Surrounded by Chemical Valley and ‘living in a bubble’: the case of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation,Ontario

This study examines the perceptions and coping strategies of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which is surrounded by ‘Chemical Valley’, the largest complex of petrochemical plants in Canada. Analysis of in-depth interviews showed that residents perceive ‘Mother Earth to be sick’; however, a strong level of community cohesion prevails, with ‘place’ as a significant anchor to the culture and history of the community. Residents articulated a collective sense of responsibility for the well-being of members both within and surrounding the community, whereby some residents would never leave, regardless of the toxic environment and concern for high rates of cancer and respiratory diseases among both adults and children. Residents employed action-focused coping strategies such as ‘indoor evacuation’ and the ‘Cop-sniff test’, and emotional coping strategies including blocking out the effects of ‘Chemical Valley’ by frequently ignoring warning sirens from industry. The results call on the need for a collaborative environmental planning intervention involving clear community participation. Findings suggest the need for an indoor recreational facility for both children and adults, and a graded warning system.     

Acidification Remediation Alternatives: Exploring the Temporal Dimension with Cost Benefit Analysis

Acidification of soils and surface waters caused by acid deposition is still a major problem in southern Scandinavia, despite clear signs of recovery. Besides emission control, liming of lakes, streams, and wetlands is currently used to ameliorate acidification in Sweden. An alternative strategy is forest soil liming to restore the acidified upland soils from which much acidified runoff originates. This cost–benefit analysis compared these liming strategies with a special emphasis on the time perspective for expected benefits. Benefits transfer was used to estimate use values for sport ffishing and nonuse values in terms of existence values. The results show that large-scale forest soil liming is not socioeconomically profitable, while lake liming is, if it is done efficiently—in other words, if only acidified surface waters are treated. The beguiling logic of “solving” an environmental problem at its source (soils), rather than continuing to treat the symptoms (surface waters), is thus misleading.     

Forest Cover and Stream Flow in a Headwater of the Blue Nile: Complementing Observational Data Analysis with Community Perception

This study analyses the relation of forest cover and stream flow on the 266 km² Koga watershed in a headwater of Blue Nile Basin using both observed hydrological data and community perception. The watershed declined from 16% forest cover in 1957 to 1% by 1986. The hydrological record did not reveal changes in the flow regime between 1960 and 2002 despite the reduction in forest area. This agrees with the perception of the downstream community living near the gauging station. The upstream community, however, reported both decreases in low flows and increases in high flows shortly after the forest cover was reduced. The upstream deforestation effect appeared to have been buffered by a wetland lower in the watershed. This study concludes that community perception can be a complement to observational data for better understanding how forest cover influences the flow regime.     

Identifying crop vulnerability to groundwater abstraction: modelling and expert knowledge in a GIS

Water use is expected to increase and climate change scenarios indicate the need for more frequent water abstraction. Abstracting groundwater may have a detrimental effect on soil moisture availability for crop growth and yields. This work presents an elegant and robust method for identifying zones of crop vulnerability to abstraction. Archive groundwater level datasets were used to generate a composite groundwater surface that was subtracted from a digital terrain model. The result was the depth from surface to groundwater and identified areas underlain by shallow groundwater. Knowledge from an expert agronomist was used to define classes of risk in terms of their depth below ground level. Combining information on the permeability of geological drift types further refined the assessment of the risk of crop growth vulnerability. The nature of the mapped output is one that is easy to communicate to the intended farming audience because of the general familiarity of mapped information. Such Geographic Information System (GIS)-based products can play a significant role in the characterisation of catchments under the EU Water Framework Directive especially in the process of public liaison that is fundamental to the setting of priorities for management change. The creation of a baseline allows the impact of future increased water abstraction rates to be modelled and the vulnerability maps are in a format that can be readily understood by the various stakeholders. This methodology can readily be extended to encompass additional data layers and for a range of groundwater vulnerability issues including water resources, ecological impacts, nitrate and phosphorus.     

Validation of a standardized portable fluorescence method for determining trace beryllium in workplace air and wipe samples

Beryllium is widely used in industry for its unique properties; however, occupational exposure to beryllium particles can cause potentially fatal disease. Consequently, exposure limits for beryllium particles in air and action levels on surfaces have been established to reduce exposure risks for workers. Field-portable monitoring methods for beryllium are desired in order to facilitate on-site measurement of beryllium in the workplace, so that immediate action can be taken to protect human health. In this work, a standardized, portable fluorescence method for the determination of trace beryllium in workplace samples, i.e., air filters and dust wipes, was validated through intra- and inter-laboratory testing. The procedure entails extraction of beryllium in 1% ammonium bifluoride (NH(4)HF(2), aqueous), followed by fluorescence measurement of the complex formed between beryllium ion and hydroxybenzoquinoline sulfonate (HBQS). The method detection limit was estimated to be less than 0.02 microg Be per air filter or wipe sample, with a dynamic range up to greater than 10 microg. The overall method accuracy was shown to satisfy the accuracy criterion (A< or = +/-25%) for analytical methods promulgated by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Interferences from numerous metals tested (in >400-fold excess concentration compared to that of beryllium) were negligible or minimal. The procedure was shown to be effective for the dissolution and quantitative detection of beryllium extracted from refractory beryllium oxide particles. An American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International voluntary consensus standard based on the methodology has recently been published.     

