Environmental Footprint of Foods: The Duty to Inform

In this paper we argue that there is a duty to inform consumers about the environmental impact of foods, and discuss what this duty entails and to whom it falls. We analyze previous proposals that justify ethical traceability with arguments from sustainability and the respect for the autonomy of consumers, showing that they cannot ground a duty to inform. We argue instead that the duty rests on the right of consumers not to be harmed, insofar as consumers have an interest in the morality of their own agency that is frustrated if they are not informed about the environmental impact of the production and transport of what they consume. Our argument detaches the regulation of labeling from substantive theories of environmental ethics or perfectionist conceptions of citizens’ responsibility, thus defending a case for labeling that is compelling also for those who take the role of the state to be limited to the prevention of harm.     

Octanoic acid confers to royal jelly varroa-repellent properties

The mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman is a parasite of the honeybee Apis mellifera L. and represents a major threat for apiculture in the Western world. Reproduction takes place only inside bee brood cells that are invaded just before sealing; drone cells are preferred over worker cells, whereas queen cells are not normally invaded. Lower incidence of mites in queen cells is at least partly due to the deterrent activity of royal jelly. In this study, the repellent properties of royal jelly were investigated using a lab bioassay. Chemical analysis showed that octanoic acid is a major volatile component of royal jelly; by contrast, the concentration is much lower in drone and worker larval food. Bioassays, carried out under lab conditions, demonstrated that octanoic acid is repellent to the mite. Field studies in bee colonies confirmed that the compound may interfere with the process of cell invasion by the mite.     

Resource productivity enhancement as means for promoting cleaner production: analysis of co-incineration in cement plants through a life cycle approach

The objective of this paper is to assess the environmental effectiveness of a strategic measure aimed at resource productivity enhancement. The cement industry has been identified as a relevant sector for this global issue, since the related production process enables the use of waste in partial substitution of raw materials and in substitution of traditional fuels. The analysis of the cement production sector in Italy has been here performed, investigating the recovery of energy from waste through co-incineration. In terms of air emissions, the emission performances of cement kilns appear independent from the use of alternative fuels at the percentages usually employed. However, in order to measure the cleanliness of a production system, systematic analysis with global perspective is needed. For this aim, the principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been used for a case study analysis of an Italian active plant using an amount of recovered plastics as an alternative fuel resource. The improvement on the investigated process has been quantitatively measured as a way for cleaner production, first in terms of gross energy requirement, and then through an environmental performance comparison with a sector benchmark. The analysis has highlighted the benefits on the global environmental balance for the practice of co-incineration in the cement production process.     

Velocity scales in steady-nonuniform turbulent flows with low relative submergence

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The most employed velocity scale in open-channel flows is the shear velocity. Although it is effortlessly identified in uniform flow condition, its value becomes...     

More dams,more violence? A global analysis on resistances and repression around conflictive dams through co-produced knowledge

The present article analyses a unique database of 220 dam-related environmental conflicts, retrieved from the Global Atlas on Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), and based on knowledge co-production between academics and activists. Despite well-known controversial, social, and environmental impacts of dams, efforts to increase renewable energy generation have reinstated the interest into hydropower development globally. People affected by dams have largely denounced such ‘unsustainabilities’ through collective non-violent actions. Nevertheless, we found that repression, criminalization, violent targeting of activists and assassinations are recurrent features of conflictive dams. Violent repression is particularly high when indigenous people are involved. Indirect forms of violence are also analysed through socio-economic, environmental, and health impacts. We argue that increasing repression of the opposition against unwanted energy infrastructures does not only serve to curb specific protest actions, but also aims to delegitimize and undermine differing understanding of sustainability, epistemologies, and world views. This analysis cautions that allegedly sustainable renewables such as hydropower often replicates patterns of violence within a frame of an ‘extractivism of renewables’. We finally suggest that co-production of knowledge between scientists, activists, and communities should be largely encouraged to investigate sensitive and contentious topics in sustainability studies.     

