Evaluation of technology for wastes and soils contaminated with dioxins,furans, and related substances

The objectives of the U.S. EPA Dioxin-Engineering program are: (a) to conduct basic/ applied research on the behavior of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in contaminated soils, applying this knowledge to methods useful for the in-situ stabilization of such soils and investigating the viability of special organisms or chemical reagents for the destruction of this artifact and related toxic chemicals; and (b) to develop and evaluate, both in the laboratory and in the field, technologies for the detoxification, destruction, or control of PCDD-contaminated liquids and soils.Resource levels for the program amount to $3.3 million for 1984–1986 with an additional $7.2 million from the Superfund to accelerate this program and provide quality assurance/control support to the data gathering and certification efforts.In approximately one and one-half years, significant contributions have been made in the following areas:• Sorption/desorption characteristics of 2,3,7,8–TCDD in contaminated soils have been investigated.• In-situ stabilization techniques for soils are being evaluated.• Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a white rot fungus, has shown the ability to degrade 2,3,7,8-TCDD in laboratory experiments.• Shallow mines for contaminated soils have been evaluated and the concept appears technically and environmentally feasible.• Field testing of the EPA Mobile Incineration System in Missouri is continuing. Destruction and removal efficiencies of > 99.9999% were achieved; ash and scrubber water were delisted.• Alkali polyethelene glycolate reagents are being studied and results are encouraging.     

WHO's health risk assessment of ELF fields

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), WHO's scientific collaborating centres (including the UK's National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB)) and over 50 participating Member States are participants of WHO's International EMF Project. As part of WHO's health risk assessment process for extremely low frequency fields (ELF), this workshop was convened by NRPB to assist WHO in evaluating the potential health impacts of electrical currents and fields induced by ELF in molecules, cells, tissues and organs of the body. This paper describes the process by which WHO will conduct its health risk assessment. WHO is also trying to provide information on why exposure to ELF magnetic fields seems to be associated with an increased incidence of childhood leukaemia. Are there mechanisms that could lead to this health outcome or does the epidemiological evidence incorporate biases or other factors that need to be further explored?     

Levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in primipara breast milk from Taiwan: estimation of dioxins and furans intake for breastfed infants

Postnatal exposure to dioxins in breastfed infants occurs mainly during breast-feeding. The exposure to a substantial amount of endocrine disruptors in the early days of life may cause long-term health effects. Test subjects were healthy and primiparous mothers with a mean age of 28 (S.D. = 3.8) in 2001. The PCDD/F congeners were analyzed in the breast milk using gas chromatograph/high resolution mass spectrometry. The mean level of PCDD/Fs was 7.4 pg-WHO-TEQ/g lipid, which is significantly lower than the level found in individuals from other countries. The total PCDD WHO-TEQ levels in breast milk had a significant positive association with maternal age and a slightly negative association with perinatal BMI (body mass index of the period before and after the delivery). The estimated daily intake of 10.5 pg-WHO-TEQ/kg/day from individual breast milk was predicted for a breastfed infant at 6 months of age with proper assumption of 8 kg body weight, 854 milk per day of consumption, 95% of dioxin absorption rate, and linear decline of dioxin during lactation. Based on the lower WHO-TEQ levels in the breast milk, breast-feeding should still be encouraged and continued in Taiwan.     

PROTEUS, a technical and management model for aquatic risk assessment of industrial spills

The assessment of risks to the aquatic environment related to industrial installations is a priority in environmental pollution control in the Netherlands. Major accidents to the surface water such as the Sandoz incident, but also the high number of smaller accidents that occur every year has invoked the need for an effective method to assess these risks. Two different models have been used in this field in the Netherlands over several years. These two software applications, VERIS and RISAM were developed from two different perspectives: VERIS from the perspective of supplying major accidents related information in the safety report, RISAM form the perspective of controlling risks for both smaller and larger facilities that may pollute surface waters through accidents. Both systems comprised particular strong points: VERIS considers safety management aspects in the assessment, RISAM considers differences in surface water vulnerability and involves quantitative probabilities in the assessment. It was decided to integrate both methods and maintain these strong points in the resulting method. This paper describes the new integrated risk assessment method that now has been developed in a concerted effort between the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, and the National Institute for Public Health and Environment. It also describes the essential elements of the computer program PROTEUS that is based on the new method and that makes the assessment of aquatic risks for industrial activities an easy task, partly due to the automatic generation of the assessment report.     

