Relation between management's behavioural intentions toward the environment and environmental actions

Drawing on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour, this paper analyses whether there is a relation between management's behavioural intentions toward an environmental problem and the company's specific actions in this area, and also considers the impact of the company size on these actions. For the data, a questionnaire was sent to 184 managers employed in industrial companies located in Spain which belonged to the automobile industry. The empirical analysis produces positive and significant regression coefficients and provides support for the hypotheses proposed. Specifically, the results show that the environmental actions carried out in the company respond at least in part to management's behavioural intentions toward these issues and the size of the firm.     

Patagonian Fjord Ecosystems in Southern Chile as a Highly Vulnerable Region: Problems and Needs

Southern Chile encompasses one of the most extensive fjord regions of the world, the Patagonia, currently exposed to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. These fjord ecosystems provide important services to humans, which have not been adequately measured and valued. As a consequence, ecosystem services are commonly ignored in public policy design and in the evaluation of development projects. Here we tackle questions that are highly relevant for the nation’s development, namely (1) understanding fjord functioning, and (2) developing management strategies based on ecosystem services, in order to secure simultaneous and adequate use of these ecosystems which area influenced by ecological (e.g., biogeochemical) and productive (e.g., aquaculture, fisheries) processes. We also seek to strengthen the analysis of fjord ecosystem value from the economical (including coastal zoning), socio-cultural, institutional, and governmental points of view. In addition, the investigation of current and future effects of climate change on this large region offers a unique opportunity to understand the social and economic consequences of a global phenomenon at local to regional scales. Biogeochemical and socio-economic models will be used to simulate future scenarios under a gamut of management options.     

Transfer of pesticides to the brew during mate drinking process and their relationship with physicochemical properties

In order to evaluate the extraction of pesticide residues that are transferred to the brew during mate drinking process of P.U.1 yerba mate leaves (Ilex paraguariensis), a special device to simulate the way in which mate is drunk in Uruguay was developed. The transfer to the brew of 12 organophosphates, 5 synthethic pyrethroids and one organochlorine pesticide from spiked samples was studied. The relationship between the transfer data thus obtained and physicochemical properties like water solubility (Ws), octanol-water coefficient (Kow) and Henry's constant (H) was evaluated. The extractability of the pesticide residues from yerba mate can be correlated with log Ws and log Kow. These transfer values allowed the calculation of ARLs (acceptable residue level) for the pesticides following Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organizaion (WHO) guidelines. These results can help the future establishment of maximum residue levels (MRLs).     

Ecotoxicity assessment of lipid regulators in water and biologically treated wastewater using three aquatic organisms

Background, aim, and scope  

The high consumption of blood lipid regulators is leading to frequent reports of the occurrence of fibrates in natural streams and wastewater effluents. This paper describes a study undertaken to evaluate the acute toxicity of bezafibrate, clofibric acid, gemfibrozil, and fenofibric acid, a metabolite of fenofibrate whose ecotoxicity has not been previously reported.     

Contribution of residential wood combustion to PM10 levels in Portugal

Wood is commonly used in residential combustion for heating purposes; however, it can be a major source of air pollutants, namely fine particles, volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide. Since 2004, the PM10 daily limit value has been surpassed in Portugal, and the European Commission has stated that plans and programs must be designed in order to reduce these levels. In Portugal, 18% of PM10 emissions are due to residential wood combustion, which may deeply impact the PM10 levels in the atmosphere. The main aim of this study is to investigate the impact of residential wood combustion on the air quality in Portugal. The air quality modelling system MM5/CHIMERE was applied over Portugal for a winter month, for the following three scenarios: the reference scenario, considering the actual emissions of PM10; scenario 1, where residential wood combustion emissions are not considered; and scenario 2, which takes into account a complete conversion from traditional fireplaces to certified appliances (with a 90% reduction in PM emissions). The residential wood combustion contribution to PM10 air quality concentration values during January 2007 ranges from 0 to 14 μg m^?3, with a mean contribution of 10 μg m^?3 in the Lisboa area and 6 μg m^?3 in the Porto region. Concerning the legislated values, the area where the daily average limit value (50 μg m^?3) is exceeded decreases by 46% in the simulation when residential combustion is not considered. The modelling results for scenario 2 are not significantly different from those for scenario 1. In summary, the regulation of the residential wood combustion sector is as an effective way to reduce the PM10 levels in the atmosphere as regards air quality plans and programs.     

