Ventilation requirements in occupied spaces during smoking and nonsmoking occupancy

Ventilation requirements in occupied spaces have traditionally derived largely from odor control. The requirements have rested on the notion that an environment that seems subjectively acceptable to a visitor will in fact be healthful and comfortable for both visitor and occupant alike. Ventilation requirements have derived secondarily from criterion concentrations of notable contaminants (e.g., carbon dioxide). The present investigation looked again at both sensory (odor, irritation) and physical criteria of acceptability, paying particular attention to the difference between smoking and nonsmoking occupancy in a well-controlled environmental chamber. More than 200 persons (visitors) made judgments of odor intensity and acceptability under various conditions of occupancy (up to 12 nonsmoking occupants; a temperature of up to 25.5°C; up to 16 cigarettes smoked per hour). The results implied that under nonsmoking conditions and moderate humidity only about 7.5 cfm (3.8 L sec⁻¹) of fresh air per occupant sufficed to satisfy visitors, but that under smoking conditions at least 5 times as much fresh air is necessary. Our estimate of ventilation requirements for smoking were derived in part from measurements of carbon monoxide and total suspended particulate (TSP) mass concentration. Levels of TSP achieved during realistic smoking and ventilation rates exceeded levels deemed acceptable outdoors. Surfaces in the chamber played an important role in the elimination of particles, presumably via adsorption. Use of an electrostatic precipitator could keep TSP levels under control. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether control of TSP will eliminate the need for enormous ventilation for odor control during smoking occupancy.     

Towards a re-evaluation of the role of finance in the causation of environmental degradation

This paper relates the long-neglected Douglas/New Age texts to contemporary concerns at the relationship between economic activity and environmental degradation. Although completed by the early 1920s, these texts anticipated the adverse social and environmental impacts of an increase of centralisation and globalisation of finance upon local policy formation.     

Accelerating environmental cleanup at DOE sites: Monitored natural attenuation/enhanced attenuation—A basis for a new paradigm

The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting a project to accelerate remediation through the use of monitored natural attenuation and enhanced attenuation for chlorinated ethenes in soils and groundwater. Better monitoring practices, improved scientific understanding, and an advanced regulatory framework are being sought through a team effort that engages technology developers from academia, private industry, and government laboratories; site cleanup managers; stakeholders; and federal and state regulators. The team works collaboratively toward the common goals of reducing risk, accelerating cleanup, reducing cost, and minimizing environmental disruption. Cutting‐edge scientific advances are being combined with experience and sound environmental engineering in a broadly integrated and comprehensive approach that exemplifies socalled “third‐generation R&D.” The project is potentially a model for other cleanup activities. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reviews

Shadrach Woods, The Man in the Street, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1975

W. Houghton Evans, Planning Cities, London, Lawrence & Wishart, 1975, £7

R. Taylor, M. Cox & I. Dickens eds., Britain's Planning Heritage, London, Croom Helm for The Royal Town Planning Institute, 1975. £5.75 (hardcover) £3.50 (paperback)

Development Plan Evaluation and Robustness: Application of an Analytical Programme and a Review of Measures of Performance, Department of the Environment Research Report 5 Local Government Operations Research Unit Report C217, 1976. Gratis.

J. Appleton, The Experience of Landscape, London, John Wiley, 1975

J. D. Hunt & P. Willis eds., The Genius of the Place: The English Landscape Garden 1620–1820, London, Paul Elek, 1976. £12.50

N. Pevsner, Staffordshire, Harmondsworth, Middx., Penguin Buildings of England Series, 1974, £3.50 (hardcover)

R. Bailey & M. Brake eds., Radical Social Work, London: Edward Arnold, 1975. £4.25 (hardcover) £1.95 (paperback)

and

The Use of Action Research in Developing Urban Planning Policy: Report of Colloquium, Bristol, June 1975 London, Department of the Environment, 1975.

M. Harloe, Swindon: A Town in Transition, London, Heinemann for the centre for Environmental Studies, 1975.

D. W. Pearce ed., The Economics of Natural Resource Depletion, London, Macmillan, 1975.

J. B. Goddard, Office Location in Urban and Regional Development

B. Fullerton, The Development of British Transport Networks

B. T. Robson, Urban Social Areas

P. L. Knox, Social Well‐Being: A Spatial Perspective

Four volumes in the Theory and Practice in Geography series, edited by J. W. House, A. S. Gouldie & J. H. C. Patten and published by Oxford University Press, 1975. All paperback at £0.90.

James A. Swan & William B. Stapp eds., Environmental Education: Strategies Toward a More Liveable Future, Halstead Press — John Wiley, 1974.

A. G. Wilson & M. J. Kirkby, Mathematics for Geographers and Planners, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975     

River Dolphins in Bangladesh: Conservation and the Effects of Water Development

Platanista gangetica ) are threatened in Bangladesh from the effects of dams, large embankment schemes, dredging, fisheries bycatch, directed hunting, and water pollution. Visual surveys of the section of the Jamuna River located between the divergence of the Old Brahmaputra River and the confluence of the Padma River and the section of the Kushiyara River located between the Bangladesh–India border and the confluence of the Korangi River recorded a sighting rate of 0.13 sightings/km (mean group size = 1.8 dolphins) and 0.08 sightings/km (mean group size = 3.8 dolphins), respectively. These sections of river were considered to be priority areas for investigation because several water development projects have already been constructed and more are planned for the areas. During the surveys we examined the remains of dolphins caught accidentally in plastic gillnets and observed fishermen catching the fish species Clupisoma garua using dolphin oil and body parts as a fish attractor. Additional studies are needed to assess the status of dolphins and effects of water development and fisheries bycatch. Feasibility studies should be conducted on designating dolphin/fish sanctuaries and creating artificial habitat or enhancing existing habitat in eddy countercurrent scour pools to mitigate deleterious impacts. The environmental requirements of river dolphins reflect the needs of productive and biotically diverse tropical rivers.     

Metals in the soil of urban cemeteries in Carazinho (South Brazil) in view of the increase in deaths from COVID-19: projects for cemeteries to mitigate environmental impacts

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The increasing mortality of COVID-19 can aggravate soil contamination by metals, harmful to the health of the population, requiring new projects for...