This book explores the challenges that confront leaders in government and industry when making decisions in the areas of environmental health and safety. Today, decision making demands transparency, robustness, and resiliency. However thoughtfully they are devised, decisions made by governments and enterprises can often trigger immediate, passionate public response. Expertise Under Scrutiny shows how leaders can establish organizational decision making processes that yield valid, workable choices even in fast-changing and uncertain conditions. The first part of the book examines the organizational decision making process, describing the often-contentious environment in which important environmental health and safety decisions are made, and received. The authors review the roles of actors and experts in the decision making process. The book goes on to address such topics as: * The roles of actors and experts in the decision making process * Ethics and analytics as drivers of good decisions * Why managing problems in safety, security, environment, and health Part II offers an outline for adopting a formal decision support structure, including the use of decision support tools. It includes a chapter devoted to ELECTRE (ELimination and Choice Expressing Reality), a multi-criteria decision analysis system. The book concludes with an insightful appraisal and analysis of the expertise, structure and resources needed for navigating well-supported, risk-informed decisions in our 21st Century world. Expertise Under Scrutiny benefits a broad audience of students, academics, researchers, and working professionals in management and related disciplines, especially in the field of environmental health and safety.

This book shows the advantages of using different perspectives and scientific backgrounds for developing support technologies that are integrated into daily life. It highlights the interaction between people and technology as a key factor for achieving this integration and discusses relevant methods, concepts, technologies, and applications suitable for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration. The relationship between humans and technology has become much more inclusive and interdependent. This generates a number of technical, ethical, social, and practical issues. By gathering contributions from scholars from heterogeneous research fields, such as biomechanics, various branches of engineering, the social sciences, information science, psychology, and philosophy, this book is intended to provide answers to the main questions arising when support technologies such as assistance systems, wearable devices, augmented reality, and/or robot-based systems are constructed, implemented, interfaced and/or evaluated across different application contexts.

This book provides a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the many facets relating to human health risk assessments in relation to chemical exposure problems. It presents some very important tools and methodologies that can be used to address chemical exposure and public health risk management problems in a consistent, efficient, and cost-effective manner. On the whole, the book represents a collection and synthesis of the principal elements of the risk assessment process that may be used to more effectively address issues pertaining to human exposures to chemicals found in modern societies. This also includes an elaboration of pertinent risk assessment concepts and techniques/methodologies for performing human health risk assessments. Written for both the novice and the experienced, the subject matter of this book is an attempt at offering a simplified and systematic presentation of public health risk assessment methods and application tools - all these facilitated by a layout that will carefully navigate the user through the major processes involved. A number of illustrative example problems are interspersed throughout the book, in order to help present the book in an easy-to-follow, pragmatic manner.

Polluted air and contaminated food and water are major causes of human health deterioration, but public health policy has long struggled to effectively address these concerns. This timely book--written for a wide audience of policy makers, researchers, and general readers--synthesizes what we already know about environmental hazards, identifies the gaps in our knowledge, and provides a roadmap for reducing human exposure to environmental pollution. With contributions from leading experts, Environmental Determinants of Human Health examines numerous pollutants, both inorganic and organic, in the context of their human health impacts. Individual chapters explore exposure pathways, macroeconomic impacts of human health deterioration, technological and non-technological methods for reducing exposures, monetary and non-monetary benefits from exposure reduction, and risk communication and awareness, including citizen participation approaches. This volume is a crucial text for policy makers requiring scientific justification for the development of new environmental regulations, scientists researching public health and environmental contamination, and members of the public interested in human health issues.

This book's main objective is to decipher for the reader the main processes in the atmosphere and the quantification of air pollution effects on humans and the environment, through first principles of meteorology and modelling/measurement approaches. The understanding of the complex sequence of events, starting from the emission of air pollutants into the atmosphere to the human health effects as the final event, is necessary for the prognosis of potential risk to humans from specific chemical compounds and mixtures of them. It fills a gap in the literature by providing a solid grounding in the first principles of meteorology and air pollution, making it particularly useful for undergraduate students. Its broad scope makes it a valuable text in many related disciplines, containing a comprehensive and integrated methodology to study the first principles of air pollution, meteorology, indoor air pollution, and human exposure. Problem-solving exercises help to reinforce concepts.

