In the United States alone, industrial and agricultural toxins account for about 60,000 avoidable cancer deaths annually. Pollution-related health costs to Americans are similarly staggering: $13 billion a year from asthma, $351 billion from cardiovascular disease, and $240 billion from occupational disease and injury. Most troubling, children, the poor, and minorities bear the brunt of these health tragedies.
Why, asks Kristin Shrader-Frechette, has the government failed to protect us, and what can we do about it? In this book, at once brilliant and accessible, Shrader-Frechette reveals how politicians, campaign contributors, and lobbyists--and their power over media, advertising, and public relations--have conspired to cover up environmental disease and death. She also shows how science and regulators themselves are frequently "captured" by well-funded polluters and special interests. But most important, the author puts both the blame--and the solution--on the shoulders of ordinary citizens. She argues that everyone, especially in a democracy, has a duty to help prevent avoidable environmental deaths, to remain informed about, and involved in, public-health and environmental decision-making. Toward this end, she outlines specific, concrete ways in which people can contribute to life-saving reforms, many of them building on recommendations of the American Public Health Association.
As disturbing as it is, Shrader-Frechette's message is ultimately hopeful. Calling for a new "democratic revolution," she reminds us that while only a fraction of the early colonists supported the American Revolution, that tiny group managed to change the world. Her book embodies the conviction thatwe can do the same for environmental health, particularly if citizens become the change they seek.
"Timely, accessible, and written with enviable clarity and passion. A distinguished philosopher sounds an ethical call to arms to prevent illness and death from pollution."
--Sheila Jasanoff, Harvard University
"Influential and impressive. A must-read."
--Nicholas A. Ashford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"By one of America's foremost philosophers and public intellectuals; immensely readable, courageous, often startling, insightful."
--Richard Hiskes, University of Connecticut
"Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring--brilliant, brave."
--Sylvia Hood Washington, University of Illinois, Chicago
"A blistering account of how advocacy must be brought to bear on issues of justice and public health."
-- Jeffrey Kahn, University of Minnesota
"No other author can so forcefully bring together ethical analysis, government policy, and environmental science. Outstanding."
--Colleen Moore, University of Wisconsin

The goal of the book is to examine scientific advances since 2000 that may have increased understanding and options in three general areas related to hypoxia:

Characterization the Cause(s) of Hypoxia. The physical, biological and chemical processes that affect the development, persistence and extent of hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Characterization of Nutrient Fate, Transport and Sources. Nutrient loadings, fate, transport and sources in the Mississippi River that impact Gulf Hypoxia.

Scientific Basis for Goals and Management Options. The scientific basis for, and recommended revisions to, the goals proposed in the Action Plan; and the scientific basis for the efficacy of recommended management actions to reduce nutrient flux from point and nonpoint sources.

In addressing the state of the science, the book focuses on the strengths and limitations of the science in managing the Gulf hypoxia problem, including available data, models and model results and uncertainty. It includes work from the following authors:

C. Kling, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA; J.L. Meyer, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA; J. Sanders, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Savannah, GA, USA; H. Stallworth, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., USA; T. Armitage, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., USA; D. Wangsness, U.S. Geological Survey, Atlanta, GA, USA; T.S. Bianchi, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; A. Blumberg, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA; W. Boynton, University of Maryland, MD, USA; D.J. Conley, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; W. Crumpton, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA; M.B. David, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA; D. Gilbert, Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Mont-Joli, Quebec, Canada; R.W. Howarth, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; R. Lowrance, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Tifton, GA, USA; K. Mankin, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA; J. Opaluch, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA; H. Paerl, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Morehead City, NC, USA; K. Reckhow, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; A.N. Sharpley, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA; T.W. Simpson, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA; C. Snyder, International Plant Nutrition Institute, USA; Conway, AR; D. Wright, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, USA.

