Utilizing a 'systems' approach to improve the management of waste from healthcare facilities: best practice case studies from England and Wales.

Changes in environmental legislation and standards governing healthcare waste, such as the Hazardous Waste Regulations are expected to have a significant impact on healthcare waste quantities and costs in England and Wales. This paper presents findings from two award winning case study organizations, the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and the Cornwall NHS Trust on 'systems' they have employed for minimizing waste. The results suggest the need for the development and implementation of a holistic range of systems in order to develop best practice, including waste minimization strategies, key performance indicators, and staff training and awareness. The implications for the sharing of best practice from the two case studies are also discussed.     

Diethylaminoethyl-cellulose clean-up of a large volume naphthenic acid extract

The Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Canada contain an estimated 174 billion barrels of bitumen. During oil sands refining processes, an extraction tailings mixture is produced that has been reported as toxic to aquatic organisms and is therefore collected in settling ponds on site. Investigation into the toxicity of these tailings pond waters has identified naphthenic acids (NAs) and their sodium salts as the major toxic components, and a multi-year study has been initiated to identify the principal toxic components within NA mixtures. Future toxicity studies require a large volume of a NA mixture, however, a well-defined bulk extraction technique is not available. This study investigated the use of a weak anion exchanger, diethylaminoethyl-cellulose (DEAE-cellulose), to remove humic-like material present after collecting the organic acid fraction of oil sands tailings pond water. The NA extraction and clean-up procedure proved to be a fast and efficient method to process large volumes of tailings pond water, providing an extraction efficiency of 41.2%. The resulting concentrated NA solution had a composition that differed somewhat from oil sands fresh tailings, with a reduction in the abundance of lower molecular weight NAs being the most significant difference. This reduction was mainly due to the initial acidification of tailings pond water. The DEAE-cellulose treatment had only a minor effect on the NA concentration, no noticeable effect on the NA fingerprint, and no significant effect on the mixture toxicity towards Vibrio fischeri.     

Pesticide modelling for a small catchment using SWAT-2000

Pesticides in stream flow from the 142 ha Colworth catchment in Bedfordshire, UK were monitored from October 1999 to December 2000. About 47% of the catchment is tile-drained and different pesticides and cropping patterns have recently been evaluated in terms of their effect on nutrient and pesticide losses to the stream. The data from Colworth were used to test soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) 2000 predictions of pesticide concentrations at the catchment outlet. A sound model set-up to carry out pesticide modelling was created by means of hydrological modelling with proper simulation of crop growth and evapotranspiration. The pesticides terbuthylazine, terbutryn, cyanazine and bentazone were modelled. There was close agreement between SWAT-predicted pesticide concentration values and observations. Scenario trials were conducted to explore management options for reducing pesticide loads arriving at the catchment outlet. The results obtained indicate that SWAT can be used as a tool to understand pesticide behavior at the catchment scale.     

Larval salivary glands are a source of primer and releaser pheromone in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)

A brood pheromone identified in honeybee larvae has primer and releaser pheromone effects on adult bees. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to evaluate fatty acid esters—the pheromonal compounds—in different parts of the larvae, we have localized the source of the esters as the larval salivary glands. A histochemical study describes the glands and confirms the presence of lipids in the glands. Epithelial cells of the gland likely secrete the fatty acids into the lumen of the gland. These results demonstrate the salivary glands to be a reservoir of esters, components of brood pheromone, in honeybee larvae.     

Fungal inoculum properties: extracellular enzyme expression and pentachlorophenol removal in highly contaminated field soils

This study was conducted to improve the pentachlorophenol (PCP) bioremediation ability of white-rot fungi in highly contaminated field soils by manipulating bioaugmentation variables. These were the dry weight percentage of fungal inoculum addition (31-175 g kg(-1)), PCP concentration (100-2137 mg kg(-1) PCP), fungal inoculum formulation, and time (1-7 wk). Five fungal isolates were used: the New Zealand isolates Trametes versicolor (L.: Fr.) HR131 and Trametes sp. HR577; the North American isolates Phanerochaete chrysosporium Burds. (two isolates) and Phanerochaete sordida (Karst.) Erikss. & Ryv. Pentachlorophenol removal, manganese peroxidase, and laccase activity, and the formation of chloroanisoles in the contaminated field soils were measured. The majority of PCP removed by the Trametes isolates was in the first week after bioaugmentation. The maximum PCP removal by the fungi varied from 50 to 65% from a 1065 mg kg(-1) PCP contaminated field soil. Pentachlorophenol was preferentially converted to pentachloroanisole (PCA) by the Phanerochaete isolates (>60%), while 2 to 9% of the PCP removed by two Trametes isolates was converted to PCA. A pH increase was measured following bioaugmentation that was dependent on PCP concentration, fungal inoculum addition, and formulation. This, together with rapid initial PCP removal, possibly changed the bioavailability of the remaining PCP to the fungi and significantly decreased the sequestering of PCP in the contaminated field soils. The research supports the conclusion that New Zealand Trametes spp. can rapidly remove PCP in contaminated field soils. Bioavailability and extractability of PCP in the contaminated field soil may significantly increase after bioaugmentation.     

