scholarly journals Effectiveness of the national pollutant release inventory as a policy tool to curb atmospheric industrial emissions in Canada

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Toxic Release Inventory ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Industrial Sectors

To curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce concentrations of toxic substances in Canada’s atmosphere, many pieces of environment legislation are targeted at reducing industrial emissions. Traditional regulation prescribes penalties through fines to discourage industries from polluting, but in the past two decades, alternative forms of environmental regulation like the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) have been introduced. NPRI is an information management tool which requires industries to self-report emissions data based on a set of guidelines determined by Environment and Climate Change Canada, a federal agency. The tool works to inform the public regarding industry emissions and provides a large database that can be analyzed by researchers and regulators to inform emissions trends in Canada. These tools have seen some success in other jurisdictions (e.g., United States and Australia). However, some research assessing the U.S Toxic Release Inventory suggests there are fundamental weaknesses in the self-reported nature of the data, and incidences of under-reporting. This preliminary study aimed to explore NPRI in Canada and test its effectiveness against the National Air Pollutant Surveillance Network (NAPS), an air quality monitoring program administered by the federal government. While instances of under-reporting were undetected, their study identified areas of weakness in the NPRI tool and instances of increasing emissions across various industrial sectors in Canada.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of the national pollutant release inventory as a policy tool to curb atmospheric industrial emissions in Canada

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R Walker
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Toxic Release Inventory ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Industrial Sectors

To curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce concentrations of toxic substances in Canada’s atmosphere, many pieces of environment legislation are targeted at reducing industrial emissions. Traditional regulation prescribes penalties through fines to discourage industries from polluting, but in the past two decades, alternative forms of environmental regulation like the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) have been introduced. NPRI is an information management tool which requires industries to self-report emissions data based on a set of guidelines determined by Environment and Climate Change Canada, a federal agency. The tool works to inform the public regarding industry emissions and provides a large database that can be analyzed by researchers and regulators to inform emissions trends in Canada. These tools have seen some success in other jurisdictions (e.g., United States and Australia). However, some research assessing the U.S Toxic Release Inventory suggests there are fundamental weaknesses in the self-reported nature of the data, and incidences of under-reporting. This preliminary study aimed to explore NPRI in Canada and test its effectiveness against the National Air Pollutant Surveillance Network (NAPS), an air quality monitoring program administered by the federal government. While instances of under-reporting were undetected, their study identified areas of weakness in the NPRI tool and instances of increasing emissions across various industrial sectors in Canada.

scholarly journals Mobile monitoring of urban air quality at high spatial resolution by low-cost sensors: Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shibao Wang ◽  
Yun Ma ◽  
Zhongrui Wang ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Xuguang Chi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Traffic Emissions ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Mobile Monitoring

Abstract. The development of low-cost sensors and novel calibration algorithms provides new hints to complement conventional ground-based observation sites to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of pollutants on hyper-local scales (tens of meters). Here we use sensors deployed on a taxi fleet to explore the air quality in the road network of Nanjing over the course of a year (Oct. 2019–Sep. 2020). Based on GIS technology, we develop a grid analysis method to obtain 50 m resolution maps of major air pollutants (CO, NO2, and O3). Through hotspots identification analysis, we find three main sources of air pollutants including traffic, industrial emissions, and cooking fumes. We find that CO and NO2 concentrations show a pattern: highways > arterial roads > secondary roads > branch roads > residential streets, reflecting traffic volume. While the O3 concentrations in these five road types are in opposite order due to the titration effect of NOx. Combined the mobile measurements and the stationary station data, we diagnose that the contribution of traffic-related emissions to CO and NO2 are 42.6 % and 26.3 %, respectively. Compared to the pre-COVID period, the concentrations of CO and NO2 during COVID-lockdown period decreased for 44.9 % and 47.1 %, respectively, and the contribution of traffic-related emissions to them both decreased by more than 50 %. With the end of the COVID-lockdown period, traffic emissions and air pollutant concentrations rebounded substantially, indicating that traffic emissions have a crucial impact on the variation of air pollutants levels in urban regions. This research demonstrates the sense power of mobile monitoring for urban air pollution, which provides detailed information for source attribution, accurate traceability, and potential mitigation strategies at urban micro-scale.

