Estimation of dioxin emission from fires in chemicals

The formation of the 17 toxic 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs during combustion of selected chemicals were measured by high-resolution GC/MS. The 16 chemicals studied were commonly used chlorinated pesticides, industrial chemicals, and PVC. In a series of experiments carried out in a DIN 53,436 furnace, 2.5 g of these compounds were burned at 500 degrees C and 900 degrees C, respectively. The resultant yields ranged from 740 ng ITEQ/g for pentachlorophenol, to below 0.01 ng ITEQ/g for PVC and dichlobenil. The results show that some chemicals generate PCDD/F in very high--possibly dangerous--amounts during burning, whereas others generate insignificant amounts. The influence of scale were studied for chlorobenzene and 4-chloro-3-nitro-benzoic acid in additional experiments, carried out in a cone calorimeter burning 20 g substance, and in ISO 9705 room test burning about 50 kg. A good agreement between the results for large and small scale indicated that formation of PCCD/F during a fire may be estimated from laboratory experiments. This suggest laboratory test may be used to screen for chemicals posing a hazard for release of PCDD/F during fires.     

How important is wilderness? Results from a United States Survey

The designation and management of federal wilderness areas has generated much controversy in the United States. The decade of the 1980s has been a difficult one for public land managers as there has been growing opposition to their traditional “conserve but use philosophy.” Public lands are to be managed for the public benefit. Unfortunately there has been little survey research to find out what the attitudes of the public are towards the management of federally designated wilderness. We report the results of a national survey of 2670 residents of wilderness counties. We found that the presence of wilderness is an important reason why 53% of the people moved to or live in the area; 81% felt that wilderness areas are important to their counties; and 65% were against mineral or energy development in wilderness areas. On some issues there was less agreement as 43% of the respondents wanted more access to wilderness, and 39% were in favor of additional wilderness with 26% undecided. There were no large differences between counties and regions despite the differences in economic and social characteristics and the historical contexts within which they evolved.     

The history of seabird colonies and the North Water ecosystem: Contributions from palaeoecological and archaeological evidence

The North Water (NOW) polynya is one of the most productive marine areas of the Arctic and an important breeding area for millions of seabirds. There is, however, little information on the dynamics of the polynya or the bird populations over the long term. Here, we used sediment archives from a lake and peat deposits along the Greenland coast of the NOW polynya to track long-term patterns in the dynamics of the seabird populations. Radiocarbon dates show that the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) and the common eider (Somateria mollissima) have been present for at least 5500 cal. years. The first recorded arrival of the little auk (Alle alle) was around 4400 cal. years bp at Annikitsoq, with arrival at Qeqertaq (Salve Ø) colony dated to 3600 cal. years bp. Concentrations of cadmium and phosphorus (both abundant in little auk guano) in the lake and peat cores suggest that there was a period of large variation in bird numbers between 2500 and 1500 cal. years bp. The little auk arrival times show a strong accord with past periods of colder climate and with some aspects of human settlement in the area.     

Modeling the initial flame acceleration in an obstructed channel using large eddy simulation

The propagation and acceleration of a flame surface past obstructions in a closed square channel was investigated using large eddy simulation. The dynamic Smagorinsky–Lilly subgrid model and the Boger flame surface density combustion model were used. The geometry is essentially two-dimensional with fence-type obstacles distributed on the top and bottom surfaces, equally spaced along the channel length at the channel height. Flame propagation, however, is three dimensional as ignition occurs at a point at the center of the channel cross-section. The effect of obstacle blockage ratio on the development of the flame structure was investigated by varying the obstacle height. Three-dimensional cases were simulated from the initiation of a combustion kernel through spark ignition to the acceleration of the flame front at speeds up to 80 m/s. The transition from laminar flame propagation to turbulent flame propagation within the “thin reaction zone” regime was observed in the simulations. By analyzing the development of the three dimensional flame surface and unburned gas flow field, the formation of several flame structures observed experimentally are explained. Global quantities such as the total flame area and centerline flame velocity were ascertained and compared to the experimental data. High amplitude oscillations in the centerline flame velocity were found to occur from a combination of the unburned gas flow field and fluctuations in the volumetric burning rate.     