Verifying emission factors and national POPs emission inventories for the UK using measurements and modelling at two rural locations

Different approaches are used to verify the adequacy of emission factors (EFs) and their use in emission inventories of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The applicability of EFs was tested using atmospheric dispersion modelling to predict atmospheric concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and resulting toxic equivalents (SigmaTEQ) and particulate matter <10 microm (PM(10)) in two rural locations in northern England (UK). The modelling was based on general assumptions of fuel composition, consumption and heating needs to simulate emissions of POPs from the domestic burning of coal and wood where ambient measurements were made in the winter of 1998. The model was used to derive the local contribution to ambient air concentrations, which were estimated independently based on comparative air measurements. The results support the hypothesis that in both villages, the majority of PAHs and the lower chlorinated PCDFs were locally released. The situation for PCBs and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) was different. While the EFs show the release of both compound groups from the domestic burning of coal and wood, the ambient levels of these "legacy POPs" in the villages were still clearly dominated by other sources. Rural areas relying mainly on fossil fuels can exceed the proposed UK ambient air quality standard for benzo[a]pyrene during winter. The measured EFs were then used to estimate the importance of the domestic burning of coal and wood to national emission inventories for these compound classes. Extrapolations to the UK suggest that the domestic burning of pure wood and coal were minor emitters for chlorinated POPs but contributed strongly to PAH and PM(10) levels in 2000. Finally, the UK's national POPs emission inventories based on source inventories and EF, as used here, were compared to estimates derived using the increase in atmospheric concentration of selected POPs.     

Household water use behavior: An integrated model

Water authorities are dealing with the challenge of ensuring that there is enough water to meet demand in the face of drought, population growth and predictions of reduced supply due to climate change. In order to develop effective household demand management programs, water managers need to understand the factors that influence household water use. Following an examination and re-analysis of current water consumption behavioral models we propose a new model for understanding household water consumption. We argue that trust plays a role in household water consumption, since people will not save water if they feel others are not minimizing their water use (inter-personal trust). Furthermore, people are less likely to save water if they do not trust the water authority (institutional trust). This paper proposes that to fully understand the factors involved in determining household water use the impact of trust on water consumption needs investigation.     

Analysis of trace elements and ions in ambient fine particulate matter at three elementary schools in Ohio

The results from a chemical characterization study of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) measured at three elementary schools in Central and Southeast Ohio is presented here. PM2.5 aerosol samples were collected from outdoor monitors and indoor samplers at each monitoring location during the period of February 1, 1999, through August 31, 2000. The locations included a rural elementary school in Athens, OH, and two urban schools within Columbus, OH. The trace metal and ionic concentrations in the collected samples were analyzed using an X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometer and ion chromatography unit, respectively. Sulfate ion was found to be the largest component present in the samples at all three of the sites. Other abundant components included nitrate, chloride, ammonium, and sodium ions, as well as calcium, silicon, and iron. The average PM2.5 concentrations showed similar temporal variations among the three sites within the study region. PM2.5 and its major component, sulfate ion, showed strong seasonal variations with maximum concentrations observed during the summer at all three of the sites. The indoor environment was found to be more contaminated during the spring months (March through May) at New Albany (a suburb of Columbus, OH) and East Athens (rural Ohio area). Potential source contribution function analysis showed that particulate matter levels at the monitoring sites were affected by transport from adjoining urban areas and industrial complexes located along the Ohio River Valley. A preliminary outdoor source apportionment using the principal component analysis (PCA) technique was performed. The results from the PCA suggest that the study region was primarily impacted by industrial, fossil fuel combustion, and geological sources. The 2002 emissions inventory data for PM2.5 compiled by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also showed impacts of similar source types, and this was used to validate the PCA analysis.     

Real-world vehicle emissions: a summary of the Sixteenth Coordinating Research Council On-Road Vehicle Emissions Workshop

The Coordinating Research Council held its 16th workshop in March 2006, with 83 presentations describing the most recent mobile source-related emissions research. In this paper, we summarize the presentations from researchers who are engaged in improving our understanding of the contribution of mobile sources to air quality. Participants in the workshop discussed evaluation of in-use emissions control programs, effects of fuels on emissions, emission models and emission inventories, results from gas- and particle-phase emissions studies from spark-ignition and diesel-powered vehicles, and efforts to improve our capabilities in performing on-board emissions measurements, as well as topics for future research.