Integration and integrated approaches to assessment: what do they mean for the environment?

Integration and integrated approaches are increasingly presented as new and superior ways to consider the environment in policy- and decision-making. If used in an uncritical way, this assertion could become a hindrance to good practice and could undermine efforts to defend or improve environmental quality. The aim of this paper is to provide the missing critical perspective through an investigation of the meanings of integration found in recent literature on assessment. This literature represents a broad survey of European (particularly UK) and US critiques of assessment practices, and proposals for better and usually ‘more integrated’ approaches. These critiques and proposals relate to a range of assessment contexts, from relatively technical issues of data handling, to questions of the design, choice and implementation of policy options. This paper also surveys, and contributes to, literature that questions the central goals and assumptions informing assessment practice and environmental governance more widely. Fourteen meanings of ‘integration’ are presented, with a discussion of the potential synergies and conflicts among them, and with environmental objectives. Integration is argued to be a matter of value judgements concerning assessment design in specific historical and social contexts. Far from providing a panacea, integration would appear to create as many challenges as it might resolve in seeking to achieve more sustainable development. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enzymatic and microbial transformation assays for the evaluation of the environmental fate of diclofenac and its metabolites

Diclofenac has been of environmental concern due to the potential harmful effects on non-target organisms at environmentally relevant concentrations. In this study, we evaluated the transformation kinetics of diclofenac and its two major metabolites in two laboratory-scale experiments: the transformation of diclofenac in the presence of rat liver S9 fraction with co-factors, and the transformation of diclofenac, 4′-hydroxy-diclofenac and diclofenac β-O-acyl glucuronide in the inoculum used for the OECD 301C ready-biodegradability test. 4′-Hydroxy-diclofenac was identified as the major phase I metabolite and diclofenac β-O-acyl glucuronide was identified as the major phase II metabolite in the S9 assay. Transformation of diclofenac in the microbial degradation test did not occur significantly for 28 d, whereas 4′-hydroxy-diclofenac degraded slowly, indicating that the biological removal of diclofenac is not likely to occur in conventional STPs unless sorptive removal is significant. However, diclofenac β-O-acyl glucuronide deconjugated to form equimolar diclofenac within 7 d, in the microbial degradation test. The mixture of diclofenac and its two metabolites, formed after incubating diclofenac in S9 medium for 2 h, was spiked in the inoculum to link both assays. The concentrations of diclofenac and its metabolites, measured over time, agreed well with predicted values, using rate parameters obtained from independent experiments. The results show that phase II metabolites generated in mammals may deconjugate easily in conventional STPs to form a parent compound and that these processes should be considered during the environmental monitoring and risk assessment of diclofenac.     

What is the best biomarker to assess arsenic exposure via drinking water?

Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous element. The current WHO guideline for As in drinking water is 10 μg/L. Furthermore, about 130 million people have only access to drinking water containing more than 10 gAs/L. Although numerous studies have shown the related adverse effects of As, sensitive appropriate biomarkers are still required for studies of environmental epidemiology. A review of the literature has shown that various biomarkers are used for such research. Their limits and advantages are highlighted in this paper: (i) the detection of As or its derivatives in the blood is an indication of the dose ingested but it is not evidence of chronic intoxication. (ii) The detection of As in urine is an indispensible procedure because it is a good marker for internal dose. It has been demonstrated to correlate well for a number of chronic effects related to As levels in drinking water. However confounding factors must be taken into account to avoid misinterpretation and this may require As speciation. (iii) As in the hair and nails reflects the level of long term exposure but it is difficult to relate the level with the dose ingested. (iv) Some studies showed a correlation between urinary As and urinary and blood porphyrins. However, it is difficult to use only porphyrins as a biomarker in a population survey carried out without doing further studies. (v) Genotoxic effects are based on the characterization of these potential effects. Most studies have detected increases in DNA damage, sister chromatid exchange, micronuclei or chromosomal aberrations in populations exposed to As in drinking water. Micronuclei assay is the technique of choice to follow these populations, because it is sensitive and easy to use.To conclude, whatever epidemiological studies are, the urinary and toenail biomarkers are useful to provide indications of internal dose. Moreover, micronuclei assay can be complementary use as biomarker of early effects.     

Simulated use and wash-off release of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane used in anti-perspirants

The cyclic volatile methylsiloxane, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D₅) is used in a large variety of personal care products. Based on the physical–chemical properties of D₅, it is likely that losses due to volatilisation may strongly influence the levels entering the aquatic environment. The aim of this study was to quantify the amount of D₅ in waste wash water, after typical application and use in a range of deodorant and anti-perspirant (AP) products. Results implied significant losses after a 24 h period (>99.9%), and suggest that the use of D₅ in leave-on products, such as deodorants/AP is not likely to contribute a significant down-the-drain emission source. An illustrative example is presented, based on data reporting the use of D₅ in a range of personal care products (both wash-off and leave-on), which suggests that the contribution of D₅ used in wash-off products to the aquatic environment may be considerably more significant. Limitations associated with our understanding of the actual D₅ inclusion levels in the products, the market share of the products containing D₅, and the variability of consumer habits, are identified as data gaps that need to be addressed in order to better refine down-the-drain emission estimates.     

