Climate change: an amplifier of existing health risks in developing countries

Global warming is perceived as one of the biggest global health risks of the twenty-first century and a threat to the achievement of sustainable (economic) development; especially in developing countries, climate change is believed to further exacerbate existing vulnerability to disease and food security risks, because their populations are, for example, more reliant on agriculture and more vulnerable to droughts and have a lower adaptive capacity. Furthermore, the health-related impacts of climate change are threatening to undo decades of development policies. The interactions between climate and non-climate factors are of vital importance in shaping human vulnerability to global warming. Climate change cannot be seen as ‘a stand-alone risk factor,’ but rather as an amplifier of existing health and food security risks and an additional strain on institutional infrastructures. In order to avoid a multiplication of health risks in the developing world, there is a need to better understand the multifaceted and complex linkages involved. This is further illustrated for two important climate change–induced health risks, namely malnutrition and malaria. As the amplification of existing and emerging health risks in the developing world might become the greatest tragedy of climate change, adaptation ranks high on developing countries’ agendas. Of particular importance are the discussions about the ‘Green Climate Fund,’ which aims to administer billions of dollars for mitigation and adaptation. Of course, making funds for adaptation available is an important first step, but we also need to ask ourselves the question how such adaptation policies and projects should take shape. This paper demonstrates that an adequate response to climate change health risks should take a systems approach toward adaptation, acknowledging the importance of the local context of the most vulnerable.     

Viruses in wastewater sludges and in effluents used for irrigation

Disposal of sewage wastes is a problem of increasing magnitude in the United States. New control measures enacted by Congress require consideration of land disposal of sludges and effluents. The volume of wastes involved and the possibility of contaminating ground water supplies and vegetation has great public health significance. The effectiveness of the sewage treatment process to remove chemical and biological contaminants and the operational efficiency of many sewage treatment plants are factors that must be given careful consideration before final selection of disposal methodology. The quality of our future water and food supplies will be affected either beneficially or adversely by current management decisions.     

Possible underestimations of risks for the environment due to unregulated emissions of biocides from households to wastewater

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of household products as possible sources of biocidal active substances in municipal wastewater and their regulation under the Biocidal Products Regulation (EU) 528/2012. In 131 households, we investigated the prevalence of products used to control pests, washing and cleaning agents and select personal care products with high release to wastewater. Inventories of these products were established with the help of barcode scanning. All uses of biocidal active substances were evaluated regarding their assessment under the Biocidal Products Regulation.2963 products were scanned in total, with 48% being washing and cleaning agents, 43% personal care products and 9% products used to control pests. Biocidal active substances were found in each household. These were observed primarily in washing and cleaning agents and personal care products (90%), while only a small percentage of the observations of biocidal active substances was in biocidal products. 64% of the observations of biocidal active substances were in applications that do not fall under the Biocidal Products Regulation and are thus not subject to its environmental risk assessment.This study shows clearly that risks for the environment are underestimated because unregulated emissions to wastewater occur. It demonstrates that there are gaps in the current chemical legislation that lead to a release of substances into wastewater that were not subject to environmental risk assessment under the Biocidal Products Regulation. This is one example of the limitations of scientific risk assessment of chemicals – its complexity is immense. From our point of view, the results underline the importance of a sustainable use of the substances as this is the only way to decrease yet unidentified risks.     

Health risks from large-scale water pollution: trends in Central Asia

Limited data on the pollution status of spatially extensive water systems constrain health-risk assessments at basin-scales. Using a recipient measurement approach in a terminal water body, we show that agricultural and industrial pollutants in groundwater-surface water systems of the Aral Sea Drainage Basin (covering the main part of Central Asia) yield cumulative health hazards above guideline values in downstream surface waters, due to high concentrations of copper, arsenic, nitrite, and to certain extent dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Considering these high-impact contaminants, we furthermore perform trend analyses of their upstream spatial-temporal distribution, investigating dominant large-scale spreading mechanisms. The ratio between parent DDT and its degradation products showed that discharges into or depositions onto surface waters are likely to be recent or ongoing. In river water, copper concentrations peak during the spring season, after thawing and snow melt. High spatial variability of arsenic concentrations in river water could reflect its local presence in the top soil of nearby agricultural fields. Overall, groundwaters were associated with much higher health risks than surface waters. Health risks can therefore increase considerably, if the downstream population must switch to groundwater-based drinking water supplies during surface water shortage. Arid regions are generally vulnerable to this problem due to ongoing irrigation expansion and climate changes.     

