A Program Analysis

A comprehensive analysis of inspection maintenance programs is proposed. Effectiveness, costs to the state and to the individual, distribution of cost and benefits, and political and administrative feasibility are examined. Effectiveness is probably the most difficult aspect to project because of changes in design and consequences of maintenance repair on performance. However, using sensitivity analysis, substantial reductions in hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are foreseen, along with a slight increase in NO_x emissions.

The cost to the state to administer the program is estimated to be between $2.00 and $2.50 per vehicle, which could be covered by the inspection fee. The other direct costs for the driver, lost time, travel, and repairs, may be offset by fuel and tuneup savings which could amount to as much as 50% of the repair bill. Analysis of distribution costs and indirect social consequences cannot be completed until additional information about the effect of income on maintenance is generated. Politically the program is feasible but depends on public support which in turn is sensitive to direct repair costs. Administratively the program suffers greatly if private repair facilities do not have enough adequately trained mechanics.

It is concluded that the benefits of an inspection program do not convincingly outweigh the high costs, possible adverse social impacts, and public opposition and that other alternatives should be examined.     

Assessing Landscape Condition Relative to Water Resources in the Western United States: A Strategic Approach

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is proposing an ambitious agenda to assess the status of streams and estuaries in a 12-State area of the western United States by the end of 2003. Additionally, EMAP is proposing to access landscape conditions as they relate to stream and estuary conditions across the west. The goal of this landscape project is to develop a landscape model that can be used to identify the relative risks of streams and estuaries to potential declines due to watershed-scale, landscape conditions across the west. To do so, requires an understanding of quantitative relationships between landscape composition and pattern metrics and parameters of stream and estuary conditions. This paper describes a strategic approach for evaluating the degree to which landscape composition and pattern influence stream and estuary condition, and the development and implementation of a spatially-distributed, landscape analysis approach.     

Population Trends in Pacific Oceanic Sharks and the Utility of Regulations on Shark Finning

Accurate assessment of shark population status is essential for conservation but is often constrained by limited and unreliable data. To provide a basis for improved management of shark resources, we analyzed a long‐term record of species‐specific catches, sizes, and sexes of sharks collected by onboard observers in the western and central Pacific Ocean from 1995 to 2010. Using generalized linear models, we estimated population‐status indicators on the basis of catch rate and biological indicators of fishing pressure on the basis of median size to identify trends for blue (Prionace glauca), mako (Isurus spp.), oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus), and silky (Carcharhinus falciformis) sharks. Standardized catch rates of longline fleets declined significantly for blue sharks in the North Pacific (by 5% per year [CI 2% to 8%]), for mako sharks in the North Pacific (by 7% per year [CI 3% to 11%]), and for oceanic whitetip sharks in tropical waters (by 17% per year [CI 14% to 20%]). Median lengths of silky and oceanic whitetip sharks decreased significantly in their core habitat, and almost all sampled silky sharks were immature. Our results are consistent with results of analyses of similar data sets. Combined, these results and evidence of targeted fishing for sharks in some regional fisheries heighten concerns for sustainable utilization, particularly for oceanic whitetip and North Pacific blue sharks. Regional regulations that prohibit shark finning (removal of fins and discarding of the carcass) were enacted in 2007 and are in many cases the only form of control on shark catches. However, there is little evidence of a reduction of finning in longline fisheries. In addition, silky and oceanic whitetip sharks are more frequently retained than finned, which suggests that even full implementation of and adherence to a finning prohibition may not substantially reduce mortality rates for these species. We argue that finning prohibitions divert attention from assessing whether catch levels are sustainable and that the need for management of sharks should not be addressed by measures that are simple to implement but complex to enforce and evaluate. Tendencias Poblacionales de Tiburones del Océano Pacífico y la Utilidad de Regulaciones sobre Cercenamiento de Aletas     

Gas-phase chemistry of benzyl alcohol: Reaction rate constants and products with OH radical and ozone

A bimolecular rate constant, k_{OH+Benzyl alcohol}, of (28 ± 7) × 10^?12 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 was measured using the relative rate technique for the reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH) with benzyl alcohol, at (297 ± 3) K and 1 atm total pressure. Additionally, an upper limit of the bimolecular rate constant, k_{O3+Benzyl alcohol}, of approximately 6 × 10^?19 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 was determined by monitoring the decrease in benzyl alcohol concentration over time in an excess of ozone (O₃). To more clearly define part of benzyl alcohol's indoor environment degradation mechanism, the products of the benzyl alcohol + OH were also investigated. The derivatizing agents O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA) and N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) were used to positively identify benzaldehyde, glyoxal and 4-oxopentanal as benzyl alcohol/OH reaction products. The elucidation of other reaction products was facilitated by mass spectrometry of the derivatized reaction products coupled with plausible benzyl alcohol/OH reaction mechanisms based on previously published volatile organic compound/OH gas-phase reaction mechanisms.     