Mit dem Anstieg der Lebenserwartung in Europa geht ein Wandel der Erwerbs- und Lebensverlaufe einher, die durch Bruche und Wechsel der beruflichen Tatigkeiten gepragt sind. Ein zentrales Anliegen ist daher, jedem die Teilhabe am Erwerbsleben uber den gesamten Lebensverlauf zu ermoeglichen und zugleich soziale Rechte durch angemessenen sozialen Schutz zu gewahrleisten. Mit juristischen, sozialpolitischen und empirischen Analysen widmet sich dieses Buch dem Zusammenspiel verschiedener Sozialschutzmechanismen und ihren Schwierigkeiten, sich den neuen Entwicklungen anzupassen. Es prasentiert die Impulse europaischer Instanzen und die Antworten verschiedener europaischer Staaten auf die Herausforderung, Flexibilisierung der Beschaftigung und Modernisierung der Sozialschutzsysteme in Einklang zu bringen. Increasing life expectancy in Europe entails a remodelling of career development and life course, marked by discontinuities and changing professional activities. One of the concerns is ensuring that everybody may participate in gainful activities during his or her life course while also guaranteeing social rights through adequate social protection. By means of legal, socio-political and empirical analyses this book embarks on the interrelationship of different social protection mechanisms and the resulting difficulties of adapting to these new employment patterns. It presents European impulses and the reactions of several European states to the challenge of reconciling flexibility of employment and modernisation of social protection. L'augmentation de l'esperance de vie en Europe suscite un changement des modes de parcours professionnels et de vie constitues de ruptures et de conversions d'activite. L'une des preoccupations est de permettre a chacun de poursuivre une activite professionnelle tout au long de sa vie tout en pouvant beneficier d'une protection sociale adaptee. A travers des analyses juridiques, socio-politiques et empiriques, cet ouvrage aborde les interferences et les difficultes d'adaptation des mecanismes de protection sociale aux nouvelles evolutions. Il presente les impulsions europeennes et les choix effectues au niveau national pour concilier flexibilite de l'emploi et modernisation des systemes de protection sociale.

It is now ten years since the first Handbook on Hyperbaric Medicine was published. During this time there have been many major advances: our understanding of the actions of hyperbaric oxygenation has been elucidated by several studies; clinical practice is becoming more scientific; various consensus-derived organisational and operational recommendations and guidelines are now widely accepted. As for Europe, these positive developments are largely due to the continuous action of the European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM). One of the most successful initiatives was the start of a specific European research action sponsored by the EU Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) programme. The specific COST Action for hyperbaric medicine, COST B14, has been completed and has provided the impetus for the publication of this new Handbook.

Estimates of the air pollution health impact play a crucial role in environmental protection. These estimates require accurate data on the pollutant exposure and dose to the population as well as the dose-response relationships to calculate the health impact. From an air quality manager's perspective there is concern about the validity and accuracy of these calculations. There is a need for information and possible ways to adjust the assessment. One important topic for air quality managers is to understand the relative cont- bution of sources to the total exposure. These sources may be coming from both different outdoor sources from sectors such as transport, industry and energy ind- tries, and from a number of indoor sources, such as heating, ventilation and indoor activities as well as out-gassing from building material and furniture. Indoor air quality is now drawing the attention of policy makers. The basic right to, and importance of, healthy indoor air was emphasized by the World Health Organization as early as 2000 and several countries have described target conc- trations for various pollutants. The WHO Air Quality Guidelines 2005 rec- mended the development of specific guidelines for indoor air quality and these are expected to be published soon. Indoor air pollutants have not been as extensively monitored as outdoor air pollutants and the evidence base for contributions to health effects needs to be strengthened.

This volume highlights some of the challenges in delivering effective environmental health interventions, and presents examples of emergent theories and case studies that can help close the gap between intent and impact. These include impact crediting systems, objective evidence gathering tools, and social businesses that service environmental health. The case studies presented cross disciplines, scales, organizational and national boundaries and can defy easy categorization. A water project may be designed for a health impact, but financed with a climate change tool, and leverage high tech cell phone sensors. A cookstove program may be primarily concerned with employment and capacity building, but balance environmental and health concerns. Presently, the impact of interventions may not always be aligned to the intent sought. In this book, readers will discover alternative ways to move the mindset of funders and implementers toward pay-for-performance models of humanitarian and environmental interventions. Undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, global health, appropriate technology, international development and development engineering would benefit from these increasingly non-traditional case studies that challenge commonly accepted presentations of poverty reduction and social enterprise.

