Issues for small businesses with waste management

Participation by small and medium enterprise (SME) in corporate social responsibility issues has been found to be lacking. This is a critical issue, as individually SMEs may have little impact on the environment but their collective footprint is significant. The management style and ethical stance of the owner-manager affects business decision making and therefore has a direct impact on the environmental actions of the business. Although adoption of environmental practices to create competitive advantage has been advocated, many businesses see implementation as a cost which cannot be transferred to their customers. After a brief review of pertinent literature this paper reports on an exploratory investigation into the issue. Results show that whereas owner-managers of small enterprises express concern regarding the environment, this does not then translate into better waste management practices.     

Optimal renewable resource management in the presence of endogenous risk of invasion

In this paper we examine the optimal management of a renewable resource that is at risk from alien species invasion. The objective of this paper is to derive implications for optimal management of a resource when options exist for both preventing the arrival of an invasive species and mitigating the impact of that arrival. Uncertainty about the timing and nature of an invasion can have important implications for the choice of management strategy, and a key feature of this analysis is an explicit treatment of that uncertainty.     

Contemporary Environmental Art in China: Portraying Progress,Politics, and Ecosystems

Art has long been an important force in environmental movements. In China, environmental art is a fast-growing sector of the art scene. This new area of emphasis is expanding the function of art and aiding in China’s environmental movement by challenging both imported Western practices and Maoist era philosophy, thereby opening up new ways of considering the relationship between human “progress,” political systems, economic practices, and their repercussions on existing ecosystems. I turn to artist Xu Xiaoyan’s paintings to explore how the notion of “progress” can be challenged through art. I use Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of deterritorialization and reterritorialization to map how Xu’s art offers viewers space to think outside dominant paradigms, creates the potential for changes in human consciousness, considers the environment as a composition of relationships and interactions, and provokes discussion concerning the impact of linear notions of time on human conceptions of nature.     

Need for adaptation: transformation of temporary houses

Building permanent accommodation after a disaster takes time for reasons including the removal of debris, the lack of available land, and the procurement of resources. In the period in‐between, affected communities find shelter in different ways. Temporary houses or transitional shelters are used when families cannot return to their pre‐disaster homes and no other alternative can be provided. In practice, families stay in a standard interim solution for months or even years while trying to return to their routines. Consequently, they adapt their houses to meet their midterm needs. This study analysed temporary houses in Chile and Peru to illustrate how families modify them with or without external support. The paper underlines that guidance must be given on how to alter them safely and on how to incorporate the temporary solution into the permanent structure, because families adapt their houses whether or not they are so designed.     

An approach to study ultrastructural changes and adaptive strategies displayed by Acinetobacter guillouiae SFC 500-1A under simultaneous Cr(VI) and phenol treatment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Acinetobacter guillouiae SFC 500-1A, a native bacterial strain isolated from tannery sediments, is able to simultaneously remove high concentrations...     

The need for innovative strategies to improve immunisation services in rural Zimbabwe

Gokwe South, a rural district in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, reported the lowest rate of immunisation coverage in the country in 2005: 55 per cent of children vaccinated with three doses of diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus vaccine (DPT3) and 35 per cent dropout between the first and third dose of DPT. In January 2007, the authors assessed local barriers to immunisation and proposed strategies to improve immunisation rates in the district, in the face of nationwide economic and political challenges. A situational analysis was performed to assess barriers to immunisation using focus-group discussions with health workers, key informant interviews with health management and community leaders, and desk reviews of records. Responses were categorised and solutions proposed. Health workers and key informants reported that immunisation service delivery was hampered by insufficient availability of gas for cold-chain equipment, limited transport and fuel to conduct basic activities, and inadequate staff and supervision. Improving coverage will require prioritising gas for vaccine cold-chain equipment, identifying reliable transportation or alternative transportation solutions, and increased staff, training and supervision. Local assessment is critical to pinpointing site-specific barriers, and innovative strategies are needed to overcome existing contextual challenges.     

Poly[(R)-3-hydroxy butyrate] Melt Processing: Strategy for Prevention of Degradation Reactions

Poly[(R)-3-hydroxy butyrate] (PHB) as well as all the components of the poly[(R)-3-hydroxy alkanoate]s (PHAs) family tend to degrade during processing at temperatures above their melting point via a hydrolytic mechanism induced by moisture attack and a concerted reaction mechanism induced by temperature. Therefore, the PHAs stabilization in the molten state is particularly important for production of biodegradable ecocompatible plastic items of commercial value. In order to refrain the indicated negative degradation effects, PHB was melt processed in a torque rheometer in the presence of a polymeric carbodiimide agent. Processed specimens were characterized by using FTIR, GPC, DSC, TGA and tensile properties. GPC analysis showed that the increase of the additive content in the formulation resulted in an increase of PHB molecular weight. However, decreasing in PHB thermal stability, glass transition temperature and mechanical properties, was observed with the increase of the additive amount. This behaviour most likely arises from the formation of new chemical structures promoted by the presence of the additive aimed at preventing the onset of hydrolitic processes.     

