Trends in occupational injuries and fatality in Turkey

Introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trend of occupational injuries in Turkey using epidemiologic criteria such as incidence mortality and fatality/all injuries recorded – rates. Materials and methods. Safety and health data were obtained from the Annual Statistic Books of the Social Insurance Institution (1988–2006) and Social Security Institution (2007–2011) of Turkey. Results. The results from the official data showed that although total employment is increasing the number of occupational injuries and incidence and mortality rates are decreasing. The results also demonstrate that occupational fatality/all injuries recorded – rate is increasing. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate per 1000 injuries increased to 25.5 in 2011 from 8.6 in 1988. Each work day an average of five people died because of occupational injuries. Discussion and conclusions. The fatality/all injuries recorded – rate (the number of fatal cases per 1000 occupational injuries) is an important indicator of the injury rate for a country. Systems of occupational injury and illness surveillance constitute a critical resource for the management and reduction of occupational injuries and illness.     

Model-based assessment of groundwater vulnerability for the Dalyan Region of southwestern Mediterranean Turkey

Regional Environmental Change - The Dalyan Region that drains into a complex lagoon system is located on the Mediterranean Sea coast of southwest Turkey. There are no large streams in the...     

Water quality assessment and meta model development in Melen watershed – Turkey

Istanbul, being one of the highly populated metropolitan areas of the world, has been facing water scarcity since the past decade. Water transfer from Melen Watershed was considered as the most feasible option to supply water to Istanbul due to its high water potential and relatively less degraded water quality. This study consists of two parts. In the first part, water quality data covering 26 parameters from 5 monitoring stations were analyzed and assessed due to the requirements of the “Quality Required of Surface Water Intended for the Abstraction of Drinking Water” regulation. In the second part, a one-dimensional stream water quality model with simple water quality kinetics was developed. It formed a basic design for more advanced water quality models for the watershed. The reason for assessing the water quality data and developing a model was to provide information for decision making on preliminary actions to prevent any further deterioration of existing water quality. According to the water quality assessment at the water abstraction point, Melen River has relatively poor water quality with regard to NH₄⁺, BOD₅, faecal streptococcus, manganese and phenol parameters, and is unsuitable for drinking water abstraction in terms of COD, PO₄^3?, total coliform, total suspended solids, mercury and total chromium parameters. The results derived from the model were found to be consistent with the water quality assessment. It also showed that relatively high inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations along the streams are related to diffuse nutrient loads that should be managed together with municipal and industrial wastewaters.     

The effects of component dimensions on heat transfer and pressure loss in shell and tube heat exchangers

In this study, the effects of geometric properties such as baffle spacing, baffle cut, sealing strips, gaps between heat exchanger components, number of tubes and tube passes have been investigated for shell and tube heat exchangers (STHE). For this purpose, geometrical dimensions and data of a specific heat exchanger (HE) used in an industrial application have been obtained. The HTRI Xchanger Suite Educational software was utilized to analyze the reference HE, to verify the results of the software and the output temperatures of the fluids, the shell side heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and the pressure loss (PL) values were compared with the experimental data. After confirming that the results of the software were within the acceptable deviation values, the geometric dimensions of the reference design were changed and new analyzes were carried out to examine the effects of several dimension options on the performance of STHE. Results were discussed in a detailed and comprehensive manner via curves.     

Agricultural recycling of treatment-plant sludge: a case study for a vegetable-processing factory

The present study evaluated the possibility of using the sludge produced by a vegetable-processing factory in agriculture. The sludge was amended with a soil mixture (i.e., a mixture of sand, soil, and manure) and was applied at 0, 165, 330, 495 and 660 t/ha to promote the growth of cucumbers. The effects of various sludge loadings on plant growth were assessed by counting plants and leaves, measuring stem lengths, and weighing the green parts and roots of the plants. We also compared heavy metal uptake by the plants for sludge loadings of 330, 495, and 660 t/ha with various recommended standards for vegetables. Our results showed that plant growth patterns were influenced to some extent by the sludge loadings. In general, the number of leaves, stem length, and dry weight of green parts exhibited a pronounced positive growth response compared with an unfertilized control, and root growth showed a lesser but still significant response at sludge loadings of 165 and 330 t/ha. The sludge application caused no significant increase in heavy metal concentrations in the leaves, though zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) were found at elevated concentrations. However, despite the Zn and Fe accumulation, we observed no toxicity symptoms in the plants. This may be a result of cucumber's tolerance of high metal levels.     