In this book, both basic and advanced concepts are discussed for considering mixtures from initial exposure characterization through evaluation of risk associated with combined exposures. This book will provide an introduction to key issues and multiple options for evaluating both the toxicity of mixtures as well as the risk associated with exposure to mixtures. Additionally, promising tools adapted from other disciplines will be discussed in the context of mixtures toxicology and risk assessment. Finally, the discussion will move beyond chemical mixtures to address incorporating non-chemical stressors into toxicity studies and cumulative risk assessments. Although exposure to multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors is the rule, not the exception, consideration of mixtures in toxicology and risk assessment continues to be a significant challenge. This book will be an essential resource for researchers and professionals in the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science, risk assessment, and statistics.

The book covers recent developments in research and practice of allergy and immunology. Special emphasis has been given to epidemiology and the relation of genetic and environmental factors in allergic diseases. Occupational aspects and the pathophysiology are additionally covered and an overview of the current pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy is provided.

This standard work on contaminated site management covers the whole chain of steps involved in dealing with contaminated sites, from site investigation to remediation. An important focus throughout the book is on Risk Assessment. In addition, the book includes chapters on characterisation of natural and urban soils, bioavailability, natural attenuation, policy and stakeholder viewpoints and Brownfields. Typically, the book includes in-depth theories on soil contamination, along with offering possibilities for practical applications. More than sixty of the world 's top experts from Europe, the USA, Australia and Canada have contributed to this book. The twenty-five chapters in this book offer relevant information for experienced scientists, students, consultants and regulators, as well as for new players in contaminated site management

Mir S. Mulla joined the faculty of the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside in 1956, only two years after the Riverside campus was established as an independent campus within the University of California system. Prior to his appointment, Mir received his B.S. from Cornell University and then moved to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue his graduate studies. His Ph.D. from Berkeley, awarded in 1955, completed his formal American education which was the purpose of his immigration from his native Kandahar in Afghanistan. In his over 50 years at Riverside, Mir has made an incalculable impact on vector biology both within the United States and in developing countries throughout the world. Within Southern California, Mir's basic and applied research led to the rapid and sustainable control of mosquitoes and eye gnats in the Coachella Valley and so directly enabled this region to grow to the thriving, large community it is today. In 2006 his efforts in facilitating the development of the low desert of southern California were recognized through the dedication of the Mir S. Mulla Biological Control Facility by the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. His success has been so profound that it remains somewhat cryptic to the many who now reside in, visit, and enjoy, this region of California, oblivious to the insect problems that severely restrained development until Mir and his students ?rst applied their expertise many decades ago.

This highly topical book provides an in-depth account of the South Asian experience with the deadly disease that has held this region hostage for millennia. The book touches specifically on the resurgence of malaria experienced in the second half of the twentieth century, which occurred just a few years after malaria was thought to have been virtually eradicated from the region. The progress of this reappearance across space and time, as well as its causes and consequences, are discussed. The book also covers past, present and future ways to curb, control and ultimately, conquer malaria. As malaria continues to ravage the developing world, even in today s age of science, this is a particularly relevant book, especially as most studies analyze the problem in Africa, the continent that bears the brunt of this disease. Here, the authors call attention to challenges in South Asia, home to an immense at-risk population. The chapters in this book use a range of conceptual frameworks, quantitative analyses and descriptive aapproaches, finding that malaria is not just a complex disease driven by highly adaptive agents and vectors thriving in particular ecologies, but also a social concern deeply related to the region s cultural traditions, financial and developmental shortfalls, and inexorably related to political will.

The book comprehensively deals with all aspects of the malaria situation in South Asia, and is invaluable to upper level students as well as emerging and established scholars in the fields of medical geography and epidemiology, Asian studies and development studies."

This book presents an ethnographic study of environmental Christian networks involved in the climate and transition towns movements. Maria Nita examines the ways in which green Christians engage with their communities and networks, as well as other activist networks in the broader green movement. The book interrogates key categories in the field of religious studies which intersect activist concerns, including spirituality, community, and ritual. In this sociological exploration the author uses existing research tools, such as discourse analysis, and proposes new theoretical models for the investigation of network expansion, religious identity, and relationality through ritual. Nita examines the mechanisms underlying the greening of religion and thus offers an in-depth analysis of prayers, rituals, and religious practices, such as praying through painting, fasting for the planet, and sharing the green Eucharist in or with nature.

