiation, and heat conduction are among the winter outdoor thermal environment variables that affect psychological responses to heat. The use of thermal environment evaluation indices that comprise short-wave solar radiation and heat conduction in winter outdoor spaces is a valid approach. PMID:23861691

Models and data requirements for human reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-03-01

It has been widely recognised for many years that the safety of the nuclear power generation depends heavily on the human factors related to plant operation. This has been confirmed by the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Both these cases revealed how human actions can defeat engineered safeguards and the need for special operator training to cover the possibility of unexpected plant conditions. The importance of the human factor also stands out in the analysis of abnormal events and insights from probabilistic safety assessments (PSA's), which reveal a large proportion of cases having their origin in faulty operator performance. A consultants' meeting, organized jointly by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) was held at IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria, December 7-11, 1987, with the aim of reviewing existing models used in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) and of identifying the data required. The report collects both the contributions offered by the members of the Expert Task Force and the findings of the extensive discussions that took place during the meeting. Refs, figs and tabs

Human CD4+ T cells require exogenous cystine for glutathione and DNA synthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levring, Trine B; Kongsbak-Wismann, Martin; Rode, Anna Kathrine Obelitz

2015-01-01

. The aim of this study was to elucidate why activated human T cells require exogenous Cys2 in order to proliferate. We activated purified naïve human CD4+ T cells and found that glutathione (GSH) levels and DNA synthesis were dependent on Cys2 and increased in parallel with increasing concentrations of Cys......Adaptive immune responses require activation and expansion of antigen-specific T cells. Whereas early T cell activation is independent of exogenous cystine (Cys2), T cell proliferation is dependent of Cys2. However, the exact roles of Cys2 in T cell proliferation still need to be determined...... for the activity of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), the enzyme responsible for generation of the deoxyribonucleotide DNA building blocks. In conclusion, we show that activated human T cells require exogenous Cys2 to proliferate and that this is partly explained by the fact that Cys2 is required for production...

Influence of Humans on Evolution and Mobilization of Environmental Antibiotic Resistome

Science.gov (United States)

Gaze, William H.; Krone, Stephen M.; Larsson, D.G. Joakim; Li, Xian-Zhi; Robinson, Joseph A.; Simonet, Pascal; Smalla, Kornelia; Timinouni, Mohammed; Topp, Ed; Wellington, Elizabeth M.; Zhu, Yong-Guan

2013-01-01

The clinical failure of antimicrobial drugs that were previously effective in controlling infectious disease is a tragedy of increasing magnitude that gravely affects human health. This resistance by pathogens is often the endpoint of an evolutionary process that began billions of years ago in non–disease-causing microorganisms. This environmental resistome, its mobilization, and the conditions that facilitate its entry into human pathogens are at the heart of the current public health crisis in antibiotic resistance. Understanding the origins, evolution, and mechanisms of transfer of resistance elements is vital to our ability to adequately address this public health issue. PMID:23764294

Requirements to micro-unmanned aircraft systems in civil protection and environmental monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fischer-Stabel, Peter; Hardt, Christopher [Univ. of Applied Sciences Trier, Birkenfeld (Germany). Dept. of Environmental Planning

2013-07-01

Especially in application fields such as environmental monitoring or in the field of information and operations management with technical or natural disasters, increased demands on communication and sensor technology to micro unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are given. These are currently covered by the system manufacturers, however inadequately. The use case of wildlife monitoring with micro UAS comes with some special requirements and problems, addressed in this paper. (orig.)

The Impact of Environmental Design on Doffing Personal Protective Equipment in a Healthcare Environment: A Formative Human Factors Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Herlihey, Tracey A; Gelmi, Stefano; Cafazzo, Joseph A; Hall, Trevor N T

2017-06-01

OBJECTIVE To explore the impact of environmental design on doffing personal protective equipment in a simulated healthcare environment. METHODS A mixed-methods approach was used that included human-factors usability testing and qualitative questionnaire responses. A patient room and connecting anteroom were constructed for testing purposes. This experimental doffing area was designed to overcome the environmental failures identified in a previous study and was not constructed based on any generalizable hospital standard. RESULTS In total, 72 healthcare workers from Ontario, Canada, took part in the study and tested the simulated doffing area. The following environmental design changes were tested and were deemed effective: increasing prominence of color-coded zones; securing disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer; outlining disposal bins locations; providing mirrors to detect possible contamination; providing hand rails to assist with doffing; and restricting the space to doff. Further experimentation and iterative design are required with regard to several important features: positioning the disposal bins for safety, decreasing the risk of contamination and user accessibility; optimal positioning of mirrors for safety; communication within the team; and positioning the secondary team member for optimal awareness. Additional design suggestions also emerged during this study, and they require future investigation. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the importance of the environment on doffing personal protective equipment in a healthcare setting. Iterative testing and modification of the design of the environment (doffing area) are important to enhancing healthcare worker safety. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:712-717.

Investigational new drug safety reporting requirements for human drug and biological products and safety reporting requirements for bioavailability and bioequivalence studies in humans. Final rule.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-29

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations governing safety reporting requirements for human drug and biological products subject to an investigational new drug application (IND). The final rule codifies the agency's expectations for timely review, evaluation, and submission of relevant and useful safety information and implements internationally harmonized definitions and reporting standards. The revisions will improve the utility of IND safety reports, reduce the number of reports that do not contribute in a meaningful way to the developing safety profile of the drug, expedite FDA's review of critical safety information, better protect human subjects enrolled in clinical trials, subject bioavailability and bioequivalence studies to safety reporting requirements, promote a consistent approach to safety reporting internationally, and enable the agency to better protect and promote public health.

Impact of environmental radiation on human health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shekhawat, Jyotsna

2012-01-01

A clean environment is essential for human health because the interaction between the environment and human health shows the complexity. Air pollution, less water quality, noise etc directly affects the health. Climate change, depletion of ozone layer, loss of biodiversity and degradation of land can also affect human health. Most of the modern technologies produce radiations in the environment having both beneficial and harmful effects through radioactive material. Natural radioactive sources include Cosmic radiation comes from the sun and outer space is absorbed by the atmosphere, a small amount reaches the earth's surface to which we are exposed. The exposure to this type of radiation is higher for people living above sea level. Radon is produced through the decay of uranium and thorium that are found naturally in the earth's crust. Primordial and terrestrial radiation are present in rocks and soils and occur when naturally radioactive isotopes of uranium, thorium and potassium decay within the earth's crust. Artificial (or man-made) radioactive sources include Fallout radiation, which results from past atmospheric nuclear bomb tests (1950s and 1960s many test explosions). Each environmental change, whether occurring as a natural phenomenon or through human intervention, changes the ecological balance and context within which disease hosts or vectors and parasites breed, develop, transmit disease. Today, radiation is a common used in medicine to diagnose illnesses, research to treat diseases and industry to generate electricity in nuclear power reactors. Radiation is energy that moves through space or matter at a very high speed. This energy can be in the form of particles, such as alpha or beta particles, which are emitted from radioisotopes. Radioactive Material is material that contains an unstable atomic nucleus releases radiation in the process of changing to a stable form. There are two types of health effects from radiation - threshold and non threshold

Handling of Environmental Related Requirements : Awareness and Ability to Act at Small and Medium Sized Electric and Electronic Companies

OpenAIRE

Lin, Han-Hsuan

2008-01-01

Environmental related product requirements are increasing worldwide from government authorities, customers and other stakeholders. For small and medium sized companies manufacturing electric and electronic products it is more difficult compared to bigger companies to meet new product related requirements due to smaller budget, resources and knowledge. This research studies the awareness and ability to act upon changes when small and medium sized companies in Sweden face environmental related ...

COST action TD1407: network on technology-critical elements (NOTICE)--from environmental processes to human health threats.

Science.gov (United States)

Cobelo-García, A; Filella, M; Croot, P; Frazzoli, C; Du Laing, G; Ospina-Alvarez, N; Rauch, S; Salaun, P; Schäfer, J; Zimmermann, S

2015-10-01

The current socio-economic, environmental and public health challenges that countries are facing clearly need common-defined strategies to inform and support our transition to a sustainable economy. Here, the technology-critical elements (which includes Ga, Ge, In, Te, Nb, Ta, Tl, the Platinum Group Elements and most of the rare-earth elements) are of great relevance in the development of emerging key technologies-including renewable energy, energy efficiency, electronics or the aerospace industry. In this context, the increasing use of technology-critical elements (TCEs) and associated environmental impacts (from mining to end-of-life waste products) is not restricted to a national level but covers most likely a global scale. Accordingly, the European COST Action TD1407: Network on Technology-Critical Elements (NOTICE)-from environmental processes to human health threats, has an overall objective for creating a network of scientists and practitioners interested in TCEs, from the evaluation of their environmental processes to understanding potential human health threats, with the aim of defining the current state of knowledge and gaps, proposing priority research lines/activities and acting as a platform for new collaborations and joint research projects. The Action is focused on three major scientific areas: (i) analytical chemistry, (ii) environmental biogeochemistry and (iii) human exposure and (eco)-toxicology.

An Extended Chemical Plant Environmental Protection Game on Addressing Uncertainties of Human Adversaries

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Rongxiao; Chen, Feiran; Wang, Yiping; Qiu, Xiaogang

2018-01-01

Chemical production activities in industrial districts pose great threats to the surrounding atmospheric environment and human health. Therefore, developing appropriate and intelligent pollution controlling strategies for the management team to monitor chemical production processes is significantly essential in a chemical industrial district. The literature shows that playing a chemical plant environmental protection (CPEP) game can force the chemical plants to be more compliant with environmental protection authorities and reduce the potential risks of hazardous gas dispersion accidents. However, results of the current literature strictly rely on several perfect assumptions which rarely hold in real-world domains, especially when dealing with human adversaries. To address bounded rationality and limited observability in human cognition, the CPEP game is extended to generate robust schedules of inspection resources for inspection agencies. The present paper is innovative on the following contributions: (i) The CPEP model is extended by taking observation frequency and observation cost of adversaries into account, and thus better reflects the industrial reality; (ii) Uncertainties such as attackers with bounded rationality, attackers with limited observation and incomplete information (i.e., the attacker’s parameters) are integrated into the extended CPEP model; (iii) Learning curve theory is employed to determine the attacker’s observability in the game solver. Results in the case study imply that this work improves the decision-making process for environmental protection authorities in practical fields by bringing more rewards to the inspection agencies and by acquiring more compliance from chemical plants. PMID:29584679

An Extended Chemical Plant Environmental Protection Game on Addressing Uncertainties of Human Adversaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zhengqiu; Chen, Bin; Qiu, Sihang; Wang, Rongxiao; Chen, Feiran; Wang, Yiping; Qiu, Xiaogang

2018-03-27

Chemical production activities in industrial districts pose great threats to the surrounding atmospheric environment and human health. Therefore, developing appropriate and intelligent pollution controlling strategies for the management team to monitor chemical production processes is significantly essential in a chemical industrial district. The literature shows that playing a chemical plant environmental protection (CPEP) game can force the chemical plants to be more compliant with environmental protection authorities and reduce the potential risks of hazardous gas dispersion accidents. However, results of the current literature strictly rely on several perfect assumptions which rarely hold in real-world domains, especially when dealing with human adversaries. To address bounded rationality and limited observability in human cognition, the CPEP game is extended to generate robust schedules of inspection resources for inspection agencies. The present paper is innovative on the following contributions: (i) The CPEP model is extended by taking observation frequency and observation cost of adversaries into account, and thus better reflects the industrial reality; (ii) Uncertainties such as attackers with bounded rationality, attackers with limited observation and incomplete information (i.e., the attacker's parameters) are integrated into the extended CPEP model; (iii) Learning curve theory is employed to determine the attacker's observability in the game solver. Results in the case study imply that this work improves the decision-making process for environmental protection authorities in practical fields by bringing more rewards to the inspection agencies and by acquiring more compliance from chemical plants.

An Extended Chemical Plant Environmental Protection Game on Addressing Uncertainties of Human Adversaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengqiu Zhu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Chemical production activities in industrial districts pose great threats to the surrounding atmospheric environment and human health. Therefore, developing appropriate and intelligent pollution controlling strategies for the management team to monitor chemical production processes is significantly essential in a chemical industrial district. The literature shows that playing a chemical plant environmental protection (CPEP game can force the chemical plants to be more compliant with environmental protection authorities and reduce the potential risks of hazardous gas dispersion accidents. However, results of the current literature strictly rely on several perfect assumptions which rarely hold in real-world domains, especially when dealing with human adversaries. To address bounded rationality and limited observability in human cognition, the CPEP game is extended to generate robust schedules of inspection resources for inspection agencies. The present paper is innovative on the following contributions: (i The CPEP model is extended by taking observation frequency and observation cost of adversaries into account, and thus better reflects the industrial reality; (ii Uncertainties such as attackers with bounded rationality, attackers with limited observation and incomplete information (i.e., the attacker’s parameters are integrated into the extended CPEP model; (iii Learning curve theory is employed to determine the attacker’s observability in the game solver. Results in the case study imply that this work improves the decision-making process for environmental protection authorities in practical fields by bringing more rewards to the inspection agencies and by acquiring more compliance from chemical plants.

Energy efficiency as a unifying principle for human, environmental, and global health

Science.gov (United States)

Fontana, Luigi; Atella, Vincenzo; Kammen, Daniel M

2013-01-01

A strong analogy exists between over/under consumption of energy at the level of the human body and of the industrial metabolism of humanity. Both forms of energy consumption have profound implications for human, environmental, and global health. Globally, excessive fossil-fuel consumption, and individually, excessive food energy consumption are both responsible for a series of interrelated detrimental effects, including global warming, extreme weather conditions, damage to ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, widespread pollution, obesity, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and other lethal chronic diseases. In contrast, data show that the efficient use of energy—in the form of food as well as fossil fuels and other resources—is vital for promoting human, environmental, and planetary health and sustainable economic development. While it is not new to highlight how efficient use of energy and food can address some of the key problems our world is facing, little research and no unifying framework exists to harmonize these concepts of sustainable system management across diverse scientific fields into a single theoretical body. Insights beyond reductionist views of efficiency are needed to encourage integrated changes in the use of the world’s natural resources, with the aim of achieving a wiser use of energy, better farming systems, and healthier dietary habits. This perspective highlights a range of scientific-based opportunities for cost-effective pro-growth and pro-health policies while using less energy and natural resources. PMID:24555053

Identification and prioritization of relationships between environmental stressor and adverse human health impacts

Science.gov (United States)

AbstractBackground: There are over 80,000 chemicals in commerce with little data available describing their impacts on human health. Biomonitoring surveys, such as the NHANES, offer one route to identifying possible relationships between environmental chemicals and health impacts...

[Updating the problems of human ecology and environmental health and the ways of solving them].

Science.gov (United States)

Rakhmanin, Iu A

2012-01-01

Displaying a variety of scientific areas studying the influence of the environment on human health, the state and modern issues of assessment of environmental quality, hygienic standardization of chemical and biological contamination, methodical support of sanitarian and health monitoring and risk assessment of pollution, environmental health, the need for improvement and harmonization with the international instruments of the legal and methodological framework for the protection of the human environment, of the development of a modern management system of her quality based on epidemiological methods for simulation, risk analysis, assessment of economic damage to the environment and health of the population, forming a new branch of medicine--medicine of environment.

Observing human movements helps decoding environmental forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Myrka; La Scaleia, Barbara; Miller, William L; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2011-11-01

Vision of human actions can affect several features of visual motion processing, as well as the motor responses of the observer. Here, we tested the hypothesis that action observation helps decoding environmental forces during the interception of a decelerating target within a brief time window, a task intrinsically very difficult. We employed a factorial design to evaluate the effects of scene orientation (normal or inverted) and target gravity (normal or inverted). Button-press triggered the motion of a bullet, a piston, or a human arm. We found that the timing errors were smaller for upright scenes irrespective of gravity direction in the Bullet group, while the errors were smaller for the standard condition of normal scene and gravity in the Piston group. In the Arm group, instead, performance was better when the directions of scene and target gravity were concordant, irrespective of whether both were upright or inverted. These results suggest that the default viewer-centered reference frame is used with inanimate scenes, such as those of the Bullet and Piston protocols. Instead, the presence of biological movements in animate scenes (as in the Arm protocol) may help processing target kinematics under the ecological conditions of coherence between scene and target gravity directions.

The environmental protection in the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerio de Oliveira Mazzuoli

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This article examines the interconnections between environmental issues and the protection of human rights, in a process that began in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972 and has been developed by the greening of the regional human rights systems. In the Inter-American system the article 11 of the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1988 — the Protocol of San Salvador — guarantees the right to a healthy environment. However the American Convention (on its arts. 3-25, 44-51 and 61-69 and its Additional Protocol (on its arts. 8, 13 and 19.6 only allow the submission of individual petitions to the Inter-American Commission and the possible acting of the Inter-American Court, in complaints containing alleged violations of civil and political rights, trade union rights and the right to education. Despite the lack of devices that are capable to ensure an effective protection to the right to a healthy environment, by itself, the Inter-American Court has demonstrated the greening of the human rights, which means, in other words, that it is quite possible to protect environmental issues by the demonstration of its interconnections with civil and political rights that are directly protected by the inter-American system. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the contributions of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court in the strengthening of the civil and political rights in cases related to environmental issues.

Pressure Shell Approach to Integrated Environmental Protection

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Kriss J.

2011-01-01

The next generation of exploration mission human systems will require environmental protection such as radiation protection that is effective and efficient. In order to continue human exploration, habitat systems will require special shells to protect astronauts from hostile environments. The Pressure Shell Approach to integrated environmental (radiation) protection is a multi-layer shell that can be used for multifunctional environmental protection. Self-healing, self-repairing nano technologies and sensors are incorporated into the shell. This shell consists of multiple layers that can be tailored for specific environmental protection needs. Mainly, this innovation focuses on protecting crew from exposure to micrometeorites, thermal, solar flares, and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) radiation. The Pressure Shell Approach consists of a micrometeoroid and secondary ejecta protection layer; a thin, composite shell placed in between two layers that is non-structural; an open cavity layer that can be filled with water, regolith, or polyethylene foam; a thicker composite shell that is a structural load bearing that is placed between two layers; and a bladder coating on the interior composite shell. This multi-layer shell creates an effective radiation protection system. Most of its layers can be designed with the materials necessary for specific environments. In situ materials such as water or regolith can be added to the shell design for supplemental radiation protection.

Environmental control and life support system requirements and technology needs for advanced manned space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Ferolyn T.; Sedej, Melaine; Lin, Chin

1987-01-01

NASA has completed an environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technology R&D plan for advanced missions which gave attention to the drivers (crew size, mission duration, etc.) of a range of manned missions under consideration. Key planning guidelines encompassed a time horizon greater than 50 years, funding resource requirements, an evolutionary approach to goal definition, and the funding of more than one approach to satisfy a given perceived requirement. Attention was given to the ECLSS requirements of transportation and service vehicles, platforms, bases and settlements, ECLSS functions and average load requirements, unique drivers for various missions, and potentially exploitable commonalities among vehicles and habitats.

78 FR 12132 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Reporting Requirements on Responsible...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-21

... Requirements on Responsible Investment in Burma. OMB Control Number: None. Type of Request: New Collection... through the commission of human rights abuses and pervasive public corruption. In Executive Order 13619 of... potential adverse human rights, worker rights, anti-corruption, environmental, or other impacts resulting...

Applicability of federal and state environmental requirements to selected DOE field installations and recommendations for development of generic compliance guidance. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

This final report identifies and describes federal and state environmental requirements applicable to selected Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear field installations, establishes priorities for the requirements, determines the need for development of additional compliance guidance, and recommends development of compliance guidance for specific priority requirements. Compliance guidance developed as part of the study is summarized. The applicability of environmental requirements to 12 DOE field installations was reviewed. Five installations were examined under Task 4. They are: Nevada Test Site; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant; Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant; and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Seven other installations were reviewed under Task 2 and included: Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; Hanford; Savannah River Plant; Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant; Pantex Plant; Rocky Flats Plant; and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. This report combines results of the two tasks. The objective of the study was to identify the set of environmental requirements which are applicable to DOE field installations, track changes in the requirements, and prepare compliance guidance for important requirements and important regulatory developments as necessary. A cumulative calendar update for July 1982 represents the current status of applicable requirements. Environmental profiles of each facility, along with ambient monitoring results, are presented. Applicable federal requirements are identified. The specific applicability of federal and state requirements is detailed for each installation. Compliance guidance available from various agencies is described. Each requirement described is ranked by priority, and recommendations are made for development of additional guidance

Human Power Empirically Explored

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jansen, A.J.

2011-01-18

Harvesting energy from the users' muscular power to convert this into electricity is a relatively unknown way to power consumer products. It nevertheless offers surprising opportunities for product designers; human-powered products function independently from regular power infrastructure, are convenient and can be environmentally and economically beneficial. This work provides insight into the knowledge required to design human-powered energy systems in consumer products from a scientific perspective. It shows the developments of human-powered products from the first introduction of the BayGen Freeplay radio in 1995 till current products and provides an overview and analysis of 211 human-powered products currently on the market. Although human power is generally perceived as beneficial for the environment, this thesis shows that achieving environmental benefit is only feasible when the environmental impact of additional materials in the energy conversion system is well balanced with the energy demands of the products functionality. User testing with existing products showed a preference for speeds in the range of 70 to 190 rpm for crank lengths from 32 to 95 mm. The muscular input power varied from 5 to 21 W. The analysis of twenty graduation projects from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering in the field of human-powered products, offers an interesting set of additional practice based design recommendations. The knowledge based approach of human power is very powerful to support the design of human-powered products. There is substantial potential for improvements in the domains energy conversion, ergonomics and environment. This makes that human power, when applied properly, is environmentally and economically competitive over a wider range of applications than thought previously.

