Examining green public procurement using content analysis: existing difficulties for procurers and useful recommendations

Green public procurement (GPP) promises great potential for improving the environmental impact of many public organizations. However, the effects this instrument will have in the near future are unclear as there is little evidence on its exact level of engagement. This study thus aims to analyze the contents of tenders in terms of green criteria by specifically focusing on the building and construction sector. A total of 164 Italian public tenders were analyzed according to a protocol of analysis based on the GPP toolkit developed by the European Commission. Starting from a content analysis used in previous studies, a complete list of green criteria was developed in order to investigate their prevalence in the sample selected, with the aim of exploring their frequency, distribution and correlation. The results revealed a limited use of green criteria, which were mainly included as technical specifications and award criteria, thus shedding light on the difficulties that procurers are experiencing in the implementation of GPP practices. Several suggestions for policy makers and managers are identified for a better and faster implementation of green public procurement tools and methods.     

Measurement of Indoor Air Emissions from Dry-Process Photocopy Machines

Abstract

Presently, no standard test method exists to evaluate the various emissions from office equipment (e.g., ozone, volatile organic compounds, inorganic gases, and particulates) so it is difficult to compare data from different studies.1 As a result, the authors are developing a standardized guidance document for measuring indoor air emissions from office equipment. The ultimate goal is to apply the test method to better understand emissions from office equipment and to develop lower emitting machines. This paper provides background information on indoor air emissions from office equipment with an emphasis on dry-process photocopy machines. The test method is described in detail, along with the results of a study to evaluate the test method using four dry-process photocopy machines.

The results from this study indicate that the test method provides acceptable performance for characterizing emissions; that it can adequately identify differences in emissions between machines both in compounds emitted and their emission rates; and that it is capable of measuring both intra- and inter-machine variability in emissions. Challenges and complications were encountered in developing and implementing the test method. These included heat generation, which can cause large increases in chamber temperature; finite paper supplies for photocopy machines, which limit test duration; varying power requirements that may require changes in chamber electrical supply; and remote starting of the machines, which is necessary to maintain chamber integrity.

Results show that dry-process photocopy machines can produce emissions of ozone and volatile organic compounds that can potentially have a significant impact on indoor air quality. For the four machines tested in this study, the compounds with the highest emission rates overall were ethylbenzene (28,000 µg/hour), m,p-xylenes (29,000 µg/hour), o-xylene (17,000 µg/hour), 2-ethyl-lhexanol (14,000 µg/hour), and styrene (12,000 fig/hour). Although many of the same compounds tended to be detected in emissions from each of the four photocopiers, the relative contribution of individual compounds varied considerably between machines, with differences greater than an order of magnitude for some compounds.     

On-Road Measurement of Vehicle Tailpipe Emissions Using a Portable Instrument

Abstract

A study design procedure was developed and demonstrated for the deployment of portable onboard tailpipe emissions measurement systems for selected highway vehicles fueled by gasoline and E85 (a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). Data collection, screening, processing, and analysis protocols were developed to assure data quality and to provide insights regarding quantification of real-world intravehicle variability in hot-stabilized emissions. Onboard systems provide representative real-world emissions measurements; however, onboard field studies are challenged by the observable but uncontrollable nature of traffic flow and ambient conditions. By characterizing intravehicle variability based on repeated data collection runs with the same driver/vehicle/route combinations, this study establishes the ability to develop stable modal emissions rates for idle, acceleration, cruise, and deceleration even in the face of uncontrollable external factors. For example, a consistent finding is that average emissions during acceleration are typically 5 times greater than during idle for hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide and 10 times greater for nitric oxide and carbon monoxide. A statistical method for comparing on-road emissions of different drivers is presented. Onboard data demonstrate the importance of accounting for the episodic nature of real-world emissions to help develop appropriate traffic and air quality management strategies.     