The International Hypoxia Symposium convenes biannually to bring together international experts from many fields to explore the state of the art in normal and pathophysiological responses to hypoxia. Representatives from five continents and 32 countries joined together in February 2003 for four days in the dramatic mountains of Banff, Alberta. As editors of the Proceedings of the International Hypoxia Symposia, we strive to maintain a 26 six year tradition of presenting a stimulating blend of clinical and basic science papers focused on hypoxia. Topics covered in 2003 include hibernation and hypoxia, hypoxia and fetal development and new advances in high altitude pathophysiology, oxidative stress and membrane damage, hypoxic regulation of blood flow, heat shock proteins in hypoxia, and future directions in hypoxia research. In 2003 we also had the privilege ofhonoring John W. Severinghaus as a friend, colleague, mentor and inspiration to many in the field. Tom Hornbein's personal tribute to John Severinghaus is the first chapter in this volume, followed by an entertaining update of the history of the discovery of oxygen written by John Severinghaus.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. New edition of a comprehensive text: an ideal resource for the occupational health professional! An updated and comprehensive guide to occupational and environmental injuries and illnesses, their diagnosis and treatment, and preventive measures in the workplace and community. Complete and concise, this clinically focused book is the go-to reference for health care professionals in all specialties who diagnose and treat acute and chronic occupational and environmental injuries and illnesses. In addition to clinical management and toxicology, the text covers important aspects of multidisciplinary occupational health and safety practice including ethical principles, disability management, workers' compensation, medical monitoring, and health risk assessment. This new edition features new chapters on the impact of climate change on workers, the changing nature of work, Total Worker Health, workplace violence, pediatric environmental health, genetic toxicology and responder safety and health latest approaches to prevent workplace-related injuries through the application of ergonomic principles updated practical information on the toxic properties and clinical manifestations of industrial materials and environmental agents.

This book focuses on the emerging health issues due to climate change, particularly emphasizing the situation in developing countries. Thanks to recent development in the areas of remote sensing, GIS technology, and downscale modeling of climate, it has now become possible to depict and predict the relationship between environmental factors and health-related event data with a meaningful spatial and temporal scale. The chapters address new aspects of environment-health relationship relevant to this smaller scale analyses, including how considering people's mobility changes the exposure profile to certain environmental factors, how considering behavioral characteristics is important in predicting diarrhea risks after urban flood, and how small-scale land use patterns will affect the risk of infection by certain parasites, and subtle topography of the land profile. Through the combination of reviews and case studies, the reader would be able to learn how the issues of health and climate/social changes can be addressed using available technology and datasets. The post-2015 UN agenda has just put forward, and tremendous efforts have been started to develop and establish appropriate indicators to achieve the SDG goals. This book will also serve as a useful guide for creating such an indicator associated with health and planning, in line with the Ecohealth concept, the major tone of this book. With the increasing and pressing needs for adaptation to climate change, as well as societal change, this would be a very timely publication in this trans-disciplinary field.

Cancer is a complex disease. Only 5-10% of human cancers are hereditary in nature. Many of us think of environmental agents when we think of carcinogens. The environment includes all that surrounds us, and environmental influences include not only chemical, physical and biological toxicants, but also diet and lifestyle. In this broadest sense, the environment contributes substantially in the development of human cancer. This book will describe how environment contributes to malignant transformation leading to profound changes in the genetic and signaling networks that control the functioning of the cell. It will critically discuss the understanding of the effects of environment on the development, progression and metastasis of cancer with current knowledge of the signaling networks that support functioning of transformed human cells. Genes and environmental factors that influence the origins of cancer are not necessarily the same as those that contribute to its progression and metastasis. Susceptibility gene variants for each specific cancer are being identified with emerging evidence of gene environment interaction. Gene-environment interactions will be discussed through each specific cancer-based approach to address the question of how genetic variations can influence susceptibility to the individual type of cancer. It will also highlight and summarize epigenetic changes that increase the risk for susceptibility to a particular type of cancer, particularly in the presence of specific environmental factors. Thus, this book will contain chapters from the world s experts focused on the current evidences that support the role of environment in the cancer etiology and in the growth of malignant lesions, and discuss who may be susceptible to environmental influences."

