How can biological markers help assess and predict human health risks? Find out the answers to this question and others in this timely new book examining the use of biological markers in animals and plants for evaluating the ecological and health effects of environmental contamination. The book explains the concept of environmental sentinels, presents example of field studies and discusses the utility of biomarkers within a risk analysis paradigm. Anyone who needs to know how to assess and predict environmental contamination should consider this book essential reading.

Instrumentation for Trace Organic Monitoring provides comprehensive coverage of instrumental analysis techniques for trace organic analytes in environmental analysis. Sampling/sample preparation is discussed, in addition to mass spectrometry techniques, including GC-MS, HRMS, LCMS, APIMS, and MS-MS. This important book also covers new chromatography techniques, supercritical fluid, solid-phase extraction, and ion mobility spectrometry, which is a new ultra-sensitive technique. Difficult problems, such as dioxin/furan analysis, organometallic speciation, atmospheric organic vapors, water analysis, and flyash toxicity testing are addressed.

There are approximately 500 different soil varieties in Malaysia, most is residual soil and coastal alluvial soil. This book presents a comprehensive overview of various aspects of soils in Malaysia. It covers topics including climate; flora and fauna; geology and hydrology; land use changes for agriculture; soil fertility; human-induced soil degradation; and soil contamination sources. It features information on the role of biological, chemical, mechanical, and physical factors in relation to soil properties. The book highlights land use impact, soil problems arising from contamination and its control methods, the management of problem soils, limiting materials as well as future soil issues. The presentation of different soils in Malaysia is organized through chapters based on two major soil groups (a) the sedentary soils formed in the interior on a wide range of rock types, and (b) the soils of the coastal alluvial plains. The book features information on how these various soil types affect the economy of the country and highlights the soil issues and challenges within the context of sustainable agriculture. Useful to graduate students of soil science, professionals, and agriculturalists, it provides extensive knowledge of agriculture soils in Malaysia in a concise and user-friendly manner.

In the last decades the public concern on the pesticide residues content in foods have been steadily rising. The global development of food trade implies that aliments from everywhere in the world can reach the consumer`s table. Therefore, the identification of agricultural practices that employ different pesticides combinations and application rates to protect produce must be characterized, as they left residues that could be noxious to human health. However, the possible number of pesticides (and its metabolites of toxicological relevance) to be found in a specific commodity is almost 1500, and the time needed to analyze them one by one, makes this analytical strategy a unrealistic task. To overcome this problem, the concept of Multi Residue Methods (MRM) for the analysis of pesticide traces have been developed. The advent of new and highly sensitive instrumentation, based in hyphenatedchromatographic systems to coupled mass analyzers (XC (MS/MS) or MSn) permitted simultaneously the identification and the determination of up to hundreds of pesticide residues in a single chromatographic run. Multiresidue Methods for the Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Food presents the analytical procedures developed in the literature, as well as those currently employed in the most advanced laboratories that perform routinely Pesticide Residue Analysis in foods. In addition to these points, the regulations, guidelines and recommendations from the most important regulatory agencies of the world on the topic will be commented and contrasted.

Global climate change threatens human existence through its potential impact on agriculture and the environment. Agriculture is climate-sensitive, and climate variability and climate change have net negative impact on it. Additionally, the agricultural landscape is affected by monoculture and agro-biodiversity loss, soil fertility depletion and soil loss, competition from biofuel production, crop yield plateaus and invasive species. Nevertheless, the global agricultural production system has to meet the food demands from the growing human population, which is set to exceed 10 billion by 2050. This book discusses the impacts of climate change on agriculture, animal husbandry and rural livelihoods. Further, since agriculture, forestry and other land-use sectors contribute about 10-12 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year, it argues that agricultural policy must dovetail adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. This calls for a reformative and disruptive agricultural strategy like climate-smart agriculture, which can operate at all spatio-temporal scales with few modifications. The book also redefines sustainable agriculture through the lens of climate-smart agriculture in the context of the sustainability of Earth's life- support system and inter- and intra-generational equity. The climate-smart agriculture approach is gaining currency thanks to its inherent positive potential, and its goal to establish an agricultural system which includes "climate-smart food systems", "climate-proof farms", and "climate-smart soils". Climate-smart agriculture provides a pathway to achieve sustainable development goals which focus on poverty reduction, food security, and environmental health.