The siting of locally obnoxious but nationally relevant and necessary facilities such as sewage treatment plants, landfills, dams and nuclear power stations is an important issue in public policy planning. In view of the negative externalities such as declining property prices, health threats, and air, water and noise pollution imposed on the local communities that house them, the location of these facilities generates a consensus among the general public aptly termed 'not-in-my-backyard' or NIMBY syndrome. Drawing on the experiences of North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia, this book offers a comprehensive review of existing conflict-resolution instruments used in the siting of these facilities. The authors highlight in particular legal and command instruments such as zoning and compulsory acquisition of land, and economic incentives such as compensation and mitigation. Using elements from areas such as game theory and risk analysis and the use of compensation auction mechanisms, the authors present a series of decision steps to provide a credible alternative methodology designed to minimise such conflicts. This innovative study will be welcomed by all those with an interest in environmental and public policy planning.

This book explores the work of transnational bureaucracy networks. These networks address global issues by creating rules - transnational public law - to be incorporated into national legal orders. As classical means fail to legitimize such activities, this book gives a practical account of viable alternative legitimacy mechanisms.

Presenting a new way to examine water quality criteria, this volume provides concise, critical reviews of timely advances in the field of xenobiotics. The text explores the research findings and procedures of The University of California-Davis Methodology for Deriving Aquatic Life Pesticide Water Quality Criteria.

This volume reviews the oil inputs to the Mediterranean Sea from sources such as shipping, offshore oil installations, and oil refineries, presented in a number of national case studies. A regional overview is also presented for the Adriatic Sea. Topics include mapping of oil slicks in the Adriatic, oil exploration and exploitation activities in the waters of the Levantine Basin (Eastern Mediterranean), the oil pollution preparedness and response activities of individual Mediterranean states, bilateral and regional cooperation among the various states, and the risk of pollution from shipping in sensitive sea areas, for example. Together with the companion volume Oil Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea: Part I - The International Context, it addresses both national and international measures in the region, making it of relevance to the agencies and government bodies tasked with remediating or preventing oil pollution, as well as policymakers and practitioners in the fields of shipping, ports and terminals, oil extraction and marine management. It provides researchers with essential reference material on tools and techniques for monitoring oil pollution, and constitutes a valuable resource for undergraduate and post-graduate students in the field of marine oil pollution.

Chemical additives are used to enhance the properties of many industrial products. Since their release into the environment is a potential risk for man and nature, their fate and behavior were investigated in the framework of the European Union-funded project RISKCYCLE. The results are presented in two volumes, "Global Risk-Based Management of Chemical Additives I: Production, Usage and Environmental Occurrence" and "Global Risk-Based Management of Chemical Additives II: Risk-Based Assessment and Management Strategies." This book is the first of the two volumes and contains two main parts. The chapters of the first part provide a thorough review of the chemical additives used in the textile, plastics, lubricants, paper, leather and electronics industries, and describe the effect of each additive on the properties of the product. In the second part international case studies on the global trade of these chemicals and their impact on human health and the environment are presented.

This volume is an invaluable source of information for scientists and governmental agencies dealing with the risk assessment of chemicals on a global scale.

The term "total petroleum hydrocarbons" (TPHs) is used for any mixture of several hundred hydrocarbons found in crude oil, and they represent the sum of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons. The petrol-range organics include hydrocarbons from C6 to C10, while diesel-range organics are C10-C28 hydrocarbons. Environmental pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons is one of the major global concerns, particularly in oil-yielding countries. In fact, there are more than five million potentially contaminated areas worldwide that represent, in general, a lost economic opportunity and a threat to the health and well-being of humans and the environment. Petroleum-contaminated sites constitute almost one-third of the total sites polluted with chemicals around the globe. The land contamination caused by industrialization was recognized as early as the 1960s, but less than a tenth of potentially contaminated lands have been remediated due to the nature of the contamination, cost, technical impracticability, and insufficient land legislation and enforcement. This book is the first single source that provides comprehensive information on the different aspects of TPHs, such as sources and range of products, methods of analysis, fate and bioavailability, ecological implications including impact on human health, potential approaches for bioremediation such as risk-based remediation, and regulatory assessment procedures for TPH-contaminated sites. As such, it is a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, technicians in the oil industry and remediation practitioners, as well as policy makers.