Concentrations of environmental organic contaminants in meat and meat products and human dietary exposure: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Domingo, José L

2017-09-01

Meat and meat products is one of the most relevant food groups in an important number of human diets. Recently, the IARC, based on results of a number of epidemiological studies, classified the consumptions of red meat and processed meat as "probably carcinogenic to humans" and as "carcinogenic to humans", respectively. It was suggested that the substances responsible of the potential carcinogenicity would be mainly generated during meat processing, such as curing and smoking, or when meat is heated at high temperatures. However, the exposure to environmental pollutants through meat consumption was not discussed. The purpose of the present paper was to review recent studies reporting the concentrations of PCDD/Fs, DL-PCBs and PAHs in meat and meat products, as well as the human exposure to these pollutants through the diet. It is concluded that the health risks derived from exposure to carcinogenic environmental contaminants must be considered in the context of each specific diet, which besides meat and meat products, includes other foodstuffs containing also chemical pollutants, some of them with carcinogenic potential. Anyhow, meat and meat products are not the main food group responsible of the dietary exposure to carcinogenic (or probably carcinogenic) environmental organic pollutants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental contaminants activate human and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) pregnane X receptors (PXR, NR1I2) differently

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lille-Langøy, Roger, E-mail: Roger.lille-langoy@bio.uib.no [University of Bergen, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway); Goldstone, Jared V. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, 02543-1050 Woods Hole, MA (United States); Rusten, Marte [University of Bergen, Department of Molecular Biology, P.O. Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway); Milnes, Matthew R. [Mars Hill University, 100 Athletic Street, Box 6671, Mars Hill, 28754 NC (United States); Male, Rune [University of Bergen, Department of Molecular Biology, P.O. Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway); Stegeman, John J. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, 02543-1050 Woods Hole, MA (United States); Blumberg, Bruce [University of California, Irvine, 92697 CA (United States); Goksøyr, Anders [University of Bergen, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway)

2015-04-01

Background: Many persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate readily in polar bears because of their position as apex predators in Arctic food webs. The pregnane X receptor (PXR, formally NR1I2, here proposed to be named promiscuous xenobiotic receptor) is a xenobiotic sensor that is directly involved in metabolizing pathways of a wide range of environmental contaminants. Objectives: In the present study, we comparably assess the ability of 51 selected pharmaceuticals, pesticides and emerging contaminants to activate PXRs from polar bears and humans using an in vitro luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: We found that polar bear PXR is activated by a wide range of our test compounds (68%) but has a slightly more narrow ligand specificity than human PXR that was activated by 86% of the 51 test compounds. The majority of the agonists identified (70%) produces a stronger induction of the reporter gene via human PXR than via polar bear PXR, however with some notable and environmentally relevant exceptions. Conclusions: Due to the observed differences in activation of polar bear and human PXRs, exposure of each species to environmental agents is likely to induce biotransformation differently in the two species. Bioinformatics analyses and structural modeling studies suggest that amino acids that are not part of the ligand-binding domain and do not interact with the ligand can modulate receptor activation. - Highlights: • Comparative study of ligand activation of human and polar bear PXRs. • Polar bear PXR is a promiscuous ligand-activated nuclear receptor but less so than human PXR. • Environmental contaminants activate human and polar bear PXRs differently. • Expression and ligand promiscuity indicate that PXR is a xenosensor in polar bears.

Environmental contaminants activate human and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) pregnane X receptors (PXR, NR1I2) differently

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lille-Langøy, Roger; Goldstone, Jared V.; Rusten, Marte; Milnes, Matthew R.; Male, Rune; Stegeman, John J.; Blumberg, Bruce; Goksøyr, Anders

2015-01-01

Background: Many persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate readily in polar bears because of their position as apex predators in Arctic food webs. The pregnane X receptor (PXR, formally NR1I2, here proposed to be named promiscuous xenobiotic receptor) is a xenobiotic sensor that is directly involved in metabolizing pathways of a wide range of environmental contaminants. Objectives: In the present study, we comparably assess the ability of 51 selected pharmaceuticals, pesticides and emerging contaminants to activate PXRs from polar bears and humans using an in vitro luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: We found that polar bear PXR is activated by a wide range of our test compounds (68%) but has a slightly more narrow ligand specificity than human PXR that was activated by 86% of the 51 test compounds. The majority of the agonists identified (70%) produces a stronger induction of the reporter gene via human PXR than via polar bear PXR, however with some notable and environmentally relevant exceptions. Conclusions: Due to the observed differences in activation of polar bear and human PXRs, exposure of each species to environmental agents is likely to induce biotransformation differently in the two species. Bioinformatics analyses and structural modeling studies suggest that amino acids that are not part of the ligand-binding domain and do not interact with the ligand can modulate receptor activation. - Highlights: • Comparative study of ligand activation of human and polar bear PXRs. • Polar bear PXR is a promiscuous ligand-activated nuclear receptor but less so than human PXR. • Environmental contaminants activate human and polar bear PXRs differently. • Expression and ligand promiscuity indicate that PXR is a xenosensor in polar bears

A Compact Diffusion Sampler for Environmental Applications Requiring HTO or HTO + HT Determinations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otlet, R.L.; Walker, A.J.; Mather, I.D.

2005-01-01

Passive diffusion samplers have now been in use in the UK for the measurement of tritium at environmental levels in the form of HTO and HTO + HT for more than ten years. At the outset their main purpose was to identify the direction of a possible inadvertent release of tritium into the environment. More recently, however, there has been growing interest in their use as stand-alone devices for tritium determination at environmental levels. This has necessitated a more rigorous design to reduce the 'draughts effect' in exposed locations and has also required modifications to enable the measurement of HTO + HT. The paper describes the recent design improvements and the results of validation tests carried out against dynamic, discriminating (dry-bed) samplers

INEL Geothermal Environmental Program. Final environmental report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thurow, T.L.; Cahn, L.S.

1982-09-01

An overview of environmental monitoring programs and research during development of a moderate temperature geothermal resource in the Raft River Valley is presented. One of the major objectives was to develop programs for environmental assessment and protection that could serve as an example for similar types of development. The monitoring studies were designed to establish baseline conditions (predevelopment) of the physical, biological, and human environment. Potential changes were assessed and adverse environmental impacts minimized. No major environmental impacts resulted from development of the Raft River Geothermal Research Facility. The results of the physical, biological, and human environment monitoring programs are summarized.

Low Cost Environmental Sensors for Spaceflight: NMP Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, Henry B.; Buehler, Martin G.; Brinza, D.; Patel, J. U.

2005-01-01

An outstanding problem in spaceflight is the lack of adequate sensors for monitoring the space environment and its effects on engineering systems. By adequate, we mean low cost in terms of mission impact (e.g., low price, low mass/size, low power, low data rate, and low design impact). The New Millennium Program (NMP) is investigating the development of such a low-cost Space Environmental Monitor (SEM) package for inclusion on its technology validation flights. This effort follows from the need by NMP to characterize the space environment during testing so that potential users can extrapolate the test results to end-use conditions. The immediate objective of this effort is to develop a small diagnostic sensor package that could be obtained from commercial sources. Environments being considered are: contamination, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, cosmic radiation, EMI, and temperature. This talk describes the requirements and rational for selecting these environments and reviews a preliminary design that includes a micro-controller data logger with data storage and interfaces to the sensors and spacecraft. If successful, such a sensor package could be the basis of a unique, long term program for monitoring the effects of the space environment on spacecraft systems.

Cytogenetic damages induced in vivo in human lymphocytes by environmental chemicals or radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cebulska-Wasilewska, A.

1999-01-01

The importance of various environmental exposures has been evident in variation in cancer incidence and mortality. Benzene is considered to be a human carcinogen, is clastogenic to rodents and humans, and it affects the immune response. Workers in various industrial plants, are exposed to benzene and benzene related compounds as a result of various activities in which benzene is processed, generated or used. Major sources of environmental exposure to benzene related compounds, continue to be active and passive smoking, auto exhaust, and driving or riding in automobiles. Benzene is of a particular interest, not only because of its known toxicity, but also because this was to be the parent compound and a model for extensive programs of metabolism of a variety of aromatic chemicals. Ionizing radiation is an unavoidable physical agent that is presented in environment, and public opinion is well aware against radiation risk and strongly against it. The aim of the presentation was comparison between cytogenetic damages induced in vivo by environmental chemicals with those of radiation. Results from biomonitoring survey on genotoxicity in human blood cells of benzene and benzene related compounds were compared to damages detected in lymphocytes of persons who had been accidentally exposed to gamma radiation. In the groups, that had been occupationally or environmentally exposed to benzene related compound, total aberration frequencies, or percent of aberrant cells ranged between 0 - 0.16 aberrations/cell or 16% of aberrant cells respectively. A multivariate regression analysis confirmed: (i) a significant association between cytogenetic damage and exposure to benzene related compound, (ii) a possible association between cytogenetic damage and cancer, (iii) a significant influence of smoking habit. In 1996 few persons were suspected of accidental exposure to gamma radiation. To estimate the absorbed doses, lymphocytes from their blood have been analyzed for the presence of

Biochemical, Environmental Engineering and Water Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, A.A.E.; Ibrahem, I.M.

2004-01-01

to Environmental Considerations - The environmental impacts of a proposed wastewater treatment facility are as important,t, if not more so, as cost considerations, a few comments regarding applicable environmental considerations that must also be addressed are appropriate. - The environmental evaluations should focus on social, technical, ecological, economic, political, legal, and institutional (STEEPLI) criteria. - Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared for any proposed governmental action that is determined to have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. - The regulations ensure that the probable environmental effects are identified, that a reasonable number of alternative actions and their environmental impacts are considered, that the environmental information is available for public understanding and scrutiny, and that the public and governmental agencies participate as a part of the decision process. - All pertinent regulations and the inherent participate afforded must be disclosed in the EIS. - National Environmental Policy Act of USA (NEP A ) neither prohibits nor permits any action but requires full disclosure of environmental information and public participation in the decision making process

Model-based human reliability analysis: prospects and requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosleh, A.; Chang, Y.H.

2004-01-01

Major limitations of the conventional methods for human reliability analysis (HRA), particularly those developed for operator response analysis in probabilistic safety assessments (PSA) of nuclear power plants, are summarized as a motivation for the need and a basis for developing requirements for the next generation HRA methods. It is argued that a model-based approach that provides explicit cognitive causal links between operator behaviors and directly or indirectly measurable causal factors should be at the core of the advanced methods. An example of such causal model is briefly reviewed, where due to the model complexity and input requirements can only be currently implemented in a dynamic PSA environment. The computer simulation code developed for this purpose is also described briefly, together with current limitations in the models, data, and the computer implementation

Identifying environmental risk factors and mapping the risk of human West Nile virus in South Dakota.

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, A.; Davis, J. K.; Wimberly, M. C.

2017-12-01

Human West Nile virus (WNV) first arrived in the USA in 1999 and has since then spread across the country. Today, the highest incidence rates are found in the state of South Dakota. The disease occurrence depends on the complex interaction between the mosquito vector, the bird host and the dead-end human host. Understanding the spatial domain of this interaction and being able to identify disease transmission hotspots is crucial for effective disease prevention and mosquito control. In this study we use geospatial environmental information to understand what drives the spatial distribution of cases of human West Nile virus in South Dakota and to map relative infection risk across the state. To map the risk of human West Nile virus in South Dakota, we used geocoded human case data from the years 2004-2016. Satellite data from the Landsat ETM+ and MODIS for the years 2003 to 2016 were used to characterize environmental patterns. From these datasets we calculated indices, such as the normalized differenced vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized differenced water index (NDWI). In addition, datasets such as the National Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD), National Wetland inventory (NWI), National Elevation Dataset (NED) and Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) were utilized. Environmental variables were summarized for a buffer zone around the case and control points. We used a boosted regression tree model to identify the most important variables describing the risk of WNV infection. We generated a risk map by applying this model across the entire state. We found that the highest relative risk is present in the James River valley in northeastern South Dakota. Factors that were identified as influencing the transmission risk include inter-annual variability of vegetation cover, water availability and temperature. Land covers such as grasslands, low developed areas and wetlands were also found to be good predictors for human

Ecological Interactions between Humans, Wildlife Viral Reservoirs, and Key Environmental Drivers of Hantaan Virus Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Tong

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The occurrence and transmission of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS are closely related to environmental variability, so it is essential to clarify the complex relationships among the environment, hantavirus transmission, and the population dynamics of its wildlife hosts. Tian et al. analyzed a large, long-term dataset describing the circulation of hantavirus in rodents and its spillover into humans. Their article incorporates several mathematical models and argues that the interaction between environmental and human behavioral factors drives the observed seasonality and interannual variations in important zoonotic diseases. The ecological cascade effect of a drought in 2002 is highlighted, and the role of seasonality in agricultural activity is emphasized in that study.

The Human - Nature Relationship i n t he Context o f Theo - Centric Environmental Ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gülşen YAYLI

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The environmental problems are one of the issues that intensively occupy the agenda of humankind. This fact mainly derives from the ambiguity of the s pan and the content of the issue. The concept of environmental problems can not be confined to th e soil, air and water pollution for the reason that it covers a scope wider than a classical pollution issues. Initially the form of the relations hip between h uman and nature has been relying on the “consumption at the level of content” which stands for a level that is enough to sustain the living. The perception of the nature used to be described with the metaphor of mother while natural environment was defined as the “mother earth”. However subsequent to natural environment definition of the Cartesian philosophy with its approach to the human nature relationship, the core metaphor to describe the natural environment has changed from the metaphor of “mother” to the “slave” which should serve by any means. The human - nature relationship within the context of ethics, both the parties an d their respective statues bear an importance. In terms of ethics of human - nature relationship, it is possible to mention three main approaches. First one is the anthropo - centric approach. Within the scope of historical process, human - nature relationship is addressed according to anthropo - centric ethics comprehension so human has remained at the center of discussion. Following the change of the perception regarding the issue of environment, new approaches have emerged that give emphasis not only on human beings but also others; on li ving and non - living beings with in the eco - system. In principle, this represents a departure from an anthropo - centric ethics to a new ethic approach which fall s into two categories, bio centric and eco - centric. The theo - centric ethics should also be included to these ethics approaches that are shaped within the sphere of positive sciences. The Abrahamic

Environmental context-dependent memory: a review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, S M; Vela, E

2001-06-01

To address questions about human memory's dependence on the coincidental environmental contexts in which events occur, we review studies of incidental environmental context-dependent memory in humans and report a meta-analysis. Our theoretical approach to the issue stems from Glenberg's (1997) contention that introspective thought (e.g., remembering, conceptualizing) requires cognitive resources normally used to represent the immediate environment. We propose that if tasks encourage processing of noncontextual information (i.e., introspective thought) at input and/or at test, then both learning and memory will be less dependent on the ambient environmental contexts in which those activities occur. The meta-analysis showed that across all studies, environmental context effects were reliable, and furthermore, that the use of noncontextual cues during learning (overshadowing) and at test (outshining), as well as mental reinstatement of appropriate context cues at test, all reduce the effect of environmental manipulations. We conclude that environmental context-dependent memory effects are less likely to occur under conditions in which the immediate environment is likely to be suppressed.

Preparing for the future: Higher education meeting environmental restoration and waste management human resource needs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wohlpart, Alfred

1992-01-01

The Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER/WM) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has as its goal the elimination of risks from hazardous waste to human health and safety and the environment or the reduction of these risks to prescribed safe levels. The achievement of this goal requires the availability of sufficient and appropriately educated scientists, engineers, and technicians. A preliminary workforce needs assessment conducted for the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management in 1990 indicated that the technical workforce involved in ER/WM activities would grow by 50 to 70 percent by 1995. A more exhaustive assessment is currently underway. To ensure the availability of the necessary human resources, the Office has initiated a series of education programs. The programs designed for the college/university levels are expected to increase the number of students pursuing associate, baccalaureate, and advanced degrees in ER/WM relevant science and engineering disciplines and to initiate research and training in technical areas supportive of the ER/WM mission. The ER/WM Scholarship program provides scholarships to undergraduate students pursuing science and engineering degrees at designated two- and four-year academic institutions. Fifty-four four-year and six two-year institutions are involved. The ER/WM Fellowship program supports graduate study and research at designated academic institutions in specified science and engineering disciplines or in interdisciplinary programs, Thirty graduate students are pursuing advanced degrees in disciplines supportive of the ER/WM mission at 14 different academic institutions. Scholars and fellows are required to spend one summer at a DOE facility participating in ongoing ER/WM projects. The fellowship and scholarship programs are expected to create a pool of appropriately educated professionals ready to enter the workforce and contribute to the DOE mission. To ensure the full

Environmental impact of recycling nutrients in human excreta to agriculture compared with enhanced wastewater treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spångberg, J. [Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Energy and Technology, Box 7032, 750 07 Uppsala (Sweden); Tidåker, P. [Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 7033, 750 07 Uppsala (Sweden); Jönsson, H., E-mail: hakan.jonsson@slu.se [Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Energy and Technology, Box 7032, 750 07 Uppsala (Sweden)

2014-09-15

Human excreta are potential sources of plant nutrients, but are today usually considered a waste to be disposed of. The requirements on wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to remove nitrogen and phosphorus are increasing and to meet these requirements, more energy and chemicals are needed by WWTPs. Separating the nutrient-rich wastewater fractions at source and recycling them to agriculture as fertiliser is an alternative to removing them at the WWTP. This study used life cycle assessment methodology to compare the environmental impact of different scenarios for recycling the nutrients in the human excreta as fertiliser to arable land or removing them in an advanced WWTP. Three scenarios were assessed. In blackwater scenario, blackwater was source-separated and used as fertiliser. In urine scenario, the urine fraction was source-separated and used as fertiliser and the faecal water treated in an advanced WWTP. In NP scenario, chemical fertiliser was used as fertiliser and the toilet water treated in an advanced WWTP. The emissions from the WWTP were the same for all scenarios. This was fulfilled by the enhanced reduction in the WWTP fully removing the nutrients from the excreta that were not source-separated in the NP and urine scenarios. Recycling source-separated wastewater fractions as fertilisers in agriculture proved efficient for conserving energy and decreasing global warming potential (GWP). However, the blackwater and urine scenarios had a higher impact on potential eutrophication and potential acidification than the WWTP-chemical fertiliser scenario, due to large impacts by the ammonia emitted from storage and after spreading of the fertilisers. The cadmium input to the arable soil was very small with urine fertiliser. Source separation and recycling of excreta fractions as fertiliser thus has potential for saving energy and decreasing GWP emissions associated with wastewater management. However, for improved sustainability, the emissions from storage and

Compliance with Environmental Regulations through Complex Geo-Event Processing

OpenAIRE

Federico Herrera; Laura González; Daniel Calegari; Bruno Rienzi

2017-01-01

In a context of e-government, there are usually regulatory compliance requirements that support systems must monitor, control and enforce. These requirements may come from environmental laws and regulations that aim to protect the natural environment and mitigate the effects of pollution on human health and ecosystems. Monitoring compliance with these requirements involves processing a large volume of data from different sources, which is a major challenge. This volume is also increased with ...

75 FR 13305 - Notice of Cancellation of the Environmental Impact Statement for the Criminal Alien Requirement 9

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-19

... Statement for the Criminal Alien Requirement 9 AGENCY: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons... Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Criminal Alien Requirement 9 project (CAR 9). This notice briefly... contractor's to house up to 1,889 federal, low-security, adult male, non-U.S. citizen, criminal aliens at...

The 2010 amendments to the environmental emergency regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dowdall, E.; Ketcheson, K.; Shrives, J.; Hradecky, K.

2009-01-01

This presentation gave notice of amendments to the Environmental Emergency Regulations, pursuant to section 200 of the 1999 Canadian Environmental Protection Act. At the time of publication, the Regulations required the development and implementation of environmental emergency plans for 174 substances with associated thresholds that, if released to the environment, could harm human health or environmental quality. Substances of concern, including CEPA toxic substances are reviewed regularly by the Environmental Emergencies Division of Environment Canada to determine whether they should be added to the Regulations. An evaluation of substances has been completed and, as a result, 33 new substances have been proposed to be added to the Regulations. Thirty are known CEPA toxics and the other 3 are substances of concern, notably acetic acid, ammonium nitrate and styrene. These substances of concern are considered to pose an unacceptable level of risk from their release and would require environmental emergency planning. This paper also identified the substances from the Chemicals Management Plan that have been evaluated using environmental criteria and have been found to be candidates for possible future addition to the Regulations. The process used to determine regulated threshold quantities was also described. 5 refs., 5 tabs.

Environmental chemical exposures and human epigenetics

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Lifang; Zhang, Xiao; Wang, Dong; Baccarelli, Andrea

2012-01-01

Every year more than 13 million deaths worldwide are due to environmental pollutants, and approximately 24% of diseases are caused by environmental exposures that might be averted through preventive measures. Rapidly growing evidence has linked environmental pollutants with epigenetic variations, including changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs. Environ mental chemicals and epigenetic changes All of these mechanisms are likely to play important roles in disease aetiology, and their modifications due to environmental pollutants might provide further understanding of disease aetiology, as well as biomarkers reflecting exposures to environmental pollutants and/or predicting the risk of future disease. We summarize the findings on epigenetic alterations related to environmental chemical exposures, and propose mechanisms of action by means of which the exposures may cause such epigenetic changes. We discuss opportunities, challenges and future directions for future epidemiology research in environmental epigenomics. Future investigations are needed to solve methodological and practical challenges, including uncertainties about stability over time of epigenomic changes induced by the environment, tissue specificity of epigenetic alterations, validation of laboratory methods, and adaptation of bioinformatic and biostatistical methods to high-throughput epigenomics. In addition, there are numerous reports of epigenetic modifications arising following exposure to environmental toxicants, but most have not been directly linked to disease endpoints. To complete our discussion, we also briefly summarize the diseases that have been linked to environmental chemicals-related epigenetic changes. PMID:22253299

Human-Wildlife Conflict and Environmental Education: Evaluating a Community Program to Protect the Andean Bear in Ecuador

Science.gov (United States)

Espinosa, Santiago; Jacobson, Susan K.

2012-01-01

Environmental education is a widespread, yet relatively unexamined strategy to reduce human-wildlife conflicts. We evaluated knowledge, attitudes and behavioral intentions toward bear conservation after five years of environmental education in a Quichua community. Conflicts with livestock predation created mixed attitudes and behaviors toward bear…

Human Resources Training Requirement on NPP Operation and Maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nurlaila; Yuliastuti

2009-01-01

This paper discussed the human resources requirement on Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation and maintenance (O&M) phase related with the training required for O&M personnel. In addition, this paper also briefly discussed the availability of training facilities domestically include with some suggestion to develop the training facilities intended for the near future time in Indonesia. This paper was developed under the assumptions that Indonesia will build twin unit of NPP with capacity 1000 MWe for each using the turnkey contract method. The total of NPP O&M personnel were predicted about 692 peoples which consists of 42 personnel located in the head quarter and the rest 650 people work at NPP site. Up until now, Indonesia had the experience on operating and maintaining the nonnuclear power plant and several research reactors namely Kartini Reactor Yogyakarta, Triga Mark II Reactor Bandung, and GA Siwabessy Reactor Serpong. Beside that, experience on operating and maintaining the NPP in other countries would act as one of the reference to Indonesia in formulating an appropriate strategy to develop NPP human resources particularly in O&M phases. Education and training development program could be done trough the cooperation with vendor candidates. (author)

Sensitivity Analysis of Hydraulic Methods Regarding Hydromorphologic Data Derivation Methods to Determine Environmental Water Requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Shokoohi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the accuracy of hydraulic methods in determining environmental flow requirements. Despite the vital importance of deriving river cross sectional data for hydraulic methods, few studies have focused on the criteria for deriving this data. The present study shows that the depth of cross section has a meaningful effect on the results obtained from hydraulic methods and that, considering fish as the index species for river habitat analysis, an optimum depth of 1 m should be assumed for deriving information from cross sections. The second important parameter required for extracting the geometric and hydraulic properties of rivers is the selection of an appropriate depth increment; ∆y. In the present research, this parameter was found to be equal to 1 cm. The uncertainty of the environmental discharge evaluation, when allocating water in areas with water scarcity, should be kept as low as possible. The Manning friction coefficient (n is an important factor in river discharge calculation. Using a range of "n" equal to 3 times the standard deviation for the study area, it is shown that the influence of friction coefficient on the estimation of environmental flow is much less than that on the calculation of river discharge.

