An integrated impact assessment and weighting methodology: evaluation of the environmental consequences of computer display technology substitution

Computer display technology is currently in a state of transition, as the traditional technology of cathode ray tubes is being replaced by liquid crystal display flat-panel technology. Technology substitution and process innovation require the evaluation of the trade-offs among environmental impact, cost, and engineering performance attributes. General impact assessment methodologies, decision analysis and management tools, and optimization methods commonly used in engineering cannot efficiently address the issues needed for such evaluation. The conventional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) process often generates results that can be subject to multiple interpretations, although the advantages of the LCA concept and framework obtain wide recognition. In the present work, the LCA concept is integrated with Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a popular industrial quality management tool, which is used as the framework for the development of our integrated model. The problem of weighting is addressed by using pairwise comparison of stakeholder preferences. Thus, this paper presents a new integrated analytical approach, Integrated Industrial Ecology Function Deployment (I2-EFD), to assess the environmental behavior of alternative technologies in correlation with their performance and economic characteristics. Computer display technology is used as the case study to further develop our methodology through the modification and integration of various quality management tools (e.g., process mapping, prioritization matrix) and statistical methods (e.g., multi-attribute analysis, cluster analysis). Life cycle thinking provides the foundation for our methodology, as we utilize a published LCA report, which stopped at the characterization step, as our starting point. Further, we evaluate the validity and feasibility of our methodology by considering uncertainty and conducting sensitivity analysis.     

Extensive aerosol optical properties and aerosol mass related measurements during TRAMP/TexAQS 2006 – Implications for PM compliance and planning

Extensive aerosol optical properties, particle size distributions, and Aerodyne quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer measurements collected during TRAMP/TexAQS 2006 were examined in light of collocated meteorological and chemical measurements. Much of the evident variability in the observed aerosol-related air quality is due to changing synoptic meteorological situations that direct emissions from various sources to the TRAMP site near the center of the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) metropolitan area. In this study, five distinct long-term periods have been identified. During each of these periods, observed aerosol properties have implications that are of interest to environmental quality management agencies. During three of the periods, long range transport (LRT), both intra-continental and intercontinental, appears to have played an important role in producing the observed aerosol. During late August 2006, southerly winds brought super-micron Saharan dust and sea salt to the HGB area, adding mass to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) measurements, but apparently not affecting secondary particle growth or gas-phase air pollution. A second type of LRT was associated with northerly winds in early September 2006 and with increased ozone and sub-micron particulate matter in the HGB area. Later in the study, LRT of emissions from wildfires appeared to increase the abundance of absorbing aerosols (and carbon monoxide and other chemical tracers) in the HGB area. However, the greatest impacts on Houston PM_2.5 air quality are caused by periods with low-wind-speed sea breeze circulation or winds that directly transport pollutants from major industrial areas, i.e., the Houston Ship Channel, into the city center.     

Evaluation of methylene blue and riboflavin for the photosensitized degradation of ethylene glycol

Degradation rates ranging from 0.22 ± 0.11 to 1.52 ± 0.50 mg/L-h were measured for ethylene glycol in riboflavin solutions exposed to natural sunlight. Significant degradation rates were noted in systems using 6 and 10 mg/L riboflavin at pH values of 4, 7, and 10. No significant degradation was found in systems using methylene blue as the photosensitizing agent. Possible mechanisms for ethylene glycol degradation include a combination hydrogen or electron abstraction by an excited photosensitizer and reaction with singlet oxygen or reaction with superoxide radicals.     

Adhesion of Norovirus to Surfaces: Contribution of Thermodynamic and Molecular Properties Using Virus-Like Particles

Food and Environmental Virology - The aim of the study was to assess human norovirus and feline calicivirus (FCV) surface free energy, hydrophobicity, and ability to interact with fresh foods and...     

Isotope applications in environmental investigations part II: Groundwater age dating and recharge processes,and provenance of sulfur and methane

Measurement of the isotopic composition of solids, solutes, gases, and water complement standard hydrogeological investigation techniques by providing information that may not otherwise be obtainable. Groundwater age estimates determined from the decay of radio‐isotopes or from groundwater concentrations of anthropogenic gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) are used to verify flow regimes and constrain or calibrate hydrologic flow models. Groundwater recharge rates are estimated by measuring the concentrations or activities of a variety of isotopes including ²H, ³H, ¹⁸O, and ³⁶Cl. Excess sulfur causes salinization of water supplies and acidification of precipitation, surface water, and groundwater. The wide range of sulfur isotopic compositions exhibited by different sulfur species and sources allows the application of sulfur isotopes to trace sources and fate of sulfur in the environment. Methane is a ubiquitous gas that has economic value when located in extractable reservoirs. Methane is also a greenhouse gas and is a potential explosion and health hazard when it accumulates in buildings and water distribution systems. The carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of methane can be used to determine the provenance of methane, distinguishing between thermogenic and biogenic sources. The addition of isotopic analyses to environmental investigations can be a cost‐effective means of resolving intractable issues. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Echolocation call design and limits on prey size: a case study using the aerial-hawking bat Nyctalus leisleri

The echolocation calls used by Nyctalus leisleri during search phase in open air space are between 9 and 14 ms long, with the peak energy between 24 and 28 kHz. The pulses are shallowly frequency-modulated with or without an initial steep frequency-modulated component. The diet consists primarily of small flies (Diptera), including many chironomids (wingspan 9–12 mm) and yellow dung flies (Scatophaga; wingspan 24 mm), but also of some larger insects such as dung beetles (Coleoptera; Scarabaeoidea), caddis-flies (Trichoptera) and moths (Lepidoptera). The echo target strength of some prey items was measured. Contrary to models based on standard targets such as spheres or disks, the echo strength of real insects was found to be virtually independent of the emitted frequency within the 20–100 kHz frequency range. A model was used to calculate probable detection distances of the prey by the bat. Using narrow-band calls of 13.7 ± 2.7 ms duration, a bat would detect the two smallest size classes of insect at greatest range using calls of 20 kHz. The results may therefore explain why many species of large and medium sized aerial-hawking bats use low-frequency calls and still eat mostly relatively small insects. The data and model challenges the assumption that small prey are unavailable to bats using low-frequency calls.     

Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus

Neanderthals disappeared sometime between 30,000 and 24,000?years ago. Until recently, Neanderthals were understood to have been predominantly meat-eaters; however, a growing body of evidence suggests their diet also included plants. We present the results of a study, in which sequential thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) were combined with morphological analysis of plant microfossils, to identify material entrapped in dental calculus from five Neanderthal individuals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Our results provide the first molecular evidence for inhalation of wood-fire smoke and bitumen or oil shale and ingestion of a range of cooked plant foods. We also offer the first evidence for the use of medicinal plants by a Neanderthal individual. The varied use of plants that we have identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants.     

Toxicity of organic mixtures saturated in water to Daphnia magna. Effect of compositional changes

The toxicity of aqueous solutions saturated with mixtures of hydrophobic organic liquids is contrasted to that of solutions prepared from solids. Data for a variety of mixtures are presented and are related to the solubilities of the components. It is shown that in the absence of biological interactive effects, the toxicity of a component in a saturated mixture of liquids will be equal to or less than that of a corresponding solution of its most toxic component. In contrast, for solutions derived from a mixture of solids, the toxicity will equal or exceed that of a corresponding saturated solution of its most toxic component, and will tend to increase with the complexity of the mixture.