Adaptive capacity determinants in developed states: examples from the Nordic countries and Russia

Adaptive capacity in a community context has so far mainly been studied in developing countries as well as indigenous communities in the industrialised world. This article adds to that literature through reviewing studies undertaken in the Nordic countries and Russia, highlighting the ways in which general determinants of adaptive capacity play out in Northern, industrialised contexts. The paper illustrates that the determinants of adaptive capacity in industrialised states exhibit systematic differences from mixed subsistence-cash based communities such as those found in Arctic Canada. We discuss in particular the importance of economic resources in a market-based system, technological competition, and infrastructure, in determining adaptive capacity of natural resource-dependent communities in the Nordic countries and Russia. The paper also illustrates differences in adaptive capacity within the case study region, including between peripheral and central locations with regard to economic resources and diversification possibilities, and between Nordic and Russian cases with regard to infrastructure and technology access. The findings indicate that understanding of determinants of adaptive capacity in resource-dependent communities would benefit from both further contextualisation and broad comparison, across different types of political and administrative systems.     

The risks of risk-based regulation: insights from the environmental policy domain

Risk-based regulation has become increasingly popular in recent years. Proponents argue that it facilitates robust governance, contributing to efficient and effective use of regulatory resources and delivering interventions in proportion to risk. Critics contend that the challenges of operationalising risk-based governance mitigate its potential benefits. In this paper we start by considering what we mean by risk-based governance and discuss some of the factors shaping the adoption of such strategies. We then consider the development and operation of risk-based approaches in the environmental policy domain, focusing specifically on the regulation of contaminated land and radioactive waste. We argue that whilst risk-based approaches can offer important benefits, they face a range of epistemic, institutional and normative challenges that can play an important role in shaping the way that organisations manage both risks to society and their own institutional risks. This has profound implications for achieving regulatory objectives and, for this paper, the environmental outcomes that the regulations are designed to deliver.     

Anion mobility in soils: Relevance to nutrient transport from forest ecosystems

Nutrient transport from forest ecosystems is strongly regulated by the availability of anions in soil solution. Each of the major anions in forest soil solutions has some unique properties which affect its production and mobility. The production of bicarbonate, one of the most common anions, is regulated by soil CO₂ pressure and pH. The mobility of phosphate is most strongly affected by adsorption reactions. The mobility of nitrate is regulated almost solely by biological processes, whereas chloride is relatively uninvolved in either biological or inorganic chemical reactions. Sulfate is intermediate, being involved in both biological and inorganic chemical reactions.Knowing these properties of the major anions, it is possible to assess and to predict the effects of several diverse site manipulations on soil leaching rates. Case studies from a site in Washington State consistently demonstrate the importance of accounting for bicarbonate transformations following site manipulations.Although organic anions are frequently dominant in cold-region soil solutions, very little information on the complex factors affecting their mobilities is available. Further research into organic anion mobility and futher attention to bicarbonate mobility should add greatly to the body of knowledge on nutrient transport processes in forest soils.     

Human health risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in plant tissue due to biosolids and manure amendments,and wastewater irrigation

Amending soil with biosolids or livestock manure provides essential nutrients in agriculture. Irrigation with wastewater allows for agriculture in regions where water resources are limited. However, biosolids, manure and wastewater have all been shown to contain pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Studies have shown that PPCPs can accumulate in the tissues of plants but the risk that accumulated residues may pose to humans via consumption of edible portions is not well documented. This study reviewed the literature for studies that reported residues of PPCPs in the edible tissue of plants grown in biosolids- or manure-amended soils or irrigated with wastewater. These residues were used to determine the estimated daily intake of PPCPs for an adult and toddler. Estimated daily intake values were compared to acceptable daily intakes to determine whether PPCPs in plant tissue pose a hazard to human health. For all three amendment practices, the majority of reported residues resulted in hazard quotients < 0.1. Amendment with biosolids or manure resulted in hazard quotients ≥ 0.1 for carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, salbutamol, triclosan, and sulfamethazine. Irrigation with wastewater resulted in hazard quotients of ≥ 0.1 for flunixin, ketoprofen, lamotrigine, metoprolol, and sildenafil. Many of the residues that resulted in hazard quotients ≥ 0.1 were due to exposing plants to concentrations of PPCPs that would not be considered relevant based on concentrations reported in biosolids and manure or unrealistic methods of exposure, which lead to artificially elevated plant residues. Our assessment indicates that the majority of individual PPCPs in the edible tissue of plants due to biosolids or manure amendment or wastewater irrigation represent a de minimis risk to human health. Assuming additivity, the mixture of PPCPs could potentially present a hazard. Further work needs to be done to assess the risk of the mixture of PPCPs that may be present in edible tissue of plants grown under these three amendment practices.     

