Place influences in framing and understanding climate change adaptation challenges

The climate change literature emphasises the importance of geographical understanding for guiding adaptation, in which “place” perspectives are particularly significant. After “scale”, the term “place” within the climate change adaptation literature is most often implicitly used in reference to a delineated and localised region, such as place-based risk assessment or place-based adaptation planning. Here, we use a case study of the Australian island-state of Tasmania to demonstrate the importance and particularity of place in the formation of climate change adaptation issues, problem definition and framing, and the dynamics of knowledge and praxis development across a range of research and industry sectors. We describe the significance of the place Tasmania with regard to its geographical location; its portrayal as an island place; and its cultural meaning and relations. Through a synthesis of climate change adaptation research, policy literature and engagement with researchers and stakeholders, we identify three emergent thematic place characterisations of Tasmania. We find that these characterisations have contributed directly or indirectly to the: initiation and extent of research and practical activities; the framing of adaptation issues and perspectives on potential adaptation responses in different sectors including the marine biodiversity and resources sector, small business and human health sectors. Exposing these influences is essential for focusing future adaptation activities, including research, planning, investment and practice, in Tasmania and other locations where place is a central issue.     

Qualifying irrigation system sustainability by means of stakeholder perceptions and concerns: lessons from the Segarra‐Garrigues Canal,Spain

When planning interventions, water and land resource managers increasingly need to take the opinions of stakeholders into account. In the present study, stakeholders’ concerns in a multifunctional water system are assessed, with a focus on the debate about the sustainability of irrigation projects in stressed and competing water contexts. The selected case study pertains to the Segarra‐Garrigues irrigation canal (Spain), the promotion of which has generated social debate and mobilization, as well as pronouncements from European authorities for ensuring its environmental sustainability. Data was collected through semi‐structured interviews and analysed by means of a new codification system for identifying the affinities and conflicts arising from existing water demands. Results show that sustainability concepts are more present in civil society than in public administration and private services or the rural community. However, social sustainability and environmental sustainability are a priority for most stakeholders, while the economic perspective of sustainable development has been conditioned by the first two. These results can be used by relevant authorities as a first step in customizing their interventions, as they provide a clear initial idea of what stakeholder priorities are in the framework of sustainable development.     

Cargo-specific accidental release impact zones for hazardous materials: risk and consequence comparison for ammonia and hydrogen fluoride

Impacts of hazardous material releases during transport depend on the characteristics of the cargo, incident location and time, weather conditions (i.e., wind direction and speed), and land use. The objectives of this research were to characterize the dispersion characteristics of two hazardous materials (ammonia and hydrogen fluoride) in relation to meteorological parameters, land use, and cargo characteristics; and evaluate the health risks associated with the exposure after accidental releases. The magnitudes of the impact zones were compared in relation to atmospheric stability and exposure levels. Impact zones were estimated by areal locations of hazardous atmospheres software and imported to ArcGIS. For ammonia, the areas impacted by exposure levels over 1100 ppm Acute Exposure Guideline Level 3 (AEGL-3) were limited to less than 0.3 miles downwind from the incident location under unstable atmospheric conditions, which favor high vertical mixing and rapid dilution, and extended further downwind to distances between 0.5 and 0.7 miles under stable atmospheric conditions. For hydrogen fluoride, the AEGL-3 impact zone (exposure levels over 44 ppm) extended between 0.6 and 0.9 miles directly downwind from the incident location under unstable conditions, and reached approximately 2.0 miles directly downwind from the incident location under stable atmospheric conditions. The results were compared with the Emergency Response Guideline (ERG 2012) and showed agreement. The multilevel analysis of impacts after hazardous material releases during transport (i.e., type of material, geographical data, dispersion profile, meteorological information) can be used for implementing appropriate response and mitigation measures for accidental releases of hazardous cargo.     

Biophysical suitability,economic pressure and land-cover change: a global probabilistic approach and insights for REDD+

There has been a concerted effort by the international scientific community to understand the multiple causes and patterns of land-cover change to support sustainable land management. Here, we examined biophysical suitability, and a novel integrated index of “Economic Pressure on Land” (EPL) to explain land cover in the year 2000, and estimated the likelihood of future land-cover change through 2050, including protected area effectiveness. Biophysical suitability and EPL explained almost half of the global pattern of land cover (R ² = 0.45), increasing to almost two-thirds in areas where a long-term equilibrium is likely to have been reached (e.g. R ² = 0.64 in Europe). We identify a high likelihood of future land-cover change in vast areas with relatively lower current and past deforestation (e.g. the Congo Basin). Further, we simulated emissions arising from a “business as usual” and two reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scenarios by incorporating data on biomass carbon. As our model incorporates all biome types, it highlights a crucial aspect of the ongoing REDD + debate: if restricted to forests, “cross-biome leakage” would severely reduce REDD + effectiveness for climate change mitigation. If forests were protected from deforestation yet without measures to tackle the drivers of land-cover change, REDD + would only reduce 30 % of total emissions from land-cover change. Fifty-five percent of emissions reductions from forests would be compensated by increased emissions in other biomes. These results suggest that, although REDD + remains a very promising mitigation tool, implementation of complementary measures to reduce land demand is necessary to prevent this leakage.     