Growing interest in the field of mental health in the workplace among policy makers, clinicians, and researchers alike has been fueled by equal employment rights legislation and increasing disability statistics in mental heath. The importance of addressing this topic is underscored by the fact that depression now ranks second on the hierarchy of occupational disabilities. The problem is compounded by a host of factors, including major difficulties in job retention and productivity experienced by persons with mental health disabilities; younger age and higher education of persons with mental health problems; and labor shortages and an aging workforce in many industrialized countries. In addition, particularly in the United States, the vocational needs of army veterans returning from duty with mental health disorders require system-based solutions and new rehabilitation approaches.

The pressure created by these powerful legislative, societal, and economic forces has not been matched by the state of evidence-based practices in the field of employment retention and job accommodation in mental health. Current research evidence is fragmented, limited in scope, difficult to access, and adversely affected by the traditional divide between the fields of psychiatry and psychology on one hand and interdisciplinary employment research and practices on the other. As a result, policy makers, employers, disability compensation systems, and rehabilitation and disability management professionals have been left without a critical "how to" evidence-informed toolbox for occupational practices to accommodate and retain persons with mental health disabilities in the workplace. Currently, no single source of knowledge and research evidence exists in the field that would guide best practices. Yet the need for workplace accommodations for persons with mental health disabilities has been growing and, based on epidemiological trends, is anticipated to grow even more in the future. These trends leave physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, vocational rehabilitation professionals, disability managers, human resource professionals, and policy makers poorly prepared to face the challenge of integrating and maintaining persons with mental health disabilities in the workplace.

The aim of the Handbook is to close the gap between the needs of the professionals and networks that work with or study persons with mental heath disorders in an employment context and the actual knowledge base in the field. The Handbook will be written in language that can easily be understood by readers representing a multitude of disciplines and research paradigms spanning the mental health, rehabilitation, and employment fields of inquiry. The Handbook will contribute an integration of the best quantitative and qualitative research in the field, together with experts consensus, regarding effective work retention and accommodation strategies and practices in mental health. The book will consist of five major sections, divided into chapters written by recognized experts in these areas.

This book provides a survey of biochemical, physiological and histological biomarkers of environmental stress, along with evaluations of the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques for different applications. It features in-depth coverage of such topics as DNA adducts, acetylcholinesterase, ATP, endocrine mechanisms, blood chemistry, histopathological biomarkers, stress proteins, foreign and endogenous metabolites, metallothioneins, to name only a few. The book will be especially useful to toxicologists, biochemists, histologists, immunologists, risk analysis specialists, environmental managers, regulators, environmental scientists and engineers.

The increasing awareness of the effects of pollutants in the eco-system and on the development of suitable methods of analysis has stimulated a lot of research recently. This volume comprehensively discusses the range of methods available for the analysis and determination of organic compounds in soils, river and marine sediments and industrial sludges. A review is provided of the instrumentation used in soil and sediment laboratories and an indication of the types of organics that can be determined by each technique. Subsequent chapters discuss the analysis of various types of organics in a logical and systematic manner. Guidance is provided on the applicability of techniques in certain environments, the advantages and disadvantages of using one method over another, likely interference, the sensitivity of particular techniques, and detection limits. The work will be of interest to agricultural chemists, agriculturists concerned with ways in which organic chemicals used in crop or soil treatment permeate the ecosystem and to biologists and scientists involved in fish, plant and insect life. Toxicologists, public health workers, oceanographers, and environmentalists will also find the book beneficial.

"The Cotton Dust Papers" is the story of the 50-year struggle for recognition in the U.S. of this pernicious occupational disease. The authors contend that byssinosis could have and should have been recognized much sooner, as a great deal was known about the disease as early as the 1930s. Using mostly primary sources, the authors explore three instances from the 1930s to the 1960s in which evidence suggested the existence of brown lung in the mills, yet nothing was done. What the story of byssinosis makes clear is that the economic and political power of private owners and managers can hinder and shape the work of health investigators.

