Environment international
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Environment international · Jan 2008
Health risk assessment of indoor air pollution in Finnish ice arenas.
Poor indoor air quality and epidemic carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) poisonings due to exhaust emissions from ice resurfacers have been continuously reported from enclosed ice arenas for over 30 years. The health risks in users of Finnish ice arenas were analysed in three ways: (1) evaluation of four cases of epidemic CO poisonings, (2) modelling the association between NO(2) exposure and respiratory symptoms among junior ice hockey players, and (3) estimation of the number of arena users at risk of breathing poor quality air due to non-compliance of ice arenas with recommended abatement measures. The common causes for the CO poisonings involving over 300 subjects were large emissions from propane-fuelled ice resurfacer, small arena volume, negligible ventilation, and very recent opening of the arena. ⋯ Consequently, 20000 daily users of ice arenas were estimated to remain in 2001 at risk of breathing poor quality air. Modern small and inadequately ventilated ice arenas pose their users (mostly children and young adults) at risk of breathing poor quality air and suffering from acute adverse health effects. Governmental regulations are needed worldwide to ensure safe sports in enclosed ice arenas.
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Environment international · Dec 2006
Review Comparative StudyA commentary on recent water safety initiatives in the context of water utility risk management.
Over the last decade, suppliers of drinking water have recognised the limitations of relying solely on end-product monitoring to ensure safe water quality and have sought to reinforce their approach by adopting preventative strategies where risks are proactively identified, assessed and managed. This is leading to the development of water safety plans; structured 'route maps' for managing risks to water supply, from catchment to consumer taps. ⋯ These are cross-compared using a simple framework that facilitates an integrated approach to water safety. Finally, we look at how risk management practices are being integrated across water companies and how this is likely to affect the future development of water safety plans.
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Environment international · Jun 2003
ReviewOverview of regulatory/policy/economic issues related to carbon dioxide.
This is an overview of Session 2c dealing with the regulatory, policy and economic issues related to carbon dioxide and its impact on global climate change. The information is taken from the two papers presented in this session (the U. S. ⋯ In addition, there will be some discussion on the UK CO(2) trading scheme that created the first market in the world in April 2001. Overall, the policy process is constantly informed by scientific research. In the case of climate change, much of this work is carried out under the auspices of international scientific panels.
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Environment international · Apr 2003
Precaution, uncertainty and causation in environmental decisions.
What measures of uncertainty and what causal analysis can improve the management of potentially severe, irreversible or dreaded environmental outcomes? Environmental choices show that policies intended to be precautionary (such as adding MTBE to petrol) can cause unanticipated harm (by mobilizing benzene, a known leukemogen, in the ground water). Many environmental law principles set the boundaries of what should be done but do not provide an operational construct to answer this question. Those principles, ranging from the precautionary principle to protecting human health from a significant risk of material health impairment, do not explain how to make environmental management choices when incomplete, inconsistent and complex scientific evidence characterizes potentially adverse environmental outcomes. ⋯ Elected legislators have the democratic mandate to formulate precautionary principles and are accountable. To preserve that mandate, imbedding formal methods to represent uncertainty in the statutory language of the precautionary principle enhances subsequent judicial review of legislative actions. The framework that we propose also reduces the Balkanized views and interpretations of probabilities, possibilities, likelihood and uncertainty that exists in environmental decision-making.