Traffic noise, work noise and cardiovascular risk factors: The Caerphilly and Speedwell collaborative heart disease studies

As part of two large heart surveys, associations between traffic noise exposure and cardiovascular risk factors were studied. The Caerphilly sample (small town, total sample) consisted of 2512 men aged 45 to 59 years and the Speedwell sample (suburb of a major city, random sample) of 2030 men of same age group. Both studies have a prospective design; cross-sectional results are presented here. Acoustic measurements were carried out in both areas. Among the possible risk factors for ischaemic heart disease studied were blood pressure, blood coagulation, blood lipids and other biochemical factors. Statistically significant noise effects were detected for systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total triglycerides, blood viscosity, platelet count and glucose level, although not all of these were consistent with noise being a risk factor for heart disease. In a subsample, the additional influence of work noise as determined by noise dosimetry was studied in 255 men, taking the use of ear protection into account. The associations between traffic noise and risk factors were more pronounced in men who also were exposed to high work noise levels.     

A SUPERCRITICAL FLUME FOR MEASURING SEDIMENT-LADEN STREAMFLOW1

ABSTRACT: After 25 years of operation on ephemeral streams in the semiarid Southwest, this supercritical flume has provided more than 350 station-years of reliable streamflow data, even under freezethaw conditions experienced at elevations of 1,500 to 2,100 m, in Arizona. The flume has also provided streamflow data during flood periods produced by high intensity summer thunderstorm conditions, where considerable sediment and other debris was moved downstream.     

Spatial allocation of material flow analysis in residential developments: a case study of Kildare County,Ireland

Studies of urban metabolism provide important insights for environmental management of cities, but are not widely used in planning practice due to a mismatch of data scale and coverage. This paper introduces the Spatial Allocation of Material Flow Analysis (SAMFA) model as a potential decision support tool aimed as a contribution to overcome some of these difficulties and describes its pilot use at the county level in the Republic of Ireland. The results suggest that SAMFA is capable of identifying hotspots of higher material and energy use to support targeted planning initiatives, while its ability to visualise different policy scenarios supports more effective multi-stakeholder engagement. The paper evaluates this pilot use and sets out how this model can act as an analytical platform for the industrial ecology–spatial planning nexus.     

Development of the Spatial Rainfall Generator (SRGEN) for the Agricultural Policy/Environmental Extender Model

Accurate spatial representation of climatic patterns is often a challenge in modeling biophysical processes at the watershed scale, especially where the representation of a spatial gradient in rainfall is not sufficiently captured by the number of weather stations. The spatial rainfall generator (SRGEN) is developed as an extension of the “weather generator” (WXGEN), a component of the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model. SRGEN generates spatially distributed daily rainfall using monthly weather statistics available at multiple locations in a watershed. The spatial rainfall generator as incorporated in APEX is tested on the Cowhouse watershed (1,178 km²) in central Texas. The watershed presented a significant spatial rainfall gradient of 2.9 mm/km in the lateral (north‐south) directions based on four rainfall gages. A comparative analysis between SRGEN and WXGEN indicates that SRGEN performs well (PBIAS = 2.40%). Good results were obtained from APEX for streamflow (NSE = 0.99, PBIAS = 8.34%) and NO₃‐N and soluble P loads (PBIAS ≈ 6.00% for each, respectively). However, APEX underpredicted sediment yield and organic N and P loads (PBIAS: 24.75‐27.90%) with SRGEN, although its uncertainty in output was lower than WXGEN results (PBIAS: ?13.02 to ?46.13%). The overall improvement achieved in rainfall generation by SRGEN is demonstrated to be effective in the improving model performance on flow and water quality output.     

Hyperautomobility and Governmentality in Auckland

Abstract

A number of cities around the world are associated with very high levels of private motor car usage, and Auckland provides an example of one of these ‘hyperautomobile’ cities. There are many problems with this system of transportation and dependence on the private car, including environmental, social and city design dimensions. Though there is a clear aspiration to move towards reduced levels of car usage in the city's transport and spatial planning strategies, there are major difficulties in implementation terms. We develop and consider future scenarios to 2041 to reduce these levels of motorization, and subsequent transport CO₂ emissions, with a much greater use of public transport, walking and cycling, urban planning, and low emission vehicles. The current implementability of such a ‘sustainable mobility’ future is however questioned in the current political and social context, and critically debated in terms of the available governance mechanisms and the limited attempts to shape the behaviour of the public. We conclude by calling for a reconsideration of the policy measures being considered, including the range and levels of application and investment; with a much wider framing of the transport planning remit, and carried out within a much stronger participatory framework for decision-making.     

The Influence of Varying Algal Biomass On Contaminant Exposure in Benthic-Planktonic Mesocosms: Copper (Ii)

A series of mesocosms was exposed to a suite of light treatments and nutrient enrichment in order to generate algal communities of varying biomass. the influence of this biomass on the speciation of copper (II) was studied. Distribution coefficients (_Kd,Lkg-1) were relatively high (log_Kd = 5 to 7), indicative of robust trace metal sequestration, and were likely controlled by the particulate organic carbon content (foc). Differences in _Kd over time and among treatments were significant, as was the relationship between _Kd and foc. Fluorescence quenching was used to determine binding capacities (_Lt, M) and their associated binding constants (_Kcond,M^-1) in order to model the solid phase copper speciation. the _Kcond ranged between 2.1 and 5.2 × 10¹²M^-1, indicating a very strong copper-ligand complex, and was higher in mesocosms that received more light. the light _Lt increased over time, dramatically after the nutrient enrichment, but did not vary systematically among light treatments. _Lt ranged from 7.2 × 10- 7 to 4.9 × 10- 5 M. the large magnitudes of _Kd, _Kcond and _Lt ensured that greater than 97% of total copper in the mesocosms was complexed by organic matter. the total copper concentration ([Cu]_T, M) needed to reach a target dissolved copper concentration of 10^-12.5 M (pCu = 12.5) was determined for each mesocosm over time. [Cu]_T was between 8.02 × 10^-5 and 3.41 × 10^-2 M, and increased over time. the [Cu]_T normalized to the target pCu (Effective Dose Ratio, EDR) increased directly with increases in algal biomass, indicating a direct link between system productivity and copper exposure. Approximately 45% of the variance in EDR was explained by variance in total biomass, while the residual variance in EDR was due likely to differences in the strengths of particle associations and magnitude of binding capacities.     

Influence of Baltimore's Urban Atmosphere on Organic Contaminants over the Northern Chesapeake Bay

ABSTRACT

Air and precipitation samples were collected along an urban to over-water to rural transect across the northern Chesapeake Bay as a preliminary investigation into the spatial extent of elevated atmospheric concentrations of urban-derived persistent organic pollutants. Air samples were collected daily from June 3–9, 1996, along the transect as part of the Atmospheric Exchange over Lakes and Oceans project. Total (gas + particle bound) atmospheric polycy-clic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations [∑-PAH] ranged from 0.4 to 114 ng/m³, and gas phase polychlorinated bi-phenyl concentrations [∑-PCB] ranged from 0.02 to 3.4 ng/m³. Strong concentration gradients were found for both PAHs and PCBs, with the highest concentrations in the city and the lowest at the downwind rural site. Gas and particle bound PAHs varied independently in the city, possibly due to strong but geographically separated emission sources. A precipitation event collected during westerly winds contained fourfold higher ∑-PAH and twelvefold higher ∑-PCB concentrations at the over-water site than at the rural background location, further indicating that the urban plume extends from Baltimore, MD, over the northern Chesapeake Bay over a spatial scale of approximately 30 km.