ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: An Approach for Characterizing Tropospheric Ozone Risk to Forests

/ The risk tropospheric ozone poses to forests in the United States is dependent on the variation in ozone exposure across the distribution of the forests in question and the various environmental and climate factors predominant in the region. All these factors have a spatial nature, and consequently an approach to characterization of ozone risk is presented that places ozone exposure-response functions for species as seedlings and model-simulated tree and stand responses in a spatial context using a geographical information systems (GIS). The GIS is used to aggregate factors considered important in a risk characterization, including: (1) estimated ozone exposures over forested regions, (2) measures of ozone effects on species' and stand growth, and (3) spatially distributed environmental, genetic, and exposure influences on species' response to ozone. The GIS-based risk characterization provides an estimation of the extent and magnitude of the potential ozone impact on forests. A preliminary risk characterization demonstrating this approach considered only the eastern United States and only the limited empirical data quantifying the effect of ozone exposures on forest tree species as seedlings. The area-weighted response of the annual seedling biomass loss formed the basis for a sensitivity ranking: sensitive-aspen and black cherry (14%-33% biomass loss over 50% of their distribution); moderately sensitive-tulip popular, loblolly pine, eastern white pine, and sugar maple (5%-13% biomass loss); insensitive-Virginia pine and red maple (0%-1% loss). In the future, the GIS-based risk characterization will include process-based model simulations of the three- to 5-year growth response of individual species as large trees with relevant environmental interactions and model simulated response of mixed stands. The interactive nature of GIS provides a tool to explore consequences of the range of climate conditions across a species' distribution, forest management practices, changing ozone precursors, regulatory control strategies, and other factors influencing the spatial distribution of ozone over time as more information becomes available.KEY WORDS: Ecological risk assessment; GIS; Ozone; Risk characterization; Forests; Trees     

Specific Contributions of Politics,Economics, and Toxicology in Setting Socially Consensual Limit Values

/ Limit values are legal limits for the concentrations of substances in the environment. They must be agreed upon in a consensual procedure between science, economics/technology, and political forces. This is a crucial political precondition for their social acceptance. The arguments put forward to justify their expediency and numerical level are based not only on risk-benefit considerations but also on the aspect of the technical avoidability of direct and indirect exposure. The critical assessment of the direct benefit of specified exposures falls within the responsibility of economics/technology, whereas criteria for their potential adverse effects (direct and indirect) are provided by medicine/biochemistry and/or ecology. Within this concept, the avoidance of nonbeneficial-even if not openly adverse-exposure is the essential aim of environmental hygiene and should be promoted by politics/science. In general, society or segments thereof reject adverse, accept beneficial, and tolerate unavoidable exposure. Conflicts of interest arise when different groups of society simultaneously define a given exposure as being adverse, beneficial, and unavoidable. Therefore, from the viewpoint of society as a whole, an optimal exposure lies as far as reasonably achievable at a level lower than known or plausible adverse effect thresholds (as defined by toxicology or ecology). This optimal level of exposure must be determined using a transparent and, hence, public procedure.KEY WORDS: Legal limit values; Benefit threshold; Social acceptance; Social tolerability; Adverse effect threshold; Avoidable exposure; Tolerance threshold; Environmental hygiene     

Demonstration of Line Transect Methodologies to Estimate Urban Gray Squirrel Density

Sciurus carolinensis ) have been labor intensive and costly, I demonstrate the use of line transect surveys to estimate gray squirrel density and determine the costs of conducting surveys to achieve precise estimates. Density estimates are based on four transects that were surveyed five times from 30 June to 9 July 1994. Using the program DISTANCE, I estimated there were 4.7 (95% CI = 1.86–11.92) gray squirrels/ha on the Clemson University campus. Eleven additional surveys would have decreased the percent coefficient of variation from 30% to 20% and would have cost approximately $114. Estimating urban gray squirrel density using line transect surveys is cost effective and can provide unbiased estimates of density, provided that none of the assumptions of distance sampling theory are violated.     

Integration of Environmental Assessment into the Regional Development Planning Process of the Galilee

/ The Galilee region on the northern edge of Israel constitutes more than 15% of the state's territory, supplies more than half of its drinking water needs, and is an important recreational resource and destination for Israelis. One of the main objectives of the plan for the Galilee was to devise a regional physical and economic development strategy for the years 1992-2007 that would arrest the trend of emigration of its residents, attract newly arrived immigrants to the region, and at the same time protect natural resources and environmental quality. This paper is limited to discussion of the environmental aspects of the plan. It analyzes spatial concepts for distribution of projected population growth, evaluates environmental impacts of alternative plans, and proposes a decision-making framework and tools for minimizing natural resources loss from development at the local level. Assessment of potential environmental impacts generated quantitative data of natural resources areas. Application of the data in the plan evaluation stage showed that the alternative that concentrated most of the new development in central Galilee was the second-best choice environmentally, but was preferred as the best choice for overall qualities. The planning study offers an alternative environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to the one presently used in Israel by incorporating environmental considerations at the initial plan-making stage and not at the plan-approval stage. It demonstrated that in order to be effective, environmental assessment and land-use planning should be seen as one effort that is integrated from the start and in each stage of the plan-making process.KEY WORDS: Environmental assessment; Development planning; Galilee     

安全管理职业化与职业安全管理队伍建设

提出了安全管理职业化的概念，并就建立职业安全管理队伍的措施以及安全管理社会化服务问题进行了讨论。     

系统安全性评价的AHP方法及在热处理作业系统中的应用

介绍了系统安全评价的ＡＨＰ方法，叙述了该方法的基本步骤，并以某公司热处理分厂评忏为实例，证明了该方法的有效性和实用性。     

矿井重大灾害危险性评价的改进灰色统计法

用灰色统计理论［１］研究了矿井四大灾害即冒顶、水灾、火灾和瓦斯爆炸的危险性预评价问题，提出了一种新的评价方法──灰色统计综合法。同时，从应用的角度出发对灰色统计的算法作了改进，改进后的算法便于记忆和应用。     

矿井通风系统模糊可靠性研究

定义模糊可靠度为一个服从正态分布的模糊数，并以模糊数作为通风系统的各风路可靠度，进而提出了矿井通风系统的模糊可靠度计算方法。同时在置信水平上，确定矿井通风系统的普通可靠度置信区间。若＝１，则模糊可靠度计算转化为可靠度计算。     

论冲压设备机械伤害事故的成因与预防

任何事故的发生都离不开人的不安全行为和物的不安全状态，作为危险性较大的冲压设备机械的伤害事故的产生也不例外。为此，从冲压设备机械伤害事故的两起案例入手，具体分析形成事故的因素并提出预防事故发生的有效措施。     

火炸药热自燃点测试及数据自动记录的探讨

简述了所建立的炸药热自燃点测试系统的结构和工作原理，阐明了在多试样热自燃点测试中，采用温度数据自动记录系统的必要性。着重讨论了所研制的多试样火炸药热自燃点自动记录仪的结构和工作原理。