Computer and Electronics Product Stewardship: Are We Ready for the Challenge?

The PC revolution continues to produce faster and smarter machines at a stunning pace. Almost forgotten in the rush are the millions of nearly new, but suddenly outdated, computers that are abandoned every year. Can product stewardship offer life‐after‐end‐of‐life for this growing mountain of “attic‐ware,” while averting a costly—and potentially toxic—waste disposal crisis? © 2001 by Cate Gable, Axioun Books. Used with permission.     

A contingent valuation of the Mar Lodge Estate,Cairngorm Mountains,Scotland

The contingent valuation method is applied to the economic valuation of a significant environmental resource in the Scottish Highlands. Use and non‐use values are estimated. The results of such studies might be used to assist decision makers assess the case for public intervention to support the provision of environmental non‐market goods.     

Inhibition of erythrocyte delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity in fish from waters affected by lead smelters

We assessed the effects on fish of lead (Pb) released to streamsby smelters located in Trail, BC (Canada), E. Helena, MT, Herculaneum, MO, and Glover, MO. Fish were collected by electrofishing from sites located downstream of smelters and from reference sites. Blood from each fish was analyzed for -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity and hemoglobin (Hb), and samples of blood, liver, or carcass were analyzed for Pb, zinc (Zn), or both. Fish collected downstreamof all four smelters sites had elevated Pb concentrations, decreased ALAD activity, or both relative to their respectivereference sites. At E. Helena, fish from the downstream site also had lower Hb concentrations than fish from upstream. Differences among taxa were also apparent. Consistent with previous studies, ALAD activity in catostomids (Pisces: Catostomidae-northern hog sucker, Hypentelium nigricans;river carpsucker, Carpiodes carpio; largescale sucker, Catostomus macrocheilus; and mountain sucker, C. platyrhynchus) seemed more sensitive to Pb-induced ALAD inhibition than the salmonids (Pisces: Salmonidae-rainbow trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss; brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis) or common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Some of these differences may have resulted from differential accumulation of Zn, which was not measured at all sites. We detected no ALAD activity in channel catfish (Ictaluruspunctatus) from either site on the Mississippi River at Herculaneum, MO. Our findings confirmed that Pb is releasedto aquatic ecosystems by smelters and accumulated by fish, andwe documented potentially adverse effects of Pb in fish. We recommend that Zn be measured along with Pb when ALAD activityis used as a biomarker and the collection of at least 10 fish ofa species at each site to facilitate statistical analysis.     

BAN waste, environmental justice and citizen participation in policy setting

It is widely acknowledged that the poorest sections of society bear a disproportionate burden of poor environmental quality, including toxicity and pollution. The struggles to address environmental injustice instigated at grassroots level also place the burden of righting the injustice on those who often have the least resources in terms of time, money and access to decision makers. The unfolding story of BAN Waste's sophisticated challenge to the proposed building of a replacement incinerator in a working-class area of Newcastle demonstrates many of the issues and stages common to struggles for environmental justice. The struggle became proactive and built wider alliances and a broad coalition across the city for change. The eventual success in preventing the incinerator being built and in producing a superior waste strategy counters the popular belief that environmental concerns are predominantly those of the middle class.     

A watershed management framework for mountain areas: Lessons from 25 years of watershed conservationin Nepal

A watershed management framework for mountain areas is based on lessons learned from watershed management experience, social and institutional learning, and the use of a watershed management program evaluation in Nepal. The lessons led to the adoption of a subwatershed-based ecosystem approach based on local participation at the subwatershed level. An integrated watershed management framework (IWMF) consisting of eight steps with three checklists was developed focusing on improvement-oriented adaptive management. The eight steps lead to the preparation of a watershed management plan. In the process three checklists are used. While the first checklist has general questions pertaining to watershed analysis, the second allows participation analysis of stakeholders in terms of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and opens up new prospects for further reinforcing or building new user group institutions based on consensus. The final checklist consists of hierarchical watershed management objectives, including goals, results and activities leading to a program planning matrix. The framework was applied to watershed planning in the Chure Region to compare the framework-based planning with conventional planning procedures. A significant difference in quality and substance of the output, with and without the use of the framework, suggests that an integrated framework is a useful tool for an ecosystem-based approach to natural resource management and socio-technical conservation.     

