Trust in Sources of Soil and Water Quality Information: Implications for Environmental Outreach and Education

Public trust in organizations focused on improving environmental quality is important for increasing awareness and changing behaviors that have water quality implications. Few studies have addressed trust in soil and water quality information sources, particularly for both agricultural and nonagricultural respondents of the same watersheds. Surveys in 19 watersheds across five states in the Midwest assessed trust in, and familiarity with, soil and water quality information sources. Overall, respondents most trusted University Extension, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, while lawn care companies, environmental groups, and land trusts were less trusted. Significant differences in trusted sources were found between watersheds, and between agricultural and nonagricultural respondents across and within watersheds. Among agricultural respondents, a clear relationship exists between familiarity and trust; as familiarity with an organization increases, so too does level of trust. This relationship is less clear‐cut for nonagricultural respondents in this region. We highlight implications of these findings for soil and water quality outreach efforts.     

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON U.S. WATER SUPPLIES1

ABSTRACT: A greenhouse warming would have major effects on water supplies and demands. A framework for examining the socioeconomic impacts associated with changes in the long-term availability of water is developed and applied to the hydrologic implications of the Canadian and British Hadley2 general circulation models (GCMs) for the 18 water resource regions in the conterminous United States. The climate projections of these two GCMs have very different implications for future water supplies and costs. The Canadian model suggests most of the nation would be much drier in the year 2030. Under the least-cost management scenario the drier climate could add nearly $105 billion to the estimated costs of balancing supplies and demands relative to the costs without climate change. Measures to protect instream flows and irrigation could result in significantly higher costs. In contrast, projections based on the Hadley model suggest water supplies would increase throughout much of the nation, reducing the costs of balancing water supplies with demands relative to the no-climate-change case.     

Exploratory analysis of the association between pyrethroid exposure and rheumatoid arthritis among US adults: 2007–2014 data analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Previous studies indicate that pesticide use may play an important role in the occurrence and development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however,...     

Cadmium removal mechanistic comparison of three Fe-based nanomaterials: Water-chemistry and roles of Fe dissolution

● nZVI, S-nZVI, and nFeS were systematically compared for Cd(II) removal. ● Cd(II) removal by nZVI involved coprecipitation, complexation, and reduction. ● The predominant reaction for Cd(II) removal by S-nZVI and nFeS was replacement. ● A simple pseudo-second-order kinetic can adequately fit Fe(II) dissolution. Cadmium (Cd) is a common toxic heavy metal in the environment. Taking Cd(II) as a target contaminant, we systematically compared the performances of three Fe-based nanomaterials (nano zero valent iron, nZVI; sulfidated nZVI, S-nZVI; and nano FeS, nFeS) for Cd immobilization under anaerobic conditions. Effects of nanomaterials doses, initial pH, co-existing ions, and humic acid (HA) were examined. Under identical conditions, at varied doses or initial pH, Cd(II) removal by three materials followed the order of S-nZVI > nFeS > nZVI. At pH 6, the Cd(II) removal within 24 hours for S-nZVI, nFeS, and nZVI (dose of 20 mg/L) were 93.50%, 89.12% and 4.10%, respectively. The fast initial reaction rate of nZVI did not lead to a high removal capacity. The Cd removal was slightly impacted or even improved with co-existing ions (at 50 mg/L or 200 mg/L) or HA (at 2 mg/L or 20 mg/L). Characterization results revealed that nZVI immobilized Cd through coprecipitation, surface complexation, and reduction, whereas the mechanisms for sulfidated materials involved replacement, coprecipitation, and surface complexation, with replacement as the predominant reaction. A strong linear correlation between Cd(II) removal and Fe(II) dissolution was observed, and we proposed a novel pseudo-second-order kinetic model to simulate Fe(II) dissolution.