The PAF model: an integrated approach for landfill sustainability

Lab-scale tests were set up to investigate different options for achieving sustainability by reducing long-term landfill emissions. The options which have been studied and compared with the traditional anaerobic landfill for unprocessed refuse were: mechanical-biological pretreatment, landfill aeration with forced and with natural advective air flow (semi-aerobic), flushing. Combination of different options have been experimented. The combination of mechanical-biological Pretreatment, Aeration by the semi-aerobic method and Flushing (PAF model) seems to synergize the advantages of the individual options. The research is ongoing and further studies are necessary in order to assess the full-scale applicability of the model.     

Microbial response to heavy metal-polluted soils: community analysis from phospholipid-linked fatty acids and ester-linked fatty acids extracts

Heavy metal pollution of soil is of concern for human health and ecosystem function. The soil microbial community should be a sensitive indicator of metal contamination effects on bioavailability and biogeochemical processes. Simple methods are needed to determine the degree of in situ pollution and effectiveness of remediating metal-contaminated soils. Currently, phospholipid-linked fatty acids (PLFAs) are preferred for microbial profiling but this method is time consuming, whereas direct soil extraction and transesterification of total ester-linked fatty acids (ELFAs) is attractive because of its simplicity. The 1998 mining acid-metal spill of >4000 ha in the Guadiamar watershed (southwestern Spain) provided a unique opportunity to study these two microbial lipid profiling methods. Replicated treatments were set up as nonpolluted, heavy metal polluted and reclaimed, and polluted soils. Inferences from whole community-diversity analysis and correlations of individual fatty acids with metals suggested Cu, Cd, and Zn were the most important in affecting microbial community structure, along with pH. The microbial stress marker, monounsaturated fatty acids, was significantly lower for reclaimed and polluted soil over nonpolluted soils for both PLFA and ELFA extraction. Another stress marker, the monounsaturated to saturated fatty acids ratio, only showed this for the PLFA. The general fungal marker (18:2omega6c), the arbuscule mycorrhizae marker (16:1omega5c), and iso- and anteiso-branched PLFAs (gram positive bacteria) were suppressed with increasing pollution whereas 17:0cy (gram negative bacteria) increased with metal pollution. For both extraction methods, richness and diversity were greater in nonpolluted soils and lowest in polluted soils. The ELFA method was sensitive for reflecting metal pollution on microbial communities and could be suitable for routine use in ecological monitoring and risk assessment programs because of its simplicity and reproducibility.     

Managing natural resources in the light of climate variability

Natural resource management is central to global efforts to reduce poverty and environmental degradation, and is one of the principal ways in which countries are seeking to advance sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 21. But these efforts to advance natural resource management are strongly impacted by climate and by seasonal and inter–annual climate variability.
This article aims to further advance understanding of the relationship between natural resource management and climate variability, with particular attention to ways in which natural resource managers at every level — from the household to the national and international levels — can cope more effectively with such variability. In particular, the article provides an overview of the way in which efforts to manage natural resources to reduce poverty and environmental degradation are impacted by natural climate variability. It examines what natural resource managers are doing to cope with these challenges, and discusses the kinds of new approaches and partnerships that are needed to improve their capacity to cope more effectively with climate variability. In doing so, the article touches on the implications of future climate changes for natural resource managers and the way in which their efforts to cope more effectively with climate variability will provide opportunities to gain experience in identifying and adjusting responses to longer–term climate change.     

Perceptions of industrial risk and emergency management procedures in Hazmat Logistics: A qualitative mental model approach

In the industrial risk field, Hazmat Logistics research is growing as a sector of special relevance. The road transport of these substances is an activity with an elevated risk, involving drivers, logistics systems, industries, infrastructures, urban areas, etc.In the study of risk and safety of the logistics of hazardous materials there is a special relevance for new and complex elements, as human factors and mental models involved in managing critical incidents ‘‘on the road”. Moreover, the ‘‘emergency management training” of human resources in this field is often limited, and this represents another factor of vulnerability.In collaboration with SBG (one of the leading European Hazmat Logistics corporations), we developed a quali-quantitative study on cognitive representations and semantic perceptions of risk and emergency management procedures in tanker drivers. The main innovation of the study, with the direct involvement of the stakeholder and 47 drivers, is represented by the construction and use of ‘‘ad hoc” psychometrical and knowledge-elicitation, allowing a deeper analysis of workers’ mental models.The application of PCP tools of adapted RepGrid and Landfield Laddering Procedures allows to analyze some of the main qualitative structures of mental models held by drivers about Hazmat Logistics. Through the analysis of these mental models, it could become possible to set up efficient preventive actions for this type of industrial risk. We are going to discuss the consequences of these findings and methodological approaches for the industrial risk-and-safety field.     

