Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues

/ It has been suggested that the general public should be moreinvolved in environmental policy and decision making. It is important forthem to realize that they will have to live with the consequences ofenvironmental policies and decisions. Consequently, policy makers shouldconsider the concerns and opinions of the general public before makingdecisions on environmental issues. This raises questions such as: How can weintegrate the perceptions and reactions of the general population inenvironmental decisions? What kind of public participation should weconsider? In the present study, using a new regional ecosystem model, weattempted to integrate these aspects in its decision making model byincluding the formation of an advisory committee to resolve problems relatedto waste management. The advisory committee requested the activeparticipation of representatives from all levels of the community: economic,municipal, and governmental intervenors; environmental groups; and citizens.Their mandates were to examine different management strategies available inthe region, considering all the interdisciplinary aspects of each strategy,elaborate recommendations concerning the management strategies that are mostsuitable for all, and collaborate in communication of the information to thegeneral population. The results showed that at least in small municipalitiessuch an advisory committee can be a powerful tool in environmental decisionmaking. Conditions required for a successful consultation process, such aseveryday lay language and the presence of a facilitator other than ascientific expert, are discussed.KEY WORDS: Public consultation; Environmental policies;Interdisciplinary aspects; Municipal sewage sludge management; Generalpopulation; Decision-making process     

Nachweis des Wassermelonenmosaik-Virus in Europa

The Science of Nature -     

Degradation of PVC Containing Mixtures in the Presence of HCl Fixators

Degradation of a model polymer mixture (PVC/PS/PE) and a waste polymer mixture in the presence of HCl fixators (Red Mud, precipitated CaCO₃ and dolamite) was studied using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and a cycled-spheres-reactor. The experiments in cycled-spheres reactor model were performed by stepwise pyrolysis. Liquid products and HCl from each step were collected separately. For the model polymer mixture, the precipitated CaCO₃ showed the best effect on the fixation of evolved HCl and the reduction of chlorine content in the liquid products whereas RM yielded the best result for the waste polymer mixture. In addition, using HCl fixator also affected the degradation of both types of polymer mixture, leading to the formation of more gaseous and less residue.     

Estimating species richness and accumulation by modeling species occurrence and detectability

A statistical model is developed for estimating species richness and accumulation by formulating these community-level attributes as functions of model-based estimators of species occurrence while accounting for imperfect detection of individual species. The model requires a sampling protocol wherein repeated observations are made at a collection of sample locations selected to be representative of the community. This temporal replication provides the data needed to resolve the ambiguity between species absence and nondetection when species are unobserved at sample locations. Estimates of species richness and accumulation are computed for two communities, an avian community and a butterfly community. Our model-based estimates suggest that detection failures in many bird species were attributed to low rates of occurrence, as opposed to simply low rates of detection. We estimate that the avian community contains a substantial number of uncommon species and that species richness greatly exceeds the number of species actually observed in the sample. In fact, predictions of species accumulation suggest that even doubling the number of sample locations would not have revealed all of the species in the community. In contrast, our analysis of the butterfly community suggests that many species are relatively common and that the estimated richness of species in the community is nearly equal to the number of species actually detected in the sample. Our predictions of species accumulation suggest that the number of sample locations actually used in the butterfly survey could have been cut in half and the asymptotic richness of species still would have been attained. Our approach of developing occurrence-based summaries of communities while allowing for imperfect detection of species is broadly applicable and should prove useful in the design and analysis of surveys of biodiversity.     

Measuring bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyls in soil to earthworms using selective supercritical fluid extraction

If the release mechanisms during selective chemical extraction of persistent organic pollutants (POP) mimic release mechanisms in natural systems during biological uptake, then a selective non-exhaustive extraction could give a quantitative measure of the bioavailable POP fraction. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is suggested as a possible technique to estimate the amount of bioavailable polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at contaminated sites and hence serve as a new tool in risk assessment. The uptake of PCBs by earthworm (Eisenia foetida) was investigated. PCB contaminated soil was pre-extracted with selective non-exhaustive SFE (50 degrees C, 350 bar, 1h), which removed on average 70% of the individual PCBs. Earthworms were placed in this pre-extracted soil, as well as in untreated soil. After 10 days, the PCB uptake by earthworms in the two systems was compared. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was 83% lower in the pre-extracted system than in the untreated system, demonstrating that SFE extracts primarily bioavailable contaminants. From the data, the bioavailable fraction could also be calculated to be 75%, which is very close to the 70% removed by SFE under the applied conditions. This suggests that the chemical methodology is capable of measuring the bioavailable fraction very accurately in this system.     

Treatment of log yard run-off by irrigation of grass and willows

Log yard run-off is a potential environmental risk, among other things because it creates an oxygen deficiency in receiving watercourses. This study was conducted to investigate the purification efficiency of soil-plant systems with couchgrass (Elymus repens) and willows (Salix sp.) when intensively irrigated with run-off from an open sprinkling system at a Norway spruce (Picea abies) log yard. The purification efficiency was determined both at the field scale (couchgrass) and in 68-L lysimeters (couchgrass and willows). Groundwater in the field and drainage water from the lysimeters were analysed for Total Organic Carbon (TOC), distillable phenols, total P, and total N. Retention of TOC, phenols and P occurred but no difference between couchgrass and willows was observed. The system had better purification capacity at the field scale than in the lysimeters.     

Parallel and serial methods of calculating thermal insulation in European manikin standards

Standard No. EN 15831:2004 provides 2 methods of calculating insulation: parallel and serial. The parallel method is similar to the global one defined in Standard No. ISO 9920:2007. Standards No. EN 342:2004, EN 14058:2004 and EN 13537:2002 refer to the methods defined in Standard No. EN ISO 15831:2004 for testing cold protective clothing or equipment. However, it is necessary to consider several issues, e.g., referring to measuring human subjects, when using the serial method. With one zone, there is no serial-parallel issue as the results are the same, while more zones increase the difference in insulation value between the methods. If insulation is evenly distributed, differences between the serial and parallel method are relatively small and proportional. However, with more insulation layers overlapping in heavy cold protective ensembles, the serial method produces higher insulation values than the parallel one and human studies. Therefore, the parallel method is recommended for standard testing.     

Development of an efficient and sensitive analytical method for the determination of copper at trace levels by slotted quartz tube atomic absorption spectrometry after vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction in biota and water samples using a novel ligand

This study describes the determination of trace levels of copper by slotted quartz tube atomic absorption spectrometry after dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. A ligand synthesized from the reaction of salicylaldehyde and 1-naphthylamine was used to form coordinate copper complex prior to extraction. All parameters that influence the output of complex formation, extraction, and instrumental measurement were optimized to enhance the absorbance signal of copper. Under the optimum conditions, about 104-fold enhancement in sensitivity was recorded over the conventional flame atomic absorption spectrometer, corresponding to a 0.51 ng/mL detection limit. The percent relative standard deviation calculated for the lowest concentration (4.8%) indicated high precision for the experimental procedure. Accuracy and applicability of the optimum method were determined by performing spiked recovery tests on urine, lake water, and mineral water samples. Satisfactory recovery results were obtained between 82.2 and 106.3% at four different concentrations. Matrix matching method was also performed to increase the accuracy of quantification, and the percent recovery calculated for 175 ng/mL was 105.14%.