Triclosan in wastewaters and biosolids from Australian wastewater treatment plants

Triclosan (TCS) is an antimicrobial agent widely used in many personal care products. This study investigated the occurrence of TCS in effluents, biosolids and surface waters, and its fate in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The aqueous concentrations of TCS in nineteen effluents from Australian WWTPs ranged from 23 ng/L to 434 ng/L with a median concentration of 108 ng/L, while its concentrations in nineteen biosolids ranged from 0.09 mg/kg to 16.79 mg/kg on dry weight basis with a median concentration of 2.32 mg/kg. The removal rates for TCS in five selected WWTPs were found to range between 72% and 93%. Biological degradation was believed to be the predominant removal mechanism for TCS in the WWTPs. However, adsorption onto sludge also played a significant role in the removal of TCS in the WWTPs. TCS at concentrations up to 75 ng/L was detected in surface waters (outfall, upstream, and downstream) from five rivers receiving effluent discharge from WWTPs. Preliminary risk assessment based on the worst-case scenario showed that the TCS concentrations in surface waters might lead to risks to aquatic organisms such as algae. Based on the TCS levels in the biosolids, application of biosolids on agricultural land may also cause adverse effects in the soil environment.     

Attitudes toward income inequality: perspectives from farmers living in a poverty-stricken rural area of China

The attitude of the least advantaged people to income inequality is important in regard to social stability, which is also a major concern of the government and researchers in China. This paper aimed to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of the least advantaged people toward income inequality in China. An empirical analysis was conducted on farmers’ attitudes to income inequality based on a questionnaire survey of 308 farmers in four villages in Yingshan, Hubei Province. Our results show that the respondents consider the income inequality as severe, and ability, hard work, and individual choices are the major determinant factors of income. It is shown that farmers in less developed areas are more likely to accept income inequality, and they ascribe this to their own failure rather than to social injustice. However, it is not the case that people living in poverty-stricken areas are satisfied with anti-poverty policies; and these policies are expected to be further improved to increase the income of the poor.     

Physico-chemical and toxicological characterization of the historic estuarine sediments: a multidisciplinary approach

The accumulation rates, the geochronology of metals and PAH contamination, and the Microtox toxicity are studied in five sediment cores (50 cm length) covering different areas of the Santander Bay, Northern Spain. Chronology given by (210)Pb and (137)Cs reveals significant differences in accumulation rates between sites (0.2-1.1 cm/year), as well as a variable degree of anthropogenic enrichment factors for Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni (from 1 to 15) and concentrations of summation Sigma 16PAHs (from 0.01 to 23.84 mg/kg dw) in sediments over the last 90 years. The results indicate the increasing contamination pressure from industrial and urban activities along the Bay. No toxic results from the Microtox test are obtained either with pore water or with normalised sediment aqueous extracts (European Norm EN 12457), suggesting low water solubility and low availability of contaminants in the studied sediments. However, the EC50 values from the Microtox Basic Solid Phase Test (BSPT) ranged from 0.03% to 2.35%, showing vertical toxicity profiles in accordance with metal and PAHs behaviour. The correlation degrees of Microtox BSPT toxicity to chemical concentration in sediment profiles are widely variable showing a high site-dependent toxicity. The oligochaete Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri has been used as a chronic bioassay over surface sediments of two of the studied sites, showing results coherent with the Microtox BSPT acute test results. Global results of the present work provide regional geochemical baselines for metals and PAHs and toxicological data now make it possible to obtain a preliminary quality assessment of the Santander Bay sediment profiles.     

Polymetallic pollution from abandoned mines in Mediterranean regions: a multidisciplinary approach to environmental risks

Regional Environmental Change - Abandoned mines are a recurrent problem for nearby communities in Mediterranean regions because mine tailings represent a major source of polymetallic contamination....     