This important new reference addresses the principles and calculations dealing with the hydraulics of water systems. Hydraulics for Operators includes what is necessary for a basic understanding of water and wastewater utility operations, and it emphasizes practical applications of these principles. This practical reference covers a wide variety of important subjects such as mass density and flow, pressure, open channel flow, pumping, friction loss, and flow measurement. Hydraulics for Operators is loaded with graphics, and sample exercises are included to ensure this new book is an easily understood reference. It is a must for your operator library.

Despite its frequency and its potential severity, preventable medical harm is still prominent in American hospitals and continues to put an alarming amount of lives at risk, being the third leading cause of death in the United States. Even some of the most commonly performed surgeries, such as knee and hip replacements, are resulting in a rapidly increasing rate of surgical site infections. Patricia Morrill's book is specifically written for the healthcare industry. It fills the need for exposing how preventable harm is a systemwide problem and provides a step-by-step model to apply for raising process improvement to a strategic level. The approach is ideal for team training purposes. The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare gives the reader both a personal and professional view of the impact of preventable medical harm, using case studies and observations on preventable deaths and healthcare practice alongside recommended research topics and resources. By looking at the work of both healthcare workers and their managing executives, this instructional text gives methods to assess workforces and self-assess the performances of managers. The book equips readers with a 360 view: patients, families, physicians, workforce, leaders and culture. Morrill's ten-step model of Process Improvement Strategy Deployment integrates Lean and Project Management methodologies for developing a problem-solving culture and initiating process improvement at a strategic level. It is essential reading for those in the healthcare industry.

An informative selection of papers presented at the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illnesses It is vital to understand the public health impact of pesticides used in modern day agriculture. Unfortunately, scientifically valid information is often scattered and hard to find. Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness is the essential text that fills these two voids. The papers collected here make up a volume that is a timely review of key issues in both the acute and chronic health effects of pesticide exposure. Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness offers work originally presented at the groundbreaking 2002 International Conference on Pesticide Exposure and Health in Washington, DC. However, in order to reflect recent developments in the field, all of the authors have revised, updated, and expanded their presentations to address the current status of knowledge in pesticide health effects upon the major body organ systems. This up-to-date reference not only provides a wealth of relevant information on pesticide intoxication, it also offers viable solutions to the challenges of understanding the effects exposure has on health. Papers featured in Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness examine: potential mechanisms, examples for each, and an algorithm for etiologic diagnoses of contact dermatitis in agriculture the specific acute and chronic neurological effects of pesticides on both central and peripheral nervous systems in-depth examples of male and female reproductive disorders associated with pesticide exposure and timeframes of diagnosis from weeks to months to years anatomical site-based outlines for the role of pesticide exposures in the etiology of human cancer and evaluations of recent developments in exposure assessment and molecular epidemiology in adults and children goals, components, and

This textbook presents a comprehensive examination of environmental science and ecotoxicology for undergraduate students. The material provides sufficient related background information leading to a competency to clearly understand ecotoxicology concepts and topics.

The potential health hazards that might arise from the presence of organic substances in water are a matter of increasing concern to the water industry, environmentalists and the general public alike. This comprehensive reference draws together and systematises the vast body of information available on the occurrence and determination of organic substances in natural waters. Organic Compounds in Natural Waters provides a comprehensive description of organic substances in waters. Methods are provided in broad outline, with guidance on their applicability, their comparative advantages and disadvantages, possible interferences, sensitivity and detection levels. The book is an essential reference for analytical chemists working in industry, water utilities, government, non government organisations and regulatory agencies and environmental/analytical consultants.

This book provides a practical guide for all those working in or with Medical Examiner Services in England and Wales. It is an adjunct to the e-learning and face-to-face training required to fulfil the Medical Examiner and Medical Examiner Officer roles. Medical Examiner Services also work closely with a wide range of stakeholders including bereavement and mortuary teams, Coroners and their Officers, Registrars, Funeral Directors and those working in clinical governance and patient safety. This book provides an essential overview of all aspects of the Medical Examiner system for anyone working in these areas, or in any aspect of the support and management of the deceased and bereaved. A concise guide including the knowledge base required to develop and run a Medical Examiner Service Content is completely aligned with required training Written by those with direct experience of establishing and working with Medical Examiner Services Relevant to a wide range of stakeholders who work with patients and the bereaved