An industrial approach of laser polishing with different laser sources

Surface finishing of dies and molds is one of the most interesting applications of laser polishing process. Because of the variety of materials used in die and mold manufacturing, as well as the different surface topographies, in each case, it is necessary to use appropriate process parameters. The presented work focuses on the study of laser polishing process on three commonly used materials in the manufacture of dies and molds, such as tool steels AISI D2 and AISI P20, ductile cast iron GGG70L and LaserForm ST‐100, a specific material developed for plastic injection mold making. Experimental studies were carried out determining the influence of the energy density on the roughness reduction rate. A key point that has a direct impact on the resulting surface roughness is the initial surface finishing of the material before laser polishing. In order to determine the degree of influence, experimental studies were conducted on two steels, AISI H13 and AISI P20, which are typically used in mold making industry. The experimental tests showed that a random distribution of peaks and valleys allows more homogenous material melting and gives as result a smoother surface after laser polishing.     

Landfarming operation of oily sludge in arid region--human health risk assessment

Landfarming is becoming one of the most preferred treatment technologies for oily sludge disposal in the Arabian Gulf region in general, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in particular. This technology is considered to be, economical, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly with minimal residue disposal problems. Application of this technology in the region is simply based on the studies conducted in the United States of America and Europe. There have hardly been any scientific studies conducted to evaluate performance of landfarming technology under arid conditions. Recently, detailed field experimental study has been conducted to evaluate the degradation process and health risk issues in landfarming under arid conditions. The study observed volatilization as the main process of hydrocarbon degradation, which can cause significantly high concentration of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere leading to serious human health risk to the onsite workers. It is particularly true in the early phase of the landfarming process (first 2 months from initial loading). This paper elaborates these findings in detail.     

Framework for the environmental damage assessment of an industrial process chain

On the basis of the life cycle approach, a framework for the assessment of the environmental damages generated by an industrial process chain is established. In order to consider all the processes of the life cycle, a methodology is developed based on an eco-matrix formed by chemical process eco-vectors containing all their environmental loads. To perform the impact assessment, environmental damage indicators are estimated in the most accurate way possible for each process. For this, site-specific evaluation is carried out applying damage functions and, hence, for each damage indicator, a damage matrix is obtained. In order to make the methodology more practical, options like dominance analysis are presented. Because of the large number of environmental loads, the focus is on the priority pollutants and then the final estimations are done with one indicator per safeguard subject. The damage indicators selected in this paper are damage costs, ecological damage parameter (both site-specific) and global damage estimates. As for the verification of the methodology, a study has been carried out based on the life cycle of the electricity produced by a municipal waste incinerator.     

Public understanding of risk in health impact assessment: a psychosocial approach

Development projects inevitably pose risks to the health of humans and the planet. Health impact assessment (HIA) practitioners increasingly evaluate the mental health effects of development but have rarely considered those caused by public understanding of risk (‘risk perception’) itself a determinant of health. This paper proposes a new psychosocial model of public understanding of risk in response to the literature on perceived high risk developments. It exemplifies the psychosocial process that occurs when people respond to industrial threats to health. In doing this, it draws upon literature from psychology, social science and public health. The model is foregrounded in the context of psychosocial health in HIA. The paper also reviews the health and well-being effects that may result. Overall, it is argued that the philosophical and moral underpinnings of HIA compel practitioners and developers to understand the formation and ongoing development of public understandings of risk in light of the cultural, demographic, temporal and other contextual factors shaping them in unique development contexts where HIAs are undertaken, and how understandings of risk actually affect community health. We encourage them to propose mitigation measures and solutions that accord with the values of Planetary Health.     

Reduction of COD in wastewater from an organized tannery industrial region by Electro-Fenton process

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have led the way in the treatment of aqueous waste and are rapidly becoming the chosen technology for many applications. In this paper, COD reduction potential of leather tanning industry wastewaters by Electro-Fenton (EF) oxidation, as one of the AOPs, was experimentally evaluated. The wastewater sample was taken from an outlet of an equalization basin in a common treatment plant of an organized tannery industrial region in Istanbul, Turkey. Treatment of the wastewater was carried out by an electrochemical batch reactor equipped with two iron electrodes, which were connected parallel to each other. The oxidation process was studied for optimization of H(2)O(2) and the electricity consumptions were observed at different contact times under different pH conditions (3.0, 5.0 and 7.2). In each case, electricity consumption for decreased COD mass was estimated. In this process, COD was reduced by 60-70% within 10 min. By taking into consideration the local sewerage discharge limit, applicability of EF process for the tannery wastewaters was evaluated.     

