scholarly journals Plastic waste reprocessing for circular economy: A systematic review of risks to occupational and public health from legacy substances and extrusion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Cook ◽  
Costas A Velis ◽  
Michiel Derks
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
New Products ◽  
Hazardous Substances ◽  
Product Cycle ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Mechanical Recycling ◽  
Pollution Dispersion

Increasing aspirations to develop a circular economy for waste plastics will result in an expansion of the global plastics reprocessing sector over the coming decades. Here we focus on two critical challenges within the value chain that as a result of such increased circularity may exacerbate existing issues for occupational and public health (1): Legacy contamination in secondary plastics, addressing the risk of materials and substances being inherited from the previous use and carried through into new products when the material enters its subsequent use phase; and challenge (2): Extrusion of secondary plastics in reprocessing, an end process of conventional mechanical recycling of plastics, involving heating secondary plastics under pressure until they melt and can be formed into new products. Via a systematic review (PRISMA guidelines, adapted), we considered over 4,000 sources of information, refined and consolidated into 20 relevant sources, which were critically assessed. We also derive prevalent risk scenarios of hazard-pathway-receptor combinations, subsequently being ranked. Our critical analysis highlights that despite stringent regulation, industrial diligence and enforcement, occasionally small amounts of potentially hazardous substances are able to pass through these safeguards and re-enter in the new product cycle. Although many are present at concentrations unlikely to pose a serious and imminent threat, their existence may be an indication of a wider or possibly increasing challenge of pollution dispersion, as the plastics reprocessing sector proliferates. But, in the Global South context, such controls may not be in place. Several studies showed emission control by passive ventilation, through open doors and windows followed by dilution and dispersion in the atmosphere, resulting in increased occupational exposure. It is recommended that further investigations are undertaken to establish the scale and magnitude of such phenomena, especially given the limited evidence base, with results informing improved future risk management protocols of a circular economy for plastics.

scholarly journals Green-Extension Design—A New Strategy to Reduce the Environmental Pressure from the Existing Consumer Electronics

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9596
Author(s):  
Siliang Yi ◽  
Chih-Fu Wu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
New Products ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Consumer Electronics ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Long Life ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Existing electronic devices will quickly become e-waste when encountering technological iterations, which results in serious environmental and public health problems. Previous circular economy research has mainly focused on the development of new products with long life or recycling discarded products. This study firstly proposes the Green-Extension Design (GED) strategy for developing adaptable accessories that provide existing products with the ability to continue to work in a different context. Competitiveness was selected to evaluate the performance of GED, and three competitiveness components were derived through principal component analysis (PCA). Moreover, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) was applied to define the weights of the three competitiveness components, and a GED model was established on the basis of production function. Furthermore, the calculation method for each competitiveness component was defined. The GED strategy is aimed at extending the life of existing products, as well as reducing resource waste and environmental pollution. The GED model based on competitiveness components can enable enterprises to design products of high competitiveness and obtain market share as a result.

Japanese-language videos on YouTube as a source of public health information for COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Yasu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The State ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Spread Of Infection

BACKGROUND Serious public health problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause an infodemic. Sources of information that may cause an infodemic include social networking services; YouTube, which consists of content created and uploaded by individuals, is one such source. OBJECTIVE To survey the content and changes in YouTube videos that present public health information about COVID-19 in Japan. METHODS We surveyed YouTube content regarding public health information pertaining to COVID-19 in Japan. YouTube searches were performed on March 6, 2020 (before the state of emergency), April 14 (during the state of emergency), and May 27 (after the state of emergency was lifted), with 136, 113, and 140 sample videos evaluated, respectively. The main outcome measures were: (1) The total number of views for each video, (2) video content, and (3) the usefulness of the video. RESULTS In the 100 most viewed YouTube videos during the three periods, the number of videos on public health information in March was significantly higher than in May (p = .02). Of the 331 unique videos, 9.1% (n = 30) were released by healthcare professionals. Useful videos providing public health information about the prevention of the spread of infection comprised only 13.0% of the sample but were viewed significantly more often than not useful videos (p = .006). CONCLUSIONS Individuals need to take care when obtaining information from YouTube before or early in a pandemic, during which time scientific evidence is scarce.

