Land application of sewage sludge: scientific perspectives of heavy metal loading limits in Europe and the United States

1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. McGrath ◽  
A. C. Chang ◽  
A. L. Page ◽  
E. Witter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Soil Protection ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Balance Approach ◽  
Basic Approaches

Heavy metals in sewage sludges accumulate in soils after successive sludge applications and can be toxic to plants, soil organisms, as well as humans and animals along the food chain. Because of this potential threat, many countries have set limits to the additions of metals in sludges to agricultural land, based on (i) the concentrations of metals in sludge itself, (ii) the loading, or total amount, of metal that can be added and often how quickly this can be applied, and (iii) the maximum concentrations of metals in soil which are allowed to build up after sludge applications. This review, based on regulations in the United States and some west European countries, shows that at present three basic approaches to setting limits can be distinguished: (i) a comprehensive analysis of the pathways of pollutant transfer to selected target organisms and an assessment of the likely harmful effects that metals may have on the target; (ii) setting limits consistent with the lowest observed adverse effect concentrations, which are actual cases of effects due to metals, but not necessarily derived from studies that involved land application of sewage sludge; and (iii) attempting to match the metal inputs to soil to the small losses of metals due to crop removal, soil erosion, and leaching ("metal balance approach"). These approaches are shown to result in widely different numerical limits being set for the same constituent, which is creating unease among the regulatory authorities worldwide. These differences appear to arise from at least two main sources. The first is whether, by a policy decision, zero impact is desired. This leads to very low limits, and is the philosophy behind the metal balance approach. The second is that those approaches that allow some increase in metal concentrations in soils often adopt different target organisms and these models suffer from the limited supply of relevant toxicity data, particularly information obtained from metals applied in sewage sludge. Differences in the philosophy behind environmental protection and in the choices of which organisms to protect explain the different metal limits for sewage sludge which have been adopted in the countries examined.Key words: zinc, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury, soil microbes, ecotoxicology, soil protection.

Have Risks Associated with the Presence of Synthetic Organic Contaminants in Land-Applied Sewage Sludges Been Adequately Assessed?

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Hale ◽  
Mark J. La Guardia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers ◽  
Organic Contaminants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Sludge Disposal ◽  
Diphenyl Ethers ◽  
High Concentrations

Land application has become the dominant means for sewage sludge disposal in the United States. In 1993, the EPA concluded that synthetic organics therein posed an insignificant risk, based on the results of the 1988 National Sewage Sludge Survey, the view that most persistent organics are no longer in commerce and that industrial pretreatment further reduces their release to municipal treatment plants. However, we detected high concentrations of several problematic compounds in biosolids that were overlooked in the risk assessment, including persistent, bioaccumulative polybrominated diphenyl ethers and estrogenic nonylphenols. These results and other findings call into question the assessment's certainty.

scholarly journals A nationwide survey of 31 organophosphate esters in sewage sludge from the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 655 ◽  
pp. 446-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Wang ◽  
Pranav Kannan ◽  
Rolf U. Halden ◽  
Kurunthachalam Kannan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organophosphate Esters

scholarly journals Resurrecting Empire

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-115
Author(s):  
Samer Abboud
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Indigenous Resistance ◽  
Cultural Legacy ◽  
Colonial Experience ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Economic

Written at a critical historical juncture of Arab-western relations, Khalidi’stext provides a refreshing and informed account of western intervention inthe Middle East. It stresses the catastrophic human and political consequencesof western colonial adventures in the region and the neglect of thishistorical experience by current American foreign policy decision makers.Although written primarily for a non-academic, American audience, it is auseful and important text on contemporary Middle East history.Accessible and highly readable, it provides insights into a series ofmajor issues currently relevant to the study of the Middle East: democracy, oil, Palestine, and Iraq. The first chapter provides an account of westerncolonialism’s social, political, economic, and cultural legacy wrought on theMiddle East. Beginning with a brief introduction to the American march towar with Iraq, the author establishes an approach employed throughout thetext: juxtaposing the historical western colonial experience with theAmerican invasion and occupation of Iraq. Locating western involvement inthe Middle East within the context of the Ottoman Empire’s decline, Khalidihighlights the differential systems of colonial rule imposed on the region.Throughout, he emphasizes the indigenous resistance to colonialism, thusarguing against Orientalist discourses of indigenous acquiescence and subservienceto the supposed benevolence of colonialist rule. Two importantpoints emerge: first, that the political structures imposed by the colonialregimes have persisted, and second, that the region’s political cultureremains deeply rooted in the anti-colonial experience. This experience –entirely conditioned through European involvement in the region – meantthat for many, the United States never experienced the same political andcultural hostility as Europe. Throughout the cold war, however, the UnitedStates’ image as a disinterested outside power began to give way to an imageof the United States as a significant power broker in the region with manyinterests, and, most importantly, few objectives compatible with the politicaldesires of the region’s peoples ...

scholarly journals History of Foreign Studies of Organophosphate Induced Delayed neuropathy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-188
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Organic Phosphorus ◽  
Chemical Warfare Agents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Chemical Warfare ◽  
Phosphorus Compounds ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Delayed Neurotoxicity ◽  
Warfare Agents

