Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts blog

We’ve just published our latest Environmental News article, brought to you each month by Mike Sharpe from MS Consulting.  Here’s a sneak peek of some of the great content in the article, download for more!

Europe debates offshore rules
European policymakers are said to be making good progress with proposals to tighten rules on the safety of offshore oil and gas installations. The measures were first set out two years ago in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Mercury talks stall in Uruguay
The prospects of a meaningful international treaty on mercury appear to be receding after the latest round of talks in Uruguay made only sluggish progress. ‘‘We have only one meeting left [before the adoption of a global mercury treaty] and all big issues are still open,’’ said Elena Lymberidi of NGO coalition the Zero Mercury Working Group at the meeting in early July.

Diesel exhaust is carcinogenic: official
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization based in Lyon, France, has issued a new evaluation of whether exhaust emissions from diesel and gasoline engines are human  carcinogens. Based on the review of a large number of epidemiological, toxicological, and mechanistic studies of older diesel engines and gasoline engines, an IARC expert panel concluded that diesel exhaust is a Group 1, or known, human  carcinogen and gasoline exhaust is a Group 2B, or possible, human carcinogen.

New evidence links ozone to heart attacks
Young, healthy adult volunteers exposed for two hours to ozone developed physiological changes associated with cardiovascular ailments, according to a study by EPA scientists. The changes were temporary and reversible in the young, healthy participants.

Nanoparticles combat marine fouling
Tiny vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) nanoparticles can inhibit the growth of barnacles, bacteria, and algae on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, sea buoys, or offshore platforms, scientists say. The discovery by researchers at  Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (JGU) in Germany could lead to the development of new protective, antifouling coatings and paints that are less damaging to the environment than the products currently used.

Don’t forget that these articles are free to access through subscribing institutions or through an RSC Publishing Personal Account. Registration is quick and easy at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/account/register.

Dr Kevin Ashley from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH, USA, was recently awarded the prestigious Moyer D. Thomas Award for his “outstanding contributions to the standardization of the sampling and analysis of atmospheres” from the ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality.

Dr Ashley is a senior research scientist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he has worked since 1991.  His current research is working to evaluate and validate workplace air sampling techniques to improve sample collection and analysis aspects and to harmonize methods for occupational exposure assessment.

A regular author in JEM, some of Dr Ashley’s recent work on environmental atmospheric analysis was published as part of our issue from last year’s AIRMON conference:

Interlaboratory evaluation of trace element determination in workplace air filter samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Kevin Ashley, Stanley A. Shulman, Michael J. Brisson and Alan M. Howe
J. Environ. Monit., 2012,14, 360-367
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10695C

Preparation, certification and interlaboratory analysis of workplace air filters spiked with high-fired beryllium oxide
Thomas J. Oatts, Cheryl E. Hicks, Amy R. Adams, Michael J. Brisson, Linda D. Youmans-McDonald, Mark D. Hoover and Kevin Ashley
J. Environ. Monit., 2012,14, 391-401
DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10688K

The Moyer D. Thomas award was established in 1975 and is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the standardization of the sampling and analysis of atmospheres. It was last awarded in 2010, to George Luciw, by a task group of the Executive Committee of Committee D22 on Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres.

Our congratulations to Dr Ashley on receiving this award.

To celebrate last month’s release of the 2011 Impact Factors, we are making some of our best content free to access.

The collection brings together the 20 top cited  Journal of Environmental Monitoring papers from 2009 and 2010.

View the collection here.

All the articles are free to access for a limited time, following a simple registration for individual users.

Did you know that following a simple sign up, you could receive our table-of-contents e-alerts straight to your inbox? Once subscribed, you’ll receive your requested journals’ alerts each issue, meaning that you’ll never miss important research again!

Register today, and receive notification of great content like the below, quickly and easily.

Paper
Characterization and environmental implications of nano- and larger TiO2 particles in sewage sludge, and soils amended with sewage sludge
Bojeong Kim, Mitsuhiro Murayama, Benjamin P. Colman and Michael F. Hochella
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14, 1129-1137
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM10809G

Focus
Bioaerosol exposure assessment in the workplace: the past, present and recent advances
Wijnand Eduard, Dick Heederik, Caroline Duchaine and Brett James Green
J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14, 334-339
DOI: 10.1039/C2EM10717A

Paper
Quantitation of persistent organic pollutants adsorbed on plastic debris from the Northern Pacific Gyre’s “eastern garbage patch”
Lorena M. Rios, Patrick R. Jones, Charles Moore and Urja V. Narayan
J. Environ. Monit., 2010, 12, 2226-2236
DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00239A