Survival of weed seeds and animal parasites as affected by anaerobic digestion at meso- and thermophilic conditions

Anaerobic digestion of residual materials from animals and crops offers an opportunity to simultaneously produce bioenergy and plant fertilizers at single farms and in farm communities where input substrate materials and resulting digested residues are shared among member farms. A surplus benefit from this practice may be the suppressing of propagules from harmful biological pests like weeds and animal pathogens (e.g. parasites). In the present work, batch experiments were performed, where survival of seeds of seven species of weeds and non-embryonated eggs of the large roundworm of pigs, Ascaris suum, was assessed under conditions similar to biogas plants managed at meso- (37 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) conditions. Cattle manure was used as digestion substrate and experimental units were sampled destructively over time. Regarding weed seeds, the effect of thermophilic conditions (55 °C) was very clear as complete mortality, irrespective of weed species, was reached after less than 2 days. At mesophilic conditions, seeds of Avena fatua, Sinapsis arvensis, Solidago canadensis had completely lost germination ability, while Brassica napus, Fallopia convolvulus and Amzinckia micrantha still maintained low levels (～1%) of germination ability after 1 week. Chenopodium album was the only weed species which survived 1 week at substantial levels (7%) although after 11 d germination ability was totally lost. Similarly, at 55 °C, no Ascaris eggs survived more than 3 h of incubation. Incubation at 37 °C did not affect egg survival during the first 48 h and it took up to 10 days before total elimination was reached. In general, anaerobic digestion in biogas plants seems an efficient way (thermophilic more efficient than mesophilic) to treat organic farm wastes in a way that suppresses animal parasites and weeds so that the digestates can be applied without risking spread of these pests.     

Synthesis of fluorinated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (F-PBDEs) as internal standards for environmental analysis

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have become widely distributed as environmental contaminants due to their wide-spread use as flame retardants. Their structural similarity to other halogenated organic pollutants, for example polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), has led to speculation that they may have similar toxicological properties and effects. Recent focus on PBDEs as possible priority pollutants has also led to an increasing need for reference standards of PBDEs for toxicological studies and for environmental analysis. In this work we synthesized a series of fluorinated PBDEs (F-PBDEs) which can be used as possible internal standards, as an alternative to high-cost alternatives, such as the (13)C-labelled analogues. F-PBDEs have been synthesized by using different coupling reactions and by bromination of fluorinated starting materials.     

Lead shot from hunting as a source of lead in human blood

This study investigates the relationship between the intake of birds hunted with lead shot and the lead concentration in human blood. Fifty adult men from Nuuk, Greenland took part in the study. From September 2003 to June 2004 they regularly gave blood samples and recorded how many birds they ate. We found a clear relationship between the number of bird meals and blood lead and also a clear seasonal variation. The concentration was highest in mid-winter when bird consumption is at its highest. Blood lead was low (15 microg/L, mean concentration) among the participants reporting not eating birds. Among those reporting to eat birds regularly, blood lead was significantly higher, up to 128 microg/L (mean concentration). Concentrations depended on the frequency of bird meals: the more the bird meals, the higher the resulting blood lead. This clear relationship points to lead shot as the dominating lead source to people in Greenland.     

High human exposure to lead through consumption of birds hunted with lead shot

We assess lead contamination of Greenland seabirds killed with lead shot having studied thick-billed murre and common eider, the two most important species in the diet. The lead concentration is very high in meat of eiders killed with lead shot (mean 6.1 microg/g-wet wt, 95% CL 2.1-12). This level is about 44 times higher than in drowned eiders and eight times higher than in shot murres. Analyzing whole breasts instead of sub-samples reveals about seven times higher lead levels in birds' meat. We conclude that in some cases the lead intake by Greenland bird eaters will largely exceed the FAO/WHO tolerable lead intake guideline and that lead shot is a more important source of lead in the diet than previously estimated.     

Present and past dynamics of Inughuit resource spaces

Information from a collaborative GPS tracking project, Piniariarneq, involving 17 occupational hunters from Qaanaaq and Savissivik, Northwest Greenland, is used to explore the resource spaces of hunters in Avanersuaq today. By comparison with historical records from the time of the Thule Trading Station and the decades following its closure, we reveal a marked variability in resource spaces over time. It is argued that the dynamics of resources and resource spaces in Thule are not underlain by animal distribution and migration patterns, or changes in weather and sea ice conditions alone; but also by economic opportunities, human mobility, settlement patterns, particular historical events and trajectories, and not least by economic and political interests developed outside the region.