Cultural Variability in the Link Between Environmental Concern and Support for Environmental Action.

Science.gov (United States)

Eom, Kimin; Kim, Heejung S; Sherman, David K; Ishii, Keiko

2016-10-01

Research on sustainability behaviors has been based on the assumption that increasing personal concerns about the environment will increase proenvironmental action. We tested whether this assumption is more applicable to individualistic cultures than to collectivistic cultures. In Study 1, we compared 47 countries ( N = 57,268) and found that they varied considerably in the degree to which environmental concern predicted support for proenvironmental action. National-level individualism explained the between-nation variability above and beyond the effects of other cultural values and independently of person-level individualism. In Study 2, we compared individualistic and collectivistic nations (United States vs. Japan; N = 251) and found culture-specific predictors of proenvironmental behavior. Environmental concern predicted environmentally friendly consumer choice among European Americans but not Japanese. For Japanese participants, perceived norms about environmental behavior predicted proenvironmental decision making. Facilitating sustainability across nations requires an understanding of how culture determines which psychological factors drive human action.

Live Fire Range Environmental Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1993-08-01

The Central Training Academy (CTA) is a DOE Headquarters Organization located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the mission to effectively and efficiently educate and train personnel involved in the protection of vital national security interests of DOE. The CTA Live Fire Range (LFR), where most of the firearms and tactical training occurs, is a complex separate from the main campus. The purpose of the proposed action is to expand the LFR to allow more options of implementing required training. The Department of Energy has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed construction and operation of an expanded Live Fire Range Facility at the Central Training Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects: Rate adjustment: Environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-08-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) has determined that the proposed firm power rate increase for the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (Integrated Projects) power would not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 USC 4321, et seq.) and, as such, does not require the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). This determination is based on an environmental assessment (EA) prepared by the Western Area Power Administration (Western) dated August 1990 (DOE/EA-0457). The EA identifies and evaluates the potential environmental and socioeconomic effects of the proposed action, and based on the analysis contained therein, DOE concludes that the impacts to the human environment resulting from the implementation of the rate increase would be insignificant

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cîrstea Ştefan-Dragoş

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to outline the main economical and social benefits that can be obtained by adopting an ethical attitude of the organisations which use a performant environmental management. From the idea that the human being is the master of nature, it was passed to the view according to which the human being must ensure a balance between consumption and the use of resources. In order to achieve our goal we identified the factors that lead to long term or even permanent destructive effects over the environment and we briefly present the reasons for which the organizations adopt and implement environmental management systems. Also, the difficulties encountered in implementing environmental strategies have been briefly enumerated and the competitive and economic advantages that can be achieved by adopting an efficient environmental management and the main reasons that grant to the environmental management a special significance were exposed. This theoretical paper emphasizes the importance of the adoption by organizations of a "green behavior" and reveals correlations between sustainability, economic growth and environmental performance in organizations. The analysis of the ethical aspects of environmental management shows the links that can be created between the development of an ethical culture of organizations and the achievement of the environmental excellence. The research provides an overview of the concept of environmental ethics and encloses it within the scope of environmental management. Someone needs to explain why an increasing number of organizations, both large and small, are setting up environmental management systems, making environmental investments and reducing risks over and beyond legal requirements, even when the benefits are not at all obvious, even in the long run. Also, this paper provides some practical examples of organizations environmental problems and points out how these organizations adapted their

Power requirements and environmental impact of a pedelec. A case study based on real-life applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abagnale, Carmelina, E-mail: c.abagnale@unina.it; Cardone, Massimo, E-mail: massimo.cardone@unina.it; Iodice, Paolo, E-mail: paolo.iodice@unina.it; Strano, Salvatore, E-mail: salvatore.strano@unina.it; Terzo, Mario, E-mail: m.terzo@unina.it; Vorraro, Giovanni, E-mail: giovanni.vorraro@unina.it

2015-07-15

This paper describes the methodologies to appraise the power requests and environmental analysis of an electrically assisted bicycle under real driving conditions, also containing regulations and technical-science-related aspects. For this purpose, in this study, the on-road test program of an electrically assisted bicycle was executed in the urban area of Naples on different test tracks, so a general assessment about its driving behavior under several driving conditions was performed. The power requirements in different typical riding situations were estimated by a procedure based on the experimental kinematic parameters that characterize the driving dynamics collected during the real-life applications. An environmental analysis was also performed, with a methodology that takes into account the environmental assessment of a moped by measuring the experimental moped exhaust emissions of the regulated pollutants. Starting from the results acquired during the different test samples, besides, an assessment of the electric traction offered by this pedelec on the driving comfort was evaluated for different riding situations. - Highlights: • The power requirements of a pedelec in typical riding conditions were identified. • The estimated electricity consumption for battery recharging was defined. • An environmental valuation of the tested pedelec and of a moped was performed. • Emissions that could be saved utilizing a pedelec instead of a moped were derived.

Power requirements and environmental impact of a pedelec. A case study based on real-life applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abagnale, Carmelina; Cardone, Massimo; Iodice, Paolo; Strano, Salvatore; Terzo, Mario; Vorraro, Giovanni

2015-01-01

This paper describes the methodologies to appraise the power requests and environmental analysis of an electrically assisted bicycle under real driving conditions, also containing regulations and technical-science-related aspects. For this purpose, in this study, the on-road test program of an electrically assisted bicycle was executed in the urban area of Naples on different test tracks, so a general assessment about its driving behavior under several driving conditions was performed. The power requirements in different typical riding situations were estimated by a procedure based on the experimental kinematic parameters that characterize the driving dynamics collected during the real-life applications. An environmental analysis was also performed, with a methodology that takes into account the environmental assessment of a moped by measuring the experimental moped exhaust emissions of the regulated pollutants. Starting from the results acquired during the different test samples, besides, an assessment of the electric traction offered by this pedelec on the driving comfort was evaluated for different riding situations. - Highlights: • The power requirements of a pedelec in typical riding conditions were identified. • The estimated electricity consumption for battery recharging was defined. • An environmental valuation of the tested pedelec and of a moped was performed. • Emissions that could be saved utilizing a pedelec instead of a moped were derived

Environmental assessment for construction and operation of a Human Genome Laboratory at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1994-12-01

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) proposes to construct and operate a new laboratory for consolidation of current and future activities of the Human Genome Center (HGC). This document addresses the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental and human-health effects from the proposed facility construction and operation. This document was prepared in accordance the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (United States Codes 42 USC 4321-4347) (NEPA) and the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Final Rule for NEPA Implementing Procedures [Code of Federal Regulations 10CFR 1021].

Human Integration Design Processes (HIDP)

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, Jennifer

2014-01-01

The purpose of the Human Integration Design Processes (HIDP) document is to provide human-systems integration design processes, including methodologies and best practices that NASA has used to meet human systems and human rating requirements for developing crewed spacecraft. HIDP content is framed around human-centered design methodologies and processes in support of human-system integration requirements and human rating. NASA-STD-3001, Space Flight Human-System Standard, is a two-volume set of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Agency-level standards established by the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer, directed at minimizing health and performance risks for flight crews in human space flight programs. Volume 1 of NASA-STD-3001, Crew Health, sets standards for fitness for duty, space flight permissible exposure limits, permissible outcome limits, levels of medical care, medical diagnosis, intervention, treatment and care, and countermeasures. Volume 2 of NASASTD- 3001, Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health, focuses on human physical and cognitive capabilities and limitations and defines standards for spacecraft (including orbiters, habitats, and suits), internal environments, facilities, payloads, and related equipment, hardware, and software with which the crew interfaces during space operations. The NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 8705.2B, Human-Rating Requirements for Space Systems, specifies the Agency's human-rating processes, procedures, and requirements. The HIDP was written to share NASA's knowledge of processes directed toward achieving human certification of a spacecraft through implementation of human-systems integration requirements. Although the HIDP speaks directly to implementation of NASA-STD-3001 and NPR 8705.2B requirements, the human-centered design, evaluation, and design processes described in this document can be applied to any set of human-systems requirements and are independent of reference

Functional Mobility Testing: A Novel Method to Establish Human System Interface Design Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

England, Scott A.; Benson, Elizabeth A.; Rajulu, Sudhakar

2008-01-01

Across all fields of human-system interface design it is vital to posses a sound methodology dictating the constraints on the system based on the capabilities of the human user. These limitations may be based on strength, mobility, dexterity, cognitive ability, etc. and combinations thereof. Data collected in an isolated environment to determine, for example, maximal strength or maximal range of motion would indeed be adequate for establishing not-to-exceed type design limitations, however these restraints on the system may be excessive over what is basally needed. Resources may potentially be saved by having a technique to determine the minimum measurements a system must accommodate. This paper specifically deals with the creation of a novel methodology for establishing mobility requirements for a new generation of space suit design concepts. Historically, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station vehicle and space hardware design requirements documents such as the Man-Systems Integration Standards and International Space Station Flight Crew Integration Standard explicitly stated that the designers should strive to provide the maximum joint range of motion capabilities exhibited by a minimally clothed human subject. In the course of developing the Human-Systems Integration Requirements (HSIR) for the new space exploration initiative (Constellation), an effort was made to redefine the mobility requirements in the interest of safety and cost. Systems designed for manned space exploration can receive compounded gains from simplified designs that are both initially less expensive to produce and lighter, thereby, cheaper to launch.

[High voltage objects and radiocommunication investments in view of requirements of the environmental protection act].

Science.gov (United States)

Szuba, Marek

2006-01-01

This paper presents the most important elements of the localization procedure of high voltage overhead lines and substations and radiocommunication objects which are the source of electromagnetic fields. These fields are perceived as a major threat to human health. The point of departure to make a choice of investments is the special classification of technical installations described in one of the executive directive issued by virtue of the Environmental Protection Act. This special executive directive enumerates a lot of technical objects (installation), classified in the group of investments which have significant impact on the environment and some objects which could be classified in this group. For all this technical installations (e.g., overhead high voltage power lines) the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act impose an obligation to take particular steps to assure transparency of the environmental protection procedures, transborder procedures and the protection of areas included in the Natura 2000 network.

Effect of the environmental stimuli upon the human body in winter outdoor thermal environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sakoi, Tomonori; Kondo, Emi; Ishii, Jin

2013-01-01

the psychological thermal responses of the human body and winter outdoor thermal environment variables. Subjective experiments were conducted in the winter outdoor environment. Environmental factors and human psychological responses were measured. The relationship between the psychological thermal responses...... of the human body and the outdoor thermal environment index ETFe (enhanced conduction-corrected modified effective temperature) in winter was shown. The variables which influence the thermal sensation vote of the human body are air temperature, long-wave thermal radiation and short-wave solar radiation....... The variables that influence the thermal comfort vote of the human body are air temperature, humidity, short-wave solar radiation, long-wave thermal radiation, and heat conduction. Short-wave solar radiation, and heat conduction are among the winter outdoor thermal environment variables that affect...

Environmental information in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velez S, Andres

2005-01-01

This article is a chapter from the paper, Elements for the description of an environmental information system, which was written by the author as a requirement for the degree of specialist on environment and Geoinformatics at the school of engineering. Universidad de Antioquia. The original paper attempted a description of the context and development of a particular environmental information system, built at the eastern region of Antioquia by CORNARE (a regional autonomous corporation for the environment and the natural resources). This article refers to the Colombian institutional context for environmental information. With particular emphasis laid on the strategic character that must be conceded to the administration of information. Towards the construction of equitable and sustainable development models under autonomous orientation an efficient and transparent environmental administration as is needed by such models is only attainable through the design and application of environmental information systems committed to the pursuit of collective interests. Here a balance is sought between accomplishments and failures reached during the long standing discussion held in Colombia around the formulation of public policies that acknowledge and strengthen the role of information as a cornerstone of environmental administration, and a contribution towards the goal of human sustainable development

Oklahoma State University proposed Advanced Technology Research Center. Environmental Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-06-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) evaluating the construction and equipping of the proposed Advanced Technology Research Center (ATRC) at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Based on the analysis in the EA, the DOE has determined that the proposed action does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required.

INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

Tomescu Ada Mirela

2012-01-01

The relevance of management as significant factor of business activity can be established on various management systems. These will help to obtain, organise, administrate, evaluate and control particulars: information, quality, environmental protection, health and safety, various resources (time, human, finance, inventory etc). The complexity of nowadays days development, forced us to think ‘integrated’. Sustainable development principles require that environment management policies and p...

Evolution and behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change.

Science.gov (United States)

Sih, Andrew; Ferrari, Maud C O; Harris, David J

2011-03-01

Almost all organisms live in environments that have been altered, to some degree, by human activities. Because behaviour mediates interactions between an individual and its environment, the ability of organisms to behave appropriately under these new conditions is crucial for determining their immediate success or failure in these modified environments. While hundreds of species are suffering dramatically from these environmental changes, others, such as urbanized and pest species, are doing better than ever. Our goal is to provide insights into explaining such variation. We first summarize the responses of some species to novel situations, including novel risks and resources, habitat loss/fragmentation, pollutants and climate change. Using a sensory ecology approach, we present a mechanistic framework for predicting variation in behavioural responses to environmental change, drawing from models of decision-making processes and an understanding of the selective background against which they evolved. Where immediate behavioural responses are inadequate, learning or evolutionary adaptation may prove useful, although these mechanisms are also constrained by evolutionary history. Although predicting the responses of species to environmental change is difficult, we highlight the need for a better understanding of the role of evolutionary history in shaping individuals' responses to their environment and provide suggestion for future work.

Impacts of discarded coffee waste on human and environmental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, A S; Mello, F V C; Thode Filho, S; Carpes, R M; Honório, J G; Marques, M R C; Felzenszwalb, I; Ferraz, E R A

2017-07-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages throughout the world. So far, many studies have shown the properties of coffee beverages, but little is known about its impacts on human and environmental health from its discard in the environment. So, the present work aims to investigate the mutagenic, genotoxic, cytotoxic and ecotoxic effects of leached (LE) and solubilized (SE) extracts from coffee waste, simulating the disposal of this residue in landfills and via sewage systems, respectively. Chemical analyses were also carried out. LE and SE induced mutagenicity in the TA98 Salmonella strain with and without exogenous metabolization (S9). In the TA100 only SE induced mutagenicity, what was observed without S9. An increase in the frequency of micronuclei was observed in HepG2 cell line after 3 and 24h of exposure to both extracts. No cytotoxic effects were observed in HepG2 cells by WST-1 assay. The EC50 values for the LE and SE were 1.5% and 11.26% for Daphnia similis, 0.12% and 1.39% for Ceriodaphnia dubia and 6.0% and 5.5% for Vibrio fischeri, respectively. Caffeine and several transition metals were found in both extracts. Coffee waste discarded in the environment may pose a risk to human and environmental health, since this compound can cause DNA damage and present toxicity to aquatic organisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Greening of Human Resources: Environmental Awareness and Training Interests within the Workforce

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henning; Ulhøi, John Parm

2001-01-01

The education and training of the workforce has long been recognised as an essential ingredient in promoting and implementing environmental management practices in business organisations. So far, however, even in leading companies, little information has been available on how environmental...... management practice and related educational and training requirements is translated into the provision of training courses by educational institutions. To address this important question an EU-sponsored research project was initiated. The project has focused on i) senior environmental managers, (ii) middle...... (predominantly technical) managers, and (iii) skilled and semi-skilled workers and lower categories of managers. It has been based partly on interviews in a small number of European companies as well as educational and training institutions, and partly on more large-scale questionnaire surveys. This paper...

A methodology for determining environmental threshold quantities for substances covered by CEPA's Environmental Emergency Regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ketcheson, K.; Shrives, J.

2005-01-01

Sections 199 and 200 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) 1999 oblige persons who own or manage specified toxic and hazardous substances to develop and implement environmental emergency plans. This paper discussed the methodology for determining how a chemical is assessed for recommending an environmental emergency plan. For Section 199, once substances are declared toxic, each chemical is assessed to determine whether it requires a plan or not. For Section 200, any chemical can be added under the E2 regulations, as long as it can be ascertained that the substance is toxic according to the following criteria: it has an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological diversity; it constitutes a danger to the environment on which human life depends; and/or it constitutes a danger in Canada to human life or health. An overview of the risk evaluation framework was provided, including details of the pre-assessment filter. Summaries of trigger criteria were presented, as well as environmental hazard ratings and details of persistence of organic chemicals in the environment and bioaccumulation. Aquatic toxicity and ingestion toxicity details were also provided. Human hazard ratings included carcinogenicity, inhalation toxicity, dermal toxicity, rabbit and rat toxicity and corrosion and skin irritation ratings. Issues concerning vapour cloud explosions were examined. A reactivity table was presented with hazard descriptions. European Union Threshold quantities were examined, as well as a list of comparisons of selected substances of CEPA with the European Union. It was concluded that the Environmental Emergency Branch (EEB) has created environmental thresholds by first examining how other countries have protected the environment. Substance thresholds for the United States have focused on protecting humans, while Europe has established threshold quantities that work for their countries. The EEB has selected classification tables

Estimating the assessment difficulty of CVSS environmental metrics : an experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allodi, L.; Biagioni, S.; Crispo, B.; Labunets, K.; Massacci, F.; Santos, W.; Dang, T.K.; Wagner, R.; Küng, J.; Thoai, N.; Takizawa, M.; Neuhold, E.J.

2017-01-01

[Context] The CVSS framework provides several dimensions to score vulnerabilities. The environmental metrics allow security analysts to downgrade or upgrade vulnerability scores based on a company’s computing environments and security requirements. [Question] How difficult is for a human assessor to

Estimating the Assessment Difficulty of CVSS Environmental Metrics : An Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allodi, Luca; Biagioni, Silvio; Crispo, Bruno; Labunets, K.; Massacci, Fabio; Santos, Wagner; Khanh Dang, Tran; Wagner, Roland; Küng, Josef; Thoai, Nam; Takizawa, Makoto; Neuhold, Erich J.

2017-01-01

[Context] The CVSS framework provides several dimensions to score vulnerabilities. The environmental metrics allow security analysts to downgrade or upgrade vulnerability scores based on a company’s computing environments and security requirements. [Question] How difficult is for a human assessor to

Environmental strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zabkar, Vesna; Cater, Tomaz; Bajde, Domen

2013-01-01

perspective, appropriate environmental strategies in compliance with environmental requirements aim at building competitive advantages through sustainable development. There is no universal “green” strategy that would be appropriate for each company, regardless of its market requirements and competitive......Environmental issues and the inclusion of environmental strategies in strategic thinking is an interesting subject of investigation. In general, managerial practices organized along ecologically sound principles contribute to a more environmentally sustainable global economy. From the managerial...

The Environmental Scenario Generator (ESG: a distributed environmental data archive analysis tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E A Kihn

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The Environmental Scenario Generator (ESG is a network distributed software system designed to allow a user to interact with archives of environmental data for the purpose of scenario extraction, data analysis and integration with existing models that require environmental input. The ESG uses fuzzy-logic based search tools to allow a user to look for specific environmental scenarios in vast archives by specifying the search in human linguistic terms. For example, the user can specify a scenario such as a "cloud free week" or "high winds and low pressure" and then search relevant archives available across the network to get a list of matching events. The ESG hooks to existing archives of data by providing a simple communication framework and an efficient data model for exchanging data. Once data has been delivered by the distributed archives in the ESG data model, it can easily be accessed by the visualization, integration and analysis components to meet specific user requests. The ESG implementation provides a framework which can be taken as a pattern applicable to other distributed archive systems.

Structural Design Requirements and Factors of Safety for Spaceflight Hardware: For Human Spaceflight. Revision A

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Karen S.; Kujala, Rod; Fogt, Vince; Romine, Paul

2011-01-01

This document establishes the structural requirements for human-rated spaceflight hardware including launch vehicles, spacecraft and payloads. These requirements are applicable to Government Furnished Equipment activities as well as all related contractor, subcontractor and commercial efforts. These requirements are not imposed on systems other than human-rated spacecraft, such as ground test articles, but may be tailored for use in specific cases where it is prudent to do so such as for personnel safety or when assets are at risk. The requirements in this document are focused on design rather than verification. Implementation of the requirements is expected to be described in a Structural Verification Plan (SVP), which should describe the verification of each structural item for the applicable requirements. The SVP may also document unique verifications that meet or exceed these requirements with NASA Technical Authority approval.

A Path to Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Exploration: A Literature Review and Systems Engineering Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, James E.; Conley, Cassie; Siegel, Bette

2015-01-01

As systems, technologies, and plans for the human exploration of Mars and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit begin to coalesce, it is imperative that frequent and early consideration is given to how planetary protection practices and policy will be upheld. While the development of formal planetary protection requirements for future human space systems and operations may still be a few years from fruition, guidance to appropriately influence mission and system design will be needed soon to avoid costly design and operational changes. The path to constructing such requirements is a journey that espouses key systems engineering practices of understanding shared goals, objectives and concerns, identifying key stakeholders, and iterating a draft requirement set to gain community consensus. This paper traces through each of these practices, beginning with a literature review of nearly three decades of publications addressing planetary protection concerns with respect to human exploration. Key goals, objectives and concerns, particularly with respect to notional requirements, required studies and research, and technology development needs have been compiled and categorized to provide a current 'state of knowledge'. This information, combined with the identification of key stakeholders in upholding planetary protection concerns for human missions, has yielded a draft requirement set that might feed future iteration among space system designers, exploration scientists, and the mission operations community. Combining the information collected with a proposed forward path will hopefully yield a mutually agreeable set of timely, verifiable, and practical requirements for human space exploration that will uphold international commitment to planetary protection.

A comprehensive approach to environmental and human factors into product/service design and development. A review from an ergoecological perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Saravia-Pinilla, Martha H; Daza-Beltrán, Carolina; García-Acosta, Gabriel

2016-11-01

This article presents the results of a documentary-exploratory review of design methods and concepts associated with human and environmental factors, based on a qualitative-quantitative analysis of coincidences with the fundamentals of ergoecology and in line with sustainable dynamics, with a view to putting the principles of ergoecology into practice in product/service design and development. 61.6% of 696 documents found represent work on conceptual developments, while the remaining 38.4% refer to design methods. Searches were refined using Nvivo-10 software, and 101 documents were obtained about theoretical aspects while 17 focused on the application of methods, and these formed the analysis universe. The results show how little concern there is for working comprehensively on human and environmental aspects, and a trend toward segmentation of human and environmental aspects in the field of product/service design and development can be seen, at both concept and application/methodology levels. It was concluded from the above that comprehensive, simultaneous work is needed on human and environmental aspects, clarity and conceptual unity, in order to achieve sustainability in practical matters and ensure that ergoecology-compatible design methods are applied. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human History and Environmental Geology: A Match Made in Nature

Science.gov (United States)

Selvans, M. M.