Fluoride partitioning in rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) upon irrigation with fluoride‐contaminated water and its risk assessment

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-144
Author(s):  
S. K. Jha ◽  
T. Damodaran ◽  
C. L. Verma ◽  
V. K. Mishra ◽  
D. k. Sharma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Triticum Aestivum ◽  
Oryza Sativa ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Contaminated Water ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Disease Registry ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Contaminated Irrigation Water

Fluoride (F) contamination has become a global environmental problem affecting more than 25 countries and the cure of the associated disease “fluorosis” is not yet known. Now it has been realized that a sizable amount of F intake also takes place through the ingestion of food. Therefore, F partitioning in rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) and its exposure in human was evaluated under pot culture experiment using F‐contaminated irrigation water. In both rice and wheat, F accumulation in the tissue parts of plant followed the order: grain < straw < root. The grain of rice and wheat contained F between 11.51 and 22.55 mg kg‐1 and 11.56 and 15.43 mg kg‐1, respectively in the treatment range of 0 ‐ 8 mg F l‐1. The cumulative EDI calculated at the maximum F concentration in rice and wheat grains for children, sedentary men and women was found to be higher than the limits stipulated by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), USA. In conclusion, the fluoride poses potential health risks to humans due to the consumption of F contaminated rice and wheat, children being more susceptible/affected than the sedentary adult ones. Therefore, a constant surveillance and monitoring program is highly warranted for determining the human health risk by considering F exposure due to various sources viz., ingestion, drinking water, water used in cooking and other dietary sources.

Design of an Intelligent Python Code for Validating Crack Growth Exponent by Monitoring a Crack of Zig-Zag Shape in a Cracked Pipe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Fong ◽  
Pedro V. Marcal ◽  
Robert Rainsberger ◽  
N. Alan Heckert ◽  
James J. Filliben
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
Small Crack ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Growth Exponent ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Crack Geometry

Abstract When a small crack is detected in a pressure vessel or piping, we can estimate the fatigue life of the vessel or piping by applying the classical law of fracture mechanics for crack growth if we are certain that the crack growth exponent is correct and the crack geometry is a simple plane. Unfortunately, for an ageing vessel or piping, the degradation will, in practice, change not only the crack growth exponent but the crack shape from a simple plane to a zig-zag pattern. To validate the crack growth exponent for an ageing vessel or piping, we present the design of an Intelligent PYTHON (IP) code to convert the information of the growing crack geometry measured by monitoring a small crack that was initially detected and subsequently continuously monitored over a period of time such that the IP-based analysis code will use the realistic zig-zag crack geometry as a series of re-meshed finite-element meshes for finding the correct crack growth exponent. Using a numerical example, we show that such an IP-assisted continuous monitoring program, using PYTHON as the management tool, TRUEGRID as the topological crack meshing tool, and two finite-element analysis codes for verifiable stress analysis, is feasible for predicting more accurately the fatigue life of a cracked vessel or piping because the material model has a field-validated crack growth exponent. Significance and limitations of this IP-assisted approach are discussed.

scholarly journals Air pollutant emissions from Chinese households: A major and underappreciated ambient pollution source

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (28) ◽  
pp. 7756-7761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Yu Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Bth Region

As part of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government has developed air pollution prevention and control plans for key regions with a focus on the power, transport, and industrial sectors. Here, we investigate the contribution of residential emissions to regional air pollution in highly polluted eastern China during the heating season, and find that dramatic improvements in air quality would also result from reduction in residential emissions. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry to evaluate potential residential emission controls in Beijing and in the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei (BTH) region. In January and February 2010, relative to the base case, eliminating residential emissions in Beijing reduced daily average surface PM2.5 (particulate mater with aerodynamic diameter equal or smaller than 2.5 micrometer) concentrations by 14 ± 7 μg⋅m−3 (22 ± 6% of a baseline concentration of 67 ± 41 μg⋅m−3; mean ± SD). Eliminating residential emissions in the BTH region reduced concentrations by 28 ± 19 μg⋅m−3 (40 ± 9% of 67 ± 41 μg⋅m−3), 44 ± 27 μg⋅m−3 (43 ± 10% of 99 ± 54 μg⋅m−3), and 25 ± 14 μg⋅m−3 (35 ± 8% of 70 ± 35 μg⋅m−3) in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces, respectively. Annually, elimination of residential sources in the BTH region reduced emissions of primary PM2.5 by 32%, compared with 5%, 6%, and 58% achieved by eliminating emissions from the transportation, power, and industry sectors, respectively. We also find air quality in Beijing would benefit substantially from reductions in residential emissions from regional controls in Tianjin and Hebei, indicating the value of policies at the regional level.