Hydrogen Balmer-β and Balmer-γ emission profiles in an abnormal glow region of hydrogen plasma

Emission spectroscopy measurements of Balmer-β and Balmer-γ line profiles are carried out to study their line shapes and line intensities as a function of discharge parameters such as fill pressure (3-7 mbar) and input power (200-400 W). A technique based on determining the relative intensities of neutral atomic hydrogen emission lines is used to evaluate the electron temperature, whereas the electron density is extracted from the Stark broadening (FWHM) of the H_β emission profile. It is found that both the emission intensity and the broadening of the Balmer-β and Balmer-γ lines exhibit significant dependence on the fill pressure in the same manner. However, both the emission intensity and broadening of the H_β line exhibit a weak dependence on input power in contrast to the H_γ emission line. Based on optical measurements reported here, plasma discharge parameters can be selected to optimize the electron temperature and density.     

Comparative risk assessment: an international comparison of methodologies and results

Comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a systematic procedure for evaluating the environmental problems affecting a geographic area. This paper looks beyond the U.S. border and examines the experience with CRAs conducted in various developing countries and economies in transition, including Bangkok, Thailand, Cairo, Egypt and Quito, Ecuador, as well as other locations in Eastern Europe, Asia and Central and South America. A recent pilot CRA conducted in Taiwan is also considered. Comparisons are made of both the methodologies and the results across the relatively diverse international literature. The most robust finding is that conventional air pollutants (e.g., particulate matter and lead) consistently rank as high health risks across all of the CRAs examined. Given the varied nature of the settings studied in the CRAs, including level of economic development, urban-rural differences, and climate, this finding is particularly significant. Problems involving drinking water are also ranked as a high or medium health risk in almost all the countries studied. This is consistent with the results of analyses conducted by the World Bank suggesting contamination, limited coverage and erratic service by water supply systems.Beyond the major air pollutants and drinking water, the CRA results diverge significantly across countries. A number of problems involving toxic chemicals, e. g., hazardous air pollutants, rank as high health risks in the US but do not appear as consistent areas of concerns in the other countries studied. This likely reflects the so-called "risk transition" - the shift from sanitation and infection disease problems to those involving industry, vehicles and toxic substances - that often occurs with economic development. It may also reflect the greater information about sources of toxic pollutants in the U.S. For other problems, there are important differences across the developing countries and economies in transition. For example, hazardous and (industrial) non-hazardous waste issues ranked as medium or low health risks in all the countries studied, except for Taiwan where unmanaged toxic waste sites were considered to pose high risks. While the generally low ranking is consistent with the notion that few people are directly exposed to hazardous and (industrial) non-hazardous waste, it is not entirely surprising that views might be different in Taiwan, where space is so limited and population density is so high.We suggest that the wide range of findings likely reflect genuine differences among the countries studied. However, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility that some of the observed similarities (and differences) arise from the (relatively) common methodologies employed.     

Socio-economic impact assessment of industrial projects in India

Socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) is conducted in advance to determine the socioeconomic consequences of industrial projects. The focus is on the project-affected people. All possible data is collected from census information and academic institutions. Personal interviews are also conducted with the local people and their administrative heads. The main phases of the project addressed are pre- construction, construction and operation. Issues addressed include compensation payment for the land, provision of employment, and alternative accommodation for the people affected. A decision on the acceptability of the project is taken after assessing the positive and negative socio-economic impacts.     

A comparison of different failure criteria in a numerical seismic assessment of an industrial brickwork chimney

A theoretical analysis using three well-known masonry analysis constitutive models is performed on a masonry structure to simulate the response of the structure to specific seismic forces. The results of the three numerical approaches are compared and a discussion is presented, mainly intended for professionals, concerning the suitability of the three models and the limitations of each numerical approach. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relative accuracy of the three different models and their suitability for determining the failure mode of the masonry chimney. The models studied are: a linear elastic constitutive model, an elastic-plastic Drucker-Prager’s type model and a model including cracking and/or crushing in the material using Willam-Warnke’s criterion. A macromodelling approach is used because of the great number of elements forming the structure and the computational demand. Seismic actions are synthetically generated and scaled until chimney failure, in accordance with the present regulations on seismic-proof constructions in Europe and Spain. Conclusions for researchers and professionals are obtained to determine the suitability of each model according to the results required and the available calculation capacity.     

Facts and values in risk assessment

Risk, as commonly understood, is a complex melange of facts, values, and fears. While this complexity of public risk perception is now broadly recognized, its implications are insufficiently explored. Public risk perceptions offer p poor guide for public policymaking. Popular assessments of risk are tainted by misinformation and unreliable heuristics. While subjective considerations, often called values, play a role in public perception of risk, those ‘values’ are often inappropriate for government decisionmaking. Reliance on public perceptions of risk means more premature deaths. Public risk perception also is systematically skewed contrary to the interests of the disadvantaged. Strict probabilistic risk measures generally provide a superior guide for government regulatory policy.     