2014-12-01

I draw on my dual educational background in the geological sciences (PhD) and sociology (BA), with an emphasis on environmental justice, for the inspiration to approach issues in my geology courses that are directly connected to modern policy decisions with the goal of increasing students' self-awareness. I believe that giving students the opportunity for increased understanding of their own beliefs and values with respect to the environment will allow them to be more engaged in discussions and debates about environmental policies at the local, national, and global scales. I designed Environmental Geology of Prince William Forest Park (VA), a one-day Field Studies course offered through Northern Virginia Community College, to motivate students to articulate personal convictions about land use. To provide a social context for discussion of environmental issues, students first gave presentations on the demographics, economics, and methods of land use of the people that used the park over the last 400 years. At locations along Quantico Creek, students presented topics that covered geologic processes at work on the landscape, progressive farming methods promoted by some early Virginians, and agricultural methods to stabilize soil and its nutrients. Finally, at the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine (active 1889-1920) we discussed laborer work conditions and the environmental impact of tailings, as well as the process and effects of remediation. Students tested pH levels in the creek upstream and downstream of the mine as one concrete way to personally observe the results of recent remediation (since 1994), with neutral pH in both locations indicating success. Students wrapped up the course with written reflections, from their own perspectives with respect to socially and environmentally responsible land use, on the geologic processes and human impacts that shaped the park. Social justice and environmental stewardship are two lenses that allow students to find personal meaning

Human-inspired feedback synergies for environmental interaction with a dexterous robotic hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Benjamin A; Engeberg, Erik D

2014-11-07

Effortless control of the human hand is mediated by the physical and neural couplings inherent in the structure of the hand. This concept was explored for environmental interaction tasks with the human hand, and a novel human-inspired feedback synergy (HFS) controller was developed for a robotic hand which synchronized position and force feedback signals to mimic observed human hand motions. This was achieved by first recording the finger joint motion profiles of human test subjects, where it was observed that the subjects would extend their fingers to maintain a natural hand posture when interacting with different surfaces. The resulting human joint angle data were used as inspiration to develop the HFS controller for the anthropomorphic robotic hand, which incorporated finger abduction and force feedback in the control laws for finger extension. Experimental results showed that by projecting a broader view of the tasks at hand to each specific joint, the HFS controller produced hand motion profiles that closely mimic the observed human responses and allowed the robotic manipulator to interact with the surfaces while maintaining a natural hand posture. Additionally, the HFS controller enabled the robotic hand to autonomously traverse vertical step discontinuities without prior knowledge of the environment, visual feedback, or traditional trajectory planning techniques.

Human-inspired feedback synergies for environmental interaction with a dexterous robotic hand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kent, Benjamin A; Engeberg, Erik D

2014-01-01

Effortless control of the human hand is mediated by the physical and neural couplings inherent in the structure of the hand. This concept was explored for environmental interaction tasks with the human hand, and a novel human-inspired feedback synergy (HFS) controller was developed for a robotic hand which synchronized position and force feedback signals to mimic observed human hand motions. This was achieved by first recording the finger joint motion profiles of human test subjects, where it was observed that the subjects would extend their fingers to maintain a natural hand posture when interacting with different surfaces. The resulting human joint angle data were used as inspiration to develop the HFS controller for the anthropomorphic robotic hand, which incorporated finger abduction and force feedback in the control laws for finger extension. Experimental results showed that by projecting a broader view of the tasks at hand to each specific joint, the HFS controller produced hand motion profiles that closely mimic the observed human responses and allowed the robotic manipulator to interact with the surfaces while maintaining a natural hand posture. Additionally, the HFS controller enabled the robotic hand to autonomously traverse vertical step discontinuities without prior knowledge of the environment, visual feedback, or traditional trajectory planning techniques. (paper)

The Nuremberg Code subverts human health and safety by requiring animal modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greek Ray

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The requirement that animals be used in research and testing in order to protect humans was formalized in the Nuremberg Code and subsequent national and international laws, codes, and declarations. Discussion We review the history of these requirements and contrast what was known via science about animal models then with what is known now. We further analyze the predictive value of animal models when used as test subjects for human response to drugs and disease. We explore the use of animals for models in toxicity testing as an example of the problem with using animal models. Summary We conclude that the requirements for animal testing found in the Nuremberg Code were based on scientifically outdated principles, compromised by people with a vested interest in animal experimentation, serve no useful function, increase the cost of drug development, and prevent otherwise safe and efficacious drugs and therapies from being implemented.

The Aerial Regional-Scale Environmental Surveyor (ARES): New Mars Science to Reduce Human Risk and Prepare for the Human Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Joel S.; Croom, Mark A.; Wright, Henry S.; Killough, B. D.; Edwards, W. C.

2012-01-01

Obtaining critical measurements for eventual human Mars missions while expanding upon recent Mars scientific discoveries and deriving new scientific knowledge from a unique near surface vantage point is the focus of the Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Surveyor (ARES) exploration mission. The key element of ARES is an instrumented,rocket-powered, well-tested robotic airplane platform, that will fly between one to two kilometers above the surface while traversing hundreds of kilometers to collect and transmit previously unobtainable high spatial measurements relevant to the NASA Mars Exploration Program and the exploration of Mars by humans.

Marine Socio-Environmental Covariates: queryable global layers of environmental and anthropogenic variables for marine ecosystem studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeager, Lauren A; Marchand, Philippe; Gill, David A; Baum, Julia K; McPherson, Jana M

2017-07-01

Biophysical conditions, including climate, environmental stress, and habitat availability, are key drivers of many ecological processes (e.g., community assembly and productivity) and associated ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and fishery production). Furthermore, anthropogenic impacts such as coastal development and fishing can have drastic effects on the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Scientists need to account for environmental variation and human impacts to accurately model, manage, and conserve marine ecosystems. Although there are many types of environmental data available from global remote sensing and open-source data products, some are inaccessible to potential end-users because they exist as global layers in high temporal and spatial resolutions which require considerable computational power to process. Additionally, coastal locations often suffer from missing data or data quality issues which limit the utility of some global marine products for coastal sites. Herein we present the Marine Socio-Environmental Covariates dataset for the global oceans, which consists of environmental and anthropogenic variables summarized in ecologically relevant ways. The dataset includes four sets of environmental variables related to biophysical conditions (net primary productivity models corrected for shallow-water reflectance, wave energy including sheltered-coastline corrections) and landscape context (coral reef and land cover within varying radii). We also present two sets of anthropogenic variables, human population density (within varying radii) and distance to large population center, which can serve as indicators of local human impacts. We have paired global, summarized layers available for download with an online data querying platform that allows users to extract data for specific point locations with finer control of summary statistics. In creating these global layers and online platform, we hope to make the data accessible to a

Linking environmental nutrient enrichment and disease emergence in humans and wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Pieter T. J.; Townsend, Alan R.; Cleveland, Cory C.; Glibert, Patricia M.; Howarth, Robert W.; McKenzie, Valerie J.; Rejmankova, Eliska; Ward, Mary H.

2009-01-01

Worldwide increases in the numbers of human and wildlife diseases present ecologists with the challenge of understanding how large-scale environmental changes affect host-parasite interactions. One of the most profound changes to Earth’s ecosystems is the alteration of global nutrient cycles, including those of phosphorus (P) and especially nitrogen (N). Alongside the obvious direct benefits of nutrient application for food production, growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic inputs of N and P can indirectly affect the abundance of infectious and noninfectious pathogens, sometimes leading to epidemic conditions. However, the mechanisms underpinning observed correlations, and how such patterns vary with disease type, have long remained conjectural. Here, we discuss recent experimental advances in this area to critically evaluate the relationship between environmental nutrient enrichment and disease. Given the inter-related nature of human and wildlife disease emergence, we include a broad range of human and wildlife examples from terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems. We examine the consequences of nutrient pollution on directly transmitted, vector-borne, complex life cycle, and noninfectious pathogens, including West Nile virus, malaria, harmful algal blooms, coral reef diseases and amphibian malformations. Our synthetic examination suggests that the effects of environmental nutrient enrichment on disease are complex and multifaceted, varying with the type of pathogen, host species and condition, attributes of the ecosystem and the degree of enrichment; some pathogens increase in abundance whereas others decline or disappear. Nevertheless, available evidence indicates that ecological changes associated with nutrient enrichment often exacerbate infection and disease caused by generalist parasites with direct or simple life cycles. Observed mechanisms include changes in host/vector density, host distribution, infection resistance, pathogen virulence or

Actual problems of environmental factors risk assessment on human health and ways to improve it

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y.A. Rakhmanin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The article provides an analysis of global trends and new areas of health risk assessment and analysis methodology caused by exposure to chemicals, environmental pollutants, and the contemporary issues of national assessment methodology. Most details are considered: risk assessment evidence base, modern methods and problems of carcinogenic risk assessment, hygienic regulation based on risk assessment, the economic aspects of the methodology. Particular attention is paid to reasons of recent years perceived gaps in the Russian methodological basis of the best foreign samples. The urgent measures to improve the national risk assessment methodology are proposed, the main of which are: legislative consolidation of the basic concepts of risk assessment, a further update of the methodology and the practice of hygienic regulation on the basis of risk assessment, improving the valuation of damage to human health, the tightening of the requirements to the developed regulatory guidance documents on risk assessment, as well as to the training and retraining of personnel in the risk assessment.

Utilizing relative potency factors (RPF) and threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) concepts to assess hazard and human risk assessment profiles of environmental metabolites: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, C; Rasoulpour, R J; Knowles, S; Billington, R

2015-03-01

, X11719474 found in soil, crops and, potentially, at low concentrations, in groundwater, was the most extensively studied, with genetic, acute, short-term rat and dog, rodent reproductive and developmental toxicity studies, and MoA studies conducted. These data supported that the toxicity profile for X11719474 was limited to liver effects via the same MoA as the parent and, overall, X11719474 was significantly less toxic than parent. Subsequently, the comparative toxicology programme was extended to cover all metabolites of sulfoxaflor. Based on structure (i.e., similarity of metabolite structures to one another), toxic effects in comparison with parent (i.e., consistency of the toxicity profiles and confidence in terms of ability to read across), residue compartment (e.g., crop, soil, water) and predicted level of exposure, fewer studies were required for establishing safety of these metabolites compared to X11719474. For example, for some metabolites with very low predicted environmental concentrations only genotoxicity testing was required. For some metabolites with low predicted concentrations, for example only present in liver, a TTC approach was utilized. This strategy of comparative assessment utilizing MoA data, relative potency, hazard characterization, read-across, predicted exposure and TTC provided a robust database, which minimized animal use, comprehensively assessed the hazard and human risk presented by these metabolites. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Department of Defense's Civilian Human Capital Strategic Plan Does Not Meet Most Statutory Requirements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Farrell, Brenda S

2008-01-01

To examine the extent to which DOD's civilian human capital strategic plan addresses congressional reporting requirements, we obtained and analyzed the "Department of Defense Civilian Human Capital...

Meeting Report: Threats to Human Health and Environmental Sustainability in the Pacific Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Robert G.; Carpenter, David O.; Kirk, Donald; Koh, David; Armour, Margaret-Ann; Cebrian, Mariano; Cifuentes, Luis; Khwaja, Mahmood; Ling, Bo; Makalinao, Irma; Paz-y-Miño, César; Peralta, Genandrialine; Prasad, Rajendra; Singh, Kirpal; Sly, Peter; Tohyama, Chiharu; Woodward, Alistair; Zheng, Baoshan; Maiden, Todd

2007-01-01

The coastal zone of the Pacific Rim is home for about one-third of the world’s population. Disproportionate growth of Far Eastern economies has produced a disproportionate share of related environmental difficulties. As the region searches for acceptable compromises between growth and environmental quality, its influence on global environmental health is certain to increase. Consequences of global environmental change such as habitat alteration, storms, and sealevel rise will be particularly acute among Pacific Rim nations. Adverse health effects from arsenic exposure in Pacific Rim nations have been used to justify drinking water standards in the United States and elsewhere. As global manufacturing in the Pacific Rim increases, the centroid of global air quality and waste management issues will shift further toward Far Eastern nations. The Eleventh International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium (PBC) was held in September 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The purpose of the conference was to bring together individuals to discuss regional challenges to sustainable growth. The historic emphasis of the conference on hazardous wastes in relation to human health makes the PBC an ideal forum for discussing technical aspects of sustainable economic growth in the Pacific region. That role is reflected in the 2005 PBC conference themes, which included management of arsenic in potable waters, air quality, climate change, pesticides, mercury, and electronics industry waste—each with emphasis on relationships to human health. Arsenic management exemplifies the manner in which the PBC can focus interdisciplinary discussion in a single technical area. The conference program provided talks on arsenic toxicology, treatment technologies, management of arsenic-bearing residuals from water treatment, and the probable societal costs and benefits of arsenic management. PMID:18087598

Meeting report: threats to human health and environmental sustainability in the pacific basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Robert G; Carpenter, David O; Kirk, Donald; Koh, David; Armour, Margaret-Ann; Cebrian, Mariano; Cifuentes, Luis; Khwaja, Mahmood; Ling, Bo; Makalinao, Irma; Paz-Y-Miño, César; Peralta, Genandrialine; Prasad, Rajendra; Singh, Kirpal; Sly, Peter; Tohyama, Chiharu; Woodward, Alistair; Zheng, Baoshan; Maiden, Todd

2007-12-01

The coastal zone of the Pacific Rim is home for about one-third of the world's population. Disproportionate growth of Far Eastern economies has produced a disproportionate share of related environmental difficulties. As the region searches for acceptable compromises between growth and environmental quality, its influence on global environmental health is certain to increase. Consequences of global environmental change such as habitat alteration, storms, and sea level rise will be particularly acute among Pacific Rim nations. Adverse health effects from arsenic exposure in Pacific Rim nations have been used to justify drinking water standards in the United States and elsewhere. As global manufacturing in the Pacific Rim increases, the centroid of global air quality and waste management issues will shift further toward Far Eastern nations. The Eleventh International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium (PBC) was held in September 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The purpose of the conference was to bring together individuals to discuss regional challenges to sustainable growth. The historic emphasis of the conference on hazardous wastes in relation to human health makes the PBC an ideal forum for discussing technical aspects of sustainable economic growth in the Pacific region. That role is reflected in the 2005 PBC conference themes, which included management of arsenic in potable waters, air quality, climate change, pesticides, mercury, and electronics industry waste-each with emphasis on relationships to human health. Arsenic management exemplifies the manner in which the PBC can focus interdisciplinary discussion in a single technical area. The conference program provided talks on arsenic toxicology, treatment technologies, management of arsenic-bearing residuals from water treatment, and the probable societal costs and benefits of arsenic management.

Next Steps Toward Understanding Human Habitation of Space: Environmental Impacts and Mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Globus, Ruth

2016-01-01

Entry into low earth orbit and beyond causes profound shifts in environmental conditions that have the potential to influence human productivity, long term health, and even survival. We now have evidence that microgravity, radiation and/or confinement in space can lead to demonstrably detrimental changes in the cardiovascular (e.g. vessel function, orthostatic intolerance), musculoskeletal (muscle atrophy, bone loss) and nervous (eye, neurovestibular) systems of astronauts. Because of both the limited number of astronauts who have flown (especially females) and the high degree of individual variability in the human population, important unanswered questions about responses to the space environment remain: What are the sex differences with respect to specific physiological systems? Are the responses age-dependent and/or reversible after return to Earth? Do observed detrimental changes that resemble accelerated aging progress continuously over time or plateau? What are the mechanisms of the biological responses? Answering these important questions certainly demands a multi-pronged approach, and the study of multicellular model organisms (such as rodents and flies) already has provided opportunities for exploring those questions in some detail. Recent long duration spaceflight experiments with rodents show that mice in space provide a mammalian model that uniquely combines the influence of reduced gravitational loading with increased physical activity. In addition, multiple investigators have shown that ground-based models that simulate aspects of spaceflight (including rodent hind limb unloading to mimic weightlessness and exposure to ionizing radiation), cause various transient and persistent detrimental consequences in multiple physiological systems. In general, we have found that adverse skeletal effects of simulated weightlessness and space radiation when combined, can be quantitatively, if not qualitatively, different from the influence of each environmental

Environmental Accounting as a Tool for Environmental Management ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Environmental Accounting as a Tool for Environmental Management System. ... This paper reviews about the relationship of environmental accounting and environmental ... to legal and regulation requirement, to reduce cost from customer

Tethys: The Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Environmental Impacts Knowledge Management System -- Requirements Specification -- Version 1.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butner, R. Scott; Snowden-Swan, Lesley J.; Ellis, Peter C.

2010-11-09

The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) environmental impacts knowledge management system (KMS), dubbed Tethys after the mythical Greek goddess of the seas, is being developed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program (WHTP) by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). This requirements specification establishes the essential capabilities required of Tethys and clarifies for WHTP and the Tethys development team the results that must be achieved by the system.

Environmental justice at the Savannah River Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flemming, R.; Hooker, K.L.

1995-01-01

Environmental justice is the conscious commitment to ensure that poor and/or minority communities are not disproportionately bearing adverse human health and environmental effects from the production, processing, or disposal of hazardous or toxic waste. To focus federal attention on assessing the environmental and human health conditions in minority and/or low-income communities surrounding federal facilities, on February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order (EO) 12898. As part of the strategy to comply with EO 12898, the President required all federal agencies to develop localized strategies to ensure that their programs and policies are consistent with EO 12898. This would incorporate mechanisms for increasing public participation opportunities for involvement in the decision making, easier access to information, and the collection and analysis of economic, demographic, and food consumption data in surrounding communities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) responded by issuing its Environmental Justice Strategy 2 (April 1995), although many of its field offices had been actively implementing activities in support of the executive order since its issuance. One DOE facility, the Savannah River Site (SRS), which is located in west central South Carolina, is making great strides toward implementing a successful public participation program, which includes environmental justice initiatives

From nature-dominated to human-dominated environmental changes

Science.gov (United States)

Messerli, Bruno; Grosjean, Martin; Hofer, Thomas; Núñez, Lautaro; Pfister, Christian

2000-01-01

To what extent is it realistic and useful to view human history as a sequence of changes from highly vulnerable societies of hunters and gatherers through periods with less vulnerable, well buffered and highly productive agrarian-urban societies to a world with regions of extreme overpopulation and overuse of life support systems, so that vulnerability to climatic-environmental changes and extreme events is again increasing? This question cannot be fully answered in our present state of knowledge, but at least we can try to illustrate, with three case studies from different continents, time periods and ecosystems, some fundamental changes in the relationship between natural processes and human activities that occur, as we pass from a nature-dominated to a human dominated environment. 1. Early-mid Holocene: Nature dominated environment — human adaptation, mitigation, and migration. In the central Andes, the Holocene climate changed from humid (10,800-8000 BP) to extreme arid (8000-3600 BP) conditions. Over the same period, prehistoric hunting communities adopted a more sedentary pattern of resource use by settling close to the few perennial water bodies, where they began the process of domesticating camelids around 5000 BP and irrigation from about 3100 BP. 2. Historical period: An agrarian society in transition from an "enduring" to an innovative human response. Detailed documentary evidence from Western Europe may be used to reconstruct quite precisely the impacts of climatic variations on agrarian societies. The period considered spans a major transition from an apparently passive response to the vagaries of the environment during the 16th century to an active and innovative attitude from the onset of the agrarian revolution in the late 18th century through to the present day. The associated changes in technology and in agricultural practices helped to create a society better able to survive the impact of climatic extremes. 3. The present day: A human dominated

Environmental exposure to human carcinogens in teenagers and the association with DNA damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franken, Carmen; Koppen, Gudrun; Lambrechts, Nathalie; Govarts, Eva; Bruckers, Liesbeth; Den Hond, Elly; Loots, Ilse; Nelen, Vera; Sioen, Isabelle; Nawrot, Tim S.; Baeyens, Willy; Van Larebeke, Nicolas; Boonen, Francis; Ooms, Daniëlla; Wevers, Mai; Jacobs, Griet; Covaci, Adrian; Schettgen, Thomas; Schoeters, Greet

2017-01-01

and t,t-muconic acid were inversely associated with the alkaline comet assay. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study found associations between current environmental exposure to (potential) human carcinogens in 14–15-year-old Flemish adolescents and short-term (oxidative) damage to DNA. Prospective follow-up will be required to investigate whether long-term effects may occur due to complex environmental exposures. - Highlights: • Exposure to (potential) carcinogens is associated with (oxidative) damage to DNA. • Most associations of exposures are with urinary 8-OHdG. • 1-Hydroxypyrene and chromium are associated with the comet assay and 8-OHdG. • PFOA is associated with higher levels of DNA damage in the alkaline comet assay.

Environmental exposure to human carcinogens in teenagers and the association with DNA damage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franken, Carmen, E-mail: carmen.franken@vito.be [Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol (Belgium); Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium); Koppen, Gudrun; Lambrechts, Nathalie; Govarts, Eva [Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol (Belgium); Bruckers, Liesbeth [Interuniversity Institute for Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics, Hasselt University, Hasselt (Belgium); Den Hond, Elly [Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol (Belgium); Loots, Ilse [Political and Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium); Nelen, Vera [Provincial Institute for Hygiene, Antwerp (Belgium); Sioen, Isabelle [Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium); Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium); Nawrot, Tim S. [Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek (Belgium); Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Leuven University, Leuven (Belgium); Baeyens, Willy [Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels (Belgium); Van Larebeke, Nicolas [Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels (Belgium); Department of Radiotherapy and Experimental Cancerology, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium); Boonen, Francis; Ooms, Daniëlla; Wevers, Mai; Jacobs, Griet [Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol (Belgium); Covaci, Adrian [Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium); Schettgen, Thomas [Department of Occupational and Social Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen (Germany); Schoeters, Greet [Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol (Belgium); Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium); University of Southern Denmark, Institute of Public Health, Department of Environmental Medicine, Odense (Denmark)

2017-01-15

and t,t-muconic acid were inversely associated with the alkaline comet assay. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study found associations between current environmental exposure to (potential) human carcinogens in 14–15-year-old Flemish adolescents and short-term (oxidative) damage to DNA. Prospective follow-up will be required to investigate whether long-term effects may occur due to complex environmental exposures. - Highlights: • Exposure to (potential) carcinogens is associated with (oxidative) damage to DNA. • Most associations of exposures are with urinary 8-OHdG. • 1-Hydroxypyrene and chromium are associated with the comet assay and 8-OHdG. • PFOA is associated with higher levels of DNA damage in the alkaline comet assay.

Transformation of triphenyltin by Eubacteria: Fate and effects in environmental system

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Jadhav, S.

and organisms. Knowledge about the environmental concentrations of any chemical compound is required to understand its effects on the system. Presence of such compounds in the environment is a serious threat and danger for human health and aquatic organisms...

