Desert locust control in ecologically sensitive areas: need for guidelines

Chemical control of desert locust (DL) is carried out over large areas of land, covering a range of different landscapes and ecosystems. There are no real restrictions for spraying in or close to environmentally sensitive areas and awareness of sensitivity is not always obvious to the people involved in control. However, concern about environmental issues in connection with DL control is growing and clear guidelines are needed. The objectives were: to identify and delineate areas particularly sensitive to pesticide contamination in northeastern Africa, e.g. protected areas, wetlands, populated places, oases, and areas with concentrations of migratory birds. These areas were matched with actual DL control during 1986-1998. The conclusion is that chemical control occurred in environmentally sensitive areas especially wetlands, e.g. temporary waters and mangroves; close to human settlements; and, to some extent, in or near protected areas and areas with numerous migratory birds.     

Water, energy and food interactions—Challenges and opportunities

Water and energy are inextricably linked, and as a consequence both have to be addressed together. This is called the water-energy nexus. When access to either is limited, it becomes obvious that it is necessary to consider their interdependence. Population growth, climate change, urbanization, increasing living standards and food consumption will require an integrated approach where food, water and energy security are considered together. In this paper we examine water, energy and food security and their couplings. The nexus also creates conflicts between water use, energy extraction and generation as well as food production. Some of these conflicts are illustrated. It is argued that there is an urgent need for integrated planning and operation. Not only will better technology be needed, but also better integration of policies, organizations and political decisions.     

Release and fate of fluorocarbons in a shredder residue landfill cell: 2. Field investigations

The shredder residues from automobiles, home appliances and other metal containing products are often disposed in landfills, as recycling technologies for these materials are not common in many countries. Shredder waste contains rigid and soft foams from cushions and insulation panels blown with fluorocarbons. The objective of this study was to determine the gas composition, attenuation, and emission of fluorocarbons in a monofill shredder residue landfill cell by field investigation. Landfill gas generated within the shredder waste primarily consisted of CH₄ (27%) and N₂ (71%), without CO₂, indicating that the gas composition was governed by chemical reactions in combination with anaerobic microbial reactions. The gas generated also contained different fluorocarbons (up to 27 μg L^?1). The presence of HCFC-21 and HCFC-31 indicated that anaerobic degradation of CFC-11 occurred in the landfill cell, as neither of these compounds has been produced for industrial applications. This study demonstrates that a landfill cell containing shredder waste has a potential for attenuating CFC-11 released from polyurethane (PUR) insulation foam in the cell via aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation processes. In deeper, anaerobic zones of the cell, reductive dechlorination of CFCs to HCFCs was evident, while in the shallow, oxic zones, there was a high potential for biooxidation of both methane and lesser chlorinated fluorocarbons. These findings correlated well with both laboratory results (presented in a companion paper) and surface emission measurements that, with the exception from a few hot spots, indicated that surface emissions were negative or below detection.     

Release and fate of fluorocarbons in a shredder residue landfill cell: 1. Laboratory experiments

The shredder residues from automobiles, home appliances and other metal-containing products are often disposed in landfills, as recycling technologies for these materials are not common in many countries. Shredder waste contains rigid and soft foams from cushions and insulation panels blown with fluorocarbons. The objective of this study was to use laboratory experiments to estimate fluorocarbon release and attenuation processes in a monofill shredder residue (SR) landfill cell. Waste from the open SR landfill cell at the AV Miljø landfill in Denmark was sampled at three locations. The waste contained 1–3% metal and a relatively low fraction of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foam particles. The PUR waste contained less blowing agent (CFC-11) than predicted from a release model. However, CFC-11 was steadily released in an aerobic bench scale experiment. Anaerobic waste incubation bench tests showed that SRSR produced significant methane (CH₄), but at rates that were in the low end of the range observed for municipal solid waste. Aerobic and anaerobic batch experiments showed that processes in SRSR potentially can attenuate the fluorocarbons released from the SRSR itself: CFC-11 is degraded under anaerobic conditions with the formation of degradation products, which are being degraded under CH₄ oxidation conditions prevailing in the upper layers of the SR.     