Effect of combustion condition on cytotoxic and inflammatory activity of residential wood combustion particles

Residential heating is an important local source of fine particles and may cause significant exposure and health effects in populations. We investigated the cytotoxic and inflammatory activity of particulate emissions from normal (NC) and smouldering (SC) combustion in one masonry heater. The PM_1–0.2 and PM_0.2 samples were collected from the dilution tunnel with a high-volume cascade impactor (HVCI). Mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages were exposed to the PM-samples for 24 h. Inflammatory mediators, (IL-6, TNFα and MIP-2), and cytotoxicity (MTT-test), were measured. Furthermore, apoptosis and cell cycle of macrophages were analyzed. The HVCI particulate samples were characterized for ions, elements and PAH compounds. Assays of elemental and organic carbon were conducted from parallel low volume samples. All the samples displayed mostly dose-dependent inflammatory and cytotoxic activity. SC samples were more potent than NC samples at inducing cytotoxicity and MIP-2 production, while the order of potency was reversed in TNFα production. SC-PM_1–0.2 sample was a significantly more potent inducer of apoptosis than the respective NC sample. After adjustment for the relative toxicity with emission factor (mg MJ^?1), the SC-PM emissions had clearly higher inflammatory and cytotoxic potential than the NC-PM emissions. Thus, operational practice in batch burning of wood and the resultant combustion condition clearly affect the toxic potential of particulate emissions.     

Effects of organic matter on the distribution of uranium in soil and plant matrices

This work studied interactions of uranium with pure organic compounds, such as glutathione, and more complex mixtures, such as humic acid and aqueous plant extracts. High performance liquid chromatography with UV absorption interfaced to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry sequential detection was used to detect organouranium complexes in a variety of soils and plant materials, indicating that nearly 100% of the uranium extracted from certain plant tissues was bound to organic ligands. In addition, soil sorption experiments indicated that humic acid generally decreased uranium sorption to soils and promoted subsequent desorption of uranium because of uranium partitioning to the organic phase. These experiments demonstrate that organic compounds influence the mobility and chemistry of uranium in the environment.     

Monitoring Inter-Annual Variability Reveals Sources of Mercury Contamination in Clear Lake, California

Mercury (Hg) in the aquatic ecosystem of Clear Lake has been documented since the 1970s when fishes were found to have elevated levels of toxic methyl mercury (meHg). Mining practices at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (active intermittently from 1872–1957) along the shoreline of Clear Lake included the bulldozing of waste rock and overburden ore into the shallow nearshore regions of the lake and the creation of steeply sloped piles of waste rock at the water's edge. This process, plus erosion of the waste rock piles, resulted in the accumulation of an estimated 100 metric tons of Hg in Clear Lake. A monitoring program to assess Hg in Clear Lake was established in 1992, and conducted continuously from 1994. Drought conditions in California had persisted for ca. 6 yrs prior to 1992, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) remediated the steeply sloped eroding waste rock piles, which appeared to reduce sediment Hg concentrations significantly. In April 1995, a white flocculent material was observed in Clear Lake adjacent to the mine and has been observed every year since, leading to the discovery of ongoing acid mine drainage (AMD), low pH fluids high in Hg and extremely high in sulfate. AMD is now believed to be the most likely cause of elevated meHg in Clear Lake. The discovery of this source of meHg production in Clear Lake, which will significantly influence remedial options, was only made possible by implementation of a diligent monitoring program.     

Collagen biosynthesis in cell culture from chorionic villi

After chorionic villus biopsy of human placenta, cell cultures were propagated with Ham's F10 medium or Eagle's minimum essential medium (MEM). It was possible to study the morphology of the cells by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after a special culture of the cells in a collagen gel. The cells embedded in a collagen gel were able to contract the gel and to organize collagen fibres, as fibroblast cultures do. TEM showed vacuolization and well-developed cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, especially in the case of MEM culture. The aim was to determine whether cells cultivated from early placenta were able to synthesize enough collagen for a metabolic study. A high level of collagen biosynthesis could be quantified. Types I and III collagen can be determined which is useful for studying the abnormalities of collagen synthesis in suspected cases of osteogenesis imperfecta or Ehlers–Danlos type IV syndrome. The hydroxylation of lysine can also be studied with respect to Ehlers–Danlos type VI syndrome. Moreover, these cells, in contrast to fibroblast cultures, made it possible to study the biosynthesis of type IV collagen.     