Provider Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Utilization and Self-Auditing—A Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-147
Author(s):  
Whitnee C. Brown ◽  
Kelli Whitted
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Drug Monitoring ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Opioid Therapy ◽  
Aggregate Data ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Public Health Officials

BackgroundAlabama has the highest prescription rate in the country. The national incidence of overdose deaths from prescription opioids exceeds the combined death rates from heroin and cocaine overdose. Monitoring prescription access should be an essential activity among providers and can be used to protect patient health and well-being. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are tools that assist in diminishing opioid therapy risks such as diversion, abuse, overdose, and death.ObjectiveThe purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an educational intervention on opioid prescriptive rates, frequency of self-auditing and days of opioid supply among healthcare providers. The anticipated goal of the project was that rates and days of supply for opioid prescriptions would decrease.MethodA pretest–posttest design was used to assess a sample of 21 DEA licensed providers who attended a PDMP presentation and conducted a self-audit using the PDMP.ResultsAnalysis showed that 81% of the participants had never conducted a self-audit prior to the intervention. Self-report data indicated that 85.7% of the providers planned to increase their self-auditing use postintervention and 14.3% planned to make no changes to their current use of the PDMP. Among those who prescribed opioids, the range of monthly prescriptions written was 3–142 preintervention (M = 32.28, SD = 41.04) and 3–149 postintervention (M = 32.26, SD = 43.32). Analysis also found the days of opioid supply prescribed were also high. In both cases, these numbers were correlated to patient census.Implications for NursingThe PDMP is an effective surveillance tool that provides aggregate data to state public health officials. For a PDMP to be effective, it must be used by prescribing providers. While the anticipated goal for this study was not achieved, the PDMP is an effective surveillance tool for monitoring the controlled substance prescription histories of patients. Using the PDMP before prescribing can aid providers in distinguishing those who legitimately have a need from those who may be seeking to misuse the medications. Additionally, use of a PDMP can provide aggregate data to state public health officials so that education programs, for practitioners and patients, can be developed.

scholarly journals Density of the Waterborne Parasite Ceratomyxa shasta and Its Biological Effects on Salmon

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 3724-3731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha L. Hallett ◽  
R. Adam Ray ◽  
Charlene N. Hurst ◽  
Richard A. Holt ◽  
Gerri R. Buckles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Density ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Degree Days ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Klamath River ◽  
Specific Parasite

ABSTRACTThe myxozoan parasiteCeratomyxa shastais a significant pathogen of juvenile salmonids in the Pacific Northwest of North America and is limiting recovery of Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho (O. kisutch) salmon populations in the Klamath River. We conducted a 5-year monitoring program that comprised concurrent sentinel fish exposures and water sampling across 212 river kilometers of the Klamath River. We used percent mortality and degree-days to death to measure disease severity in fish. We analyzed water samples using quantitative PCR and Sanger sequencing, to determine total parasite density and relative abundance ofC. shastagenotypes, which differ in their pathogenicity to salmonids. We detected the parasite throughout the study zone, but parasite density and genetic composition fluctuated spatially and temporally. Chinook and coho mortality increased with density of their specific parasite genotype, but mortality-density thresholds and time to death differed. A lethality threshold of 40% mortality was reached with 10 spores liter−1for Chinook but only 5 spores liter−1for coho. Parasite density did not affect degree-days to death for Chinook but was negatively correlated for coho, and there was wider variation among coho individuals. These differences likely reflect the different life histories and genetic heterogeneity of the salmon populations. Direct quantification of the density of host-specific parasite genotypes in water samples offers a management tool for predicting host population-level impacts.

