Multi-causal and integrated assessment of sustainability: the case of agriculturization in the Argentine Pampas

Assessing the sustainability of complex development processes requires multi-causal and integrated analyses. We develop a system-based methodology, rooted in interdisciplinary discussion and consensus building between 15 experts, to construct a multi-causal diagram which examines the sustainability of the Argentine Pampas′ process of agriculturization. The resulting diagram includes 25 factors and provides a big-picture of the multiple dimensions and interrelations affecting sustainability. According to this examination, the increasing concentration of production and the incorporation of technological innovations, triggered by economic and institutional factors, are the cause of environmental distresses and social changes, whose consequences for sustainability are still highly disputed. Nevertheless, the symptoms of both environmental and social unsustainability are more evident in the case of the extra-Pampean regions than in the Pampas. This suggests that the Pampean agriculture model should not be transferred to these regions without substantial modifications. The experts did not reach consensus on whether the agriculturization process is overall sustainable or unsustainable. Lack of consensus revolved mainly around opposing perspectives regarding the significance of the threats to environmental sustainability. The magnitude of socio-distributive unbalance and loss of rural jobs were also contentious. Yet, the paper shows how the exercise of building a joint causal diagram was undoubtedly helpful for linking piece-meal disciplinary facts, brought in from all fronts, into a comprehensive and coherent picture. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Accumulation patterns of organochlorines in juveniles of Arctocephalus australis found stranded along the coast of Southern Brazil

The present study was conducted to elucidate the specific distributions of organochlorine (OC) compounds in various tissues and organs of juveniles of the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) found stranded on beaches in southern Brazil. The OC residue concentrations occurred in the following order: PCBs>DDTs>CHLs>HCHs>HCB. OC concentrations in blubber were higher than other tissues (e.g. PCBs, 2480 ng g(-1) wet weight; DDTs, 660 ng g(-1) wet weight) indicating a positive association with lipid content (except for HCB). However, the poor nutritional status of these animals, possibly following a starvation period, is likely to have allowed the remobilization of organochlorines stored in lipids to other tissues throughout the body, increasing their vulnerability to toxic effects and possibly affecting their survival capability.     

Determination of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and pesticides in surface and treated waters: method development and survey

Water is fundamental to the existence of life since it is essential to a series of activities, such as agriculture, power generation, and public and industrial supplies. The residual water generated by these activities is released into the environment, reaches the water systems, and becomes a potential risk to nontarget organisms. This paper reports the development and validation of a quantitative method, based on solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, for the simultaneous analysis of 18 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and 33 pesticides in surface and drinking waters. The accuracy of the method was determined by calculating the recoveries, which ranged from 70 to 120 % for most pesticides and PPCPs, whereas limits of quantification ranged from 0.8 to 40 ng/L. After the validation step, the method was applied to drinking and surface waters. Pesticides and PPCPs were found in concentrations lower than 135.5 ng/L. The evaluation of different water sources with regard to contamination by pesticides and PPCPs has been quite poor in southern Brazil.     

Comparative study of the urban quality of life in Cuban first-level cities from an objective dimension

The urban quality of life (UQoL) from objective dimension was analyzed in the main Cuban cities. An Urban Quality of Life Index (UQoLI) was developed in collaboration with 60 experts (five in each city). These experts belong to one of two categories: in charge of the planning of the city and members of the Municipal Council of Administration. One hundred and forty-two directors of the Local District Administration also participated in the analysis. The UQoLI includes three dimensions: social services, economic performance, and urban services, the importance of which is weighed according to expert criteria. A Ranking of the studied cities, sorted by the UQoLI, shows a tendency of increase it UQoL in the west even and central regions. This tendency contradicts one of the foundations of the Cuban sustainable development framework, i.e., equity.     

Temporal variability of bioavailable Cd,Hg, Zn,Mn and Al in an upwelling regime

Monthly variability of Cd, Hg, Zn, Mn and Al concentrations in mussels (Mytilus californianus) soft tissue and brown seaweed (Macrocystis pyrifera) was studied at a pristine rocky shore off San Quintin Bay, Baja California, México. The results were related to climatic and hydrographic conditions and to the physiological state of the mussels (condition index) by correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). A "normalization" to account for the variability induced by the physiological state of the mussel was performed. The PCA was performed in two ways to relate the environmental variables and the condition index to: (1) the metal concentrations in mussels, and (2) the "normalized" mussel concentrations. The association of the variability of Cd with the upwelling season was revealed in both PCAs. The temporal variability of this metal in mussels was highly correlated to that in seaweed, suggesting that the dissolved phase determined the variability of Cd in mussels. However, for Hg, Zn, Mn and Al the results from both PCAs were different. The first PCA showed the relationship of these metals to pluvial precipitation and to the condition index. The PCA for the normalized mussel concentrations showed that, after eliminating the effect of the condition index, only Al was related to pluvial precipitation. Manganese, and to a less degree Zn, were related to these metals in seaweed. Because zinc is an essential element in mussels, some regulation of their internal concentrations is likely. Mercury was not detected in seaweed, but because of its reactive nature, it is not expected that the dissolved fraction could be a significant pathway; therefore, it can be concluded that its temporal variability was determined by the variability in the condition index only.     

