Mold infestation of wet spray-applied cellulose insulation

Mold investigations were conducted in four buildings that had been insulated with wet spray-applied cellulose insulation (WSACI). Bulk WSACI samples were collected and analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) methods. Airborne mold was evaluated using both Burkard total mold spore and Andersen culturable/viable sampling methods. Although reportedly treated with biocidal borates, QPCR analyses indicated that elevated concentrations of mold cells (reported as spore equivalents per gram) may be present in WSACI. QPCR analyses showed the following: (1) very high concentrations of Penicillium chrysogenum in samples from two of four buildings; (2) very high concentrations of Stachybotrys chartarum in samples from one building and a more moderate presence in a second; (3) moderately high concentrations of Aspergillus versicolor in samples from one building and more moderate concentrations in a second; (4) the presence of the opportunistic pathogen, Aspergillus fumigatus, in samples from three of the four buildings, and (5) the presence of 22 of 23 target mold species. Elevated airborne total mold spore concentrations were observed in all four of the buildings investigated. Culturable/viable airborne mold concentrations were moderately elevated in three of the four buildings. Mold genera/types present were relatively consistent among airborne mold samples collected by both methods and bulk sample analyses. Results of this study suggest that WSACI has the potential to cause elevated airborne mold levels in buildings where it has been applied and pose significant mold exposure and public health risks.     

“一带一路”倡议背景下哈萨克斯坦地区综合脆弱性的空间分异特征分析

系统评估沿线国家环境社会系统的发展状态,识别典型地区的脆弱性特征,对于绿色"一带一路"建设至关重要。本文集成了脆弱性与恢复力的概念内涵,构建了综合脆弱性评价指标体系,利用TOPSIS法和障碍度模型对哈萨克斯坦各州的综合脆弱性进行系统评价,分析其空间分异特征和影响因素。结果显示:(1)哈萨克斯坦综合脆弱性总体上处于中度水平,空间上呈现西高东低的特点,西部各要素脆弱性均处于中高位,东部整体脆弱性相对较低,中部则呈现多样性特征;(2)要素间关系复杂,脆弱性降低的瓶颈因素主要集中在资源使用和保障、社会系统保障等方面;(3)系统提升哈萨克斯坦环境社会系统的韧性,需要强化产业结构转型、基础设施建设与生态环境保护,在这些方面中国可以提供强有力的合作条件与经验。     

Contesting neoliberal knowledge politics in restoration governance: the restorationist’s dilemma

ABSTRACT

The success of ecological restoration efforts is tightly coupled with the effectiveness of many U.S. environmental policies. Yet scholars have raised questions about the ability of restoration to produce intended results. We use a case study of tidal wetland restoration planning in Oregon to examine how neoliberal environmental governance exercises influence through a set of knowledge politics that produces subpar outcomes. We present three main findings: (1) restoration policies produce a restoration economy based on a conception of wetland as commodity (2) practitioners in this restoration economy exhibit competitive behavior resulting in a piecemeal rather than a landscape approach to restoration; and (3) limited monitoring prevents changes to existing policies. Practitioners offer insight into the challenge of treating wetlands as a commodity and call for more monitoring to challenge the assumptions of hegemonic knowledge practices that reinforce a neoliberal environmental governance regime. The divergent ideas of reflexive practitioners, though not yet manifest as action, show where changes to restoration governance might be possible.