Multivariate data analysis of organochlorines and brominated flame retardants in Baltic Sea guillemot (Uria aalge) egg and muscle

Concentrations of organochlorines (OCs) and brominated flame-retardants (BFRs) were determined in guillemot (Uria aalge) eggs from the island of Stora Karls? in the Baltic Sea where 10 eggs/year were collected in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. The dominating contaminant in egg was p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) with a geometric mean (GM) concentration of 18200 ng/g lipid weight (lw). The GM concentration in egg of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) of 140 ng/glw, was significantly higher than that of polybrominated diphenyl ether (summation operatorPBDE) of 77 ng/glw. For the evaluation of the data multivariate data analysis techniques namely principal components analysis (PCA), partial least squares regression (PLS), soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA classification), and PLS discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were used. We investigated whether the eggs' biological characteristics co-varied with egg concentrations of OCs and BFRs, and found e.g., significant negative correlations between egg weight and concentrations of HCB and p,p'-DDE. A PLS model with analyzed BFRs as the Y matrix and OCs as the X matrix could, with varying accuracy, calculate the concentrations of BFRs in the individual egg from their concentrations of OCs (e.g., R(2)Y of 0.89 for BDE47, and of 0.50 for HBCD). Lastly, we compared the contaminant concentrations in the eggs to those in previously analyzed pectoral muscles from adult guillemots from Stora Karls?, from the year 2000. A PLS-DA model, showed that some of the contaminants (e.g., HBCD and CB28) had significantly higher concentrations in egg than in muscle, although 7 of the 14 contaminants showed no difference in concentrations between the two matrices.     

Towards improved understanding of injury prevention program sustainability

As policy makers and funders have become more concerned with allocating scarce resources effectively, attention to the sustainability of health intervention programs has increased. However, the empirical knowledge base about factors facilitating or working against sustainability remains at an early stage. The aim of this study was to contribute to improved understanding of the conditions under which community-based injury prevention programs are most likely to attain sustainability. Ten Swedish community-based injury prevention programs were analysed with respect to factors that contribute to or detract from program sustainability. All the programs are integrated within existing municipality structures. Data were collected by means of semi-structured telephone interviews with key informants.The results suggested that different factors are interrelated, with no one factor being either primary or by itself sufficient for program sustainability. Financial, human, and relational resources lay the groundwork for the long-term operation of a program. The “integrated” program model appears to facilitate sustainability, but program intensity is vulnerable to changes in the financial status of the municipality and the priority-setting by municipality political decision makers. Sustainability may be compromised if a program becomes too dependent on a few key individuals. In contrast to financial, human, and relational resources, structural resources (e.g., injury surveillance and goals) appeared to have limited influence on sustainability. The programs were sustained with little evidence of effectiveness, resulting in limited feedback about how to improve a program in order to achieve and maintain long-term effectiveness.     

Coral cavity sponges depend on reef-derived food resources: stable isotope and fatty acid constraints

The diet of cavity sponges on the narrow fringing reefs of Curaçao, Caribbean was studied. The origin and resources of the bulk food of these sponges, i.e., dissolved organic matter (DOM), were identified using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes and fatty acid biomarkers. We found that phytoplankton and its derived DOM from the adjacent open sea and from reef overlying water is not the main source of food for most of the sponges examined nor is bacterioplankton. Interestingly, dual stable isotope signatures (δ¹³C_org, δ¹⁵N_org) and fatty acid biomarkers appoint coral mucus and organic matter derived from crustose coralline algae (CCA) as probable food sources for encrusting sponges. Mucus-derived DOM may contribute up to 66% to the diet of examined sponges based on results of dual isotope mixing model analysis. The contribution of CCA (as purported representative for benthic algae) was smaller with values up to 31%. Together, mucus- and CCA-derived substrates contributed for 48–73% to the diet of sponges. The presence of the exogenous fatty acid 20:4ω6 in sponges, which is abundant in coral mucus of Madracis mirabilis and in CCA, highlights these reef-derived resources as sources of nutrition for DOM feeding cavity sponges. The relatively high concentrations of exogenous 20:4ω6 in all sponges examined supports our hypothesis that the bulk of the food of the cavity sponge community is reef-derived. Our results imply that cavity sponges play an important role in conserving food and energy produced within the reef.