scholarly journals The Study of Emission Inventory on Anthropogenic Air Pollutants and Source Apportionment of PM2.5 in the Changzhutan Urban Agglomeration, China

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 739
Author(s):  
Bin Xu ◽  
Xiangyu You ◽  
Yaoyu Zhou ◽  
Chunhao Dai ◽  
Zhan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Urban Agglomeration ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Urban Agglomerations

As one of China’s emerging urban agglomerations, the Changzhutan urban area is suffering from regional composite air pollution. Previous studies mainly focus on single cities or world-class urban agglomerations, which cannot provide a scientific basis for air pollution in emerging urban agglomerations. This paper proposes the latest high-resolution emission inventory through the emission factor method and compares the results with the rest of the urban agglomeration. The emission inventory shows that the estimates for sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter 10 (PM10), particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and ammonia (NH3) emission are 132.5, 148.9, 111.6, 56.5, 119.0, and 72.0 kt, respectively. From the 3 × 3 km emission grid, the spatial difference of air pollutant emissions in the Changzhutan urban agglomeration was more obvious, but the overall trend of monthly pollutant discharge was relatively stable. Depending on the source apportionment, SO42−, OC, and NO3− are the main chemical constituents of PM2.5, accounting for 13.06, 8.24, and 4.84 μg/m3, respectively. Simultaneously, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and dust are still three main sources that cannot be ignored. With the support of these data, the results of this study may provide a reference for other emerging urban agglomerations in air quality.

scholarly journals Developing Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland using Pumice and Chrysopogon zizanioides for Tannery Wastewater Treatment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mekonnen Birhanie Aregu
Keyword(s):  
Removal Efficiency ◽  
Constructed Wetland ◽  
Tannery Wastewater ◽  
P Value ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Test Statistics ◽  
Total Chromium ◽  
Chrysopogon Zizanioides ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Hazardous Pollutants

Abstract Background: High-strength wastewater defined by elevated levels of hazardous pollutants measured in BOD, heavy metals, nutrients and other toxic substances. This kind of wastewater discharged to water body without treatment from different industrial sectors that adversely affects aquatic environment and downstream water consumers. The general objective of this study is to investigate efficient substrate with selected plant type for constructed wetland to remove hazardous pollutants from tannery wastewater. This study was conducted at Modjo town from 2016 to 2018. Plug flow experimental study design was carried out. The substrate (Pumice) was collected around the study area and chemical characteristics were determined. Chrysopogon zizanioides was planted and grown for five months before running tannery wastewater for the treatment. The composite wastewater was introduced to the constructed wetland from Modjo leather industry, Ethiopia. The physicochemical analysis of the sample wastewater was done before and after treatment at four different hydraulic retention time.Results: Characterization of the untreated tannery wastewater revealed that the mean concentration of BOD5, COD, TSS, PO4-P, TP, NO3-N, TN and total chromium were 1641±373.6, 6953.33±339.4, 1868±863.1, 88.06 ±40.8, 144.53 ±20.8, 116.66 ±26.6, 650.33 ±93.6 and 18.33±6.7 mg/l respectively beyond the permissible limits. The maximum removal efficiency of the constructed wetland in pumice bed revealed that BOD5 at HRT 7and 9 days (96.42%, 96.30%), COD at HRT 5 and 7 days (96.76%, 96.91%), NO3-N at HRT 5 and 7 days (99.99%, 99.68%), TN (98.67%, 99.00%), PO4-P HRT 7and 9 days (96.97%,100%), TP at HRT 5 and 7 days (94.79%, 96.17%) and total Chromium at HRT 5 and 7 days (98.36%, 98.91%) respectively. Whereas, the removal efficiency of constructed wetland bed with gravel substrate used as a control subject with similar condition to pumice showed lower performance. The result between pumice and gravel bed was tested for their significance difference using two sample t-test statistics. Based on the test statistics, the pumice substrate perform better than the gravel significantly at 95% confidence interval, p-value = 0.01.Conclusion: Pumice substrate and Chrysopogon zizanioides have a potential ability to remove hazardous pollutants from tannery wastewater in horizontal subsurface constructed wetlands.

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