Rapid shoreline retreat along the Esmeraldas coast, Ecuador: natural and man-induced processes

Along the coast facing the Pacific Ocean in the province of Esmeraldas (Ecuador) one can observe some stretches where a process of rapid erosion is currently in progress. If it is not prevented, it seriously risks compromising the development of any form of utilization. In this paper, which summarizes the observations carried out in three different periods (1989, 1992 and 1999), we express the opinion that this process is the product of two distinct main causes. Along the Atacames bay, which may be considered as the main seaside resort of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, progressive cliff retreat is not only very dangerous for the existing tourist settlements, but also hinders their further development. The shoreline dynamics that seems to be due only to ‘natural’ causes (sea level rising, or the lastEl Niño event) are so active that defence works are not recommended. At Camarones the erosion of the coast is clearly due to the systematic destruction of mangroves by man. Also as a result of the lastEl Niño event, the situation has become alarming and it could rapidly get worse. By means of the present contribution, the Authors intend to attract the attention of the international scientific community upon the processes, not surveyed so far, affecting the ‘weakest’ stretches of the Ecuadorian coast.     

Uncertainty estimation in the analysis of pesticide residues in olive oil using data from proficiency tests

In this work we report the results for estimating the measurement uncertainty (MU) following up the application of two different approaches, relatively the top-down procedure, by using proficiency test data. We have focused the estimation on the olive oil matrix. We used the analytical data obtained from five selected editions of the Proficiency Tests (PTs, from 2007 to 2011) on pesticide residues in olive oil to estimate the MU. These PTs have been organized by Istituto Superiore di Sanità annually in cooperation with International Olive Council (IOC) since 1997. The number of participants in each trial ranged from 10 to 43. We used a total of 34 pesticide results. The expanded uncertainty U _(c) was calculated using a covering factor k = 2 for a confidence interval of 95%. In the approach 1, the within–laboratory reproducibility standard deviation is combined with estimates of the method and laboratory bias using PTs data. In the approach 2, the way of estimating the MU is based only on the bias that the laboratory has obtained participating in a sufficient number of the IOC proficiency tests. Comparing the relative expanded uncertainty based on these different approaches we notice values quite constant and close, from 42% to 48%. Moreover, these calculated expanded uncertainties are less than the default value of 50% (corresponding to a 95% confidence level), adopted from European guidance document SANCO based on the fit-for-purpose relative standard deviation (FFP-RSD).     

Multi-objective optimization of solid waste flows: environmentally sustainable strategies for municipalities

An approach to sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management is presented, with the aim of supporting the decision on the optimal flows of solid waste sent to landfill, recycling and different types of treatment plants, whose sizes are also decision variables. This problem is modeled with a non-linear, multi-objective formulation. Specifically, four objectives to be minimized have been taken into account, which are related to economic costs, unrecycled waste, sanitary landfill disposal and environmental impact (incinerator emissions). An interactive reference point procedure has been developed to support decision making; these methods are considered appropriate for multi-objective decision problems in environmental applications. In addition, interactive methods are generally preferred by decision makers as they can be directly involved in the various steps of the decision process. Some results deriving from the application of the proposed procedure are presented. The application of the procedure is exemplified by considering the interaction with two different decision makers who are assumed to be in charge of planning the MSW system in the municipality of Genova (Italy).     

Strategies for management of Sicyos polyacanthus Cogn. (Cucurbitaceae) in sugarcane crops of Tucumán, Argentina

Sicyos polyacanthus is one of the most important weed in sugarcane crops of Tucumán (Argentina). The objective of this work was to establish strategies that would decrease the weed incidence in the crop to a minimum level. The study was carried out during 1998--2003 at five localities of sugarcane production of Tucumán (Argentina). The plots were 20 m long (192 m2) with 6 furrows and each plot was replicated five times. Treatments were: (i) Mechanical-chemical cultivation without fire; (ii) Mechanical-chemical culltivation with fire; (iii) Mechanical cultivation with handle pulled and with fire; (iv) Mechanical cultivation with handle pulled without fire; (v) Mechanical and chemical variants with fertilization and without fertilization; (vi) Mechanical and chemical variants with watering and without watering; (vii) Fallow and rotation, at the sugarcane crop renovation; (viii) Mechanical and chemical variants for plant cane and ratoon cane; and (ix) Mulching of harvest rests. The results suggest that besides the use of preemergent herbicides, fire marks the entry point of control, influencing fluxes and seed viability. It appears that fallow, mulching, and rotation of crops is fundamental for eliminating seeds that live short time in the soil and increase the mortality rate of species.     

Objectives and structure of the DRAIN project: an extensive study of the delivery from the drainage basin of the Venice Lagoon (Italy)

The Venice Lagoon and its drainage basin form a vast system, where historical and recent cities, large and medium-small industrial districts and intensive agricultural activities coexist within a peculiar environment. The drainage basin constituted of an ensemble of tributary sub-basins with contrasting characteristics and freshwater fluxes; the hydraulic pathways are generally complex and not univocally established. With the main objectives to measure the annual freshwater discharge into the Venice Lagoon and to estimate the related load of pollutants, an intense field activity was carried out in the ambit of the DRAIN project. The 12 main tributaries of the drainage basin were monitored for more than 2 years (1998-2000), obtaining a relevant data set of hydrodynamic, physico-chemical and chemical data. Integrative investigations were also developed in a multidisciplinary approach, covering the existing knowledge gaps on the hydrology and behaviour of such a complex system. The paper describes the characteristics of the system, the selected approach to investigate it, and the main project outcomes.