Echoes from the Past: A Healthy Baltic Sea Requires More Effort

Integrated sediment multiproxy studies and modeling were used to reconstruct past changes in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Results of natural changes over the past 6000 years in the Baltic Sea ecosystem suggest that forecasted climate warming might enhance environmental problems of the Baltic Sea. Integrated modeling and sediment proxy studies reveal increased sea surface temperatures and expanded seafloor anoxia (in deep basins) during earlier natural warm climate phases, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Under future IPCC scenarios of global warming, there is likely no improvement of bottom water conditions in the Baltic Sea. Thus, the measures already designed to produce a healthier Baltic Sea are insufficient in the long term. The interactions between climate change and anthropogenic impacts on the Baltic Sea should be considered in management, implementation of policy strategies in the Baltic Sea environmental issues, and adaptation to future climate change.     

What does it mean to transform knowledge into action in falls prevention research? Perspectives from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Introduction

The concept of knowledge translation as defined by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Knowledge to Action Cycle, described by Graham et al (Graham et al., 2006), are used to make a case for the importance of using a conceptual model to describe moving knowledge into action in the area of falls prevention.

Method

There is a large body of research in the area of falls prevention. It would seem that in many areas it is clear what is needed to prevent falls and further syntheses can determine where the evidence is sufficiently robust to warrant its implementation as well as where the gaps are that require further basic research.

Conclusion

The phases of the action cycle highlight seven areas that should be paid attention to in order to maximize chances of successful implementation.     

Perceptions of personal vulnerability to workplace hazards in the Australian construction industry

Introduction

The importance of risk perception for workplace safety has been highlighted by the inclusion of risk appraisals in contemporary models of precautionary behavior at work. Optimism bias is the tendency to think that negative events are less likely to happen to oneself than to the average person, and is proposed to be related to the reduced use of precautions.

Method

Building on studies of optimism bias for workplace hazards using samples with heterogenous risk profiles, the current study aimed to investigate whether optimism bias is present in a sample of workers exposed to similar workplace hazards. 175 Australian construction workers completed a brief survey that asked them to rate the likelihood of common construction industry hazards occurring to them and to the average worker of the same age doing the same job. Significant levels of optimism bias were found for many hazards (including being electrocuted, being trapped in a confined space, falling from heights, and causing someone else to have an injury).

Results

Optimism bias was not related to perceived controllability, contrary to findings in other domains, yet consistent with findings of optimism bias for workplace hazards. Optimism bias was not found to be related to a reduction in safe work behaviors, though this may be due to difficulties in measuring safe or precautionary behavior, such as social desirability.

Impact on industry

That most workers think that hazards are less likely to happen to them than to the average worker presents a significant problem because it may ameliorate the efficacy of safety programs, yet constitutes a largely unexplored opportunity for improving workplace safety performance.     

Modelling PCB bioaccumulation in a Baltic food web

A steady state model is developed to describe the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants by 14 species in a Baltic food web including pelagic and benthic aquatic organisms. The model is used to study the bioaccumulation of five PCB congeners of different chlorination levels. The model predictions are evaluated against monitoring data for five of the species in the food web. Predicted concentrations are on average within a factor of two of measured concentrations. The model shows that all PCB congeners were biomagnified in the food web, which is consistent with observations. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the single most sensitive parameter is log K(OW). The most sensitive environmental parameter is the annual average temperature. Although not identified amongst the most sensitive input parameters, the dissolved concentration in water is believed to be important because of the uncertainty in its determination. The most sensitive organism-specific input parameters are the fractional respiration of species from the water column and sediment pore water, which are also difficult to determine. Parameters such as feeding rate, growth rate and lipid content of organism are only important at higher trophic levels.     

Temperature-dependent rate coefficients for the reactions of Cl atoms with methyl methacrylate,methyl acrylate and butyl methacrylate at atmospheric pressure

Rate coefficients for the gas-phase reactions of Cl atoms with a series of unsaturated esters CH₂C(CH₃)C(O)OCH₃ (MMA), CH₂CHC(O)OCH₃ (MAC) and CH₂C(CH₃)C(O)O(CH₂)₃CH₃ (BMA) have been measured as a function of temperature by the relative technique in an environmental chamber with in situ FTIR detection of reactants. The rate coefficients obtained at 298 K in one atmosphere of nitrogen or synthetic air using propene, isobutene and 1,3-butadiene as reference hydrocarbons were (in units of 10^?10 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1) as follows: k_(Cl+MMA) = 2.82 ± 0.93, k_(Cl+MAC) = 2.04 ± 0.54 and k_(Cl+BMA) = 3.60 ± 0.87. The kinetic data obtained over the temperature range 287–313 K were used to derive the following Arrhenius expressions (in units of cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1): k_(Cl+MMA) = (13.9 ± 7.8) × 10^?15 exp[(2904 ± 420)/T], k_(Cl+MAC) = (0.4 ± 0.2) × 10^?15 exp[(3884 ± 879)/T], k_(Cl+BMA) = (0.98 ± 0.42) × 10^?15 exp[(3779 ± 850)/T]. All the rate coefficients display a slight negative temperature dependence which points to the importance of the reversibility of the addition mechanism for these reactions. This work constitutes the first kinetic and temperature dependence study of the reactions cited above.An analysis of the available rates of addition of Cl atoms and OH radicals to the double bond of alkenes and unsaturated and oxygenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at 298 K has shown that they can be related by the expression: log k_OH = 1.09 log k_Cl ? 0.10. In addition, a correlation between the reactivity of unsaturated VOCs toward OH radicals and Cl atoms and the HOMO of the unsaturated VOC is presented. Tropospheric implications of the results are also discussed.     