Controls on catchment-scale patterns of phosphorus in soil, streambed sediment, and stream water

Many models of phosphorus (P) transfer at the catchment scale rely on input from generic databases including, amongst others, soil and land use maps. Spatially detailed geochemical data sets have the potential to improve the accuracy of the input parameters of catchment-scale nutrient transfer models. Furthermore, they enable the assessment of the utility of available, generic spatial data sets for the modeling and prediction of soil nutrient status and nutrient transfer at the catchment scale. This study aims to quantify the unique and joint contribution of soil and sediment properties, land cover, and point-source emissions to the spatial variation of P concentrations in soil, streambed sediments, and stream water at the scale of a medium-sized catchment. Soil parent material and soil chemical properties were identified as major factors controlling the catchment-scale spatial variation in soil total P and Olsen P concentrations. Soil type and land cover as derived from the generic spatial database explain 33.7% of the variation in soil total P concentrations and 17.4% of the variation in Olsen P concentrations. Streambed P concentrations are principally related to the major element concentrations in streambed sediment and P delivery from the hillslopes due to sediment erosion. During base flow conditions, the total phosphorus (<0.45 microm) concentrations in stream water are mainly controlled by the concentrations of P and the major elements in the streambed sediment.     

Deriving Grassland Management Factors for a Carbon Accounting Method Developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Grassland management affects soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and can be used to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, for a country to assess emission reductions due to grassland management, there must be an inventory method for estimating the change in SOC storage. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed a simple carbon accounting approach for this purpose, and here we derive new grassland management factors that represent the effect of changing management on carbon storage for this method. Our literature search identified 49 studies dealing with effects of management practices that either degraded or improved conditions relative to nominally managed grasslands. On average, degradation reduced SOC storage to 95% ± 0.06 and 97% ± 0.05 of carbon stored under nominal conditions in temperate and tropical regions, respectively. In contrast, improving grasslands with a single management activity enhanced SOC storage by 14% ± 0.06 and 17% ± 0.05 in temperate and tropical regions, respectively, and with an additional improvement(s), storage increased by another 11% ± 0.04. We applied the newly derived factor coefficients to analyze C sequestration potential for managed grasslands in the U.S., and found that over a 20-year period changing management could sequester from 5 to 142 Tg C yr^–1 or 0.1 to 0.9 Mg C ha^–1 yr^–1, depending on the level of change. This analysis provides revised factor coefficients for the IPCC method that can be used to estimate impacts of management; it also provides a methodological framework for countries to derive factor coefficients specific to conditions in their region.     

TURBULENCE IN MIRAMICHI BAY: THE BURNT CHURCH CONFLICT OVER NATIVE FISHING RIGHTS1

Abstract: A systematic technique is proposed for assisting in the design and implementation of policy and addressing the need to minimize or resolve disputes that may arise in the enforcement of regulations. The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution is a methodology that facilitates the modeling and analysis of interactive multiple participant-multiple objective decision problems. In the problems considered here, decision makers and policy planners engaged in capacity building typically have different viewpoints over appropriate ways of developing options and enforcing policy choices. Incompatible understandings of resource potentials and limits, and disparities in utilization of these resources, exasperate stakeholders and make the capacity building process counterproductive and even conducive to conflict. A systematic conflict resolution technique is invaluable to policy makers and practitioners in defusing confrontations and reaching out for consensus among participants. In support of current approaches to policy planning and regulation, the Graph Model provides accurate predictions and strategic insights into shortand long-term opportunities in multiple participant-multiple objective decision situations. A conflict among the government of Canada, the Mi'kmaq First Nation, and commercial fishermen over the sharing of a natural resource in New Brunswick, Canada, is used to illustrate the advantages of this technique in practical problems.     

Impact of land use on soluble organic nitrogen in soil

Although it has been hypothesized that soluble organic nitrogen (SON) plays a central role in regulating productivity in some terrestrial ecosystems, the factors controlling the size of the SON pool in soil remain poorly understood. Therefore our principal aim in this work was to assess the impact of seven different land use systems (rough and managed grassland, deciduous and coniferous woodland, heathland, wetland and tilled land) on the size of the SON and inorganic N (NO^? ₃, NH⁺ ₄) pools in the surface soil layer (0–15 cm). After extraction with deionised water, we found that in most cases the size of the water extractable organic N (WEON) pool was similar in size to the inorganic N pool. In contrast, the KCl extractable organic N (KClEON) pool constituted the dominant form of soluble N in soils under all land uses, perhaps indicating that significant amounts were held on the soil exchange phase. In contrast to inorganic N, which varied significantly with land use, the size of the KClEON and WEON pool was similar for all land uses with the exception of KClEON in tilled land, where significantly lower amounts were observed. We conclude that SON constitutes an important soil N pool in a broad range of land uses, and that its role in microbial N assimilation, plant nutrition and ecosystem responses to atmospheric N deposition warrants further attention.     

A low cost instrument based on a solid state sensor for balloon-borne atmospheric O(3) profile sounding

The design of an instrument based on a solid state tungsten oxide sensor for making profile measurements of atmospheric ozone from balloon platforms is described. The sensor is operated at a constant temperature, typically 530 [degree]C. The importance of a detailed consideration of the electronic design is demonstrated, with particular reference to the circuit to control the sensor heater. Calibration methods which are straightforward to implement are illustrated, and the results of a test flight alongside an electrochemical ozonesonde are shown. Quantitative agreement within 25% for most of the profile demonstrates the potential of this type of sensor for ozone sounding. Future improvements from manufacture to analysis are expected to improve on this.