The book provides an encompassing overview of all aspects relating to the sharing economy paradigm in different fields of study, and shows the ongoing research efforts in filling previously identified gaps in understanding in this area. Control and optimization analytics for the sharing economy explores bespoke analytics, tools, and business models that can be used to help design collaborative consumption services (the shared economy). It provides case studies of collaborative consumption in the areas of energy and mobility. The contributors review successful examples of sharing systems, and explore the theory for designing effective and stable shared-economy models. They discuss recent innovations in and uses of shared economy models in niche areas, such as energy and mobility. Readers learn the scientific challenging issues associated with the realization of a sharing economy. Conceptual and practical matters are examined, and the state-of-the-art tools and techniques to address such applications are explained. The contributors also show readers how topical problems in engineering, such as energy consumption in power grids, or bike sharing in transportation networks, can be formulated and solved from a general collaborative consumption perspective. Since the book takes a mathematical perspective to the topic, researchers in business, computer science, optimization and control find it useful. Practitioners also use the book as a point of reference, as it explores and investigates the analytics behind economy sharing.

This book examines the role and practical dynamics of governmental environmental law enforcement agencies and individuals who combat environmental crime. It will inform researchers about the 'real world' experiences of practitioners and provide an intellectual space for practitioners to examine critically what it is they do and why.

State of the art information on in situ treatment technologies for hazardous waste-contaminated soils is presented. Describes for each technology: wastes amenable to treatment, ease of application, potential level of treatment available, reliability, secondary impacts and equipment and reagents required.

Life on Earth is critically dependent upon the continuous cycling of water between oceans, continents and the atmosphere. Precipitation (including rain, snow, and hail) is the primary mechanism for transporting water from the atmosphere back to the Earth s surface. It is also the key physical process that links aspects of climate, weather, and the global hydrological cycle. Changes in precipitation regimes and the frequency of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, severe ice/snow storms, monsoon fluctuations and hurricanes are of great potential importance to life on the planet. One of the factors that could contribute to precipitation modification is aerosol pollution from various sources such as urban air pollution and biomass burning. Natural and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric aerosols might have important implications for precipitation by influencing the hydrological cycle, which in turn could feed back to climate changes.

From an Earth Science perspective, a key question is how changes expected in climate will translate into changes in the hydrological cycle, and what trends may be expected in the future. We require a much better understanding and hence predictive capability of the moisture and energy storages and exchanges among the Earth s atmosphere, oceans, continents and biological systems. This book is a review of our knowledge of the relationship between aerosols and precipitation reaching the Earth's surface and it includes a list of recommendations that could help to advance our knowledge in this area."

The book gives theoretical knowledge and practical approaches on the complex process of water management in case of pollution with chemical and biological hazards. Frameworks addressing scientific and management strategies are included. Critical for successful prevention and control actions of accidental and intentional water pollution is the preliminary risk assessment, understanding of the hazards, and lessons learned from previous pollution events. Emphasis is given to biological hazards, which are as diverse as the list of chemical pollutants and represent groups belonging to algae, diatoms, bacteria, helminthes, parasites, and viruses. Chemicals and toxins are overviewed that may be used for intentional water pollution. Preventive and responsive driven strategies are addressed also to the agriculture as an important source for pesticide and fertilizer pollution...

Based on a wealth of primary data collected by expeditions as well as archive data from Russia, this fascinating book features a systematic description of the knowledge accumulated on the physical oceanography, marine chemistry and pollution, marine biology and geology, meteorology and hydrology of the Black Sea. It presents the principal characteristic features of the environmental conditions of the sea and their changes in the second half of the 20th century.

*Selected by Emma Watson for her Ultimate Book List* Fashion is political. From the red carpets of the Met Gala to online fast fashion, clothes tell a story of inequality, racism and climate crisis. In The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion, Tansy E. Hoskins unpicks the threads of capitalist industry to reveal the truth about our clothes. Fashion brands entice us to consume more by manipulating us to feel ugly, poor and worthless, sentiments that line the pockets of billionaires exploiting colonial supply chains. Garment workers on poverty pay risk their lives in dangerous factories, animals are tortured, fossil fuels extracted and toxic chemicals spread just to keep this season's collections fresh. We can do better than this. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion goes beyond ethical fashion and consumer responsibility showing that if we want to feel comfortable in our clothes, we need to reshape the system and ensure this is not our last season.