Volume 17, entitled Lead: Its Effects on Environment and Health of the series Metal Ions in Life Sciences centers on the interrelations between biosystems and lead. The book provides an up-to-date review of the bioinorganic chemistry of this metal and its ions; it covers the biogeochemistry of lead, its use (not only as gasoline additive) and anthropogenic release into the environment, its cycling and speciation in the atmosphere, in waters, soils, and sediments, and also in mammalian organs. The analytical tools to determine and to quantify this toxic element in blood, saliva, urine, hair, etc. are described. The properties of lead(II) complexes formed with amino acids, peptides, proteins (including metallothioneins), nucleobases, nucleotides, nucleic acids, and other ligands of biological relevance are summarized for the solid state and for aqueous solutions as well. All this is important for obtaining a coherent picture on the properties of lead, its effects on plants and toxic actions on mammalian organs. This and more is treated in an authoritative and timely manner in the 16 stimulating chapters of Volume 17, which are written by 36 internationally recognized experts from 13 nations. The impact of this recently again vibrant research area is manifested in nearly 2000 references, over 50 tables and more than 100 illustrations (half in color). Lead: Its Effects on Environment and Health is an essential resource for scientists working in the wide range from material sciences, inorganic biochemistry all the way through to medicine including the clinic ... not forgetting that it also provides excellent information for teaching.

Based on papers presented at the XI International Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria, this publication provides an authoritative evaluation of treatment and control of helminth parasite infections. A section on leprosy and a brief review of malaria vaccination are included. A comprehensive review of the history of schistosomiasis control programs presents information unavailable elsewhere. This book is of special interest to professionals concerned with health problems of less developed countries and in particular to public health officials, epidemiologists and clinicians dealing with patients in or returning from the tropics.

This open access book charts how South Africa’s gold mines have systematically suppressed evidence of hazardous work practices and the risks associated with mining. For most of the twentieth century, South Africa was the world’s largest producer of gold. Although the country enjoyed a reputation for leading the world in occupational health legislation, the mining companies developed a system of medical surveillance and workers’ compensation which compromised the health of black gold miners, facilitated the spread of tuberculosis, and ravaged the communities and economies of labour-sending states. The culmination of two decades of meticulous archival research, this book exposes the making, contesting, and unravelling of the companies’ capacity to shape – and corrupt – medical knowledge.

The first in a new series created to acknowledge the explosion of knowledge in fields related to infectious disesases and clinical microbiology. Thirteen contributions focus on organisms which are of major medical importance in this country or which have contributed to an understanding of pathology.

Focusing on fundamental principles, Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments presents in-depth information about freshwater environments and how they are influenced by regulation. It provides a holistic approach, exploring the factors that impact water quality and quantity, and the regulations, policy and management methods that are necessary to maintain this vital resource. It offers a historical viewpoint as well as an overview and foundation of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics affecting the management of freshwater environments. The book concentrates on broad and general concepts, providing an interdisciplinary foundation. The author covers the methods of measurement and classification; chemical, physical, and biological characteristics; indicators of ecological health; and management and restoration. He also considers common indicators of environmental health; characteristics and operations of regulatory control structures; applicable laws and regulations; and restoration methods. The text delves into rivers and streams in the first half and lakes and reservoirs in the second half. Each section centers on the characteristics of those systems and methods of classification, and then moves on to discuss the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of each. In the section on lakes and reservoirs, it examines the characteristics and operations of regulatory structures, and presents the methods commonly used to assess the environmental health or integrity of these water bodies. It also introduces considerations for restoration, and presents two unique aquatic environments: wetlands and reservoir tailwaters. Written from an engineering perspective, the book is an ideal introduction to the aquatic and limnological sciences for students of environmental science, as well as students of environmental engineering. It also serves as a reference for engineers and scientists involved in the management, regulation, or restoration of freshwater environments.

Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs) or Processes (AOPs) are relatively new and innovative technologies to remove harmful and toxic pollutants. The most important processes among them are those using light, such as UVC/H2O2, photo-Fenton and heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO2. These technologies are also relatively low-cost and therefore useful for countries under development, where the economical resources are scarcer than in developed countries. This book provides a state-of-the-art overview on environmental applications of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs) as sustainable, low-cost and low-energy consuming treatments for water, air, and soil. It includes information on innovative research and development on TiO2 photocatalytic redox processes, Fenton, Photo-Fenton processes, zerovalent iron technology, and others, highlighting possible applications of AOTs in both developing and industrialized countries around the world in the framework of "A crosscutting and comprehensive look at environmental problems". The book is aimed at professionals and academics worldwide, working in the areas of water resources, water supply, environmental protection, and will be a useful information source for decision and policy makers and other stakeholders working on solutions for environmental problems.