Model and input uncertainty in multi-media fate modeling: benzo[a]pyrene concentrations in Europe

This paper evaluates the contribution of (i) uncertainty in substance properties, (ii) lack of spatial variability, (iii) intermodel differences and (iv) neglecting sorption to black carbon (BC) to the uncertainty of Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) concentrations in European air, soil and fresh water predicted by the multi-media fate model Simplebox. Uncertainty in substance properties was quantified using probabilistic modeling. The influence of spatial variability was quantified by estimating variation in predicted concentrations with three spatially explicit fate models (Impact 2002, EVn BETR and BETR Global). Intermodel differences were quantified by comparing concentration estimates of Simplebox, Impact 2002, EVn BETR and the European part of BETR Global. Finally, predictions of a BC-inclusive version of Simplebox were compared with predictions of a BC-exclusive version. For air concentrations of BaP, the lack of spatial variability in emissions was most influential. For freshwater concentrations of BaP, intermodel differences and lack of spatial variability in dimensions of fresh water bodies were the dominant sources of uncertainty. For soil, all sources of uncertainty were of comparable magnitude. Our results indicate that uncertainty in Simplebox can be as large as three orders of magnitude for BaP concentrations in the environment and would be substantially underestimated by focusing on one source of uncertainty only.     

Effects of crop diversification and low pesticide inputs on bird populations on arable land

This 6-year experimental study measured the response of bird populations and abundance to combinations of mixed cropping and low pesticide regimes associated with a commercial crop rotation. The results show a rapid and sustained population increase among a wide range of bird species, in contrast to local regional trends for the same species. Seventy percent of the increase occurred within the first 3 years of the experiment, with species of high conservation concern, and those monitored as environmental indicators on lowland farmland in the UK, increasing on average, by 30% and 20% respectively (reaching respective peaks of 44% and 33% after 4 years). For some individual species, the increase was higher still, i.e., 300% (1–4 pairs) for grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and 46% (13–19 pairs) for skylarks (Alauda arvensis) in peak years. The results demonstrate that bird species typical of lowland arable farmland in the UK are responsive to suitable farm-scale changes in habitat and food provision (roughly, manipulation within less than 1-km²). They show that the carrying capacity of modern, commercially viable, arable farmland can be increased significantly for birds, in this case, mainly by using crops mosaics to create habitats alongside the appropriate use of herbicides on non-cropped habitats.     

Stakeholder perspectives on the value proposition of enterprise-level natural capital accounting for three primary industries

Environment Systems and Decisions - Globally we are experiencing a decline in aggregate natural capital. Many primary industries and enterprises are highly dependent on renewable and non-renewable...     

Quantifying nickel in soils and plants in an ultramafic area in Philippines

In this study, concentrations of nickel (Ni) were quantified in the soils and plants in the agricultural areas of Salcedo watershed in Eastern Samar Island, Philippines. The quantity of total Ni in soils (TS-Ni) was significantly high with a mean of 1,409 mg kg^?1, while the soil available Ni (SA-Ni) was low with a mean of 8.66 mg kg^?1. As the levels of TS-Ni in the Salcedo watershed greatly exceeded the maximum allowable concentrations for agricultural soils, the site is not suitable for agricultural purposes. Despite significant TS-Ni levels, SA-Ni levels were very low due to tight binding between Ni and soil components. Consequently, all plants investigated did not meet the criterion for a Ni hyperaccumulator plant with low Ni contents (mean TP-Ni of 14.7 mg kg^?1). Comparison of Ni levels between food plants and its recommended daily intake (RDI) suggests that consumption of food-plants grown in the study area is unlikely to pose health risks. However, caution must be taken against combined consumption of food plants with high Ni levels or their prolonged consumption, as it can induce accumulation of Ni above RDI.     

Direct and indirect effects of ammonia, ammonium and nitrate on phosphatase activity and carbon fluxes from decomposing litter in peatland

Here we investigate the response of soils and litter to 5 years of experimental additions of ammonium (NH₄), nitrate (NO₃), and ammonia (NH₃) to an ombrotrophic peatland. We test the importance of direct (via soil) and indirect (via litter) effects on phosphatase activity and efflux of CO₂. We also determined how species representing different functional types responded to the nitrogen treatments. Our results demonstrate that additions of NO₃, NH₄ and NH₃ all stimulated phosphatase activity but the effects were dependent on species of litter and mechanism (direct or indirect). Deposition of NH₃ had no effect on efflux of CO₂ from Calluna vulgaris litter, despite it showing signs of stress in the field, whereas both NO₃ and NH₄ reduced CO₂ fluxes. Our results show that the collective impacts on peatlands of the three principal forms of nitrogen in atmospheric deposition are a result of differential effects and mechanisms on individual components.