Overview of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects of Pollution in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Nigeria

Pollution has taken on a global dimension, and the effects are most obvious in developing countries. The effects take a toll on human health, animals, and vegetation, as well as on soil, air, and water quality. The objective of this article is to discuss the current relationships among pollution, environmental quality, and human health within the frame of anthropogenic activities in developing countries. In addition to personal observations, we review relevant literature on conditions throughout the developing world and case studies on conditions and activities in Nigeria. Key findings show the significant, adverse contributions to human health and environmental risk from current waste generation and handling practices, indoor and outdoor air pollution, wastewater and effluent generation and disposal, the hazardous nature and pollution potential of wastes, and the human behaviors that contribute to pollution in developing countries. There is an urgent need to create awareness among the various segments of society of the human health hazards posed by pollution as well as a need for the comprehensive development and enforcement of appropriate policies to prevent a descent into an abyss of deteriorating human and environmental health.     

Radiostrontium monitoring of bivalves from the Pacific coast of eastern Japan

In early April 2011, radiostrontium was accidentally released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to the Pacific coast of eastern Japan. We developed a simple procedure to analyze radiostrontium levels in marine mussels (Septifer virgatus) and seawater using crown ether (Sr Resin; Eichrom). Then, we used our method to describe the spatial and temporal distribution of radiostrontium in mussels and seawater on the Pacific coast of eastern Japan from 2011 to 2013 and for 2015. Activity of ⁹⁰Sr in mussels and seawater decreased with distance from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and between 2011 and 2013 tended to be higher in areas south of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant than to the north of it. Activity in mussels and seawater also tended to decrease from 2011 to 2013 and by 2015 had reached levels experienced prior to the Fukushima accident. Our results suggest that radiostrontium discharged from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was dispersed by coastal currents in a southerly direction along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan from 2011 to 2013, following which its activity decreased to background levels by 2015.     

Evaluation of the efficacy of a portable LIBS system for detection of CWA on surfaces

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a laser-based optical technique particularly suited for in situ surface analysis. A portable LIBS instrument was tested to detect surface chemical contamination by chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Test of detection of surface contamination was carried out in a toxlab facility with four CWAs, sarin (GB), lewisite (L1), mustard gas (HD), and VX, which were deposited on different substrates, wood, concrete, military green paint, gloves, and ceramic. The CWAs were detected by means of the detection of atomic markers (As, P, F, Cl, and S). The LIBS instrument can give a direct response in terms of detection thanks to an integrated interface for non-expert users or so called end-users. We have evaluated the capability of automatic detection of the selected CWAs. The sensitivity of our portable LIBS instrument was confirmed for the detection of a CWA at surface concentrations above 15 μg/cm². The simultaneous detection of two markers may lead to a decrease of the number of false positive.     

Changes in the structure and phytomass of tree stands at the upper limit of their growth in the Southern Urals

Relationships between stem diameter and phytomass of trees and their parts (single- and multistemmed growth forms) have been studied at different altitudinal levels of the present-day upper treeline ecotone on the Iremel’ Massif, the Southern Urals. The time course of changes in the structure and phytomass of birch–spruce stands during the past centuries has been reconstructed. It is shown that the expansion of forests to the mountains in this period has occurred against the background of rise in summer and winter temperatures and increase in the amount of solid precipitation in the Southern Urals.     

Characteristics of stone moroko population dynamics at different stages of naturalization in lake- and steam-type Dnieper reservoirs

The probable source of stone moroko, Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846), populations in lake- and stream-type Dnieper reservoirs was revealed. The dynamics and specific growth rates of these populations over 20 years were analyzed. The dynamic phase portrait method was used to determine the timing of stages in the process of invader naturalization and the periods when its populations were in equilibrium. The potential growth rates of P. parva populations in the Kremenchug and Dneprodzerzhinsk reservoirs were estimated.     

Long-term dynamics and correlations of ecophysiological parameters in murine rodent communities

The dynamics and correlations of ecophysiological parameters have been studied in two spatially separated multispecies communities of murine rodents and ixodid tick larvae and nymphs that parasitize them. It has been shown that all the processes under consideration have nonstationary, oscillatory dynamics. The long-term dynamics of connectivity of ecophysiological characteristics within communities and their synchronization by weather–climatic factors are, by nature, wavelike processes of transitions between the states with stronger and weaker linkage between parameters, which, along with nonstationarity, can contribute to the maintenance of stability and integrity of communities.     

Movements of spotted seals (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoca largha</Emphasis>) in the Sea of Okhotsk according to satellite tagging data

For the first time, satellite tagging of spotted seals (Phoca largha) has been performed in three regions of the Sea of Okhotsk: Chkalov Island in Sakhalin Bay, Ptichy Island, and the Bolshaya River mouth on the western coast of Kamchatka. As a result, regions inhabited by the seals in different periods of their life cycle and differences in the pattern of water area use by animals from different regions have been revealed. The seals from the western Kamchatka coast have covered greater distances during the observation period, compared to the animals from Sakhalin Bay. In the reproductive period, the seals from the western coast spread over the entire northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, whereas the animals from the Sakhalin Bay move only to the Tatar Strait, the Sea of Japan. None of tagged seals has been located in the “reproductive center” at the eastern coast of Sakhalin. The seals tagged in different regions of the Sea of Okhotsk have never been located in the same place during the entire annual cycle, suggesting that the sea is inhabited by two reproductively isolated groups of ringed seals.     

Types of narrow-skulled vole (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasiopodomys gregalis</Emphasis>) colonies in Northern Kulunda and seasonal dynamics of their demographic composition

Demographic structure and its seasonal dynamics have been studied in colonies of narrow-skulled voles (Lasiopodomys gregalis Pall.) in Northern Kulunda. Three types of colonies have been distinguished: (I) true colonies (large, complex families), (II) simple families (nuclear or incomplete), and (III) all-male colonies. Changes in their sex, age, and functional composition (based on animal migration activity) during the breeding season have been analyzed.     

A Critique of Estimating Future Costs Using Most Likely Value

ASTM E2137 (Standard Guide for Estimating Monetary Costs and Liability for Environmental Matters, or E2137) is the guidance for developing estimates of future environmental costs. E2137 provides a hierarchy of cost estimation approaches, and expresses an explicit preference for the use of probabilistic cost analysis to develop expected values for environmental costs. Dr. Ram and his colleagues have published an article (Remediation Journal, Autumn 2013) which rejects the use of EV analysis, arguing that while “good in principle” it has little practical value because it is nearly impossible to develop supportable probabilities. The E2137 principles and processes have been used for more than a decade in the context of addressing future environmental costs, yet their view of E2137 renders the standard meaningless. We conclude that the deficiency is not in the ASTM standard, and that when properly constructed, probabilistic analyses can be used to develop expected values with supportable probabilities. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.