The book addresses the interactions between wetlands and human health and well-being. A key feature is the linking of ecology-health and the targeting of practitioners and researchers. The environmental health problems of the 21st Century cannot be addressed by the traditional tools of ecologists or epidemiologists working in their respective disciplinary silos; this is clear from the emergence and re-emergence of public health and human well-being problems such as cholera pandemics, mosquito borne disease, and episodic events and disasters (e.g. hurricanes). To tackle these problems requires genuine cross-disciplinary collaboration; a key finding of the recently concluded Millennium Ecosystem Assessment when looking at human well-being and ecosystem health. This book brings the disciplines of ecology and health sciences closer to such a synthesis for researchers, teachers and policy makers interested in or needing information to manage wetlands and human health and well-being issues.

On April 27th, 1994, the people of South Africa voted in their first democratic election, bringing down the curtain on 46 years of Apartheid. But, at the very moment of transition, the seeds of a grave epidemic had already been sown. AIDS has indelibly marked the era since the Apartheid's end, exacting an enormous toll on South Africa's Black community. Since the epidemic's onset, more thean 1,000,000 men, women and children have died. Shattered Dreams? is an oral history of how physicians and nurses in South Africa struggled to ride the tiger of the world's most catastrophic AIDS epidemic. Based on interviews - not only from the great urban centres of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban - but from provincial centres and rural villages, this book captures the experience of health care workers as they confronted indifference from colleagues, opposition from superiors, unexpected resistance from the country's political leaders, and material scarcity that was both the legacy of Apartheid and a consequence of the global power of the international pharmaceutical industry. In 2003, after years of bitter debate and persistent agitation on the part of treatment activists, the national government committed itself to making anti-retroviral drugs available to those whose lives hung in the balance. Now that a halting rollout of drug treatment has begun, it is more crucial than ever to capture the experiences of those who, as caregivers, have been witness to the unfolding South African epidemic and who are now able to provide these new medications to a small but growing number of their patients.

Health and Safety Communication: A Practical Guide Forward is an easy introduction to the principles and practice of health and safety communications, providing all you need to know to design and implement communications efforts on a wide range of health and safety topics and issues. Whether you're a student grappling with a health communications course or a professional wishing to learn how to communicate health and safety messages effectively to a range of audiences using a variety of communications media, Health and Safety Communication is all you'll need. This book incorporates two broad sections: the grounding and the applications. The model articulates a planning approach for designing, implementing and reviewing a range of communications approaches. The applications segment specifies numerous approaches, including workshops, print materials, campaigns, the media, public speaking and social media that can be used to convey what the health and safety specialist wants the audience to "know, feel and do" as a result of engagement with the communications approach. Health and Safety Communication blends sound foundations with practical strategies for health and safety communication so that messages can be communicated more effectively; after all, for changes to occur, the message must be received and respected. Unique features of this book include a wide range of approaches and strategies, with numerous examples and tips provided throughout. "Messages from the field" incorporate examples and samples from over 30 individuals and organizations, offering their insights and suggestions. The applied approach of this definitive guide is designed to enhance the competence and confidence of those currently in health or safety arenas, as well as those seeking to incorporate health or safety messages in other settings such as businesses or communities.

In Risk Analysis of Complex and Uncertain Systems acknowledged risk authority Tony Cox shows all risk practitioners how Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) can be used to improve risk management decisions and policies. It develops and illustrates QRA methods for complex and uncertain biological, engineering, and social systems - systems that have behaviors that are just too complex to be modeled accurately in detail with high confidence - and shows how they can be applied to applications including assessing and managing risks from chemical carcinogens, antibiotic resistance, mad cow disease, terrorist attacks, and accidental or deliberate failures in telecommunications network infrastructure. This book was written for a broad range of practitioners, including decision risk analysts, operations researchers and management scientists, quantitative policy analysts, economists, health and safety risk assessors, engineers, and modelers.