Development of plasma cutting process at observation of environmental requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czech, J.; Matusiak, J.; Pasek-Siurek, H.

1997-01-01

Plasma cutting is one of the basic methods for thermal cutting of metals. It is characterized by high productivity and quality of the cut surface. However, the plasma cutting process is one of the most harmful processes for environment and human health. It results from many agents being a potential environmental risk The large amount of dust and gases emitted during the process as well as an intensive radiation of electric arc and excessive noise are considered as the most harmful hazards. The existing ventilation and filtration systems are not able to solve all problems resulting from the process. Plasma cutting under water is worthy of notice, especially during an advancement of plasma cutting process, because of human safety and environment protection. Such a solution allows to reduce considerably the emission of dust and gases, as well as to decrease the noise level and ultraviolet radiation. An additional advantage of underwater plasma cutting is a reduction in the width of material heating zone and a decrease in strains of elements being cut. However, the productivity of this process is a little lower what results in an increase in cutting cost. In the paper, it has been presented the results of the investigations made at the Institute of Welding in Gliwice on the area of plasma cutting equipment with energy-saving inverter power supplies used in automated processes of underwater plasma cutting as well as the results of testing of welding environment contamination and safety hazards. (author)

In vitro cardiotoxicity assessment of environmental chemicals using an organotypic human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sirenko, Oksana, E-mail: oksana.sirenko@moldev.com [Molecular Devices, LLC, Sunnyvale, CA (United States); Grimm, Fabian A. [Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX (United States); Ryan, Kristen R. [Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); Iwata, Yasuhiro; Chiu, Weihsueh A. [Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX (United States); Parham, Frederick [Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); Wignall, Jessica A. [ICF, Fairfax, VA (United States); Anson, Blake [Cellular Dynamics International, Madison, WI (United States); Cromwell, Evan F. [Protein Fluidics, Inc., Burlingame, CA (United States); Behl, Mamta [Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); Rusyn, Ivan [Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX (United States); Tice, Raymond R. [Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)

2017-05-01

An important target area for addressing data gaps through in vitro screening is the detection of potential cardiotoxicants. Despite the fact that current conservative estimates relate at least 23% of all cardiovascular disease cases to environmental exposures, the identities of the causative agents remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of a combinatorial in vitro/in silico screening approach for functional and mechanistic cardiotoxicity profiling of environmental hazards using a library of 69 representative environmental chemicals and drugs. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were exposed in concentration-response for 30 min or 24 h and effects on cardiomyocyte beating and cellular and mitochondrial toxicity were assessed by kinetic measurements of intracellular Ca{sup 2+} flux and high-content imaging using the nuclear dye Hoechst 33342, the cell viability marker Calcein AM, and the mitochondrial depolarization probe JC-10. More than half of the tested chemicals exhibited effects on cardiomyocyte beating after 30 min of exposure. In contrast, after 24 h, effects on cell beating without concomitant cytotoxicity were observed in about one third of the compounds. Concentration-response data for in vitro bioactivity phenotypes visualized using the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi) showed chemical class-specific clustering of environmental chemicals, including pesticides, flame retardants, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. For environmental chemicals with human exposure predictions, the activity-to-exposure ratios between modeled blood concentrations and in vitro bioactivity were between one and five orders of magnitude. These findings not only demonstrate that some ubiquitous environmental pollutants might have the potential at high exposure levels to alter cardiomyocyte function, but also indicate similarities in the mechanism of these effects both within and among chemicals and classes. - Highlights: �

In vitro cardiotoxicity assessment of environmental chemicals using an organotypic human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sirenko, Oksana; Grimm, Fabian A.; Ryan, Kristen R.; Iwata, Yasuhiro; Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Parham, Frederick; Wignall, Jessica A.; Anson, Blake; Cromwell, Evan F.; Behl, Mamta; Rusyn, Ivan; Tice, Raymond R.

2017-01-01

An important target area for addressing data gaps through in vitro screening is the detection of potential cardiotoxicants. Despite the fact that current conservative estimates relate at least 23% of all cardiovascular disease cases to environmental exposures, the identities of the causative agents remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of a combinatorial in vitro/in silico screening approach for functional and mechanistic cardiotoxicity profiling of environmental hazards using a library of 69 representative environmental chemicals and drugs. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were exposed in concentration-response for 30 min or 24 h and effects on cardiomyocyte beating and cellular and mitochondrial toxicity were assessed by kinetic measurements of intracellular Ca 2+ flux and high-content imaging using the nuclear dye Hoechst 33342, the cell viability marker Calcein AM, and the mitochondrial depolarization probe JC-10. More than half of the tested chemicals exhibited effects on cardiomyocyte beating after 30 min of exposure. In contrast, after 24 h, effects on cell beating without concomitant cytotoxicity were observed in about one third of the compounds. Concentration-response data for in vitro bioactivity phenotypes visualized using the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi) showed chemical class-specific clustering of environmental chemicals, including pesticides, flame retardants, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. For environmental chemicals with human exposure predictions, the activity-to-exposure ratios between modeled blood concentrations and in vitro bioactivity were between one and five orders of magnitude. These findings not only demonstrate that some ubiquitous environmental pollutants might have the potential at high exposure levels to alter cardiomyocyte function, but also indicate similarities in the mechanism of these effects both within and among chemicals and classes. - Highlights: �

Four thousand years of environmental change and human activity in the Cochabamba Basin, Bolivia

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Joseph J.; Gosling, William D.; Coe, Angela L.; Brooks, Stephen J.; Gulliver, Pauline

The Cochabamba Basin (Bolivia) is on the ancient road network connecting Andean and lowland areas. Little is known about the longevity of this trade route or how people responded to past environmental changes. The eastern end of the Cochabamba valley system constricts at the Vacas Lake District, constraining the road network and providing an ideal location in which to examine past human-environmental interactions. Multi-proxy analysis of sediment from Lake Challacaba has allowed a c. 4000 year environmental history to be reconstructed. Fluctuations in drought tolerant pollen taxa and calcium carbonate indicate two periods of reduced moisture availability ( c. 4000-3370 and c. 2190-1020 cal yr BP) compared to adjacent wetter episodes ( c. 3370-2190 and c. 1020 cal yr BP-present). The moisture fluctuations broadly correlate to El Niño/Southern Oscillation variations reported elsewhere. High charcoal abundance from c. 4000 to 2000 yr ago indicates continuous use of the ancient road network. A decline in charcoal and an increase in dung fungus ( Sporormiella) c. 1340 -1210 cal yr BP, suggests that cultural changes were a major factor in shaping the modern landscape. Despite undisputable impacts of human populations on the Polylepis woodlands today, we see no evidence of woodland clearance in the Challacaba record.

Environmental layout complexity affects neural activity during navigation in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Slone, Edward; Burles, Ford; Iaria, Giuseppe

2016-05-01

Navigating large-scale surroundings is a fundamental ability. In humans, it is commonly assumed that navigational performance is affected by individual differences, such as age, sex, and cognitive strategies adopted for orientation. We recently showed that the layout of the environment itself also influences how well people are able to find their way within it, yet it remains unclear whether differences in environmental complexity are associated with changes in brain activity during navigation. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how the brain responds to a change in environmental complexity by asking participants to perform a navigation task in two large-scale virtual environments that differed solely in interconnection density, a measure of complexity defined as the average number of directional choices at decision points. The results showed that navigation in the simpler, less interconnected environment was faster and more accurate relative to the complex environment, and such performance was associated with increased activity in a number of brain areas (i.e. precuneus, retrosplenial cortex, and hippocampus) known to be involved in mental imagery, navigation, and memory. These findings provide novel evidence that environmental complexity not only affects navigational behaviour, but also modulates activity in brain regions that are important for successful orientation and navigation. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Human Research Program: Space Human Factors and Habitability Element

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Dane M.

2007-01-01

The three project areas of the Space Human Factors and Habitability Element work together to achieve a working and living environment that will keep crews healthy, safe, and productive throughout all missions -- from Earth orbit to Mars expeditions. The Advanced Environmental Health (AEH) Project develops and evaluates advanced habitability systems and establishes requirements and health standards for exploration missions. The Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) Project s goal is to ensure a safe and productive environment for humans in space. With missions using new technologies at an ever-increasing rate, it is imperative that these advances enhance crew performance without increasing stress or risk. The ultimate goal of Advanced Food Technology (AFT) Project is to develop and deliver technologies for human centered spacecraft that will support crews on missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

The use of animals as a surveillance tool for monitoring environmental health hazards, human health hazards and bioterrorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Neo, Jacqueline Pei Shan; Tan, Boon Huan

2017-05-01

This review discusses the utilization of wild or domestic animals as surveillance tools for monitoring naturally occurring environmental and human health hazards. Besides providing early warning to natural hazards, animals can also provide early warning to societal hazards like bioterrorism. Animals are ideal surveillance tools to humans because they share the same environment as humans and spend more time outdoors than humans, increasing their exposure risk. Furthermore, the biologically compressed lifespans of some animals may allow them to develop clinical signs more rapidly after exposure to specific pathogens. Animals are an excellent channel for monitoring novel and known pathogens with outbreak potential given that more than 60 % of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate as zoonoses. This review attempts to highlight animal illnesses, deaths, biomarkers or sentinel events, to remind human and veterinary public health programs that animal health can be used to discover, monitor or predict environmental health hazards, human health hazards, or bioterrorism. Lastly, we hope that this review will encourage the implementation of animals as a surveillance tool by clinicians, veterinarians, ecosystem health professionals, researchers and governments. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Managing the environmental impacts of land transport: integrating environmental analysis with urban planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irving, Paul; Moncrieff, Ian

2004-01-01

Ecological systems have limits or thresholds that vary by pollutant type, emissions sources and the sensitivity of a given location. Human health can also indicate sensitivity. Good environmental management requires any problem to be defined to obtain efficient and effective solutions. Cities are where transport activities, effects and resource management decisions are often most focussed. The New Zealand Ministry of Transport has developed two environmental management tools. The Vehicle Fleet Model (VFM) is a predictive database of the environmental performance of the New Zealand traffic fleet (and rail fleet). It calculates indices of local air quality, stormwater, and greenhouse gases emissions. The second is an analytical process based on Environmental Capacity Analysis (ECA). Information on local traffic is combined with environmental performance data from the Vehicle Fleet Model. This can be integrated within a live, geo-spatially defined analysis of the overall environmental effects within a defined local area. Variations in urban form and activity (traffic and other) that contribute to environmental effects can be tracked. This enables analysis of a range of mitigation strategies that may contribute, now or in the future, to maintaining environmental thresholds or meeting targets. A case study of the application of this approach was conducted within Waitakere City. The focus was on improving the understanding of the relative significance of stormwater contaminants derived from land transport

Step 1: Human System Interface (HSI) Functional Requirements Document (FRD). Version 2

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

This Functional Requirements Document (FRD) establishes a minimum set of Human System Interface (HSI) functional requirements to achieve the Access 5 Vision of "operating High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) routinely, safely, and reliably in the National Airspace System (NAS)". Basically, it provides what functions are necessary to fly UAS in the NAS. The framework used to identify the appropriate functions was the "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, and Avoid Hazards" structure identified in the Access 5 FRD. As a result, fifteen high-level functional requirements were developed. In addition, several of them have been decomposed into low-level functional requirements to provide more detail.

`Human nature': Chemical engineering students' ideas about human relationships with the natural world

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, Daphne; Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Orit; Shemesh, Julia

2014-05-01

While importance of environmental ethics, as a component of sustainable development, in preparing engineers is widely acknowledged, little research has addressed chemical engineers' environmental concerns. This study aimed to address this void by exploring chemical engineering students' values regarding human-nature relationships. The study was conducted with 247 3rd-4th year chemical engineering students in Israeli Universities. It employed the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)-questionnaire to which students added written explanations. Quantitative analysis of NEP-scale results shows that the students demonstrated moderately ecocentric orientation. Explanations to the NEP-items reveal diverse, ambivalent ideas regarding the notions embodied in the NEP, strong scientific orientation and reliance on technology for addressing environmental challenges. Endorsing sustainability implies that today's engineers be equipped with an ecological perspective. The capacity of Higher Education to enable engineers to develop dispositions about human-nature interrelationships requires adaptation of curricula towards multidisciplinary, integrative learning addressing social-political-economic-ethical perspectives, and implementing critical-thinking within the socio-scientific issues pedagogical approach.

Environmental monitoring plan for the Oak Ridge Reservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-09-01

The Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) for the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) is an omnibus document providing a single point of reference for the effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance programs of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Y-12 Plant, K-25 Site, and ORR areas outside specific facility boundaries. Authorization and requirement for the EMP are contained in Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1 Chapter 4, which states that environmental monitoring consists of two major activities: effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. This EMP is intended to document the rationale and design criteria for the effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance programs, extent and frequency of sampling and analysis, analytical laboratory procedures, quality assurance, implementation, and reporting. The EMP describes one of several programs that collect and analyze data to assess the impacts of ORR on the environment and human health. Others include the Environmental Restoration Program and the Clinch River Remedial Investigation Program. While the ultimate goal for DOE may be to integrate information from all these programs into a formalized assessment of risk to ecosystems and human health, that level of integration is beyond the scope of the EMP. The EMP outlines the goals of environmental monitoring for the ORR and its facilities and includes activities that are not presently conducted. In general, the programs described in this EMP represent an increase in surveillance activities over past practices

Integrating Social Science, Environmental Science, and Engineering to Understand Vulnerability and Resilience to Environmental Hazards in the Bengal Delta

Science.gov (United States)

Gilligan, J. M.; Ackerly, B.; Goodbred, S. L.

2013-12-01

In populated delta environments, it is impossible to separate human and natural systems. Human activities change the landscape by altering the dynamics of water and sediment and in return, humans themselves are affected by the natural and anthropogenic changes to the landscape. Such interactions can also have significant impacts on the ecology and natural resources of a delta system, affecting local and regional food supply, livelihoods, and economies, particularly in developing nations. Successful adaptation to environmental change in a strongly coupled human-natural system, such as the Bengal delta, requires understanding how the physical environment and the changing social, political, and economic conditions of people's lives interact. Research on human-delta interactions has largely focused on macro-scale effects from major dams, water diversions, and catchment-scale land use; but at the smaller scale of households and communities, decisions, actions, and outcomes may occur abruptly and have significant local impacts (positive or negative). Southwest Bangladesh experiences profound environmental problems at the local human-landscape interface, including groundwater salinity, soil fertility, conflicting land-use practices, management of engineering structures, and declining land-surface elevations. The impacts of climate-induced sea-level rise, especially with respect to population migration, receive great attention and concern, but neither sea level rise nor migration occurs against a background of static physical or human environments. For example, changing land use (e.g., building embankments, which affect drainage, sediment transport, and the evolution of tidal channels; and the transformation of rice fields to shrimp aquaculture, which affects soil chemistry, labor markets, river ecology, and possibly the integrity of embankments) can significantly change the impact that sea level rise will have on flood hazards and the resulting effect on people living on

Implementation of requirements of environmental management (ISO 14000) for the decommissioning of the heavy water plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez, Maria I.; Otero de Eppenstein, Marta; Tosi, Lidia E.; Sabio, Manuel

2000-01-01

The National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) of Argentina has a project of decommissioning in the heavy water plant (Planta Experimental de Agua Pesada - PEAP). The aim of this project is to get some experience for decommissioning of nuclear plants and to achieve knowledge about the application of the requirements in environmental management. The project is being carried out according to ISO 14001 standards 'Environmental Management Systems'. The objectives were taken from the model without any expectation of achieving the complete implementation or certification of the system. This report is a description of the acts that have been done. (author)

Fate and Transport of Mercury in Environmental Media and Human Exposure

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Moon-Kyung

2012-01-01

Mercury is emitted to the atmosphere from various natural and anthropogenic sources, and degrades with difficulty in the environment. Mercury exists as various species, mainly elemental (Hg0) and divalent (Hg2+) mercury depending on its oxidation states in air and water. Mercury emitted to the atmosphere can be deposited into aqueous environments by wet and dry depositions, and some can be re-emitted into the atmosphere. The deposited mercury species, mainly Hg2+, can react with various organic compounds in water and sediment by biotic reactions mediated by sulfur-reducing bacteria, and abiotic reactions mediated by sunlight photolysis, resulting in conversion into organic mercury such as methylmercury (MeHg). MeHg can be bioaccumulated through the food web in the ecosystem, finally exposing humans who consume fish. For a better understanding of how humans are exposed to mercury in the environment, this review paper summarizes the mechanisms of emission, fate and transport, speciation chemistry, bioaccumulation, levels of contamination in environmental media, and finally exposure assessment of humans. PMID:23230463

Legal requirements for human-health based appeals of wind energy projects in ontario.

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Albert M

2014-01-01

In 2009, the government of the province of Ontario, Canada passed new legislation to promote the development of renewable energy facilities, including wind energy facilities in the province. Throughout the legislative process, concerns were raised with respect to the effect of wind energy facilities on human health. Ultimately, the government established setbacks and sound level limits for wind energy facilities and provided Ontario residents with the right to appeal the approval of a wind energy facility on the ground that engaging in the facility in accordance with its approval will cause serious harm to human health. The first approval of a wind facility under the new legislation was issued in 2010 and since then, Ontario's Environmental Review Tribunal as well as Ontario's courts has been considering evidence proffered by appellants seeking revocation of approvals on the basis of serious harm to human health. To date, the evidence has been insufficient to support the revocation of a wind facility approval. This article reviews the legal basis for the dismissal of human-health based appeals.

Assessment of Environmental Flows under Human Intervention and Climate Change Conditions in a Mediterranean Watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, M. T.; Alp, E.; Aras, M.; Özaltın, A. M.; Sarıcan, Y.; Afsar, M.; Bulut, B.; Ersoy, E. N.; Karasu, İ. G.; Onen, A.

2017-12-01

Allocation of the river flow for ecosystems is very critical for sustainable management of ecosystems containing aquatic habitats in need of more water than other environments. Availability and allocation of water over such locations becomes more stressed as a result of the influence of human interventions (e.g., increased water use for irrigation) and the expected change in climate. This study investigates the current and future (until 2100) low-flow requirements over 10 subcatchments in a Mediterranean Watershed, in Turkey, using Tennant and hydrological low-flow methods. The future river flows are estimated using HBV model forced by climate projections obtained by HADGEM2, MPI-ESM-MR, and CNRM-CM5.1 models coupled with RegCM4.3 under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios. Critical flows (i.e., Q10, Q25, Q50) are calculated using the best fit to commonly used distributions for the river flow data, while the decision between the selection of Q10, Q25, Q50 critical levels are made depending on the level of human interference made over the catchment. Total three low-flow requirement estimations are obtained over each subcatchment using the Tennant (two estimates for the low and high flow seasons for environmentally good conditions) and the hydrological low-flow methods. The highest estimate among these three methods is selected as the low-flow requirement of the subcatchment. The river flows over these 10 subcatchments range between 197hm3 and 1534hm3 while the drainage areas changing between 936 and 4505 km2. The final low-flow estimation (i.e., the highest among the three estimate) for the current conditions range between 94 hm3 and 715 hm3. The low-flow projection values between 2075 and 2099 are on average 39% lower than the 2016 values, while the steepest decline is expected between 2050 and 2074. The low flow and high flow season Tennant estimates dropped 22-25% while the hydrological method low-flow estimates dropped 32% from 2016 to 2075-2099 average, where

A Generalized Model for Indoor Location Estimation Using Environmental Sound from Human Activity Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos E. Galván-Tejada

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The indoor location of individuals is a key contextual variable for commercial and assisted location-based services and applications. Commercial centers and medical buildings (e.g., hospitals require location information of their users/patients to offer the services that are needed at the correct moment. Several approaches have been proposed to tackle this problem. In this paper, we present the development of an indoor location system which relies on the human activity recognition approach, using sound as an information source to infer the indoor location based on the contextual information of the activity that is realized at the moment. In this work, we analyze the sound information to estimate the location using the contextual information of the activity. A feature extraction approach to the sound signal is performed to feed a random forest algorithm in order to generate a model to estimate the location of the user. We evaluate the quality of the resulting model in terms of sensitivity and specificity for each location, and we also perform out-of-bag error estimation. Our experiments were carried out in five representative residential homes. Each home had four individual indoor rooms. Eleven activities (brewing coffee, cooking, eggs, taking a shower, etc. were performed to provide the contextual information. Experimental results show that developing an indoor location system (ILS that uses contextual information from human activities (identified with data provided from the environmental sound can achieve an estimation that is 95% correct.

Environmental Audit of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-02-01

This document contains the findings identified during the Environmental Audit of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML), conducted from December 2 to 13, 1991. The Audit included the EML facility located in a fifth-floor General Services Administration (GSA) office building located in New York City, and a remote environmental monitoring station located in Chester, New Jersey. The scope of this Environmental Audit was comprehensive, covering all areas of environmental activities and waste management operations, with the exception of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is the responsibility of the DOE Headquarters Office of NEPA Oversight. Compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local requirements; applicable DOE Orders; and internal facility requirements was addressed

The role of environmental factors in regulating the development of cartilaginous grafts engineered using osteoarthritic human infrapatellar fat pad-derived stem cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yurong; Buckley, Conor T; Downey, Richard; Mulhall, Kevin J; Kelly, Daniel J

2012-08-01

Engineering functional cartilaginous grafts using stem cells isolated from osteoarthritic human tissue is of fundamental importance if autologous tissue engineering strategies are to be used in the treatment of diseased articular cartilage. It has previously been demonstrated that human infrapatellar fat pad (IFP)-derived stem cells undergo chondrogenesis in pellet culture; however, the ability of such cells to generate functional cartilaginous grafts has not been adequately addressed. The objective of this study was to explore how environmental conditions regulate the functional development of cartilaginous constructs engineered using diseased human IFP-derived stem cells (FPSCs). FPSCs were observed to display a diminished chondrogenic potential upon encapsulation in a three-dimensional hydrogel compared with pellet culture, synthesizing significantly lower levels of glycosaminoglycan and collagen on a per cell basis. To engineer more functional cartilaginous grafts, we next explored whether additional biochemical and biophysical stimulations would enhance chondrogenesis within the hydrogels. Serum stimulation was observed to partially recover the diminished chondrogenic potential within hydrogel culture. Over 42 days, stem cells that had first been expanded in a low-oxygen environment proliferated extensively on the outer surface of the hydrogel in response to serum stimulation, assembling a dense type II collagen-positive cartilaginous tissue resembling that formed in pellet culture. The application of hydrostatic pressure did not further enhance extracellular matrix synthesis within the hydrogels, but did appear to alter the spatial accumulation of extracellular matrix leading to the formation of a more compact tissue with superior mechanically functionality. Further work is required in order to recapitulate the environmental conditions present during pellet culture within scaffolds or hydrogels in order to engineer more functional cartilaginous grafts using

78 FR 37533 - Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Engineered High...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-21

... that occur in nature without human intervention), and specifically engineered to produce more energy... Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requirements, the Council on Environmental... promoting U.S. energy security by providing reliable, clean, and affordable energy and strengthening U.S...