Organoarsenicals in poultry litter: Detection,fate, and toxicity

Arsenic contamination in groundwater has endangered the health and safety of millions of people around the world. One less studied mechanism for arsenic introduction into the environment is the use of organoarsenicals in animal feed. Four organoarsenicals are commonly employed as feed additives: arsanilic acid, carbarsone, nitarsone, and roxarsone. Organoarsenicals are composed of a phenylarsonic acid molecule with substituted functional groups. This review documents the use of organoarsenicals in the poultry industry, reports analytical methods available for quantifying organic arsenic, discusses the fate and transport of organoarsenicals in environmental systems, and identifies toxicological concerns associated with these chemicals. In reviewing the literature on organoarsenicals, several research needs were highlighted: advanced analytical instrumentation that allows for identification and quantification of organoarsenical degradation products; a greater research emphasis on arsanilic acid, carbarsone, and nitarsone; identification of degradation pathways, products, and kinetics; and testing/development of agricultural wastewater and solid treatment technologies for organoarsenical-laden waste.     

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs): A review on environmental contamination in China

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) which contain diverse organic groups, such as antibiotics, hormones, antimicrobial agents, synthetic musks, etc., have raised significant concerns in recently years for their persistent input and potential threat to ecological environment and human health. China is a large country with high production and consumption of PPCPs for its economic development and population growth in recent years. This may result in PPCP contamination in different environmental media of China. This review summarizes the current contamination status of different environment media, including sewage, surface water, sludge, sediments, soil, and wild animals, in China by PPCPs. The human body burden and adverse effects derived from PPCPs are also evaluated. Based on this review, it has been concluded that more contamination information of aquatic environment and wildlife as well as human body burden of PPCPs in different areas of China is urgent. Studies about their environmental behavior and control technologies need to be conducted, and acute and chronic toxicities of different PPCP groups should be investigated for assessing their potential ecological and health risks.     

A multivariate analysis of the accumulation and fractionation of major and trace elements in agricultural soils in Hidalgo State, Mexico irrigated with raw wastewater

We evaluated the accumulation and distribution of major and trace elements in agricultural soils of District 03 (DR03) in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico, irrigated with raw wastewaters for an average of 20 years. Samples of topsoils (0-30 cm depth) were extracted using a modified Tessier method. Total concentrations of the species tested were in the ranges of 675-1176 mg K kg(-1), 277.9-1001 mg Na kg(-1), 6,708-81,854 mg Ca kg(-1), 23,800-106,974 mg Mg kg(-1), 9.2-123.8 mg B kg(-1), 0.6-1.9 mg Cd kg(-1), 11.6-27.4 mg Cr kg(-1), 3.9-47.0 mg Pb kg(-1). Concentrations of As and Hg were very low. Concentrations of total Cd, Cr and Pb were generally below the maximum permissible levels set by the regulations of the European Union except for cadmium, which was in the middle of the maximum European range allowed for two soils. Regarding lead, one soil (S5) could reach the maximum permissible level of the EU in 6 more years of continued irrigation. On the other hand, contents of Pb in the most mobile fractions ("e" in this work) were significant (range: 3-28%). This distribution translated into concentrations of soluble plus exchangeable lead of approximately 2 mg Pb kg(-1) in three of six soils, significantly higher than the Swiss tolerance limit of 1.0 mg Pb kg(-1) for mobile fractions of lead in soils. Multivariate analysis of the data (Pearson correlation and principal component analysis) quantitatively confirmed that: (i) there is a strong covariance between boron contents and several variables representing the salinity of soils (electrolytic conductivity, a variety of alkaline and alkaline-earth total and fraction concentrations). It appears that there is a problem with high boron content in soils, although the salinity is high only for one of the soils (S3); (ii) a significant correlation among irrigation time, lead content (total, fraction easily exchangeable and bound to organic matter and sulfides) and organic carbon in soils was found; (iii) another association among irrigation time, total contents of cadmium, chromium and boron, and organic carbon was observed.     

