Survey of elemental contents in two organs of slaughtered bovine,porcine and avian specimens,Ontario, Canada 1980–83

Kidney and muscle samples were collected from 197 bovine and 33 porcine carcasses and liver and muscle from 115 poultry carcasses across the province. These tissues were analyzed for the following 13 elements, Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, and Zn. The intent of the study was to determine normal background levels. Tissue concentration of these elements fell into five orders of magnitude ranging from < 10 g kg^–1 for Ag to over 10 mg kg^–1 for Zn. Similar concentrations were observed in the three specie tissues being compared except for higher concentrations of Cd and Sb in bovine kidneys. In avian tissues Mo contents were higher in liver than muscle. When samples from all three species were grouped by age, no distinct trends were observed to indicate an increase in metal contents with age, with the exception of Cd in bovine kidneys.     

Formaldehyde levels in homes insulated with urea-formaldehyde foam

Twenty seven UFFI homes in Colorado and Wisconsin were sampled for formaldehyde levels. The formaldehyde concentrations found in these homes averaged 0.059 ppm. Two homes were monitored for an extended period to determine the impact of ambient climatic conditions.     

Atmospheric benzene depletion by soil microorganisms

Gaseous benzene was rapidly depleted in exposure chambers containing viable soils and plants. When separate components of the system were analyzed, no benzene was detected in soils, plants, or water. Soil microorganisms were shown to be responsible for metabolizing benzene, yielding CO₂ as the main product. The rates were sufficiently rapid to suggest that this reaction forms a major pathway for the elimination of benzene from the environment.This work was sponsored and conducted at the Environmental Protection Agency-Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.     

Uncertainty in integrated assessment: A social scientific perspective

In the context of integrated assessment, the authors address the issue of uncertainty and subjectivity in modelling. In relating bias to different perspectives, the authors introduce the methodology of multiple model routes, which are reflections of different perceptions of reality and various policy preferences. As heuristic they use three perspectives, which are distinguished in cultural theory. The article describes case-studies on the population and health controversy in order to illustrate the possibilities of their approach. The article concludes with discussing the lessons learned by applying this methodology.     

Recent temporal trend monitoring of mercury in Arctic biota--how powerful are the existing data sets?

The goal of this paper is to describe and discuss statistical power with respect to mercury in Arctic biota, using data gathered during the past two or three decades, mostly under the auspices of AMAP Phases I and II. It will describe the current levels of power of existing data sets to detect temporal trends of Hg concentrations. If the desired power is fixed to an appropriate magnitude, the minimum size of a detectable trend within a specified time period or the number of years that is required to detect a certain trend could be estimated provided that the random between-year variation for the current time-series is known. These various measures of performance of the AMAP mercury time-series, derived from the power analysis, are discussed in some detail. The number of years required to detect a certain trend at a particular power at a specific Type I error rate (alpha) is compared with the actual number of years available when the AMAP Phase II assessment was carried out. In general the investigated time-series were too short to possess an acceptable statistical power. The effect of varying the Type-I error rate, the slope of a trend and the desired power is investigated to rank the importance of the various components regulating the statistical power. The consequence of sampling less frequently than once a year is considerable loss of power.     

Landscape Equivalency Analysis: Methodology for Estimating Spatially Explicit Biodiversity Credits

We propose a biodiversity credit system for trading endangered species habitat designed to minimize and reverse the negative effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, the leading cause of species endangerment in the United States. Given the increasing demand for land, approaches that explicitly balance economic goals against conservation goals are required. The Endangered Species Act balances these conflicts based on the cost to replace habitat. Conservation banking is a means to manage this balance, and we argue for its use to mitigate the effects of habitat fragmentation. Mitigating the effects of land development on biodiversity requires decisions that recognize regional ecological effects resulting from local economic decisions. We propose Landscape Equivalency Analysis (LEA), a landscape-scale approach similar to HEA, as an accounting system to calculate conservation banking credits so that habitat trades do not exacerbate regional ecological effects of local decisions. Credits purchased by public agencies or NGOs for purposes other than mitigating a take create a net investment in natural capital leading to habitat defragmentation. Credits calculated by LEA use metapopulation genetic theory to estimate sustainability criteria against which all trades are judged. The approach is rooted in well-accepted ecological, evolutionary, and economic theory, which helps compensate for the degree of uncertainty regarding the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on endangered species. LEA requires application of greater scientific rigor than typically applied to endangered species management on private lands but provides an objective, conceptually sound basis for achieving the often conflicting goals of economic efficiency and long-term ecological sustainability.     

An assessment of household willingness to pay for curbside recycling: a comparison of payment card and referendum approaches

Curbside recycling is a tool that communities use to reduce the need for landfill space. This study provides contingent valuation estimates of household willingness to pay (WTP) to continue a curbside recycling program in the face of budget cuts. Comparisons of two forms of the contingent valuation method (CVM) are provided: a single bounded referendum and a payment card. Neither approach emerges as unambiguously superior. Response rates were virtually identical. Both approaches show that support for curbside recycling is highly sensitive to price. Regression results from the payment card provided a more thorough identification of socio-demographic variables associated with WTP than the referendum, but the explanatory power of the two regressions did not differ significantly. The referendum estimates of mean WTP exceed those from the payment card, although the disparities are less than those typically reported in the CVM literature. Local policy makers cited the CVM results as influencing their decisions regarding funding options for the future of the program, and seemed to appreciate the fact that the two approaches provided a fairly narrow range of estimates of WTP. In an era when more of the burden of financing of environmental programs is being shifted to the local level, use of CVM to estimate the WTP of consumers for highly disaggregated goods and services designed to achieve environmental improvement will likely become more relevant to local decision makers who are interested in understanding their constituents' views.     

The Carbon Dioxide Reduction Workshop: Dutch Experiences with a Participatory Approach

This paper investigates the potential of a method for participatory policy making in the field of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reduction in housing: the CO 2 reduction workshop. This innovative method aims to involve relevant actors at an early stage of urban development and to formulate common ambitions for CO 2 reduction. Special attention is paid to the inputting of information about options for CO 2 reduction. The workshop was organized and evaluated in two planning processes for new housing estates in the Netherlands. The evaluation addresses the design of the workshop, the utilization of knowledge in the process, the effects of the workshop on the commitment and knowledge of the participants and the effects on the wider planning process.     

Biodegradation of Waste Cellulose

Environmental issues such as the depletion of nonrenewable energy resources and pollution are very topical and would need more scientific attention in order to be addressed in a way beneficial to life. The extent of solid waste production is a global concern and development of its bioenergy potential can simultaneously address issues such as pollution control and renewable energy development. Various wastepaper materials, a major component of solid waste, have been treated with cellulase from Trichoderma viride to bioconvert its cellulose component into fermentable sugars that could be utilized as feedstock for bioproduct development. These paper materials exhibited different susceptibilities toward the cellulase and showed different sugarreleasing patterns when increasing amounts of each paper were treated with the enzyme. Bioconversion of paper with different enzyme concentrations and during various time intervals also resulted in nonsimilar sugar-releasing patterns. With all the paper materials, a general decline in efficiency was observed with increasing amounts of sugar produced during the different bioconversion variables investigated.