scholarly journals Green Deal as a Climate Changes Dam on the Road to Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Jevtic ◽  
C Bouland
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade their colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the GD. The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% speaks to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. The issue of providing adequate infrastructure for the health sector is essential. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the broader population. The public health mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. GD should be a roadmap for priorities and actions in public health, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. GD provides a framework for the development of sustainable and smart transport, the development of green agriculture and policies from field to table. It also insists on biodiversity conservation and protection actions. The pursuit of zero pollution and an environment free of toxic chemicals, as well as incorporating sustainability into all policies, is also an indispensable part of GD. GD represents a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members as well. The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of health and public-health interests along with incorporating sustainability into all policies. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.

scholarly journals Making Resilient Decisions for Sustainable Circularity of Fashion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celinda Palm ◽  
Sarah E. Cornell ◽  
Tiina Häyhä
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
State Response ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Industry Value Chain ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

AbstractThe fashion and textiles industry, and policymakers at all levels, are showing an increased interest in the concept of circular economy as a way to decrease business risks and negative environmental impacts. However, focus is placed mainly on the material ‘stuff’ of textile fashion and its biophysical harms. The current material focus has several shortcomings, because fashion is a social-ecological system and cannot be understood merely by addressing its environmental dimensions. In this paper, we rethink the fashion system from a critical social-ecological perspective. The driver-state-response framework shows social drivers and ecological impacts as an adaptive social-ecological system, exposing how these interacting aspects need to be addressed for sustainable and resilient implementation of circular economy. We show how current responses to global sustainability challenges have so far fallen short. Our overall aim is to expand possibilities for reframing responses that better reflect the complex links between the global fashion system, culture and creativity and the dynamics of the living planet. We argue that reducing planetary pressure from the global fashion and textiles industry requires greater recognition of the system’s social drivers with more emphasis on the many cross-scale links between social and ecological dimensions. Resilient decisions aiming for sustainable circularity of the fashion industry must therefore pay attention to social activities beyond the industry value chain, not just material flows within it.

scholarly journals Scenario Analysis for Selecting Sewage Sludge-to-Energy/Matter Recovery Processes

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 276
Author(s):  
Francesco Facchini ◽  
Giovanni Mummolo ◽  
Micaela Vitti
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Scenario Analysis ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Solid Material ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludges ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment ◽  
New Perspective

The sewage sludges are the byproducts of the wastewater treatment. The new perspective of the wastewater value chain points to a sustainable circular economy approach, where the residual solid material produced by sewage sludge treatments is a resource rather than a waste. A sewage sludge treatment system consists of five main phases; each of them can be performed by different alternative processes. Each process is characterized by its capability to recover energy and/or matter. In this paper, a state of the art of the sludge-to-energy and sludge-to-matter treatments is provided. Then, a scenario analysis is developed to identify suitable sewage sludge treatments plants that best fit the quality and flowrate of sewage sludge to be processed while meeting technological and economic constraints. Based on the scientific literature findings and experts’ opinions, the authors identify a set of reference initial scenarios and the corresponding best treatments’ selection for configuring sewage sludge treatment plants. The scenario analysis reveals a useful reference technical framework when circular economy goals are pursued. The results achieved in all scenarios ensure the potential recovery of matter and/or energy from sewage sludges processes.

Circular economy pillars: a semi-systematic review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olabode Emmanuel Ogunmakinde ◽  
William Sher ◽  
Temitope Egbelakin
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Circular Economy

scholarly journals Global Health Impacts of Dust Storms: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117863022110183
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Aghababaeian ◽  
Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh ◽  
Ali Ardalan ◽  
Ali Asgary ◽  
Mehry Akbary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Emergency Medical Dispatch ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
English Articles

Background: Dust storms and their impacts on health are becoming a major public health issue. The current study examines the health impacts of dust storms around the world to provide an overview of this issue. Method: In this systematic review, 140 relevant and authoritative English articles on the impacts of dust storms on health (up to September 2019) were identified and extracted from 28 968 articles using valid keywords from various databases (PubMed, WOS, EMBASE, and Scopus) and multiple screening steps. Selected papers were then qualitatively examined and evaluated. Evaluation results were summarized using an Extraction Table. Results: The results of the study are divided into two parts: short and long-term impacts of dust storms. Short-term impacts include mortality, visitation, emergency medical dispatch, hospitalization, increased symptoms, and decreased pulmonary function. Long-term impacts include pregnancy, cognitive difficulties, and birth problems. Additionally, this study shows that dust storms have devastating impacts on health, affecting cardiovascular and respiratory health in particular. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that dust storms have significant public health impacts. More attention should be paid to these natural hazards to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate these hazardous events to reduce their negative health impacts. Registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018093325

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