Understanding the fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbons from coal tar within gasholders

Coal tars have been identified as posing a threat to human health due to their toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic characteristics. Workers involved in former gasholders decommissioning are potentially exposed to relevant concentrations of volatile and semi-volatile hydrocarbons upon opening up derelict tanks and during tar excavation/removal. While information on contaminated sites air-quality and its implications on medium-long term exposure is available, acute exposure issues associated with the execution of critical tasks are less understood. Calculations indicated that the concentration of a given contaminant in the gasholder vapour phase only depends on the coal tar composition, being only barely affected by the presence of water in the gasholder and the tar volume/void space ratio. Fugacity modelling suggested that risk-critical compounds such as benzene, naphthalene and other monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may gather in the gasholder air phase at significant concentrations. Gasholder emissions were measured on-site and compared with the workplace exposure limits (WELs) currently in use in UK. While levels for most of the toxic compounds were far lower than WELs, benzene air-concentrations where found to be above the accepted threshold. In addition due to the long exposure periods involved in gasholder decommissioning and the significant contribution given by naphthalene to the total coal tar vapour concentration, the adoption of a WEL for naphthalene may need to be considered to support operators in preventing human health risk at the workplace. The Level I fugacity approach used in this study demonstrated its suitability for applications to sealed environments such as gasholders and its further refining could provide a useful tool for land remediation risk assessors.     

Occurrence and fate of pharmaceutical products and by-products,from resource to drinking water

Among all emerging substances in water, pharmaceutical products (PPs) and residues are a lot of concern. These last two years, the number of studies has increased drastically, however much less for water resources and drinking water than for wastewater. This literature review based on recent works, deals with water resources (surface or groundwater), focusing on characteristics, occurrence and fate of numerous PPs studied, and drinking water including water quality. Through this review, it appears that the pharmaceutical risk must be considered even in drinking water where concentrations are very low. Moreover, there is a lack of research for by-products (metabolites and transformation products) characterization, occurrence and fate in all water types and especially in drinking water.     

New insight to tourism-environment nexus in Mediterranean countries: evidence from panel vector autoregression approach

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This paper analyzed the relationship between environmental performance and tourism sector development in Mediterranean countries for the period from...     

Occurrence,fate and effects of azoxystrobin in aquatic ecosystems: A review

The use of pesticides for crop protection may result in the presence of toxic residues in environmental matrices. In the aquatic environment, pesticides might freely dissolve in the water or bind to suspended matter and to the sediments, and might be transferred to the organisms' tissues during bioaccumulation processes, resulting in adverse consequences to non-target species. One such group of synthetic organic pesticides widely used worldwide to combat pathogenic fungi affecting plants is the strobilurin chemical group. Whereas they are designed to control fungal pathogens, their general modes of action are not specific to fungi. Consequently, they can be potentially toxic to a wide range of non-target organisms. The present work had the intent to conduct an extensive literature review to find relevant research on the occurrence, fate and effects of azoxystrobin, the first patent of the strobilurin compounds, in aquatic ecosystems in order to identify strengths and gaps in the scientific database. Analytical procedures and existing legislation and regulations were also assessed. Data gathered in the present review revealed that analytical reference standards for the most relevant environmental metabolites of azoxystrobin are needed. Validated confirmatory methods for complex matrices, like sediment and aquatic organisms' tissues, are very limited. Important knowledge of base-line values of azoxystrobin and its metabolites in natural tropical and estuarine/marine ecosystems is lacking. Moreover, some environmental concentrations of azoxystrobin found in the present review are above the Regulatory Acceptable Concentration (RAC) in what concerns risk to aquatic invertebrates and the No Observed Ecologically Adverse Effect Concentration (NOEAEC) reported for freshwater communities. The present review also showed that there are very few data on azoxystrobin toxicity to different aquatic organisms, especially in what concerns estuarine/marine organisms. Besides, toxicity studies mostly address azoxystrobin and usually neglect the more relevant environmental metabolites. Further work is also required in what concerns effects of exposure to multi-stressors, e.g. pesticide mixtures. Even though Log K_ow for azoxystrobin and R234886, the main metabolite of azoxystrobin in water, are below 3, the bio-concentration factor and the bioaccumulation potential for azoxystrobin are absent in the literature. Moreover, no single study on bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes was found in the present review.     

Biodegradability of hydrocarbons in the refinery wastewater from moustorod oil refinery

The present investigation deals with the study of hydrocarbon degradation present in refinery wastewater by natural microbial flora in addition to that obtained using Ps. aeruginosa under laboratory conditions. Results indicated that Ps. aeruginosa may have a significant role in the degradation of hydrocarbons. After seven days, several of the compounds in the original wastewater were completely degraded and four compounds (n-paraffins) were partially degraded. Without Ps. aerruginosa, the same picture had been obtained after 23 days.