An Interactive Governance and Fish Chain Approach to Fisheries Rebuilding: A Case Study of the Northern Gulf Cod in Eastern Canada

Rebuilding collapsed fisheries is a multifaceted problem, requiring a holistic governance approach rather than technical management fixes. Using the Northern Gulf cod case study in eastern Canada, we illustrate how a “fish chain” framework, drawn from the interactive governance perspective, is particularly helpful in analyzing rebuilding challenges. The analysis demonstrates that factors limiting rebuilding exist along the entire fish chain, i.e., the pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages. These challenges are embedded in both the ecological and social systems associated with the Northern Gulf cod fisheries, as well as in the governing systems. A comparative analysis of the pre- and post-collapse of the cod fisheries also reveals governance opportunities in rebuilding, which lie in policy interventions such as integrated and ecosystem-based management, livelihood transitional programs, and cross-scale institutional arrangements. Lessons from the Northern Gulf cod case study, especially the missed opportunities to explore alternative governing options during the transition, are valuable for rebuilding other collapsed fisheries.     

Risk-based Decision Process for Arsenic in Soils: Implications of Conservative Protocols

Making defensible risk-based decisions is a complex process that incorporates risk assessment into a risk management framework. Many site investigations require additional study, negotiations and/or actions for arsenic detected in soil samples, in many cases where no process related sources are identified and no other chemicals of concern are identified. Regulatory agencies develop guidance to standardize approaches to risk-based site investigations that focus on achieving "safe" concentrations. For arsenic, the action level is frequently in the "gray region", a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) term associated with a region of high uncertainty for risk management decisions in the "decision performance curve" associated with the data quality objective (DQO) process. Recognizing the conservative nature of the risk-based screening value for arsenic, approaches to enforce this level (or proof of comparability to natural background) may have numerous consequences including ineffective use of resources, stigmas on properties or actions at industrial or hazardous sites that are inconsistent with their regional setting. Florida has developed regulations and guidance on investigation of brownfield sites and has supported a study by the University of Florida (UF) to evaluate natural background concentrations in Florida soils. This paper discusses the sources of uncertainty near the soil cleanup target levels (SCTLs) in the Florida decision-making framework.     

Environmental impact assessment of infrastructure projects: a governance perspective

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been promoted as an instrument for preventive environmental management in construction projects, but its performance in safeguarding the environment through influencing project decision-making is questioned. This paper probes the underlying reasons from a governance perspective as an important supplement to the regulatory and technical perspectives. A framework, with process integration, professional governance, and public engagement being its key components, is proposed to analyze the governance arrangements that enable or inhibit the effective functioning of EIA, based on which a comparative study of three infrastructure projects in China, the United States and Finland was conducted. The results reveal that, while the level of process integration and public engagement of EIA determines the degree to which EIA influences project decisions, it is the professional governance that controls the accountability of EIA. The paper has implications on institutionally where efforts should be directed to improve the performance of EIA.     

Management of mountain areas in Norway and the persistence of local–national conflicts

We have investigated why conflicts linked to the distribution of power between governments and actors at the national and local levels concerning environmental management of mountain areas in Norway persist despite political intentions to strengthen local powers. We seek to explain this by analysing changes in policies, institutional frameworks, and regional contexts, and the local perceptions of these changes. Paradoxically, the national government's power has apparently been strengthened by new sectoral regulations and more stringent enforcement of the existing ones, increases in the number and extent of protected areas, and failures to act on intentions to devolve power. An additional factor spurring conflicts is the increased importance of tourism to mountain communities. To become more relevant to policies and development in mountain areas, future studies on multilevel governance must address multilevel politics, entire mountain areas, and the context of their development, rather than focusing on minor projects and protected areas.     

Joint propagation of variability and imprecision in assessing the risk of groundwater contamination

Estimating risks of groundwater contamination often require schemes for representing and propagating uncertainties relative to model input parameters. The most popular method is the Monte Carlo method whereby cumulative probability distributions are randomly sampled in an iterative fashion. The shortcoming of the approach, however, arises when probability distributions are arbitrarily selected in situations where available information is incomplete or imprecise. In such situations, alternative modes of information representation can be used, for example the nested intervals known as “possibility distributions”. In practical situations of groundwater risk assessment, it is common that certain model parameters may be represented by single probability distributions (representing variability) because there are data to justify these distributions, while others are more faithfully represented by possibility distributions (representing imprecision) due to the partial nature of available information. This paper applies two recent methods, designed for the joint-propagation of variability and imprecision, to a groundwater contamination risk assessment. Results of the joint-propagation methods are compared to those obtained using both interval analysis and the Monte Carlo method with a hypothesis of stochastic independence between model parameters. The two joint-propagation methods provide results in the form of families of cumulative distributions of the probability of exceeding a certain value of groundwater concentration. These families are delimited by an upper cumulative distribution and a lower distribution respectively called Plausibility and Belief after evidence theory. Slight differences between the results of the two joint-propagation methods are explained by the different assumptions regarding parameter dependencies. Results highlight the point that non-conservative results may be obtained if single cumulative probability distributions are arbitrarily selected for model parameters in the face of imprecise information and the Monte Carlo method is used under the assumption of stochastic independence. The proposed joint-propagation methods provide upper and lower bounds for the probability of exceeding a tolerance threshold. As this may seem impractical in a risk-management context, it is proposed to introduce “a-posteriori subjectivity” (as opposed to the “a-priori subjectivity” introduced by the arbitrary selection of single probability distributions) by defining a single indicator of evidence as a weighted average of Plausibility and Belief, with weights to be defined according to the specific context.