Total maximum daily load (TMDL) based sustainable basin growth and management strategy

This study focused on the development and application of the new approach 'Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) based sustainable basin growth and management strategy' to give better insight for the management of surface waters. The establishment of the proposed decision process mainly comprised: beneficial use designations-targets, interrogation of the ambient water quality, selection of variable(s) for TMDL analysis, water quality modeling, basin growth scenarios development and decision on the basin growth plan. The approach was validated through a systematic application study in a field case in Turkey, known as Tahtali Basin. Results revealed that decision process assists policy makers to develop realistic strategies that take into account the basin specific conditions.     

Best waste management programs (BWMPs) for marinas: A case study

Marinas are usually located in coastal waters, but can also be found in lakes and rivers. Due to the activities that take place in marinas various contaminants are discharged. Specific measures have to be taken in order to keep the marina environment clean and healthy. Experiences from developed countries have shown that the most effective way to reduce pollution in marinas is the implementation of waste management programs. To this end, ‘Best Waste Management Programs’ (BWMPs) have been employed in the USA and other countries. However, in developing countries lack of available financial resources and unawareness of the concept of clean marinas may hinder the activities towards the application of BWMPs. The aim of this study is to address BWMPs in general and explain waste sources and disposal methods for marinas and yachting activities. The Kusadasi Setur marina in Turkey is investigated particularly as an example of a marina in a developing country and management measures taken in this marina are evaluated. The various kinds of waste generated in the marina are described and preventive measures against pollution taken in the marina are reviewed. Finally the importance of management programs towards the mitigation of pollution problems is emphasized.     

Development of Urea Uptake and Release Studies Using N,N-Dimethylacrylamide/Maleic Acid/Citric Acid Based Macrogel

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Recently, the use of polymers in agricultural and horticultural applications has been seen as a solution to reduce water consumption and excess fertilizer...     

WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK DESIGN: A PROBLEM OF MULTI-OBJECTIVE DECISION MAKING1

ABSTRACT: Hydrologic data network design is a fairly complicated problem where questions as to the number of gages required, time frequencies to be selected, and benefits/costs of monitoring still remain unresolved. These issues are intensified in case of water quality variables as they are more error-prone, costly, and time consuming to sample. The basic difficulty underlying the design and evaluation of monitoring systems is the lack of an objective criterion to assess: (a) the efficiency, and (b) cost-effectiveness of a network. A statistical procedure based on the entropy principle of information theory is proposed to address the evaluation of both factors. Efficiency is measured quantitatively in terms of the information produced by a network. Similarly, benefits of monitoring are described by informative measures for an objective evaluation of cost-effectiveness. The study presented demonstrates the applicability of the entropy method in assessing the efficiency and the benefits of an existing water quality monitoring network. The method is applied for temporal and spatial features of monitoring, handled as both separate and combined problems. The results are shown in the case of the highly polluted Porsuk River in Turkey. The strengths and shortcomings of the proposed methodology are discussed, with recommendations for future research on the application of the entropy principle in network design.     

L'Aquila's reconstruction challenges: has Italy learned from its previous earthquake disasters?

Italy is an earthquake‐prone country and its disaster emergency response experiences over the past few decades have varied greatly, with some being much more successful than others. Overall, however, its reconstruction efforts have been criticised for being ad hoc, delayed, ineffective, and untargeted. In addition, while the emergency relief response to the L'Aquila earthquake of 6 April 2009—the primary case study in this evaluation—seems to have been successful, the reconstruction initiative got off to a very problematic start. To explore the root causes of this phenomenon, the paper argues that, owing to the way in which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has politicised the process, the L'Aquila reconstruction endeavour is likely to suffer problems with local ownership, national/regional/municipal coordination, and corruption. It concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at addressing the pitfalls that may confront the L'Aquila reconstruction process over the next few years.