Incorporating land-use requirements and environmental constraints in low-carbon electricity planning for California.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Grace C; Torn, Margaret S; Williams, James H

2015-02-17

The land-use implications of deep decarbonization of the electricity sector (e.g., 80% below 1990 emissions) have not been well-characterized quantitatively or spatially. We assessed the operational-phase land-use requirements of different low-carbon scenarios for California in 2050 and found that most scenarios have comparable direct land footprints. While the per MWh footprint of renewable energy (RE) generation is initially higher, that of fossil and nuclear generation increases over time with continued fuel use. We built a spatially explicit model to understand the interactions between resource quality and environmental constraints in a high RE scenario (>70% of total generation). We found that there is sufficient land within California to meet the solar and geothermal targets, but areas with the highest quality wind and solar resources also tend to be those with high conservation value. Development of some land with lower conservation value results in lower average capacity factors, but also provides opportunity for colocation of different generation technologies, which could significantly improve land-use efficiency and reduce permitting, leasing, and transmission infrastructure costs. Basing siting decisions on environmentally-constrained long-term RE build-out requirements produces significantly different results, including better conservation outcomes, than implied by the current piecemeal approach to planning.

Meeting United States re-licensing requirements related to environmental protection using innovative technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taft, E.P.; Winchell, F.C.; Cook, T.C.

1998-01-01

Procedure for meeting re-licensing requirements related to environmental protection and an overview of several new and emerging technologies regarding the development of ways to prevent fish passage through hydraulic turbines at hydroelectric power dams is described. Fish mortality and injury has long been a concern in the hydroelectric industry and research and development efforts have been ongoing since the 1970s to prevent fish passage through turbines. Several new and emerging technologies are examined that have the potential for wide-spread cost-effective applications

Indirect effects of human-induced environmental change on offspring production mediated by behavioural responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Candolin, Ulrika; Nieminen, Anne; Nyman, Johanna

2014-01-01

Human-induced rapid environmental changes often cause behavioural alterations in animals. The consequences that these alterations in turn have for the viability of populations are, however, poorly known. We used a population of threespine sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus in the Baltic Sea to investigate the consequences of behavioural responses to human-induced eutrophication for offspring production. The investigated population has been growing during the last decades, and one cause could be increased offspring production. We combined field-based surveys with laboratory-based experiments, and found that an enhanced growth of macroalgae relaxed agonistic interactions among males. This allowed more males to nest, improved hatching success, and increased the number of reproductive cycles that males completed. Thus, the behavioural responses were adaptive at the individual level and increased offspring production. However, a larger proportion of small males of low competitive ability reproduced in dense vegetation. As male size and dominance are heritable, this could influence the genetic composition of the offspring. Together with a higher number of offspring produced, this could influence natural selection and the rate of adaptation to the changing environment. Thus, behavioural responses to a rapid human-induced environmental change can influence offspring production, with potential consequences for population dynamics and evolutionary processes.

Characterizing environmental risk factors for West Nile virus in Quebec, Canada, using clinical data in humans and serology in pet dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocheleau, J P; Michel, P; Lindsay, L R; Drebot, M; Dibernardo, A; Ogden, N H; Fortin, A; Arsenault, J

2017-10-01

The identification of specific environments sustaining emerging arbovirus amplification and transmission to humans is a key component of public health intervention planning. This study aimed at identifying environmental factors associated with West Nile virus (WNV) infections in southern Quebec, Canada, by modelling and jointly interpreting aggregated clinical data in humans and serological data in pet dogs. Environmental risk factors were estimated in humans by negative binomial regression based on a dataset of 191 human WNV clinical cases reported in the study area between 2011 and 2014. Risk factors for infection in dogs were evaluated by logistic and negative binomial models based on a dataset including WNV serological results from 1442 dogs sampled from the same geographical area in 2013. Forested lands were identified as low-risk environments in humans. Agricultural lands represented higher risk environments for dogs. Environments identified as impacting risk in the current study were somewhat different from those identified in other studies conducted in north-eastern USA, which reported higher risk in suburban environments. In the context of the current study, combining human and animal data allowed a more comprehensive and possibly a more accurate view of environmental WNV risk factors to be obtained than by studying aggregated human data alone.

Geographic patterns and environmental factors associated with human yellow fever presence in the Americas.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamrick, Patricia Najera; Aldighieri, Sylvain; Machado, Gustavo; Leonel, Deise Galan; Vilca, Luz Maria; Uriona, Sonia; Schneider, Maria Cristina

2017-09-01

In the Americas, yellow fever virus transmission is a latent threat due to the proximity between urban and wild environments. Although yellow fever has nearly vanished from North and Central America, there are still 13 countries in the Americas considered endemic by the World Health Organization. Human cases usually occur as a result of the exposure to sylvatic yellow fever in tropical forested environments; but urban outbreaks reported during the last decade demonstrate that the risk in this environment still exists. The objective of this study was to identify spatial patterns and the relationship between key geographic and environmental factors with the distribution of yellow fever human cases in the Americas. An ecological study was carried out to analyze yellow fever human cases reported to the Pan American Health Organization from 2000 to 2014, aggregated by second administrative level subdivisions (counties). Presence of yellow fever by county was used as the outcome variable and eight geo-environmental factors were used as independent variables. Spatial analysis was performed to identify and examine natural settings per county. Subsequently, a multivariable logistic regression model was built. During the study period, 1,164 cases were reported in eight out of the 13 endemic countries. Nearly 83.8% of these cases were concentrated in three countries: Peru (37.4%), Brazil (28.1%) and Colombia (18.4%); and distributed in 57 states/provinces, specifically in 286 counties (3.4% of total counties). Yellow fever presence was significantly associated with altitude, rain, diversity of non-human primate hosts and temperature. A positive spatial autocorrelation revealed a clustered geographic pattern in 138/286 yellow fever positive counties (48.3%). A clustered geographic pattern of yellow fever was identified mostly along the Andes eastern foothills. This risk map could support health policies in endemic countries. Geo-environmental factors associated with presence

Effects of environmental radiation of Kori nuclear power plant on the human population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Y.J.

1979-01-01

In order to clarify and protect the effects of environmental radiation according to the operation of Kori nuclear power plant on human population, the base line survey for the human monitoring, the fauna of land nocturnal insects, and the karyotypes of amphibian species which have been living around the power plant site were carried out. ''Kilchunri'' population which took for the human monitoring lie within a 2km distance from power plant site. Human monitoring, house and food characteristics, individual experience of X-ray exposures, human chromosome analysis and fauna of nocturnal land insects were surveyed and expressed in numerical tables. Chromosome number obtained from the amphibia which were collected around the power plant area was as follows; Kaloula borealis 2N=30, Rana amurensis 2N=26, Rana dybouskii 2N=24, Rana rugosa 2N=26, Rana migromaculata 2N=26, Rana plancyi 2N=26, Bombina orientalis 2N=24, Hyla arborea 2N=24, Bufo stejnegeri 2N=22, and Bufo bufo 2N=22. (author)

Cognition and procedure representational requirements for predictive human performance models

Science.gov (United States)

Corker, K.

1992-01-01

Models and modeling environments for human performance are becoming significant contributors to early system design and analysis procedures. Issues of levels of automation, physical environment, informational environment, and manning requirements are being addressed by such man/machine analysis systems. The research reported here investigates the close interaction between models of human cognition and models that described procedural performance. We describe a methodology for the decomposition of aircrew procedures that supports interaction with models of cognition on the basis of procedures observed; that serves to identify cockpit/avionics information sources and crew information requirements; and that provides the structure to support methods for function allocation among crew and aiding systems. Our approach is to develop an object-oriented, modular, executable software representation of the aircrew, the aircraft, and the procedures necessary to satisfy flight-phase goals. We then encode in a time-based language, taxonomies of the conceptual, relational, and procedural constraints among the cockpit avionics and control system and the aircrew. We have designed and implemented a goals/procedures hierarchic representation sufficient to describe procedural flow in the cockpit. We then execute the procedural representation in simulation software and calculate the values of the flight instruments, aircraft state variables and crew resources using the constraints available from the relationship taxonomies. The system provides a flexible, extensible, manipulative and executable representation of aircrew and procedures that is generally applicable to crew/procedure task-analysis. The representation supports developed methods of intent inference, and is extensible to include issues of information requirements and functional allocation. We are attempting to link the procedural representation to models of cognitive functions to establish several intent inference methods

Martian Surface Boundary Layer Characterization: Enabling Environmental Data for Science, Engineering and Human Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

England, C.

2000-01-01

For human or large robotic exploration of Mars, engineering devices such as power sources will be utilized that interact closely with the Martian environment. Heat sources for power production, for example, will use the low ambient temperature for efficient heat rejection. The Martian ambient, however, is highly variable, and will have a first order influence on the efficiency and operation of all large-scale equipment. Diurnal changes in temperature, for example, can vary the theoretical efficiency of power production by 15% and affect the choice of equipment, working fluids, and operating parameters. As part of the Mars Exploration program, missions must acquire the environmental data needed for design, operation and maintenance of engineering equipment including the transportation devices. The information should focus on the variability of the environment, and on the differences among locations including latitudes, altitudes, and seasons. This paper outlines some of the WHY's, WHAT's and WHERE's of the needed data, as well as some examples of how this data will be used. Environmental data for engineering design should be considered a priority in Mars Exploration planning. The Mars Thermal Environment Radiator Characterization (MTERC), and Dust Accumulation and Removal Technology (DART) experiments planned for early Mars landers are examples of information needed for even small robotic missions. Large missions will require proportionately more accurate data that encompass larger samples of the Martian surface conditions. In achieving this goal, the Mars Exploration program will also acquire primary data needed for understanding Martian weather, surface evolution, and ground-atmosphere interrelationships.

Environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, R.R.; Easter, S.B.; Murphy-Mariscal, M. L.; Maestre, F.T.; Tavassoli, M.; Allen, E.B.; Barrows, C.W.; Belnap, J.; Ochoa-Hueso, R.; Ravi, S.; Allen, M.F.

2014-01-01

Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, we review direct and indirect environmental impacts – both beneficial and adverse – of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change.

Epiphytic lichen diversity in central European oak forests: Assessment of the effects of natural environmental factors and human influences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svoboda, David; Peksa, Ondrej; Vesela, Jana

2010-01-01

We investigated lichen diversity in temperate oak forests using standardized protocols. Forty-eight sites were sampled in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The effects of natural environmental predictors and human influences on lichen diversity (lichen diversity value, species richness) were analysed by means of correlation tests. We found that lichen diversity responded differently to environmental predictors between two regions with different human impact. In the industrial region, air pollution was the strongest factor. In the agricultural to highly forested regions, lichen diversity was strongly influenced by forest age and forest fragmentation. We found that several natural factors can in some cases obscure the effect of human influences. Thus, factors of naturality gradient must be considered (both statistically and interpretively) when studying human impact on lichen diversity. - We detected the different responses of lichens to ecological predictors in polluted and unpolluted areas.

Disability adjusted life year (DALY): a useful tool for quantitative assessment of environmental pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Tingting; Wang, Xiaochang C; Chen, Rong; Ngo, Huu Hao; Guo, Wenshan

2015-04-01

Disability adjusted life year (DALY) has been widely used since 1990s for evaluating global and/or regional burden of diseases. As many environmental pollutants are hazardous to human health, DALY is also recognized as an indicator to quantify the health impact of environmental pollution related to disease burden. Based on literature reviews, this article aims to give an overview of the applicable methodologies and research directions for using DALY as a tool for quantitative assessment of environmental pollution. With an introduction of the methodological framework of DALY, the requirements on data collection and manipulation for quantifying disease burdens are summarized. Regarding environmental pollutants hazardous to human beings, health effect/risk evaluation is indispensable for transforming pollution data into disease data through exposure and dose-response analyses which need careful selection of models and determination of parameters. Following the methodological discussions, real cases are analyzed with attention paid to chemical pollutants and pathogens usually encountered in environmental pollution. It can be seen from existing studies that DALY is advantageous over conventional environmental impact assessment for quantification and comparison of the risks resulted from environmental pollution. However, further studies are still required to standardize the methods of health effect evaluation regarding varied pollutants under varied circumstances before DALY calculation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental survey preliminary report, Mound Plant, Miamisburg, Ohio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-03-01

This report presents the preliminary findings from the first phase of the Environmental Survey of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Mound Plant, conducted August 18 through 29, 1986. The objective of the Survey is to identify environmental problems and areas of environmental risk associated with the Mound Plant. The Survey covers all environmental media and all areas of environmental regulation. It is being performed in accordance with the DOE Environmental Survey Manual. The on-site phase of the Survey involves the review of existing site environmental data, observations of the operations carried on at the Mound Plant, and interviews with site personnel. The Survey found no environmental problems at the Mound Plant that represent an immediate threat to human life. The environmental problems identified at the Mound Plant by the Survey confirm that the site is confronted with a number of environmental problems which are by and large a legacy from past practices at a time when environmental problems were less well understood. Theses problems vary in terms of their magnitude and risk, as described in this report. Although the sampling and analysis performed by the Mound Plant Survey will assist in further identifying environmental problems at the site, a complete understanding of the significance of some of the environmental problems identified requires a level of study and characterization that is beyond the scope of the Survey. Actions currently under way or planned at the site, particularly the Phase II activities of the Comprehensive Environmental Analysis and Response Program (CEARP) as developed and implemented by the Albuquerque Operations Office, will contribute toward meeting this requirement. 85 refs., 24 figs., 20 tabs.

Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) for Remedial Action at the Oak Ridge Reservation: A compendium of major environmental laws

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etnier, E.L.; McDonald, E.P.; Houlberg, L.M.

1993-07-01

Section 121 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 specifies that remedial actions for cleanup of hazardous substances must comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARS) or standards under federal and state environmental laws. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was placed on the National Priorities List by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 21, 1989, effective December 21, 1989. As a result of this listing, DOE, EPA, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have signed a Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) for the environmental restoration of the ORR. Section XXI(F) of the FFA calls for the preparation of a draft listing of all ARARs as mandated by CERCLA section 121. This report supplies a preliminary list of available federal and state ARARs that might be considered for remedial response at the ORR. A description of the terms ''applicable'' and ''relevant and appropriate'' is provided, as well as definitions of chemical-, location-, and action-specific ARARS. ARARs promulgated by the federal government and by the state of Tennessee are listed in tables. In addition, the major provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air and other acts, as they apply to hazardous waste cleanup, are discussed. In the absence of ARARS, CERCLA section 121 provides for the use of nonpromulgated federal criteria, guidelines, and advisories in evaluating the human risk associated with remedial action alternatives. Such nonpromulgated standards are classified as ''to-be-considered'' (TBC) guidance. A ion of available guidance is given; summary tables fist the available federal standards and guidance information. In addition, the substantive contents of the DOE orders as they apply to remediation of radioactively contaminated sites are discussed as TBC guidance

BNL ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PLAN TRIENNIAL UPDATE, JANUARY 2003.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

2003-01-01

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a multi-program national laboratory operated by Brookhaven Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is located on a 5,265-acre site in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. BNL has a comprehensive Environmental Management System (EMS) in place, which meets the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization 14001 EMS Standard, as described in the BNL EMS Manual. BNL's extensive environmental monitoring program is one component of the EMS, and the BNL Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) describes this program in detail. The data derived from systematically monitoring the various environmental media on site enable BNL to make informed decisions concerning the protection of human health and the environment and to be responsive to community concerns.

Department of Energy Environmental Management cost infrastructure development program: Cost analysis requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Custer, W.R. Jr.; Messick, C.D.

1996-01-01

This report was prepared to support development of the Department of Energy Environmental Management cost infrastructure -- a new capability to independently estimate and analyze costs. Currently, the cost data are reported according to a structure that blends level of effort tasks with product and process oriented tasks. Also. the budgetary inputs are developed from prior year funding authorizations and from contractor-developed parametric estimates that have been adjusted to planned funding levels or appropriations. Consequently, it is difficult for headquarters and field-level activities to use actual cost data and technical requirements to independently assess the costs generated and identify trends, potential cost savings from process improvements, and cost reduction strategies

77 FR 58096 - Georgia Transmission Corporation: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment and To...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-19

..., South Madison Ave., Douglas, Georgia 31533; Pearson Public Library, 56 East Bullard Ave., Pearson... will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS will prepare a Finding... of the human environment, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement will be required. Any...

Evaluating the relative environmental impact of countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradshaw, Corey J A; Giam, Xingli; Sodhi, Navjot S

2010-05-03

Environmental protection is critical to maintain ecosystem services essential for human well-being. It is important to be able to rank countries by their environmental impact so that poor performers as well as policy 'models' can be identified. We provide novel metrics of country-specific environmental impact ranks - one proportional to total resource availability per country and an absolute (total) measure of impact - that explicitly avoid incorporating confounding human health or economic indicators. Our rankings are based on natural forest loss, habitat conversion, marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions and species threat, although many other variables were excluded due to a lack of country-specific data. Of 228 countries considered, 179 (proportional) and 171 (absolute) had sufficient data for correlations. The proportional index ranked Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands as having the highest proportional environmental impact, whereas Brazil, USA, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, India, Russia, Australia and Peru had the highest absolute impact (i.e., total resource use, emissions and species threatened). Proportional and absolute environmental impact ranks were correlated, with mainly Asian countries having both high proportional and absolute impact. Despite weak concordance among the drivers of environmental impact, countries often perform poorly for different reasons. We found no evidence to support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis of a non-linear relationship between impact and per capita wealth, although there was a weak reduction in environmental impact as per capita wealth increases. Using structural equation models to account for cross-correlation, we found that increasing wealth was the most important driver of environmental impact. Our results show that the global community not only has to encourage better environmental performance in less

Evaluating the relative environmental impact of countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corey J A Bradshaw

Full Text Available Environmental protection is critical to maintain ecosystem services essential for human well-being. It is important to be able to rank countries by their environmental impact so that poor performers as well as policy 'models' can be identified. We provide novel metrics of country-specific environmental impact ranks - one proportional to total resource availability per country and an absolute (total measure of impact - that explicitly avoid incorporating confounding human health or economic indicators. Our rankings are based on natural forest loss, habitat conversion, marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions and species threat, although many other variables were excluded due to a lack of country-specific data. Of 228 countries considered, 179 (proportional and 171 (absolute had sufficient data for correlations. The proportional index ranked Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands as having the highest proportional environmental impact, whereas Brazil, USA, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, India, Russia, Australia and Peru had the highest absolute impact (i.e., total resource use, emissions and species threatened. Proportional and absolute environmental impact ranks were correlated, with mainly Asian countries having both high proportional and absolute impact. Despite weak concordance among the drivers of environmental impact, countries often perform poorly for different reasons. We found no evidence to support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis of a non-linear relationship between impact and per capita wealth, although there was a weak reduction in environmental impact as per capita wealth increases. Using structural equation models to account for cross-correlation, we found that increasing wealth was the most important driver of environmental impact. Our results show that the global community not only has to encourage better environmental performance in

Evaluating the Relative Environmental Impact of Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Bradshaw, Corey J. A.; Giam, Xingli; Sodhi, Navjot S.

2010-01-01

Environmental protection is critical to maintain ecosystem services essential for human well-being. It is important to be able to rank countries by their environmental impact so that poor performers as well as policy ‘models’ can be identified. We provide novel metrics of country-specific environmental impact ranks – one proportional to total resource availability per country and an absolute (total) measure of impact – that explicitly avoid incorporating confounding human health or economic indicators. Our rankings are based on natural forest loss, habitat conversion, marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions and species threat, although many other variables were excluded due to a lack of country-specific data. Of 228 countries considered, 179 (proportional) and 171 (absolute) had sufficient data for correlations. The proportional index ranked Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands as having the highest proportional environmental impact, whereas Brazil, USA, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, India, Russia, Australia and Peru had the highest absolute impact (i.e., total resource use, emissions and species threatened). Proportional and absolute environmental impact ranks were correlated, with mainly Asian countries having both high proportional and absolute impact. Despite weak concordance among the drivers of environmental impact, countries often perform poorly for different reasons. We found no evidence to support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis of a non-linear relationship between impact and per capita wealth, although there was a weak reduction in environmental impact as per capita wealth increases. Using structural equation models to account for cross-correlation, we found that increasing wealth was the most important driver of environmental impact. Our results show that the global community not only has to encourage better environmental performance in less

Environmental and Human Controls of Ecosystem Functional Diversity in Temperate South America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domingo Alcaraz-Segura

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The regional controls of biodiversity patterns have been traditionally evaluated using structural and compositional components at the species level, but evaluation of the functional component at the ecosystem level is still scarce. During the last decades, the role of ecosystem functioning in management and conservation has increased. Our aim was to use satellite-derived Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs, patches of the land-surface with similar carbon gain dynamics to characterize the regional patterns of ecosystem functional diversity and to evaluate the environmental and human controls that determine EFT richness across natural and human-modified systems in temperate South America. The EFT identification was based on three descriptors of carbon gain dynamics derived from seasonal curves of the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI: annual mean (surrogate of primary production, seasonal coefficient of variation (indicator of seasonality and date of maximum EVI (descriptor of phenology. As observed for species richness in the southern hemisphere, water availability, not energy, emerged as the main climatic driver of EFT richness in natural areas of temperate South America. In anthropogenic areas, the role of both water and energy decreased and increasing human intervention increased richness at low levels of human influence, but decreased richness at high levels of human influence.