Meaning and contextualisation in risk assessment

This paper presents an analysis of the construction of risk as a social process. It provides a critique of Jasanoff's ‘two cultures’ model of the risk assessment community, arguing that corresponding rhetorics serve to obscure the hybrid nature of risk. It is argued that a new perspective, based on the contextualisation of expert scientific knowledge is needed, which transcends reductionist tendencies that view risk assessment as simply about either material artefacts or social constructions. Such approaches have the potential, it is suggested, to address not only the complexity but also the moral and political dilemmas associated with a wide range of risk management problems.     

Environmental vulnerability assessment in the vicinity of an industrial site in the frame of ARAMIS European project

This work has been carried out in the framework of the ARAMIS project, which aims at developing a comprehensive procedure for assessing the risk level associated to an industrial site with respect to the surrounding environment. To this end, an index is defined which consists of the contribution of three terms, expressing the severity of the scenario consequences, the efficiency of the safety management and the vulnerability of the surrounding environment. The present work focuses on this last aspect concerning the determination of the vulnerability, of the area in the vicinity of an industrial site, of human, environmental (or natural) and material stakes. The applied methodology consists in identifying and quantifying the targets by the means of a geographical information system (GIS) and in assessing the contribution of each target on the basis of a multicriteria decision approach (Saaty method). The result is an operational tool allowing competent authorities, industrialists and risk experts to assess the vulnerability of the area surrounding an industrial site.     

Safety assessment methodology in management of spent sealed sources

Environmental hazards can be caused from radioactive waste after their disposal. It was therefore important that safety assessment methodologies be developed and established to study and estimate the possible hazards, and institute certain safety methodologies that lead and prevent the evolution of these hazards. Spent sealed sources are specific type of radioactive waste. According to IAEA definition, spent sealed sources are unused sources because of activity decay, damage, misuse, loss, or theft. Accidental exposure of humans from spent sealed sources can occur at the moment they become spent and before their disposal. Because of that reason, safety assessment methodologies were tailored to suit the management of spent sealed sources. To provide understanding and confidence of this study, validation analysis was undertaken by considering the scenario of an accident that occurred in Egypt, June 2000 (the Meet-Halfa accident from an iridium-192 source). The text of this work includes consideration related to the safety assessment approaches of spent sealed sources which constitutes assessment context, processes leading an active source to be spent, accident scenarios, mathematical models for dose calculations, and radiological consequences and regulatory criteria. The text also includes a validation study, which was carried out by evaluating a theoretical scenario compared to the real scenario of Meet-Halfa accident depending on the clinical assessment of affected individuals.     

Dose-mortality assessment upon reuse and recycling of industrial sludge

This study provides a novel attempt to put forward, in general toxicological terms, quantitative ranking of toxicity of various sources of sludge for possible reusability in further applications. The high leaching concentrations of copper in printed circuit board (PCB) sludge and chromium in leather sludge apparently exceeded current Taiwan's EPA regulatory thresholds and should be classified as hazardous wastes. Dose-mortality analysis indicated that the toxicity ranking of different sources of sludge was PCB sludge>CaF(2) sludge>leather sludge. PCB sludge was also confirmed as a hazardous waste since the toxicity potency of PCB sludge was nearly identical to CdCl(2). However, leather sludge seemed to be much less toxic than as anticipated, perhaps due to a significant decrease of toxic species bioavailable in the aqueous phase to the reporter bacterium Escherichia coli DH5alpha. For possible reusability of sludge, maximum concentrations allowable to be considered "safe" (ca. EC(100)/100) were 9.68, 42.1 and 176 mgL(-1) for CaF(2) sludge, PCB sludge and leather sludge, respectively.     

Collection and evaluation of existing data: an ecological risk assessment perspective.

All scientific disciplines rely to some degree upon existing data to design new studies, test hypotheses, and make decisions. Because existing data can take many forms, a framework for addressing the quality of these data must be general and comprehensive. By nature of this inclusiveness, quality categories for existing data are necessarily broad. Effective employment of existing data requires the development of specific acceptance criteria from broad data quality categories. A framework is presented for collecting and evaluating existing data with examples of Environmental Protection Agency projects employing a tiered data review. The systematic planning inherent in a tiered review is described and attendant data quality considerations are developed in the context of an ecological risk assessment; specifically, the process is illustrated by defining an ecologically protective concentration of a chemical in soil.