This is an annual research series devoted to the examination of occupational stress, health and well being, with particular emphasis on the multi-disciplinary nature of occupational stress. The intent is to pull together the various streams of research from a variety of disciplines to better capture the significant bodies of work in occupational stress and well being. It provides a multidisciplinary and international perspective that gives a thorough and critical assessment of issues in occupational stress and well being. The theme for this volume, "Historical and Current Perspectives on Stress and Health" focuses on two main concerns: historical as well as current perspectives to occupational stress research and an emphasis on the healthy individual and organization.

This edited volume provides a biosemiotic analysis of the ecological relationship between food and medicine. Drawing on the origins of semiotics in medicine, this collection proposes innovative ways of considering aliments and treatments. Considering the ever-evolving character of our understanding of meaning-making in biology, and considering the keen popular interest in issues relating to food and medicines - fueled by an increasing body of interdisciplinary knowledge - the contributions here provide diverse insights and arguments into the larger ecology of organisms' engagement with and transformation through taking in matter. Bodies interpret molecules, enzymes, and alkaloids they intentionally and unintentionally come in contact with according to their pre-existing receptors. But their receptors are also changed by the experience. Once the body has identified a particular substance, it responds by initiating semiotic sequences and negotiations that fulfill vital functions for the organism at macro-, meso-, and micro-scales. Human abilities to distill and extract the living world into highly refined foods and medicines, however, have created substances far more potent than their counterparts in our historical evolution. Many of these substances also lack certain accompanying proteins, enzymes, and alkaloids that otherwise aid digestion or protect against side-effects in active extracted chemicals. Human biology has yet to catch up with human inventions such as supernormal foods and medicines that may flood receptors, overwhelming the body's normal satiation mechanisms. This volume discusses how biosemioticians can come to terms with these networks of meaning, providing a valuable and provocative compendium for semioticians, medical researchers and practitioners, sociologists, cultural theorists, bioethicists and scholars investigating the interdisciplinary questions stemming from food and medicine.

Seasonal patterns have been found in a remarkable range of health conditions, including birth defects, respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease. Accurately estimating the size and timing of seasonal peaks in disease incidence is an aid to understanding the causes and possibly to developing interventions. With global warming increasing the intensity of seasonal weather patterns around the world, a review of the methods for estimating seasonal effects on health is timely.

This is the first book on statistical methods for seasonal data written for a health audience. It describes methods for a range of outcomes (including continuous, count and binomial data) and demonstrates appropriate techniques for summarising and modelling these data. It has a practical focus and uses interesting examples to motivate and illustrate the methods. The statistical procedures and example data sets are available in an R package called season .

In September 2005, Yerevan (Armenia) hosted an International Conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the publication of the so called "green paper," published by N.W. Timofeeff-Ressovsky, K. Zimmer and M. Delbruck in 1935, entitled "On the origin of gene mutations and gene structure." The importance of this paper for genetics and radiobiology was enormous a" not only for radiobiology, but for genetics in general. The "target" of the radiation action was indeed the "gene," that for the first time found a clear, operational definition. The organisers of this Conference proposed to convene scientists from all over the world to discuss the impact of radiation risk estimates in normal and emergency situations. This was the starting point of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, whose proceedings are published in this book. The parallel development of the Conference and the Workshop resulted in a true synergism, both events taking advantage from the mixed environment of molecular biologists, geneticists, radiobiologists, radioecologists, biophysicists, etc. gathered in Yerevan. We were delighted to include a few excellent papers dealing directly with Timofeeff-Ressovskya (TM)s life and the "green pamphlet." The life and scientific achievements of Timofeeff-Ressovsky are often not well known in western countries, hence we deemed it advisable to include those papers in this book.

Anja Schmidt's thesis is a unique and comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of tropospheric volcanic aerosol on the atmosphere, climate, air quality and human health. Using a state-of-the-art global microphysics model, the thesis describes and quantifies the impact of volcanic sulphur emissions on global aerosol, clouds and the radiative forcing of climate. The advanced model enables the first ever estimate of the impact of the emissions on aerosol microphysical properties such as particle number concentrations and sizes, and therefore a considerably improved ability to quantify the climate and air quality effects.
There are several important discoveries in this thesis. Firstly, it is shown that continuously degassing volcanoes exert a major effect on global clouds and climate. Secondly, the impact of the 1783 Laki eruption in Iceland is re-examined to show that this long-lasting flood lava eruption would have had major effects on clouds and climate. Thirdly, by combining her research on volcanism, atmospheric science and epidemiology, she shows that a present-day Laki-like eruption would seriously affect European air quality and cause over 100000 premature deaths in the first year.