Heavy metals in human teeth dentine: A bio-indicator of metals exposure and environmental pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Asaduzzaman, Khandoker; Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin; Binti Baharudin, Nurul Atiqah; Amin, Yusoff Bin Mohd; Farook, Mohideen Salihu; Bradley, D A; Mahmoud, Okba

2017-06-01

With rapid urbanization and large-scale industrial activities, modern human populations are being increasingly subjected to chronic environmental heavy metal exposures. Elemental uptake in tooth dentine is a bioindicator, the uptake occurring during the formation and mineralization processes, stored to large extent over periods of many years. The uptake includes essential elements, most typically geogenic dietary sources, as well as non-essential elements arising through environmental insults. In this study, with the help of the Dental Faculty of the University of Malaya, a total of 50 separate human teeth were collected from dental patients of various ethnicity, age, gender, occupation, dietary habit, residency, etc. Analysis was conducted using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), most samples indicating the presence of the following trace elements, placed in order of concentration, from least to greatest: As, Mn, Ba, Cu, Cr, Pb, Zn, Hg, Sb, Al, Sr, Sn. The concentrations have been observed to increase with age. Among the ethnic groups, the teeth of ethnic Chinese showed marginally greater metal concentrations than those of the Indians and Malays, the teeth dentine of females generally showing greater concentrations than that of males. Greater concentrations of Hg, Cu and Sn were found in molars while Pb, Sr, Sb and Zn were present in greater concentrations in incisors. With the elevated concentration levels of heavy metals in tooth dentine reflecting pollution from industrial emissions and urbanization, it is evident that human tooth dentine can provide chronological information on exposure, representing a reliable bio-indicator of environmental pollution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sources, behaviour, and environmental and human health risks of high-technology rare earth elements as emerging contaminants.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwenzi, Willis; Mangori, Lynda; Danha, Concilia; Chaukura, Nhamo; Dunjana, Nothando; Sanganyado, Edmond

2018-04-26

Recent studies show that high-technology rare earth elements (REEs) of anthropogenic origin occur in the environment including in aquatic systems, suggesting REEs are contaminants of emerging concern. However, compared to organic contaminants, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the anthropogenic sources, environmental behaviour, and public and ecological health risks of REEs. The current review aims to: (1) identify anthropogenic sources, transfer mechanisms, and environmental behaviour of REEs; (2) highlight the human and ecological health risks of REEs and propose mitigation measures; and (3) identify knowledge gaps and future research directions. Out of the 17 REEs, La, Gd, Ce and Eu are the most studied. The main sources of anthropogenic REE include; medical facilities, petroleum refining, mining and technology industries, fertilizers, livestock feeds, and electronic wastes and recycling plants. REEs are mobilized and transported in the environment by hydrological and wind-driven processes. Ecotoxicological effects include reduced plant growth, function and nutritional quality, genotoxicity and neurotoxicity in animals, trophic bioaccumulation, chronic and acute toxicities in soil organisms. Human exposure to REEs occurs via ingestion of contaminated water and food, inhalation, and direct intake during medical administration. REEs have been detected in human hair, nails, and biofluids. In humans, REEs cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and severe damage to nephrological systems associated with Gd-based contrast agents, dysfunctional neurological disorder, fibrotic tissue injury, oxidative stress, pneumoconiosis, cytotoxicity, anti-testicular effects, and male sterility. Barring REEs in medical devices, epidemiological evidence directly linking REEs in the environment to human health conditions remains weak. To minimize health risks, a conceptual framework and possible mitigation measures are highlighted. Future research is needed to better understand

Health Impacts of Environmental Mycobacteria†

OpenAIRE

Primm, Todd P.; Lucero, Christie A.; Falkinham, Joseph O.

2004-01-01

Environmental mycobacteria are emerging pathogens causing opportunistic infections in humans and animals. The health impacts of human-mycobacterial interactions are complex and likely much broader than currently recognized. Environmental mycobacteria preferentially survive chlorination in municipal water, using it as a vector to infect humans. Widespread chlorination of water has likely selected more resistant environmental mycobacteria species and potentially explains the shift from M. scrof...

Environmental contaminants activate human and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) pregnane X receptors (PXR, NR1I2) differently.

Science.gov (United States)

Lille-Langøy, Roger; Goldstone, Jared V; Rusten, Marte; Milnes, Matthew R; Male, Rune; Stegeman, John J; Blumberg, Bruce; Goksøyr, Anders

2015-04-01

Many persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate readily in polar bears because of their position as apex predators in Arctic food webs. The pregnane X receptor (PXR, formally NR1I2, here proposed to be named promiscuous xenobiotic receptor) is a xenobiotic sensor that is directly involved in metabolizing pathways of a wide range of environmental contaminants. In the present study, we comparably assess the ability of 51 selected pharmaceuticals, pesticides and emerging contaminants to activate PXRs from polar bears and humans using an in vitro luciferase reporter gene assay. We found that polar bear PXR is activated by a wide range of our test compounds (68%) but has a slightly more narrow ligand specificity than human PXR that was activated by 86% of the 51 test compounds. The majority of the agonists identified (70%) produces a stronger induction of the reporter gene via human PXR than via polar bear PXR, however with some notable and environmentally relevant exceptions. Due to the observed differences in activation of polar bear and human PXRs, exposure of each species to environmental agents is likely to induce biotransformation differently in the two species. Bioinformatics analyses and structural modeling studies suggest that amino acids that are not part of the ligand-binding domain and do not interact with the ligand can modulate receptor activation. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Approaches to advancing quantitative human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Weihsueh A; Euling, Susan Y; Scott, Cheryl Siegel; Subramaniam, Ravi P

2013-09-15

The contribution of genomics and associated technologies to human health risk assessment for environmental chemicals has focused largely on elucidating mechanisms of toxicity, as discussed in other articles in this issue. However, there is interest in moving beyond hazard characterization to making more direct impacts on quantitative risk assessment (QRA)--i.e., the determination of toxicity values for setting exposure standards and cleanup values. We propose that the evolution of QRA of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era will involve three, somewhat overlapping phases in which different types of approaches begin to mature. The initial focus (in Phase I) has been and continues to be on "augmentation" of weight of evidence--using genomic and related technologies qualitatively to increase the confidence in and scientific basis of the results of QRA. Efforts aimed towards "integration" of these data with traditional animal-based approaches, in particular quantitative predictors, or surrogates, for the in vivo toxicity data to which they have been anchored are just beginning to be explored now (in Phase II). In parallel, there is a recognized need for "expansion" of the use of established biomarkers of susceptibility or risk of human diseases and disorders for QRA, particularly for addressing the issues of cumulative assessment and population risk. Ultimately (in Phase III), substantial further advances could be realized by the development of novel molecular and pathway-based biomarkers and statistical and in silico models that build on anticipated progress in understanding the pathways of human diseases and disorders. Such efforts would facilitate a gradual "reorientation" of QRA towards approaches that more directly link environmental exposures to human outcomes. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Approaches to advancing quantitative human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chiu, Weihsueh A., E-mail: chiu.weihsueh@epa.gov [National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, 20460 (United States); Euling, Susan Y.; Scott, Cheryl Siegel; Subramaniam, Ravi P. [National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, 20460 (United States)

2013-09-15

The contribution of genomics and associated technologies to human health risk assessment for environmental chemicals has focused largely on elucidating mechanisms of toxicity, as discussed in other articles in this issue. However, there is interest in moving beyond hazard characterization to making more direct impacts on quantitative risk assessment (QRA) — i.e., the determination of toxicity values for setting exposure standards and cleanup values. We propose that the evolution of QRA of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era will involve three, somewhat overlapping phases in which different types of approaches begin to mature. The initial focus (in Phase I) has been and continues to be on “augmentation” of weight of evidence — using genomic and related technologies qualitatively to increase the confidence in and scientific basis of the results of QRA. Efforts aimed towards “integration” of these data with traditional animal-based approaches, in particular quantitative predictors, or surrogates, for the in vivo toxicity data to which they have been anchored are just beginning to be explored now (in Phase II). In parallel, there is a recognized need for “expansion” of the use of established biomarkers of susceptibility or risk of human diseases and disorders for QRA, particularly for addressing the issues of cumulative assessment and population risk. Ultimately (in Phase III), substantial further advances could be realized by the development of novel molecular and pathway-based biomarkers and statistical and in silico models that build on anticipated progress in understanding the pathways of human diseases and disorders. Such efforts would facilitate a gradual “reorientation” of QRA towards approaches that more directly link environmental exposures to human outcomes.

Approaches to advancing quantitative human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiu, Weihsueh A.; Euling, Susan Y.; Scott, Cheryl Siegel; Subramaniam, Ravi P.

2013-01-01

The contribution of genomics and associated technologies to human health risk assessment for environmental chemicals has focused largely on elucidating mechanisms of toxicity, as discussed in other articles in this issue. However, there is interest in moving beyond hazard characterization to making more direct impacts on quantitative risk assessment (QRA) — i.e., the determination of toxicity values for setting exposure standards and cleanup values. We propose that the evolution of QRA of environmental chemicals in the post-genomic era will involve three, somewhat overlapping phases in which different types of approaches begin to mature. The initial focus (in Phase I) has been and continues to be on “augmentation” of weight of evidence — using genomic and related technologies qualitatively to increase the confidence in and scientific basis of the results of QRA. Efforts aimed towards “integration” of these data with traditional animal-based approaches, in particular quantitative predictors, or surrogates, for the in vivo toxicity data to which they have been anchored are just beginning to be explored now (in Phase II). In parallel, there is a recognized need for “expansion” of the use of established biomarkers of susceptibility or risk of human diseases and disorders for QRA, particularly for addressing the issues of cumulative assessment and population risk. Ultimately (in Phase III), substantial further advances could be realized by the development of novel molecular and pathway-based biomarkers and statistical and in silico models that build on anticipated progress in understanding the pathways of human diseases and disorders. Such efforts would facilitate a gradual “reorientation” of QRA towards approaches that more directly link environmental exposures to human outcomes

International viewpoints on environmental protection: goals and methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, P.A.; Carroll, S.; Stephenson, A.D.; Stringer, R.L.; Santillo, D.

1996-01-01

Environmental protection of natural ecosystems against the effects of radiation has been largely predicated upon human radiological protection regimes. It has been explicitly assumed that if human populations are adequately protected then this will also confer protection to other species at the population level and hence to the 'environment'. Accordingly, non-human organisms have principally been incorporated into regulatory and assessment frameworks in recognition of their role as part of diverse critical pathways of radionuclide transfer to human populations. Hence, the utility of these non-human organisms in assessing hazards to ecosystems is strictly limited since their selection for monitoring purposes relates more to human perspectives than to their role and importance in natural ecosystems. By contrast, a multispecies ecosystem level approach should work on the basis of selecting 'keystone' species and evaluating the effects of radiation upon natural ecosystem dynamics. This would accommodate the full range of sub-lethal effects, differential life-stage sensitivity, reproductive sensitivity and interspecific interactions. While such an approach would undoubtedly improve the current situation, experience from chemical ecotoxicology suggests that the selection and verification of suitable endpoints will prove difficult beyond an organismal level. Thus, a regulatory regime based upon this approach is almost certain to be less than effective at protecting the environment. The precautionary approach to environmental protection has largely grown from an awareness of the limitations of ecotoxicological studies and protocols. This paper, therefore, considers the need for application of such an approach in relation to environmental protection requirements of the nuclear industry

Genetic and environmental influences on adult human height across birth cohorts from 1886 to 1994

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jelenkovic, Aline; Hur, Yoon-Mi; Sund, Reijo

2016-01-01

Human height variation is determined by genetic and environmental factors, but it remains unclear whether their influences differ across birth-year cohorts. We conducted an individual-based pooled analysis of 40 twin cohorts including 143,390 complete twin pairs born 1886-1994. Although genetic...

Environmental and spatial drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic characteristics of bat communities in human-modified landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Matthew E.; Willig, Michael R.

2016-01-01

Background Assembly of species into communities following human disturbance (e.g., deforestation, fragmentation) may be governed by spatial (e.g., dispersal) or environmental (e.g., niche partitioning) mechanisms. Variation partitioning has been used to broadly disentangle spatial and environmental mechanisms, and approaches utilizing functional and phylogenetic characteristics of communities have been implemented to determine the relative importance of particular environmental (or niche-based) mechanisms. Nonetheless, few studies have integrated these quantitative approaches to comprehensively assess the relative importance of particular structuring processes. Methods We employed a novel variation partitioning approach to evaluate the relative importance of particular spatial and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of bat communities in a human-modified landscape in Costa Rica. Specifically, we estimated the amount of variation in species composition (taxonomic structure) and in two aspects of functional and phylogenetic structure (i.e., composition and dispersion) along a forest loss and fragmentation gradient that are uniquely explained by landscape characteristics (i.e., environment) or space to assess the importance of competing mechanisms. Results The unique effects of space on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic structure were consistently small. In contrast, landscape characteristics (i.e., environment) played an appreciable role in structuring bat communities. Spatially-structured landscape characteristics explained 84% of the variation in functional or phylogenetic dispersion, and the unique effects of landscape characteristics significantly explained 14% of the variation in species composition. Furthermore, variation in bat community structure was primarily due to differences in dispersion of species within functional or phylogenetic space along the gradient, rather than due to differences in functional or

Environmental and spatial drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic characteristics of bat communities in human-modified landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cisneros, Laura M; Fagan, Matthew E; Willig, Michael R

2016-01-01

Assembly of species into communities following human disturbance (e.g., deforestation, fragmentation) may be governed by spatial (e.g., dispersal) or environmental (e.g., niche partitioning) mechanisms. Variation partitioning has been used to broadly disentangle spatial and environmental mechanisms, and approaches utilizing functional and phylogenetic characteristics of communities have been implemented to determine the relative importance of particular environmental (or niche-based) mechanisms. Nonetheless, few studies have integrated these quantitative approaches to comprehensively assess the relative importance of particular structuring processes. We employed a novel variation partitioning approach to evaluate the relative importance of particular spatial and environmental drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of bat communities in a human-modified landscape in Costa Rica. Specifically, we estimated the amount of variation in species composition (taxonomic structure) and in two aspects of functional and phylogenetic structure (i.e., composition and dispersion) along a forest loss and fragmentation gradient that are uniquely explained by landscape characteristics (i.e., environment) or space to assess the importance of competing mechanisms. The unique effects of space on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic structure were consistently small. In contrast, landscape characteristics (i.e., environment) played an appreciable role in structuring bat communities. Spatially-structured landscape characteristics explained 84% of the variation in functional or phylogenetic dispersion, and the unique effects of landscape characteristics significantly explained 14% of the variation in species composition. Furthermore, variation in bat community structure was primarily due to differences in dispersion of species within functional or phylogenetic space along the gradient, rather than due to differences in functional or phylogenetic composition. Variation

INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomescu Ada Mirela

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The relevance of management as significant factor of business activity can be established on various management systems. These will help to obtain, organise, administrate, evaluate and control particulars: information, quality, environmental protection, health and safety, various resources (time, human, finance, inventory etc. The complexity of nowadays days development, forced us to think ‘integrated’. Sustainable development principles require that environment management policies and practices are not good in themselves but also integrate with all other environmental objectives, and with social and economic development objectives. The principles of sustainable development involve that environment management policies and practices. These are not sound in them-self but also integrate with all other environmental objectives, and with social and economic development objectives. Those objectives were realized, and followed by development of strategies to effects the objective of sustainable development. Environmental management should embrace recent change in the area of environmental protection, and suit the recently regulations of the field -entire legal and economic, as well as perform management systems to meet the requirements of the contemporary model for economic development. These changes are trailed by abandon the conventional approach of environmental protection and it is replaced by sustainable development (SD. The keys and the aims of Cleaner Productions (CP are presented being implemented in various companies as a non-formalised environmental management system (EMS. This concept is suggested here as a proper model for practice where possible environmental harmful technologies are used -e.g. Rosia Montana. Showing the features and the power of CP this paper is a signal oriented to involve the awareness of policy-makers and top management of diverse Romanian companies. Many companies in European countries are developing

Step 1: Human System Integration (HSI) FY05 Pilot-Technology Interface Requirements for Contingency Management

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

This document involves definition of technology interface requirements for Contingency Management. This was performed through a review of Contingency Management-related, HSI requirements documents, standards, and recommended practices. Technology concepts in use by the Contingency Management Work Package were considered. Beginning with HSI high-level functional requirements for Contingency Management, and Contingency Management technology elements, HSI requirements for the interface to the pilot were identified. Results of the analysis describe (1) the information required by the pilot to have knowledge of system failures and associated contingency procedures, and (2) the control capability needed by the pilot to obtain system status and procedure information. Fundamentally, these requirements provide the candidate Contingency Management technology concepts with the necessary human-related elements to make them compatible with human capabilities and limitations. The results of the analysis describe how Contingency Management operations and functions should interface with the pilot to provide the necessary Contingency Management functionality to the UA-pilot system. Requirements and guidelines for Contingency Management are partitioned into four categories: (1) Health and Status and (2) Contingency Management. Each requirement is stated and is supported with a rationale and associated reference(s).

Lack of school requirements and clinician recommendations for human papillomavirus vaccination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda M. Niccolai

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background: A strong recommendation from a clinician is one of the best predictors of human papillomavirus (HPV vaccination among adolescents, yet many clinicians do not provide effective recommendations. The objective of this study was to understand how the lack of school entry requirements for HPV vaccination influences clinicians’ recommendations. Design and Methods: Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 32 clinicians were conducted in 2015 in Connecticut USA. Data were analysed using an iterative thematic approach in 2016-2017. Results: Many clinicians described presenting HPV vaccination as optional or non-urgent because it is not required for school entry. This was noted to be different from how other required vaccines were discussed. Even strong recommendations were often qualified by statements about the lack of requirements. Furthermore, lack of requirements was often raised initially by clinicians and not by parents. Many clinicians agreed that requirements would simplify the recommendation, but that parents may not agree with requirements. Personal opinions about school entry requirements were mixed. Conclusions: The current lack of school entry requirements for HPV vaccination is an important influence on clinicians’ recommendations that are often framed as optional or non-urgent. Efforts are needed to strengthen the quality of clinicians’ recommendations in a way that remains strong and focused on disease prevention yet uncoupled from the lack of requirements that may encourage delays. Additionally, greater support for requirements among clinicians may be needed to successfully enact requirements in the future.

Klickitat Cogeneration Project: Final environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-09-01

To meet BPA's contractual obligation to supply electrical power to its customers, BPA proposes to acquire power generated by Klickitat Cogeneration Project. BPA has prepared an environmental assessment evaluating the proposed project. Based on the EA analysis, BPA's proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the following reasons: (1)it will not have a significant impact land use, upland vegetation, wetlands, water quality, geology, soils, public health and safety, visual quality, historical and cultural resources, recreation and socioeconomics, and (2) impacts to fisheries, wildlife resources, air quality, and noise will be temporary, minor, or sufficiently offset by mitigation. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and BPA is issuing this FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact)

Klickitat Cogeneration Project : Final Environmental Assessment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Klickitat Energy Partners

1994-09-01

To meet BPA`s contractual obligation to supply electrical power to its customers, BPA proposes to acquire power generated by Klickitat Cogeneration Project. BPA has prepared an environmental assessment evaluating the proposed project. Based on the EA analysis, BPA`s proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the following reasons: (1)it will not have a significant impact land use, upland vegetation, wetlands, water quality, geology, soils, public health and safety, visual quality, historical and cultural resources, recreation and socioeconomics, and (2) impacts to fisheries, wildlife resources, air quality, and noise will be temporary, minor, or sufficiently offset by mitigation. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and BPA is issuing this FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact).

PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN HUMANS AND WILDLIFE: EMERGING ISSUES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldo Pacheco Ferreira

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Persistent organic pollutants persevere in the environment for a long time, are toxic to humans and/or wildlife, and have a resilient propensity to bioaccumulate in the food chain. Due to its chemical stability, their lipid solubility, and its ubiquitous prevalence in environmental, these pollutants are disposed to long-range transport. The success of modern societies is in part based on extensive achievements of chemistry with a systematic development of products in medicine, agriculture, and in almost all manufacturing industry sectors and materials for daily use. Although, these chemicals unequivocally contribute to the quality of life for billions of human beings, however, the negative impacts to environment and health are an important issue for ostensible monitoring. Social and environmental benefits should not be ignored, in spite of economic forces.The recognition that prevention is the best method to mitigate the risk of diseases to public health related to the environment, mainly driven by technological development, becomes essential the individuation and quantification of toxicological endpoints for systematic monitoring of these emerging pollutants.

Environmental Assessment for decontamination and dismantlement, Pinellas Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-06-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1092) of the proposed decontamination and dismantlement of the Pinellas Plant in Largo, Florida. Under the Decontamination and Dismantlement EA, the DOE proposes to clean up facilities, structures, and utilities; dismantle specific structures; and mitigate or eliminate any environmental impacts associated with the cleanup, dismantlement, and related activities. Related activities include utilization of specific areas by new tenants prior to full-scale cleanup. Based on the analyses in the EA, the DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required. This report contains the Environmental Assessment, as well as the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

Use of Human Modeling Simulation Software in the Task Analysis of the Environmental Control and Life Support System Component Installation Procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Estes, Samantha; Parker, Nelson C. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Virtual reality and simulation applications are becoming widespread in human task analysis. These programs have many benefits for the Human Factors Engineering field. Not only do creating and using virtual environments for human engineering analyses save money and time, this approach also promotes user experimentation and provides increased quality of analyses. This paper explains the human engineering task analysis performed on the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) space station rack and its Distillation Assembly (DA) subsystem using EAI's human modeling simulation software, Jack. When installed on the International Space Station (ISS), ECLSS will provide the life and environment support needed to adequately sustain crew life. The DA is an Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) that provides means of wastewater (primarily urine from flight crew and experimental animals) reclamation. Jack was used to create a model of the weightless environment of the ISS Node 3, where the ECLSS is housed. Computer aided drawings of the ECLSS rack and DA system were also brought into the environment. Anthropometric models of a 95th percentile male and 5th percentile female were used to examine the human interfaces encountered during various ECLSS and DA tasks. The results of the task analyses were used in suggesting modifications to hardware and crew task procedures to improve accessibility, conserve crew time, and add convenience for the crew. This paper will address some of those suggested modifications and the method of presenting final analyses for requirements verification.

Environmental management in public hospitals: Environmental management in Colombia

OpenAIRE

Juan Pablo Rodríguez-Miranda; César Augusto García-Ubaque; María Camila García-Vaca

2016-01-01

Introduction: Activities in hospitals have environmental impacts which may pose risks to human and environmental health if they are not managed correctly. For this reason, it is necessary to implement an environmental management plan in hospitals that not only focuses on solid waste management but includes all aspects associated with health within institutions. Objective: To review environmental management aspects related to public hospitals in order to identify environmental management a...

Human papilloma virus DNAs immortalize normal human mammary epithelial cells and reduce their growth factor requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Band, V.; Zajchowski, D.; Kulesa, V.; Sager, R.

1990-01-01

Human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 are most commonly associated with cervical carcinoma in patients and induce immortalization of human keratinocytes in culture. HPV has not been associated with breast cancer. This report describes the immortalization of normal human mammary epithelial cells (76N) by plasmid pHPV18 or pHPV16, each containing the linearized viral genome. Transfectants were grown continuously for more than 60 passages, whereas 76N cells senesce after 18-20 passages. The transfectants also differ from 76N cells in cloning in a completely defined medium called D2 and growing a minimally supplemented defined medium (D3) containing epidermal growth factor. All transfectant tested contain integrated HPV DNA, express HPV RNA, and produce HPV E7 protein. HPV transfectants do not form tumors in a nude mouse assay. It is concluded that products of the HPV genome induce immortalization of human breast epithelial cells and reduce their growth factor requirements. This result raises the possibility that HPV might be involved in breast cancer. Furthermore, other tissue-specific primary epithelial cells that are presently difficult to grown and investigate may also be immortalized by HPV

The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project : inferring the environmental context of human evolution from eastern African rift lake deposits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cohen, A.; Campisano, C.; Arrowsmith, R.; Asrat, A.; Behrensmeyer, A. K.; Deino, A.; Feibel, C.; Hill, A.; Johnson, R.; Kingston, J.; Lamb, H.; Lowenstein, T.; Noren, A.; Olago, D.; Owen, R. B.; Potts, R.; Reed, K.; Renaut, R.; Schäbitz, F.; Tiercelin, J.-J.; Trauth, M. H.; Wynn, J.; Ivory, S.; Brady, K.; O'Grady, R.; Rodysill, J.; Githiri, J.; Russell, J.; Foerster, V.; Dommain, R.; Rucina, S.; Deocampo, D.; Russell, J.; Billingsley, A.; Beck, C.; Dorenbeck, G.; Dullo, L.; Feary, D.; Garello, D.; Gromig, R.; Johnson, T.; Junginger, A.; Karanja, M.; Kimburi, E.; Mbuthia, A.; Mccartney, T.; Mcnulty, E.; Muiruri, V.; Nambiro, E.; Negash, E. W.; Njagi, D.; Wilson, J. N.; Rabideaux, N.; Raub, T.; Sier, M. J.; Smith, P.; Urban, J.; Warren, M.; Yadeta, M.; Yost, C.; Zinaye, B.