Based on micro-level empirical research, this book uniquely addresses the problem of arsenic contamination in ground water in Bangladesh in a comprehensive way. At the outset, the book puts forward the opinions of experts regarding the cause of arsenic contamination in ground water in Bangladesh, followed by sample surveys depicting socioeconomic and arsenic-related situations in three arsenic-affected villages in Meherpur district, Bangladesh. The major contribution of the author is the mixed-integer Pareto optimality model (tested and proved through computer simulation), developed in order to supply safe water to the badly affected people in Taranagar village. The model takes into account such issues as the costs of different safe water options, exposure to arsenic and bacteria, distance of the water source from home, indigenous cultural traits, environmental safety and acceptability of the options to the people. Besides successful development and application of the model, the book outlines ways to persuade people to change their habits regarding drinking tube-well water and proposes a system through which safe water can be supplied to Taranagar village. The book emphasizes socioeconomic, environmental and administrative aspects of selecting an optimal safe water option and ensuring consumption from safe water sources, which can be tested for other arsenic-affected areas as well. With relevant, attractive charts, tables, graphs, flowcharts and other graphics and with lucid language, the book makes rather difficult theoretical economics issues easily comprehensible and interesting to general readers, graduate and undergraduate students, researchers and NGO/GO workers who are dedicated to providing safe water to people affected by arsenic contamination.

Herbicides constitute about 60% of the total pesticides consumed globally. In India, the use of herbicides started initially in tea gardens and picked up in the 1970s, when the high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced. Presently, 67 herbicides are registered in the country for controlling weeds in crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fibre and tuber crops, and also in the non-crop situations. These chemicals are becoming increasingly popular because of their efficiency and relatively low cost compared with manual or mechanical weeding operations. The contribution of herbicide to total pesticide use, which was only 10-15% during the first decade of the 21st century, has now increased to about 25% with an annual growth rate of 15-20%, which is much higher than insecticides and fungicides. Though the application of herbicides is minimizing yield loss to a great extent, their residues in the food chain and surface and groundwater create some environmental nuisance particularly to non-target organisms. Research on pesticide residues in India was started during 1970s, when such chemicals were introduced on a greater scale along with high-yielding variety seeds, irrigation and chemical fertilizers for increasing food production. However, the herbicide residue research was not given much emphasis until 1990s. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research initiated a national level programme known as All India Coordinated Research Project on Weed Management through the NRC-Weed Science as the main centre along with some centers of ICAR Institutes and state agricultural universities. Over the last two decades, adequate information was generated on estimation, degradation and mitigation of herbicide residues, which were documented in annual reports, bulletins, monographs and scientific articles. However, there was no consolidated compilation of all the available information providing a critical analysis of herbicide residues. Accordingly, an effort has been made in the publication to compile the available information on herbicide residues in India. This is the first report of its kind which presents the findings of herbicide residues and their interactions in the biotic and abiotic environment. There are 16 chapters contributed by the leading herbicide residue scientists, each describing the present status of herbicide use, crops and cropping systems, monitoring, degradation and mitigation, followed by conclusions and future lines of work. This book will be useful to the weed scientists in general and herbicide residue chemists in particular, besides the policy makers, students and all those concerned with the agricultural production in the country.

Environmental pollutants have become a major global concern. The modern growth of industrialization, urbanization, modern agricultural development and energy generation have resulted in indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources for fulfilling the human desires and needs, which have contributed in disturbing the ecological balance on which the quality of environment depends. The modern technological advancements in chemical processes/operations have been raised to new products and also new pollutants in abundant level which are above the self cleaning capacity of the environment. One of the major issues in present times is the threat to human lives, due to the progressive deterioration of the environment.