Assessment Of Trampling Simulation Impacts On Native Vegetation In Mediterranean Sclerophyllous Forest

This study examines the effects of visitors on vegetation of natural semi-arid areas of Mediterranean basin using controlled experimental trampling. Impacts were assessed on days 1, 5, 15 and 30 examining presence of plant species, their cover and height in linear transects suffering a constant trampling intensity (25, 75, 100 and 200 passes/day). In addition, the study included the analysis of factors such as plant species, trampling intensity, the cumulative impact (day effect) and the type of footwear on plant variables. The results showed a decrease on plant cover and height influenced by cumulative (day) effect, an effect of trampling intensity and a different effect for each species. In contrast, shoe type affected only slightly the decrease in plant height. The evolution of plant cover revealed which species were most resistant to trampling. The disappearance of plant individuals during trampling appeared to be an impact index better than plant cover, because cover increased in some species when they were trampled thus introducing a bias.     

A DFT study on the carbamates formation through the absorption of CO2 by AMP

DFT calculations in gas and aqueous solution phases have been performed to study the mechanism of carbamate formation by the absorption of CO₂ in 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP). The results reveal the importance of considering the effect of water as solvent for the reaction to proceed. Furthermore water molecules play an important role as a basic reactant leading to stable intermediates formation. These results point at a single-step, third order reaction as the most probable mechanism for the formation of carbamate by the absorption process.     

Influence of environment on insulin sensitivity

Genetic and environmental factors influence insulin sensitivity (IS) during one's lifetime. Actually, uterine environment may affect IS at birth and later in life. In particular, various exogenous toxic substances, coupled to a genetic predisposition, may remarkably influence the regulation of the hypothalamus–hypophysis–adrenal gland axis, and the production or the activity of insulin, cerebral incretins, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and placental hormones. Owing to this reaction against environmental injuries, fetal growth and endocrine system development may be impaired, leading to low or large birth weight, or prematurity. Reduced growth in early life has been related to insulin resistance, which can be silent for years and evident in predisposed adults. The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity associated with sedentary lifestyle patterns and inadequate dieting behaviors in children and adolescents has rapidly increased during the last decade.Recent evidences suggest that the Pro12Ala polymorphism of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-? (PPAR-?) gene and the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) I/D gene polymorphism combined with environmental factors, such as phthalates interfering with the post receptorial action of insulin, alter insulin-sensible tissues. Therefore, IS, deriving from a complex interaction between genotype and environment, may change during life and depends on previous metabolic control, which is a sort of metabolic memory. The goal for the future is preventing the complications associated with impaired IS through the control of exogenous factors and the use of drugs selectively effective on its pathogenesis.     

Glutathione peroxidases in Lolium multiflorum and Festuca arundinacea: Activity, susceptibility to herbicides and characteristics

To evidence a possible mechanism of defense toward oxidative stress induced by herbicides in plants, an investigation was carried on the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and in Festuca (Festuca arundinacea) in response to atrazine (6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-isopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) and fluorodifen (4-nitrophenyl α,α,α-trifluoro-2-nitro-p-tolyl ether). In general, the herbicide treatments significantly induced GPX activity in the shoots of Italian ryegrass, whereas inhibited it in Festuca. These opposite behaviors are examined, taking into account the accumulation and persistence of the two herbicides in the plants, and they are discussed in terms of GPX counteraction to oxidative stress in the first case, and of a lower detoxification rate unable to prevent a deleterious effect on the GPX activity in the second case. Further information on the properties of Italian ryegrass and Festuca GPX were achieved by purification and isolation of the enzymes, performed by protein liquid chromatography and by electrophoretic analyses. GPX of both the plants were found to be heterodimer with multiple function in showing also glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity.     

Impact of Toll Removal on Air Particulate Concentration in Jacksonville,Florida

The concentration of total suspended particulate (TSP) matter was determined at commercial, residential, rural and industrial sites in metropolitan Jacksonville during the summers of 1989 and 1990. These data were compared to samples taken at the Mathews Bridge Toll Plaza in 1989 and at a similar location one year later, after removal of the toll facility. All samples were analyzed by reflectance analysis and the approximate elemental carbon content used to estimate the contribution of vehicular traffic at the roadway. The results indicate a significant improvement in air quality at the location of the previous toll facility, but did not show that a widespread improvement resulted from the removal of tolls in Jacksonville, Florida.