Dynamics of the agricultural frontier in the Amazon and savannas of Brazil: analyzing the impact of policy and technology

While many government policies stimulating deforestation have been reversed, private sector lobbies for uncontrolled logging and soybean export corridors threaten the Amazon. Under a favorable scenario (macroeconomic stabilization, controlled logging and road building, sustainable technologies, global environmental markets) reconversion of natural habitat could be 30% lower than under unfavorable policies and technologies, without sacrificing production.     

Tolerance and phytoremediation potential of Calopogonium mucunoides to boron

Soil contamination by trace elements (TEs) is a problem of great concern since the industrial revolution. However, not all TEs are essentially toxic, and several micronutrients such as boron (B) play essential roles during plant development and, in this case, B acts in plants as a structural element. Soil B levels above 3.0 mg dm^–3 may be toxic to many plants and the greatest input of B to the environment occurs through the anthropic way. An environmentally promising alternative is phytoremediation, in which contaminant‐tolerant plants are used to remove or stabilize TEs in soils. Therefore, this work has been carried out to aim C. mucunoides’ tolerance to increasing B concentrations and its potential as a phytoremediator. We found out that C. mucunoides tolerates B doses up to 480 mg dm^?3, the B uptaken is transported at a 1:1 ratio between root and shoot, suggesting that C. mucunoides can be used as a phytostabilizer and phytoextractor due to its potential to be used in phytoremediation techniques because it can tolerate toxic concentrations of B.     

Natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs to sediments of Patos Lagoon Estuary, Brazil

The Patos Lagoon Estuary, southern Brazil, is an area of environmental interest not only because of tourism, but also because of the presence of the second major port of Brazil, with the related industrial and shipping activities. Thus, potential hydrocarbon pollution was examined in this study. Sediment samples were collected at 10 sites in the estuary, extracted, and analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS for composition and concentration of the following organic geochemical markers: normal and isoprenoid alkanes, petroleum biomarkers, linear alkylbenzenes (LABs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The total concentrations varied from 1.1 to 129.6 microg g(-1) for aliphatic hydrocarbons, from 17.8 to 4510.6 ng g(-1) for petroleum biomarkers, from 3.2 to 1601.9 ng g(-1) for LABs, and from 37.7 to 11,779.9 ng g(-1) for PAHs. Natural hydrocarbons were mainly derived from planktonic inputs due to a usual development of blooms in the estuary. Terrestrial plant wax compounds prevailed at sites located far from Rio Grande City and subject to stronger currents. Anthropogenic hydrocarbons are related to combustion/pyrolysis processes of fossil fuel, release of unburned oil products and domestic/industrial waste outfalls. Anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs were more apparent at sites associated with industrial discharges (petroleum distributor and refinery), shipping activities (dry docking), and sewage outfalls (sewage). The overall concentrations of anthropogenic hydrocarbons revealed moderate to high hydrocarbon pollution in the study area.     

Certification and integration of management systems: the experience of Portuguese small and medium enterprises

The purpose of this study was to characterize the situation of Portuguese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) concerning the certification of their Quality Management Systems (QMS), Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), in their individually form, to identify benefits, drawbacks and difficulties associated with the certification process and to characterize the level of integration that has been achieved. This research was based on a survey carried out by the research team; it was administered to 46 Portuguese SMEs. Our sample comprised 20 firms (43%) from the Trade/Services activity sector, 17 (37%) from the Industrial sector, 5 (11%) from the Electricity/Telecommunications sector and 4 (9%) from the Construction area. All SMEs surveyed were certified according to the ISO 9001 (100%), a quarter of firms were certified according to the ISO 14001 (26.1%) and a few certified by OHSAS 18001 (15.2%). We undertook a multivariate cluster analysis, which enabled grouping variables into homogeneous groups or one or more common characteristics of the SMEs participating in the study. Results show that the main benefits that Portuguese SMEs have gained from the referred certifications have been, among others, an improvement of both their internal organization and external image. We also present the main difficulties in achieving certification. Overall, 7 of the Portuguese SMEs examined indicated that the main benefits of the IMS implementation management included costs reduction, increased employee training and easier compliance of legislation. The respective drawbacks and difficulties are also presented. Finally, we presented the main integrated items in the certified Portuguese SMEs we examined.     

Organotin contamination in South American coastal areas

Organotin compounds (OTs) were used in antifouling paints for more than four decades. However, due to their widespread intensive use and high toxicity, undesirable effects in non-target marine organisms have been detected since the early 1980s. Consequently, the International Maritime Organization banned new maritime applications of these products on January 1, 2003 and their presence on ship hulls from January 1, 2008. Although extensively studied in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia, environmental levels and effects of organotin contamination are still poorly known for South America. Thus, the current review aimed to present the actual status of this problem in South America by summarizing and comparing the available data in the literature. An overview of the OTs concentrations in sediment and biota and their effects, mainly imposex in marine gastropods, are presented. This work showed that in Atlantic coastal areas of South America there are “hot spots” of OTs contamination, similar to that observed in industrialized countries of Northern Hemisphere. On the other hand, the number of accomplished studies in the Pacific coast is extremely low. Despite the limitation on studies about OTs environmental levels and their related effects, the available data pointed out for a widespread TBT contamination along the South American coastal areas. Therefore, the establishment of baselines of organotin contamination in the Pacific coast and the implementation of temporal trend studies in the South American coastal areas is crucial to verify the effectiveness of local regulations and OTs global ban, and to map the most sensitive areas related to present and future antifouling impacts.