This book discusses bioremediation technology-based remediation to restore contaminated sites and protect the environment. It studies the opportunities for more efficient biological processes in molecular biology and ecology. Notable accomplishments of these studies include the cleaning up of polluted water and contaminated land. The book includes invited papers by eminent contributors who provide cost-effective bioremediation strategies to immobilize contaminants for cleanup of environment. The book is directed towards postgraduate students in biotechnology/life sciences/environmental sciences/biosciences and researchers in universities and research institutes and industries.

This third edition of the book has been completely re-written, providing a wider scope and enhanced coverage.It covers the general principles of the natural occurrence, pollution sources, chemical analysis, soil chemical behaviour and soil-plant-animal relationships of heavy metals and metalloids, followed by a detailed coverage of 21 individual elements, including: antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, tin, tungsten, uranium, vanadium and zinc. The book is highly relevant for those involved in environmental science, soil science, geochemistry, agronomy, environmental health, and environmental engineering, including specialists responsible for the management and clean-up of contaminated land."

Emission inventory is basic for the understanding of environmental behaviors and potential effects of compounds, however, current inventories are often associated with relatively high uncertainties. One important reason is the lack of emission factors (EFs), especially for the residential solid fuel combustion in developing countries. In the present study, emission factors of a group of pollutants including particulate matter, organic carbon, elemental carbon (sometimes known as black carbon) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured for a variety of residential solid fuels including coal, crop straw, wood, and biomass pellets in rural China. The study provided a large number of emission factors that can be further used in emission estimation. Composition profiles and isomer ratios were investigated and compared so as to be used in source apportionment. In addition, the present study identified and quantified the influence of factors like fuel moisture, volatile matter on emission performance. The publication of the study will be of interest and helpful to the readers in the field of air pollution, human health, fuel saving and energy consumption etc. Guofeng Shen works at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Jiangsu Academy of Environmental Sciences, China.

Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club choice New York Times bestseller 'Fascinating.' Sunday Times 'Thrilling.' Mail on Sunday All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for... 'The first thing we asked was, "Does this stuff hurt you?" And they said, "No." The company said that it wasn't dangerous, that we didn't need to be afraid.' As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous. Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women - in the face of unimaginable suffering - refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice. Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar. Further praise for The Radium Girls 'The importance of the brave and blighted dial-painters cannot be overstated.' Sunday Times 'A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal.' Bustle 'Thrilling and carefully crafted.' Mail on Sunday

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

Up-to-date coverage and a unique, multidisciplinary approach

The ongoing effort to protect our valuable ground-water resources necessarily involves scientists and engineers from many disciplines. Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry, Second Edition is designed to bridge the historical lack of communication among these disciplines by detailing–in language that cuts across specialties–the impact of microorganisms and microbial processes on ground-water systems.

Carefully revised to reflect the many recent discoveries that have been made in the field, the Second Edition begins with an overview of microbiology, ideal for hydrologists and others who may lack formal training in the field. These initial chapters systematically cover the kinds of microorganisms found in subsurface environments, focusing on their growth, metabolism, genetics, and ecology.

The second part of the book offers a hydrologic perspective on how microbial processes affect ground-water geochemistry in pristine systems. It also introduces the different classes of ground-water systems, and gives an overview of techniques for sampling subsurface environments. Readers gain an understanding of biogeochemical cycling in ground-water systems–in coverage unique to this book–and how ground-water chemistry can be used to study microbial processes in aquifer systems.

The final section of the book deals with the biodegradation of human-introduced contaminants in ground-water systems, with an up-to-date review of the physiology, biochemistry, and redox conditions that favor biodegradation processes.

Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry, Second Edition is important reading for geoscientists, hydrologists, and environmental engineers, as well as for water planners and lawyers involved in environmental issues. It also serves as a compelling text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in ground-water chemistry.

This book is the collection of papers from the latest International Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology Conference (UMH VII) held in September 2014, in Freiberg, Germany. It is divided to five sessions: Uranium Mining, Uranium and Phosphates, Clean-up technologies for water and soil. Uranium and daughter nuclides and basic research and modeling. Each session covers a wide range of related topic and provides readers with up to date research and solutions on those matters.