2016-01-01

The role that climate and environmental history may have played in influencing human evolution has been the focus of considerable interest and controversy among paleoanthropologists for decades. Prior attempts to understand the environmental history side of this equation have centered around the

Sweden's radiation protection regulations for spent fuel and nuclear waste: Requirements and compliance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norden, M.; Jensen, M.; Larsson, C.M.; Avila, R.; Bergman, S.S.; Wiebert, A.; Wiklund, A.

2000-01-01

The Swedish regulations on radiation protection in connection with spent fuel and nuclear waste disposal concern protection of human health and the environment. The reasoning behind the regulations is in observance with the Rio declaration, in the sense that they take into consideration sustainable development also in continued presence of multiple sources of radioactive effluents. Optimisation and best available technique are used as methods for risk reduction. For human health, a risk concept is used, whereas for environmental protection, focus is set on protection of biological resources and diversity. Compliance with the health and environmental goals is discussed using generic definition of the environment. The hypothetical outflow from a repository takes place in the different compartments and the resulting spread in doses are discussed and compared to the requirements of the individual dose standard, and other environmental effects are assessed. (author)

Optimization of human, animal, and environmental health by using the One Health approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sleeman, Jonathan M; DeLiberto, Thomas; Nguyen, Natalie

2017-08-31

Emerging diseases are increasing burdens on public health, negatively affecting the world economy, causing extinction of species, and disrupting ecological integrity. One Health recognizes that human, domestic animal, and wildlife health are interconnected within ecosystem health and provides a framework for the development of multidisciplinary solutions to global health challenges. To date, most health-promoting interventions have focused largely on single-sector outcomes. For example, risk for transmission of zoonotic pathogens from bush-meat hunting is primarily focused on human hygiene and personal protection. However, bush-meat hunting is a complex issue promoting the need for holistic strategies to reduce transmission of zoonotic disease while addressing food security and wildlife conservation issues. Temporal and spatial separation of humans and wildlife, risk communication, and other preventative strategies should allow wildlife and humans to co-exist. Upstream surveillance, vaccination, and other tools to prevent pathogen spillover are also needed. Clear multi-sector outcomes should be defined, and a systems-based approach is needed to develop interventions that reduce risks and balance the needs of humans, wildlife, and the environment. The ultimate goal is long-term action to reduce forces driving emerging diseases and provide interdisciplinary scientific approaches to management of risks, thereby achieving optimal outcomes for human, animal, and environmental health.

Optimization of human, animal, and environmental health by using the One Health approach

Science.gov (United States)

Sleeman, Jonathan M.; DeLiberto, Thomas; Nguyen, Natalie T.

2017-01-01

Emerging diseases are increasing burdens on public health, negatively affecting the world economy, causing extinction of species, and disrupting ecological integrity. One Health recognizes that human, domestic animal, and wildlife health are interconnected within ecosystem health and provides a framework for the development of multidisciplinary solutions to global health challenges. To date, most health-promoting interventions have focused largely on single-sector outcomes. For example, risk for transmission of zoonotic pathogens from bush-meat hunting is primarily focused on human hygiene and personal protection. However, bush-meat hunting is a complex issue promoting the need for holistic strategies to reduce transmission of zoonotic disease while addressing food security and wildlife conservation issues. Temporal and spatial separation of humans and wildlife, risk communication, and other preventative strategies should allow wildlife and humans to co-exist. Upstream surveillance, vaccination, and other tools to prevent pathogen spillover are also needed. Clear multi-sector outcomes should be defined, and a systems-based approach is needed to develop interventions that reduce risks and balance the needs of humans, wildlife, and the environment. The ultimate goal is long-term action to reduce forces driving emerging diseases and provide interdisciplinary scientific approaches to management of risks, thereby achieving optimal outcomes for human, animal, and environmental health.

Environmental, Human Health and Socio-Economic Effects of Cement Powders: The Multicriteria Analysis as Decisional Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Moretti, Laura; Di Mascio, Paola; Bellagamba, Simona

2017-06-16

The attention to sustainability-related issues has grown fast in recent decades. The experience gained with these themes reveals the importance of considering this topic in the construction industry, which represents an important sector throughout the world. This work consists on conducting a multicriteria analysis of four cement powders, with the objective of calculating and analysing the environmental, human health and socio-economic effects of their production processes. The economic, technical, environmental and safety performances of the examined powders result from official, both internal and public, documents prepared by the producers. The Analytic Hierarchy Process permitted to consider several indicators (i.e., environmental, human health related and socio-economic parameters) and to conduct comprehensive and unbiased analyses which gave the best, most sustainable cement powder. As assumed in this study, the contribution of each considered parameter to the overall sustainability has a different incidence, therefore the procedure could be used to support on-going sustainability efforts under different conditions. The results also prove that it is not appropriate to regard only one parameter to identify the 'best' cement powder, but several impact categories should be considered and analysed if there is an interest for pursuing different, often conflicting interests.

Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Spreading Oil and Gas Wastewater on Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

Tasker, T L; Burgos, W D; Piotrowski, P; Castillo-Meza, L; Blewett, T A; Ganow, K B; Stallworth, A; Delompré, P L M; Goss, G G; Fowler, L B; Vanden Heuvel, J P; Dorman, F; Warner, N R

2018-06-19

Thirteen states in the United States allow the spreading of O&G wastewaters on roads for deicing or dust suppression. In this study, the potential environmental and human health impacts of this practice are evaluated. Analyses of O&G wastewaters spread on roads in the northeastern, U.S. show that these wastewaters have salt, radioactivity, and organic contaminant concentrations often many times above drinking water standards. Bioassays also indicated that these wastewaters contain organic micropollutants that affected signaling pathways consistent with xenobiotic metabolism and caused toxicity to aquatic organisms like Daphnia magna. The potential toxicity of these wastewaters is a concern as lab experiments demonstrated that nearly all of the metals from these wastewaters leach from roads after rain events, likely reaching ground and surface water. Release of a known carcinogen (e.g., radium) from roads treated with O&G wastewaters has been largely ignored. In Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2014, spreading O&G wastewater on roads released over 4 times more radium to the environment (320 millicuries) than O&G wastewater treatment facilities and 200 times more radium than spill events. Currently, state-by-state regulations do not require radium analyses prior to treating roads with O&G wastewaters. Methods for reducing the potential impacts of spreading O&G wastewaters on roads are discussed.

10 CFR 504.9 - Environmental requirements for certifying powerplants.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... information. In addition, OFP will have the authority to approve and modify any statement, analysis, and... the costs of preparing any necessary Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement... review and prepare an EA or EIS, as appropriate, and who does not have a financial or other interest in...

Environmental Implementation Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

The purpose of the Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is to show the current and future (five years) environmental plans from individual site organizations and divisions, as well as site environmental programs and initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed changing environmental/regulatory requirements. Communicating with site organizations, departments, and committees is essential in making the site's environmental-planning process work. The EIP gives the site the what, when, how, and why for environmental requirements. Through teamwork and proactive planning, a partnership for environmental excellence is formed to achieve the site vision for SRS to become the recognized model for Environmental Excellence in the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex

Environmental Implementation Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-03-15

The purpose of the Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is to show the current and future (five years) environmental plans from individual site organizations and divisions, as well as site environmental programs and initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed changing environmental/regulatory requirements. Communicating with site organizations, departments, and committees is essential in making the site's environmental-planning process work. The EIP gives the site the what, when, how, and why for environmental requirements. Through teamwork and proactive planning, a partnership for environmental excellence is formed to achieve the site vision for SRS to become the recognized model for Environmental Excellence in the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex.

Environmental Implementation Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-03-15

The purpose of the Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is to show the current and future (five years) environmental plans from individual site organizations and divisions, as well as site environmental programs and initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed changing environmental/regulatory requirements. Communicating with site organizations, departments, and committees is essential in making the site`s environmental-planning process work. The EIP gives the site the what, when, how, and why for environmental requirements. Through teamwork and proactive planning, a partnership for environmental excellence is formed to achieve the site vision for SRS to become the recognized model for Environmental Excellence in the Department of Energy`s Nuclear Weapons Complex.

36 CFR 801.6 - Coordination with requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Coordination with requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 801.6 Section 801.6 Parks... OF THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACTION GRANT PROGRAM § 801.6 Coordination with requirements under the...

Aquatic environmental risk assessment for human use of the old antibiotic sulfamethoxazole in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Straub, Jürg Oliver

2016-04-01

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is an old sulfonamide antibiotic that was launched first in combination with trimethoprim in 1969 by F.Hoffmann-La Roche. Although sales figures for SMX have been declining over the past 20 yr, the compound is still widely used; moreover, many measured environmental concentrations (MECs) are available from Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia, and Africa. To assess aquatic risks of SMX in Europe, the exposure of European surface waters was predicted based on actual sales figures from IMS Health, incorporating environmental fate data on one side, and based on collated MECs representing more than 5500 single measurements in Europe on the other. Environmental effects were assessed using chronic and subchronic ecotoxicity data for 16 groups of aquatic organisms, from periphyton communities to cyanobacteria, algae, higher plants, various invertebrates, and vertebrates. Predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) were derived using both deterministic and probabilistic methodology. The predicted environmental concentration (PEC)/PNEC and MEC/PNEC comparisons overall showed no appreciable risk, except in a low incidence (risk characterization ratios greater than 1. The PNECs derived in the present study can be used to extend aquatic environmental risk assessment for SMX to other continents. No risk appears for indirect human exposure to SMX via the environment. © 2015 SETAC.

Environmental stress induces trinucleotide repeat mutagenesis in human cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Nimrat; Lin, Yunfu; Santillan, Beatriz A; Yotnda, Patricia; Wilson, John H

2015-03-24

The dynamic mutability of microsatellite repeats is implicated in the modification of gene function and disease phenotype. Studies of the enhanced instability of long trinucleotide repeats (TNRs)-the cause of multiple human diseases-have revealed a remarkable complexity of mutagenic mechanisms. Here, we show that cold, heat, hypoxic, and oxidative stresses induce mutagenesis of a long CAG repeat tract in human cells. We show that stress-response factors mediate the stress-induced mutagenesis (SIM) of CAG repeats. We show further that SIM of CAG repeats does not involve mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair, or transcription, processes that are known to promote TNR mutagenesis in other pathways of instability. Instead, we find that these stresses stimulate DNA rereplication, increasing the proportion of cells with >4 C-value (C) DNA content. Knockdown of the replication origin-licensing factor CDT1 eliminates both stress-induced rereplication and CAG repeat mutagenesis. In addition, direct induction of rereplication in the absence of stress also increases the proportion of cells with >4C DNA content and promotes repeat mutagenesis. Thus, environmental stress triggers a unique pathway for TNR mutagenesis that likely is mediated by DNA rereplication. This pathway may impact normal cells as they encounter stresses in their environment or during development or abnormal cells as they evolve metastatic potential.

Accumulation of 19 environmental phenolic and xenobiotic heterocyclic aromatic compounds in human adipose tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Asimakopoulos, Alexandros G; Kannan, Kurunthachalam

2015-05-01

The extensive use of environmental phenols (e.g., bisphenol A) and heterocyclic aromatic compounds (e.g., benzothiazole) in consumer products as well as widespread exposure of humans to these compounds have been well documented. Biomonitoring studies have used urinary measurements to assess exposures, based on the assumption that these chemicals are metabolized and eliminated in urine. Despite the fact that some of these chemicals are moderately lipophilic, the extent of their accumulation in adipose fat tissues has not been convincingly demonstrated. In this study, human adipose fat samples (N=20) collected from New York City, USA, were analyzed for the presence of environmental phenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), triclosan (TCS), and parabens, as well as heterocyclic aromatic compounds, including benzotriazole (BTR), benzothiazole (BTH), and their derivatives. BPA and TCS were frequently detected in adipose tissues at concentrations (geometric mean [GM]: 3.95ng/g wet wt for BPA and 7.21ng/g wet wt for TCS) similar to or below the values reported for human urine. High concentrations of BP-3 were found in human adipose tissues (GM: 43.4; maximum: 4940ng/g wet wt) and a positive correlation between BP-3 concentrations and donor's age was observed. The metabolite of parabens, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (p-HB), also was found at elevated levels (GM: 4160; max.: 17,400ng/g wet wt) and a positive correlation between donor's age and sum concentration of parabens and p-HB were found. The GM concentrations of BTR and BTH in human adipose tissues were below 1ng/g, although the methylated forms of BTR (i.e., TTR and XTR) and the hydrated form of BTH (i.e., 2-OH-BTH) were frequently detected in adipose samples, indicating widespread exposure to these compounds. Our results suggest that adipose tissue is an important repository for BP-3 and parabens, including p-HB, in the human body. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantification of Human and Animal Viruses to Differentiate the Origin of the Fecal Contamination Present in Environmental Samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sílvia Bofill-Mas

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Many different viruses are excreted by humans and animals and are frequently detected in fecal contaminated waters causing public health concerns. Classical bacterial indicator such as E. coli and enterococci could fail to predict the risk for waterborne pathogens such as viruses. Moreover, the presence and levels of bacterial indicators do not always correlate with the presence and concentration of viruses, especially when these indicators are present in low concentrations. Our research group has proposed new viral indicators and methodologies for determining the presence of fecal pollution in environmental samples as well as for tracing the origin of this fecal contamination (microbial source tracking. In this paper, we examine to what extent have these indicators been applied by the scientific community. Recently, quantitative assays for quantification of poultry and ovine viruses have also been described. Overall, quantification by qPCR of human adenoviruses and human polyomavirus JC, porcine adenoviruses, bovine polyomaviruses, chicken/turkey parvoviruses, and ovine polyomaviruses is suggested as a toolbox for the identification of human, porcine, bovine, poultry, and ovine fecal pollution in environmental samples.

Stable nuclide tracer studies and human amino acid requirements. A summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, V.R.

1994-01-01

The nutritional requirements for proteins have been estimated for various age groups. The current status of knowledge concerning the quantitative needs for specific indispensable amino acids was reviewed and it was concluded that, except for infants, current values for pre-school children, school age children and healthy adults are based on limited experimental data and/or on results from nitrogen balance determinations which are open to serious question regarding their nutritional significance. A review of 13 C-labelled tracer studies carried out in MIT laboratories was undertaken to demonstrate the applicability of stable nuclide tracer studies for purposes of determining the amino acid requirements of humans. 5 refs

Models of Human Information Requirements: "When Reasonable Aiding Systems Disagree"

Science.gov (United States)

Corker, Kevin; Pisanich, Gregory; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Aircraft flight management and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation are under development to maximize the economy of flight and to increase the capacity of the terminal area airspace while maintaining levels of flight safety equal to or better than current system performance. These goals are being realized by the introduction of flight management automation aiding and operations support systems on the flight deck and by new developments of ATC aiding systems that seek to optimize scheduling of aircraft while potentially reducing required separation and accounting for weather and wake vortex turbulence. Aiding systems on both the flight deck and the ground operate through algorithmic functions on models of the aircraft and of the airspace. These models may differ from each other as a result of variations in their models of the immediate environment. The resultant flight operations or ATC commands may differ in their response requirements (e.g. different preferred descent speeds or descent initiation points). The human operators in the system must then interact with the automation to reconcile differences and resolve conflicts. We have developed a model of human performance including cognitive functions (decision-making, rule-based reasoning, procedural interruption recovery and forgetting) that supports analysis of the information requirements for resolution of flight aiding and ATC conflicts. The model represents multiple individuals in the flight crew and in ATC. The model is supported in simulation on a Silicon Graphics' workstation using Allegro Lisp. Design guidelines for aviation automation aiding systems have been developed using the model's specification of information and team procedural requirements. Empirical data on flight deck operations from full-mission flight simulation are provided to support the model's predictions. The paper describes the model, its development and implementation, the simulation test of the model predictions, and the empirical

Study on fusion energy conformity with global environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurihara, Kenichi

1998-01-01

Global environmental conformity has been one of the most important issues discussed recently as being required for all human activities. From this point of view, this report investigates whether nuclear fusion can be a benign energy source for the global environment. First of all, we chose the following global environmental problems: (1) Global warming, (2) Acid rain, (3) Ozonosphere destruction, (4) Air pollution, (5) Environmental hormones, (6) Radiation and radioactive materials, (7) Electromagnetic waves, and (8) Heat drainage from an energy source. Secondly, these problems were fully surveyed in terms of their relationships with proposed nuclear fusion power plant. Finally, as a result of this discussion, it was confirmed that a fusion power plant would not produce any new problems, but would partially contribute to solving some of the environmental problems. (author)

Natural versus man-made forests as buffers against environmental deterioration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, E R.C.; Wood, P J

1977-01-01

Terms are defined, especially the degree of management of tropical moist forest (TMF) which is likely to produce significant environmental change. The changes in the environment reported in the literature due to transforming indigenous forest into man-made forest are described under separate heads: soil, water, water courses, climate, atmosphere, flora, fauna, amenity and recreation, and human societies. The economic consequences of conserving or protecting TMF are discussed. Phillips, Baurs, and Wadsworths classifications of TMF in terms of its potential to counter environmental deterioration are critically summarized and an approach to an improved method of assessment is suggested. This would be applied to environmental features in order of decreasing sensitivity to TMF conversion. Environmental subjects requiring further research are noted.

Environmental ethics and regional sustainable development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG Du; DAI Erfu

2012-01-01

The scientific environmental ethics plays a key role in the recognition of the human-environment interactions.Modern environmental ethics is the philosophical re-thinking of modern human race environmental behavior.The development of environmental ethics theory,as well as its application in reality,determines the viewpoints of environmental ethics.Sustainable development implies harmony on human-environment interactions and inter-generation responsibility,with emphasis on a harmonious relationship among population,resources,environment and development,so as to lay a sustainable and healthy foundation of resources and environment for future generations.The harmonious society construction in China that is raised by the Chinese central government should be covered by environmental ethics.The connotation of open environmental ethics includes a respect for nature,care for the individual human race,and respect for the development of future generations,which means giving consideration to natural values,individual and human race benefits and welfare across generations.The role of environmental ethics in regional development consists of cognition,criticism,education,inspiration,adjusting,legislation and promoting environmental regulations.The major problems in regional development are extensive resource exploration,fast population growth,irrational industrial structure,unfair welfare distribution and the twofold effects of science and technology development.The formulation of environmental ethics that aims at regional sustainable development,can not only harmonize the relationship of population,resource,environment and economic development,but also guide behavior selection,push social and political system transformation,strengthen the legal system,and raise environmental awareness of the public.

Project Orion, Environmental Control and Life Support System Integrated Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, James F.; Lewis, John F.

2008-01-01

Orion is the next vehicle for human space travel. Humans will be sustained in space by the Orion subystem, environmental control and life support (ECLS). The ECLS concept at the subsystem level is outlined by function and technology. In the past two years, the interface definition with other subsystems has increased through different integrated studies. The paper presents the key requirements and discusses three recent studies (e.g., unpressurized cargo) along with the respective impacts on the ECLS design moving forward.

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neuron as a human model for testing environmentally induced developmental neurotoxicity

Science.gov (United States)

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons as a human model for testing environmentally induced developmental neurotoxicity Ingrid L. Druwe1, Timothy J. Shafer2, Kathleen Wallace2, Pablo Valdivia3 ,and William R. Mundy2. 1University of North Carolina, Curriculum in Toxicology...

Ukrainian realities of labeling of environmentally friendly products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.M. Tsaruk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The basis of life of any society is a safe environment that is not only the guarantee of welfare and quality of life, but also the guarantee of the further development of human civilization. That is why in the modern world the issue of the preservation of the natural environment is of special actuality. The gradual awareness by humanity of new threats (high degree of concentration of harmful industries; high level of resource and energy consumption; lack of modern environmental technologies; slow but inevitable degradation of the gene pool of a population due to the consumption of poor quality and in most cases harmful products, etc. forced the society to seek new approaches to socio-economic development and environmental management. One of such approaches is the introduction of ecological and organic labeling. Marking is a source of information about the purity, safety and quality of the products offered in the market; effective information mechanism, which is a kind of quality mark for the offered products. The current practice of ecological and organic labeling aimed at the increase of level consumer's awareness and the changing models of purchasing behavior in the direction of environmental protection. The feature of most marking systems of environmentally friendly and safe products is the obligation of compliance with the established requirements used by producers of raw materials and technologies taking into account their potential environmental impact. Labeling of ecologically clean and safe products is reducing the negative impact on the environment and on the human's health. It is the consequence of changes in the economic environment, namely: the improvement of socio-ethical requirements to production; the increasing level of integration of producers and service providers; the customer's satisfaction in varieties of products; globalization of economic space; reduction of time for development, standardization and production. Labeling is

A multi-scale assessment of human and environmental constraints on forest land cover change on the Oregon (USA) coast range.

Science.gov (United States)

Michael C. Wimberly; Janet L. Ohmann

2004-01-01

Human modification of forest habitats is a major component of global environmental change. Even areas that remain predominantly forested may be changed considerably by human alteration of historical disturbance regimes. To better understand human influences on the abundance and pattern of forest habitats, we studied forest land cover change from 1936 to 1996 in a 25...

Environmental assessment for the deactivation of the N Reactor facilities. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-11-01

This environmental assessment (EA) provides information for the US Department of Energy (DOE) to decide whether the Proposed Action for the N Reactor facilities warrants a Finding of No Significant Impact or requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The EA describes current conditions at the N Reactor facilities, the need to take action at the facilities, the elements of the Proposed Action and alternatives, and the potential environmental impacts. The N Reactor facilities are currently in a surveillance and maintenance program, and will eventually be decontaminated and decommissioned (D and D). Operation and maintenance of the facilities resulted in conditions that could adversely impact human health or the environment if left as is until final D and D. The Proposed Action would deactivate the facilities to remove the conditions that present a potential threat to human health and the environment and to reduce surveillance and maintenance requirements. The action would include surveillance and maintenance after deactivation. Deactivation would take about three years and would involve about 80 facilities. Surveillance and maintenance would continue until final D and D, which is expected to be complete for all facilities except the N Reactor itself by the year 2018

Concept of environment, sustainable development and respect for human rights