Metal exposures in an inner-city neonatal population

ObjectivesWe measured concentrations of lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), and copper (Cu) in umbilical cord whole blood and examined sources of environmental Pb exposures in a predominantly African-American population.MethodsBetween April and July 2006, we collected reproductive histories, questionnaires, and blood samples from 102 women, aged 16–45 years, who delivered at a Memphis, TN hospital.ResultsThe prevalence of preeclampsia and low birth weight infancy in the study population was 11% and 10%, respectively. Twenty-eight percent of mothers reported living near a potential Pb-contaminated area, while 43% lived in a residence built before 1978. Geometric mean (GM) concentrations for umbilical cord blood in the study population were 1.3, 3.5, 9.0, and 52.0 µg/dL for Pb, Mn, Cr, and Cu, respectively. Six neonates had cord blood Pb (CBL) concentrations above 10 µg/dL, while 20 had CBL concentrations ≥ 2 µg/dL. GM umbilical CBL levels were higher in neonates born to women living near a potential Pb-contaminated area (2.2 vs. 1.1 µg/dL) and those with friends, family or household members exposed to lead products (1.6 vs. 1.1 μg/dL). Some evidence of an exposure–response relationship was also detected between all four metal concentrations and an increasing number of maternal lead exposures. After adjustment for confounding, proximity to a Pb-contaminated area was the strongest environmental determinant of CBL levels among neonates with CBL concentrations of ≥ 2 µg/dL (odds ratio = 5.1; 95% CI = 1.6, 16.7).ConclusionsMetal concentrations were elevated in this population, and CBL levels were associated with proximity to Pb-contaminated areas.     

The growth response of Alternanthera philoxeroides in a simulated post-combustion emission with ultrahigh [CO2] and acidic pollutants

Although post-combustion emissions from power plants are a major source of air pollution, they contain excess CO₂ that could be used to fertilize commercial greenhouses and stimulate plant growth. We addressed the combined effects of ultrahigh [CO₂] and acidic pollutants in flue gas on the growth of Alternanthera philoxeroides. When acidic pollutants were excluded, the biomass yield of A. philoxeroides saturated near 2000 μmol mol⁻¹ [CO₂] with doubled biomass accumulation relative to the ambient control. The growth enhancement was maintained at 5000 μmol mol⁻¹ [CO₂], but declined when [CO₂] rose above 1%, in association with a strong photosynthetic inhibition. Although acidic components (SO₂ and NO₂) significantly offset the CO₂ enhancement, the aboveground yield increased considerably when the concentration of pollutants was moderate (200 times dilution). Our results indicate that using excess CO₂ from the power plant emissions to optimize growth in commercial green house could be viable.     

Estimating the contribution of point sources to atmospheric metals using single-particle mass spectrometry

Single-particle mass spectra were collected using an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) during December of 2003 and February of 2004 at an industrially impacted location in East St. Louis, IL. Hourly integrated peak areas for twenty ions were evaluated for their suitability in representing metals/metalloids, particularly those reported in the US EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Of the initial twenty ions examined, six (Al, As, Cu, Hg, Ti, and V) were found to be unsuitable due to strong isobaric interferences with commonly observed organic fragments, and one (Be) was found to have no significant signal. The usability of three ions (Co, Cr, and Mn) was limited due to suspected isobaric interferences based on temporal comparisons with commonly observed organic fragments. The identity of the remaining ions (Sb, Ba, Cd, Ca, Fe, Ni, Pb, K, Se, and Zn) was substantiated by comparing their signals with the integrated hourly signals of one or more isotope ions. When compared with one-in-six day integrated elemental data as determined by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), the daily integrated ATOFMS signal for several metal ions revealed a semi-quantitative relationship between ATOFMS peak area and XRF concentrations, although in some cases comparison of these measurements were poor at low elemental concentrations/ion signals due to isobaric interferences. A method of estimating the impact of local point sources was developed using hourly integrated ATOFMS peak areas, and this method attributed as much as 85% of the concentration of individual metals observed at the study site to local point sources. Hourly surface wind data were used in conjunction with TRI facility emissions data to reveal likely point sources impacting metal concentrations at the study site and to illustrate the utility of using single-particle mass spectral data to characterize atmospheric metals and identify point sources.