Influence of roads and inhabited areas on metal concentrations in terrestrial mosses

The guidelines regarding sampling terrestrial mosses for biomonitoring the atmospheric contamination in a region specifically recommend that sampling close to focal points of contamination (i.e. roads, populated areas, etc.) should be avoided for satisfactory characterization of general patterns of contamination. However, these recommendations cannot always be followed in many parts of the world with dense, highly dispersed populations. The aim of the present study was to determine how the distances between sampling sites (SS) and contamination foci such as roads, isolated houses and urban nuclei affect regular, large-scale sampling networks. Metal concentrations obtained in biennial sampling surveys carried out between 2000 and 2006 in Galicia (NW Spain) were used, and the relative proportions of the concentrations corresponding to small-scale and large-scale processes were calculated. The possible relationship between the mean concentrations corresponding to small-scale processes in the different sampling surveys and the distances from SS to roads, buildings and urban nuclei was established by a GIS. Outliers in the data were identified at many of the SS and frequency statistics revealed the absence of any relationship between the distance to these foci and the concentrations of metals in the moss. The method also revealed many instances of the influence of one or more small-scale contamination foci such as airports and railways (often not considered in the sampling recommendations) on SS. Relocation of such SS would improve the representativeness of the sampling grid.     

Characterisation of PM10 emissions from woodstove combustion of common woods grown in Portugal

A series of source tests was performed to evaluate the chemical composition of particle emissions from the woodstove combustion of four prevalent Portuguese species of woods: Pinus pinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus), Quercus suber (cork oak) and Acacia longifolia (golden wattle). Analyses included water-soluble ions, metals, radionuclides, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), humic-like substances (HULIS), cellulose and approximately l80 organic compounds. Particle (PM₁₀) emission factors from eucalyptus and oak were higher than those from pine and acacia. The carbonaceous matter represented 44–63% of the particulate mass emitted during the combustion process, regardless of species burned. The major organic components of smoke particles, for all the wood species studied, with the exception of the golden wattle (0.07–1.9% w/w), were anhydrosugars (0.2–17% w/w). Conflicting with what was expected, only small amounts of cellulose were found in wood smoke. As for HULIS, average particle mass concentrations ranged from 1.5% to 3.0%. The golden wattle wood smoke presented much higher concentrations of ions and metal species than the emissions from the other wood types. The results of the analysis of radionuclides revealed that the ²²⁶Ra was the naturally occurring radionuclide more enriched in PM₁₀. The chromatographically resolved organics included n-alkanes, n-alkenes, PAH, oxygenated PAH, n-alkanals, ketones, n-alkanols, terpenoids, triterpenoids, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, alcohols, n-alkanoic acids, n-di-acids, unsaturated acids and alkyl ester acids.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air on small spatial and temporal scales – II. Mass size distributions and gas-particle partitioning

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured together with inorganic air pollutants at two urban sites and one rural background site in the Banja Luka area, Bosnia and Hercegovina, during 72 h in July 2008 using a high time resolution (5 samples per day) with the aim to study gas-particle partitioning, aerosol mass size distributions and to explore the potential of a higher time resolution (4 h-sampling).In the particulate phase the mass median diameters of the PAHs were found almost exclusively in the accumulation mode (0.1–1.0 μm of size). These were larger for semivolatile PAHs than for non-volatile PAHs. Gas-particle partitioning of semivolatile PAHs was strongly influenced by temperature. The results suggest that the Junge–Pankow model is inadequate to explain the inter-species variation and another process must be significant for phase partitioning which is less temperature sensitive than adsorption. Care should be taken when interpreting slopes m of plots of the type log K_p = m log p_L⁰ + b based on 24 h means, as these are found sensitive to the time averaging, i.e. tend to be higher than when based on 12 h-mean samples.     

Seasonal variation of pharmaceutically active compounds in surface (Tagus River) and tap water (Central Spain)

Numerous studies have shown the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in different environmental compartments, for example, in surface water or wastewater ranging from nanograms per litre to micrograms per litre. Likewise, some recent studies have pointed to seasonal variability, thus indicating that PhAcs concentrations in the aquatic environment may depend on the time of year. This work intended to find out (1) whether Tagus fluvial and drinking water were polluted with different groups of PhACs and (2) if their concentrations differed between winter and summer seasons. From the 58 substances analysed, 41 were found belonging to the main therapeutic groups. Statistical differences were seen for antibacterials, antidepressants, anxiolytics, antiepileptics, and cardiovascular drugs, with higher concentrations being detected in winter than in summer. These results might indicate that the PhACs analysed in this study undergo lower environmental degradation in winter than in summer. In order to confirm these initial results, a continuous monitoring should be performed especially on those PhACs that either because of an elevated consumption or an intrinsic chemical persistence are poorly degraded during winter months due to low temperatures and solar irradiation. It is especially important to identify which of these specific PhACs are in order to recommend their substitution by equally effective and safe substances but also environmentally friendly.