Environmental forensics: the case for professional registration

The origins and purpose of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners (CRFP) is described, and its emergence as the primary source of assurance of the current professional competence of forensic practitioners is demonstrated. While the main emphasis of CRFP thus far is within the criminal justice system, its approach and principles are equally applicable to civil courts, tribunals, arbitrations and like legal contexts. The case is made for those engaged in environmental forensic work to come within the scope of CRFP with resultant benefits to practitioners, their employers and the public at large.     

Torque Production Using Handwheels of Different Size During a Simulated Valve Operation Task

Opening and closing valves in industrial facilities often requires operators to use bars and wrenches as levers (cheaters) in order to overcome initial actuation forces. In order to determine more appropriate operational specifications, the maximum torque production capability was measured when 12 male participants used 4 different valve handwheels at 3 different heights and 2 different angles (in relationship to the coronal plane). The results indicate that the participants produced significantly greater torque when the largest of the 4 wheels (40.6 cm diameter) was used than when the medium (22.9 cm), small (20.3 cm), and handled (17.8 cm) handwheels were used. Although the main effect of heights was found to be statistically significant, post-hoc analyses between the heights found them to be, essentially, equal. In addition, the vertical and horizontal wheel orientations were not found to be different. The results are applicable to all industries where handwheels are used and applicable to valve manufacturers for designing operational torque specifications below the values found in this study.     

Characterization and pilot‐scale studies for chemical oxidation remediation of fractured shale

The distribution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in fractured shale overlain by thin (< 10 feet) overburden at the Watervliet Arsenal near Albany, New York, was initially determined by sampling water from the fracture network using packer systems in boreholes and also using conventional monitoring wells. Furthermore, short‐term pumping and injection tests were conducted and the boreholes were logged using a variety of geophysical and hydrophysical tools. Tetrachloroethene is the dominant VOC in the groundwater, with lesser concentrations of trichloroethene and degradation products (cis‐1,2‐dichloroethene, trans‐1,2‐dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride). The vertical VOC distributions in the rock matrix were obtained from continuous‐cored holes from which small rock samples, collected at many depths between 18 and 150 feet below ground surface, were analyzed. The rock core VOC concentrations were determined by methanol extraction of crushed rock followed by direct methanol injection onto a gas chromatograph and subsequent estimation of rock porewater VOC concentrations. The rock core data support the concept that diffusion‐driven mass transfer has caused nearly all the VOC mass initially present in the fractures to now reside in the rock matrix, which has a porosity three or four orders of magnitude larger than the bulk fracture porosity. The results of the site characterization indicate that an effective site investigation strategy in fractured shale must include characterization of both the fracture and matrix contaminant distribution. These results also indicate that the most favorable remediation technologies for this fractured shale are those that will destroy VOCs in the rock matrix, particularly contaminants in the sorbed phase, and also destroy the VOC mass in the fractures including both dissolved and immiscible phases. The site characterization resulted in the selection of potassium permanganate for an in situ chemical oxidation pilot study. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

NEMS and MARKAL-MACRO Models for Energy-Environmental-Economic Analysis: A Comparison of the Electricity and Carbon Reduction Projections

The Annual Energy Outlook forecasts published by the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Department of Energy are based on results from the National Energy Modeling system (NEMS). This paper compares NEMS, which is used only in the U.S., with the U.S. version of MARKAL-MACRO (USMM) model, which is used in more than thirty-five countries. The two models predict similar results for the base 1999 US Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), but their results with carbon constraints are quite different. The differences of the models and those of their predictions are explained. USMM can be used to provide an alternative and complementary approach to projections of renewable technologies penetration and their potential in reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the USA.     

An evaluation of ozone exposure metrics for a seasonally drought-stressed ponderosa pine ecosystem

Ozone stress has become an increasingly significant factor in cases of forest decline reported throughout the world. Current metrics to estimate ozone exposure for forest trees are derived from atmospheric concentrations and assume that the forest is physiologically active at all times of the growing season. This may be inaccurate in regions with a Mediterranean climate, such as California and the Pacific Northwest, where peak physiological activity occurs early in the season to take advantage of high soil moisture and does not correspond to peak ozone concentrations. It may also misrepresent ecosystems experiencing non-average climate conditions such as drought years. We compared direct measurements of ozone flux into a ponderosa pine canopy with a suite of the most common ozone exposure metrics to determine which best correlated with actual ozone uptake by the forest. Of the metrics we assessed, SUM0 (the sum of all daytime ozone concentrations > 0) best corresponded to ozone uptake by ponderosa pine, however the correlation was only strong at times when the stomata were unconstrained by site moisture conditions. In the early growing season (May and June). SUM0 was an adequate metric for forest ozone exposure. Later in the season, when stomatal conductance was limited by drought. SUM0 overestimated ozone uptake. A better metric for seasonally drought-stressed forests would be one that incorporates forest physiological activity, either through mechanistic modeling, by weighting ozone concentrations by stomatal conductance, or by weighting concentrations by site moisture conditions.     

Effect of hexachlorobenzene on the specific binding of 2,3,7,8,-TCDD to the hepatic receptor

The ability of HCB to interact with the receptor was investigated and . HCB, up to 1.0 μM, was not a potent competitor for the specific binding of [³H]-TCDD (0.3 nM) to rat hepatic cytosol. Administration of HCB (3000 ppm in the diet) to rats for up to 7 days resulted in a decrease in the specific binding of [³H]-TCDD to hepatic cytosol, as compared to pair-fed control rats. These results suggest that HCB may be able to interact, either directly or indirectly, with the hepatic receptor .     

Health effects from the nuclear fuel cycle and other sources in perspective

The data base for each process of the nuclear fuel cycle has been updated as a part of the Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems (CONAES) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The BNL Energy System Network Simulator (ESNS) was modified to accommodate the new data, and methodology was developed for estimating population dose and health effects resulting from atmosphere releases of radioactive materials from the nuclear fuel cycle.Estimates of population dose and health effects were made using these new CONAES emission data and the new model for three scenarios out to the year 2000: (1) no reprocessing; (2) reprocessing, 1-year cooling; and (3) reprocessing, 5-year cooling. Results indicate that radon emissions from mining and milling of uranium bearing ores will have greater impacts than any other component in the open nuclear fuel cycle. The estimated number of health effects will depend, to a large extent, on the lung model mechanism assumed to induce cancer; i.e., either the smeared or the unsmeared model. The smear model and the linear relationship predict for scenario 1, 630; for scenario 2, 949; and for scenario 3, 854 lung cancers, respectively, using the new CONAES data.Epidemiologic data from six United States counties were correlated using a new statistical model (described in the text) in order to test the validity of the lung model and the linear relationship. Results do not support the high lung cancer correlations expected from the unsmear model and the linear relationship; therefore, it is concluded that low-dose mechanisms may be different from those developed from high-dose data. The best place to look for effects of low-dose radiation may be the less developed countries because of a reduction in the noise level caused by chemical pollutants.