The effects of plant traits and phylogeny on soil-to-plant transfer of Tc

Assessments of the behaviour of ⁹⁹Tc in terrestrial environments necessitate predicting soil-to-plant transfer. An experiment with 116 plant taxa showed that ⁹⁹Tc transfer to plants was positively related to plant dry weight but negatively related to % dry matter and age at exposure. Activities of ⁹⁹Tc analysed by hierarchical ANOVA coded with an angiosperm phylogeny revealed significant effects, with 55% of the variance between species explained at the Ordinal level and above. Monocots had significantly lower transfer of ⁹⁹Tc than Eudicots, within which Caryophyllales > Solanales > Malvales > Brassicales > Asterales > Fabales. There was a significant phylogenetic signal in soil-to-plant transfer of ⁹⁹Tc. This phylogenetic signal is used to suggest that, for example, a nominal Tc Transfer Factor of 5 could be adjusted to 2.3 for Monocots and 5.3 for Eudicots.     

The scope and severity of white-nose syndrome on hibernating bats in North America

Assessing the scope and severity of threats is necessary for evaluating impacts on populations to inform conservation planning. Quantitative threat assessment often requires monitoring programs that provide reliable data over relevant spatial and temporal scales, yet such programs can be difficult to justify until there is an apparent stressor. Leveraging efforts of wildlife management agencies to record winter counts of hibernating bats, we collated data for 5 species from over 200 sites across 27 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces from 1995 to 2018 to determine the impact of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly disease of hibernating bats. We estimated declines of winter counts of bat colonies at sites where the invasive fungus that causes WNS (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) had been detected to assess the threat impact of WNS. Three species undergoing species status assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Myotis septentrionalis, Myotis lucifugus, and Perimyotis subflavus) declined by more than 90%, which warrants classifying the severity of the WNS threat as extreme based on criteria used by NatureServe. The scope of the WNS threat as defined by NatureServe criteria was large (36% of Myotis lucifugus range) to pervasive (79% of Myotis septentrionalis range) for these species. Declines for 2 other species (Myotis sodalis and Eptesicus fuscus) were less severe but still qualified as moderate to serious based on NatureServe criteria. Data-sharing across jurisdictions provided a comprehensive evaluation of scope and severity of the threat of WNS and indicated regional differences that can inform response efforts at international, national, and state or provincial jurisdictions. We assessed the threat impact of an emerging infectious disease by uniting monitoring efforts across jurisdictional boundaries and demonstrated the importance of coordinated monitoring programs, such as the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), for data-driven conservation assessments and planning.     

Dry deposition of O3, SO2, and HNO3 to different vegetation in the same exposure environment

Agricultural meteorological modeling techniques are used to investigate the relative and absolute dry deposition fluxes of SO2 (as sulfur), HNO3 (as nitrogen) and O3 to large fields of maize, soybeans, and alfalfa exposed in conditions as measured in northern Illinois, central Pennsylvania, and eastern Tennessee. For HNO3, the differences in seasonal deposition rates among the three types of plant species are small. Within the same environment, the soybean canopy has the potential to receive substantially more gaseous dry deposition of SO2 and O3 than the maize and alfalfa (which are about the same), as a result of lower stomatal resistance and consequently higher deposition velocities. Deposition differences among the sites are small except for the case of SO2, for which deposition rates estimated for northern Illinois are nearly double those at the other locations. The high SO2 deposition at the northern Illinois location is a consequence of the higher air concentrations observed there.     

Injury outcomes and costs for cross-median and median barrier crashes

Introduction

The objective of this research was to quantify the injury outcomes and develop reliable and comprehensive injury costs for cross-median crashes (CMC) and median barrier crashes (MBC).

Method

A three-step methodology was developed to quantify the crash costs for each crash severity and type. All CMC and MBC between 2001 and 2007 in Wisconsin were identified and used in this analysis. The Wisconsin CODES database provided comprehensive injury costs based on the injury types and severities suffered by participants in study crashes.

Results

As expected, multi-vehicle CMC result in more total injuries and more severe injuries than single-vehicle CMC. Injury costs for the same injury level on KABCO scale are different for different crash types. Injury costs for concrete MBC are 33% to 50% less than those of multi-vehicle CMC, while the injury costs of concrete MBC for lower severities (B and C) are similar to those of single-vehicle CMC for the same severities; but for incapacitating injuries the costs are 30% less. As expected, concrete MBC result in lower severities than CMC. The costs, by crash severity, vary significantly between different crash types. Concrete median barrier injury crashes are roughly 20% of multi-vehicle CMC costs and 50% of single-vehicle CMC costs.

Conclusions

Results indicate that using one set of crash costs for all crash types biases any evaluation. Therefore, it is recommended that crash-type-specific costs be used in applications such as development of median barrier warrant where specific types of crashes are considered (CMC and MBC).

Impact on industry

Using crash specific costs can lead to a more realistic benefit-cost analysis and enable better decision-making.