Combined use of molecular biology taxonomy, Raman spectrometry, and ESEM imaging to study natural biofilms grown on filter materials at waterworks

DNA-based population analysis was applied in combination with Raman spectrometry and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy for the characterisation of natural biofilms from sand and activated carbon filters operated for a long term at a municipal waterworks. Whereas the molecular biology polymerase chain reaction combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis approach provides a deeper insight into the bacterial biofilm diversities, Raman spectrometry analyses the chemical composition of the extracellular polymer substances (EPS), microorganisms embedded in EPS as well as other substances inside biofilm (inorganic compounds and humic substances). Microscopy images the spatial distribution of biofilms on the two different filter materials. In addition, bacterial bulk water populations were compared with biofilm consortia using the molecular fingerprint technique mentioned.Population analysis demonstrated the presence of more diverse bacterial species embedded in a matrix of EPS (polysaccharides, peptides, and nucleic acids) on the sand filter materials. In contrast to this, activated carbon granules were colonised by reduced numbers of bacterial species in biofilms. Besides α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria, a noticeable specific colonisation with Actinobacteria was found on activated carbon particles. Here, the reduced biofilm formation came along with a decreased EPS synthesis. The taxonomy profiles of the different biofilms revealed up to 60% similarity on the same filter materials and 32% similarity of different materials. Similarity of adherent communities from filter materials and bulk water populations from the filter effluent varied between 36% and 58% in sand filters and 6–40% in granular activated carbon filters.The biofilm investigation protocols are most crucial to subsequent acquisition of knowledge on biofilm dynamics and bacterial contributions to transformation or adsorption processes in waterworks facilities.     

Composition and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface sediments from the Susquehanna River

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in 34 surface sediments along the Susquehanna River were investigated in 2000. The total concentrations of PAHs in the surface sediments of Lake Clarke, Lake Aldred, the upper Conowingo Reservoir, and the lower Conowingo Reservoir were 3.3+/-1.5 microg g-1 (n=9), 1.6+/-1.3 microg g-1 (n=4), 9.8+/-5.5 microg g-1 (n=7), and 4.0+/-1.2 microg g-1 (n=14), respectively. These represent the first comprehensive measurement of PAHs in Susquehanna River surface sediments. Overall, total PAH concentrations were relatively lower in Lake Aldred, which is more shallow and sloped, and significantly higher in the upper Conowingo Reservoir. The sediment PAH levels were related to river flow rates, which are indirectly correlated with the particle size of the surface sediments. Total PAH levels in all the studied sites were below the effects range median (ERM) of 44.8 microg g-1 with 38% (13 of the 34 sampling sites) exceeding the effects range low (ERL) of 4.02 microg g-1. Principal component analysis indicated that variations in the PAH compound patterns of each reservoir decreased from upstream to downstream, indicating that the surface sediments were mixed along the Susquehanna River. The PAH patterns in the lower Conowingo Reservoir sediments were a combination of those upstream sources. Source analysis using isomer ratios as indicators suggested that PAHs in the Susquehanna River surface sediment are derived from the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline with coal as the major source of contaminants.     

Vertical profile of PCDD/Fs, dioxin-like PCBs, other PCBs, PAHs, chlorobenzenes, DDX, HCHs, organotin compounds and chlorinated ethers in dated sediment/soil cores from flood-plains of the river Elbe, Germany

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other organic micropollutants were determined in dated sediment/soil cores collected from the flood-plain of the river Elbe near Pevestorf (PT), approximately 125 km upstream of Hamburg, and Heuckenlock (HL) in southeast of Hamburg. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs peaked sharply at PT in the 1950s and at HL at the end of the 1940s. Cluster analyses provide evidence that the region of Bitterfeld-Wolfen (about 350-400 km upstream of Hamburg) could be the source of the PCDD/F contamination existing in the cores PT and HL since the 1940s. Obviously it is caused by sediments of the river Elbe of a similar composition. Whereas the PCDD/Fs, HCHs (hexacyclohexane isomers), DDX (DDT, DDD, DDE), and tetrachlorinated ethers in PT and HL presumably originated predominantly from the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region, organotin compounds in HL and dichlorinated haloethers in HL during the 1940s and 1950s can probably largely be attributed to emissions from the Hamburg region. Although they are separated by a large distance, in both sediment cores PT and HL concentrations and composition patterns of most organic micropollutants analyzed widely match. Inductively it can be concluded that similar contaminations will be found in many of the river bank soils between the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region and Hamburg. Excavation of top soils may uncover highly contaminated materials. Since the dated sediment cores show the variation in contaminants in the Elbe sediments over a defined time period, it is possible to make an approximate assessment of the actual degree of contamination to be expected in areas where in previous decades contaminated dredged sediments from the Elbe and from the Port of Hamburg have been deposited on land and used for building plots or for agricultural purposes.     

VALIDATION OF A BRIEF SCREENING MEASURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY: THE CHEMICAL ODOR INTOLERANCE INDEX

The development and validation of a brief self-report screening measure of environmental chemical sensitivity, the Chemical Odor Intolerance Index (CII), is described. Subjects included 1734 college students, 192 older adults, and 38 chemically intolerant and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) patients. The results of the studies demonstrate that the CII has strong internal stability (Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.80 to 0.92 across samples), and evidence of factorial, group, convergent, and discriminant validity is reported across diverse samples. In future research, the CII will permit the quantification of self-reported illness from low levels of environmental chemicals as a continuous rather than dichotomous variable. Consequently, the CII will facilitate the ability to compare and standardize subject selection criteria in both preclinical and clinical (i.e. MCS) populations.