Formaldehyde personal exposure measurements and time weighted exposure estimates in children

Residential concentrations of formaldehyde have been associated with poor respiratory health in children, where formaldehyde has been measured using stationary monitors inside homes. Although children spend most of their time indoors at home, there are few studies of children’s personal exposure to formaldehyde. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personal exposure formaldehyde concentrations, microenvironmental concentrations and time weighted exposure estimates in children.Forty-one primary school children (aged between 9 and 12 years) wore a personal passive sampler over two 24 h periods in two seasons and completed 24 h daily activity diaries and a questionnaire about lifestyle and behaviour. Samplers were co located indoors at home, outdoors at centralised locations and indoors at school for the corresponding period.Personal exposure formaldehyde concentrations in this group of children were generally low with a geometric mean concentration of 9.1 ppb (range <detection limit to 27.3 ppb). There were strong correlations between personal exposure concentrations and both domestic indoor (r_s = .779, p < 0.001) and time weighted estimated (r_s = .802, p < 0.001) concentrations. The time weighted model did not improve the estimate of personal exposure compared with stationary indoor concentrations. Indoor air concentration measured with a single stationary monitor was a suitable surrogate for personal exposure.     

Occurrence and levels of organochlorine compounds in human breast milk in Bangladesh

In low-income countries, the use of some organochlorine pesticides is still common in order to increase food production. Monitoring the chemical exposure is an important step in risk-reducing strategies. This is the first study to report concentrations of organochlorines in breast milk of women from Bangladesh where farming is the main income source.Organochlorines such as p,p′-DDT, o,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDD (i.e., ∑DDT), HCB, α-, β- and γ-HCH, trans-chlordane, cis-chlordane, oxy-chlordane, trans-nonachlor, cis-nonachlor, mirex and polychlorinated biphenyls (CB 28, 52, 99, 101, 105, 114, 118, 123, 128, 138, 141, 149, 153, 156, 157, 163, 167, 170, 180, 183, 187, 189, 194) were analyzed in breast milk collected in 2002 from 72 first-time mothers (median age 20 years) living in the rural area Matlab, Bangladesh.While the concentrations of PCBs and many of the pesticides were low, the concentrations of p,p′-DDT and its metabolite p,p′-DDE were high (median 349 and 1645 ng g⁻¹ lipid, respectively) in comparison to other countries. The median value of ∑DDT was 2123 ng g⁻¹ lipid. The estimated daily exposure to p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE and ∑DDTs was 10, 30 and 42 μg kg⁻¹ body weight, respectively, in 3 months old infants. The p,p′-DDE/p,p′-DDT ratio ranged from 1 to 23, where 58% of the mothers had a ratio below 5 indicating recent or ongoing DDT exposure.This study reports infant exposure and maternal body burden of organochlorines through breast milk. Although the findings give no reason to limit breast-feeding, it is essential to identify the main exposure sources and find means to decrease the exposure.     

Very high correlations between fresh weight and lipid-adjusted PCB-153 serum concentrations: irrespective of fasting status, age, body mass index, gender, or exposure distributions

Background and aim

Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) have in epidemiological studies been associated with health hazards. The exposure window might be crucial and it is, accordingly, important to analyze exposure concentrations in samples collected at the window of interest. This makes the use of stored blood samples extremely interesting. However, small blood volumes from stored samples in biobanks means that the researchers in epidemiological studies most often have to select a limited number of biomarkers representing the POP exposure and abstain from analyses of lipid concentrations. This raises the question of the necessity of lipid adjustment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between fresh weight and lipid adjusted concentrations.

Methods

We included data from studies were we have used the PCB congener 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB-153) as a biomarker for POP exposure and where fresh weight as well as lipid adjusted PCB-153 concentrations are known (n = 1628). The variety of the cohort members in the different studies gave us the possibility to better understand how well these measures correlate.

Results

When all individuals were included in the analyses a correlation coefficient of 0.95 between fresh weight and lipid adjusted serum concentrations was obtained. Restricting the analyses to specific subgroups (based on gender, fasting status, age and BMI) gave correlation coefficients between 0.85 and 0.97.

Conclusions

This study does strongly support the use of samples from biobanks in epidemiological studies for analyzing PCBs, at least regarding PCB-153, even though it is not possible to lipid adjust the results.     

PCDD/PCDF, dl-PCB and PBDE serum levels of Slovak general population

Blood serum specimens from 81 non-occupationally exposed adults residing in four areas close to municipal and waste incinerators as well as metallurgical industry plant and 44 adult subjects coming from control area of Slovakia were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs). The concentration of total WHO(98)TEQ PCDD/F/dl-PCBs in whole group of donors from areas where known sources causing dioxin contamination are present was significantly higher than in control group of donors (p<0.001). Correlation between the age of donors and PCDD/F and dl-PCB levels was confirmed (Spearman's r(PCDD/Fs)=0.543, r(dl-PCBs)=0.521, p<0.001). Furthermore, this study presents first results concerning the PBDE congeners in human serum of Slovak general population. The total concentration (congeners 28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183) in control group was approximately 1.5-times higher in comparison to that of residents coming from areas with supposed environmental pollution. The most abundant congeners in all samples were BDE-47 and BDE-153 with median values of 0.24 ng g(-1) lipid and 0.23ngg(-1) lipid, respectively. The positive association between PBDE values and age of donors was not found.     

Towards a renewed research agenda in ecotoxicology

New concerns about biodiversity, ecosystem services and human health triggered several new regulations increasing the need for sound ecotoxicological risk assessment. The PEER network aims to share its view on the research issues that this challenges. PEER scientists call for an improved biologically relevant exposure assessment. They promote comprehensive effect assessment at several biological levels. Biological traits should be used for Environmental risk assessment (ERA) as promising tools to better understand relationships between structure and functioning of ecosystems. The use of modern high throughput methods could also enhance the amount of data for a better risk assessment. Improved models coping with multiple stressors or biological levels are necessary to answer for a more scientifically based risk assessment. Those methods must be embedded within life cycle analysis or economical models for efficient regulations. Joint research programmes involving humanities with ecological sciences should be developed for a sound risk management.