Differences in the electroantennal responses of apple- and hawthorn-infesting races of Rhagoletis pomonella to host fruit volatile compounds

Summary. Domestic apple (Malus pumila)- and hawthorn (Crataegus sp.)-infesting races of Rhagoletis pomonella, Walsh (Diptera: Tephritidae) provide an excellent model to examine the role that host plant specificity plays during sympatric speciation (i.e., divergence in the absence of geographic isolation). Previous work has shown that these races differ in their propensities to accept apple and hawthorn fruits in behavioral choice assays, and that this discrimination translates into "host fidelity" in the field (i.e., apple flies tend to mate on and oviposit into apples and hawthorn flies on hawthorns). ?We present the results of a study examining possible physiological factors contributing to host choice differences in R. pomonella. We tested whether apple and hawthorn flies differ in their electroantennogram (EAG) responses to biologically relevant volatile compounds emitted from apples and hawthorns. Significant differences were found in the relative EAG responses of apple and hawthorn flies to host fruit compounds at five of six paired study sites across the eastern United States. The geographic pattern of EAG variation was complex, however, with local populations of apple and hawthorn flies tending to be more similar to one another than to flies of the same race at distant sites. This pattern was largely due to EAG responses for several compounds showing longitudinal or latitudinal clines, the latitudinal clines being similar to those observed for allozyme loci in the host races. We also found evidence for sex-related differences, as males tended to have higher mean EAG responses to compounds than females. Host-associated differences were therefore nested within geographic and sex-related differentiation in R. pomonella.?Further behavioral studies are needed to distinguish whether the EAG differences are responsible for, as opposed to being a consequence of, host-plant fidelity and adaptation. Crosses are also required to establish a genetic basis for the EAG responses, although we did find significant correlations between EAG scores for several compounds and the allozymes NADH-Diaphorase-2 and Hydroxyacid dehydrogenase at one of the study sites. Questions therefore remain concerning the evolutionary significance of the EAG response differences between apple and hawthorn fly races. Nevertheless, these differences raise the possibility that antennal responses to fruit-related volatile compounds contribute to host plant discrimination in R. pomonella. Regardless, the EAG responses represent another set of traits, in addition to diapause/eclosion time phenotypes and allozyme frequencies, differing between apple and hawthorn host races of R. pomonella. Received 17 March 1998; accepted 21 September 1989.     

Residual Cadmium and Lead Pollution at a Former Soviet Military Airfield in Tartu, Estonia

This paper presents data on the levels and dynamics of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) concentration in the plants, soil, and groundwater of the landing corridor and airfield of a former Soviet military air base in Estonia, immediately at the end of its 40-year service in 1992 and over the following 8 yr. In 1991–92 we found high Cd concentrations in the meadow plants Trifolium pratense and Dactylis glomerata (up to 56 mg kg^-1). In 1993, the Cd concentration had dropped to 0.12–0.19 mg kg^-1, and stabilized in 1997–2000 at 0.04 mg kg^-1. Cd concentration in plants decreased significantly with increasing distance from the landing strip. Elevated Cd concentration (0.012 mg L^-1) was found in the fuel of the TU-22M (Backfire) strategic bombers. In 1991 and 1993, leaded fuel influenced the mean Pb concentration in plants (1.8–4.2 mg kg^-1). Average Pb concentration in both topsoil and the 30–40 cm soil horizon decreased between 1991 and 2000 from 28 to 6.5 and from 13.5 to 4.3 mg kg^-1, respectively. Cd concentration in the topsoil of the landingcorridor showed a significant increase between 1991 and 1993 (0.07–0.3 and 0.3–1.2 mg kg^-1, respectively), but stabilized later on the level of 0.04 mg kg^-1. The concentrations of both Pb and Cd in the soil were higher closer to the fuel bunkers. Current assessment of the movement of these metals from the vegetation to the soil and to groundwater is linked to potential leaching to the surrounding environment.