Сertain organophosphates are highly toxic and can be used as chemical warfare agents. However, some classes of organic phosphorus compounds can cause so-called delayed neurotoxicity. Since the discovery of this phenomenon in 1899, extensive research has been conducted on delayed neurotoxicity caused by organophosphates. Mass poisoning of residents of the United States and Morocco in the last century demonstrated the high danger of substances that cause neurotoxicity, and gave a powerful impetus to research into this phenomenon. In addition to delayed effects, some phosphorus compounds potentiate the action of already known chemical warfare agents, increasing their toxicity by more than 10 times. Research in this direction is conducted under the auspices of the defense departments of the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. The wide distribution of phosphorus compounds in various industries and agriculture, the long hidden period and the irreversibility of lesions caused by neurotoxic organic phosphorus compounds, cause their potential threat to the security of the Russian Federation

Global trends in population, energy use and climate: implications for policy development, rangeland management and rangeland users

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry L. Holechek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Land Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Production Costs

Increasing world human population, declining reserves of cheaply extracted fossil fuels, scarcity of supplies of fresh water and climatic instability will put tremendous pressure on world rangelands as the 21st century progresses. It is expected that the human population of the world will increase by 40% by 2050 but fossil fuel and reserves of fresh water will be drastically reduced. Avoiding food shortages and famine could be a major world challenge within the next 10 years. Under these conditions, major changes in policies relating to economic growth and use of natural resources seem essential. Stabilisation of the human population, development of clean and renewable energy, enhanced supplies of water and its quality, increased livestock production, and changed land-use policies, that minimise agricultural land losses to development and fragmentation, will all be needed to avoid declining living conditions at the global level. The health and productivity of rangelands will need to receive much more emphasis as they are a primary source of vital ecosystem services and products essential to human life. Changes in tax policies by developed, affluent countries, such as the United States, Australia and Canada, are needed that emphasise saving and conservation as opposed to excessive material consumption and land development. Extreme levels of debt and chronic deficits in trade by the United States and European Union countries need to be moderated to avoid a devastating collision of debt, depletion of natural resources, and environmental degradation. Over the next 10 years, livestock producers of the rangelands will benefit from a major increase in demand and prices for meat. Rapidly increasing demand for meat in China and other Asian countries is driving this trend. Rangeland managers, however, will also likely encounter greater climatic, financial, biological and political risks. Higher interest rates, higher production costs and higher annual variability in forage resources are major challenges that will confront rangeland managers in the years ahead. Under these conditions, a low risk approach to livestock production from rangelands is recommended that involves conservative stocking, use of highly adapted livestock, and application of behavioural knowledge of livestock to efficiently use forage resources.

A Paradigm of ‘Crisis’ Decision Making: The Case of Synfuels Policy

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed E. Ahrari
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
The Self ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Crisis Conditions

In explaining the making and unravelling of the synfuels policy in the United States, a new approach—the ambivalent-majoritarian paradigm—is presented in this article. This paradigm fills a significant conceptual gap for the study of domestic policy formulated under crisis conditions.It is argued that the self-imposed necessity to respond to a crisis condition involving a policy decision is likely to force legislators to adopt a policy option that they would not adopt under normal conditions. The crisis response is likely to be passed by a ‘majoritarian’ crisis coalition which would also include a significant number of ‘ambivalents’, i.e., those legislators who have serious misgivings about the correctness or feasibility of the policy. In order for such a policy response to survive, it must withstand the scrutiny of ‘normal’ conditions involving that policy.

Adaptation with climate uncertainty: An examination of agricultural land use in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 392-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhong E. Mu ◽  
Bruce A. McCarl ◽  
Benjamin Sleeter ◽  
John T. Abatzoglou ◽  
Hongliang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
The United States ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Climate Uncertainty

Hedging between the United States and China? South Korea’s ideology-driven behavior and its implications for national security

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-hyung Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Security Cooperation ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Secondary State ◽  
Cooperation Partner

Abstract Given the limits of the prevailing hedging account for Seoul’s puzzling behavior that is in conformity with the interests of its adversary (i.e. North Korea) and potential threat (i.e. China) rather than those of its principal ally (i.e. the United States) and security cooperation partner (i.e. Japan), this article emphasizes the impact of the progressive ideology on Seoul’s security policy. In doing so, it calls for attention to a domestic source of ideology in explaining the security behaviors of a secondary state, which is under-researched and thus is poorly understood.

scholarly journals An Alternative Mathematical Modeling Approach to Estimating a Reference Life Expectancy

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 238146831881476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R. Stevens ◽  
Qinlian Zhou ◽  
Glen B. Taksler ◽  
Kimberly A. Nucifora ◽  
Marc Gourevitch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
White Women ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Health Gains ◽  
Health Policy Decision

Background. Reference life expectancies inform frequently used health metrics, which play an integral role in determining resource allocation and health policy decision making. Existing reference life expectancies are not able to account for variation in geographies, populations, and disease states. Using a computer simulation, we developed a reference life expectancy estimation that considers competing causes of mortality, and is tailored to population characteristics. Methods. We developed a Monte Carlo microsimulation model that explicitly represented the top causes of US mortality in 2014 and the risk factors associated with their onset. The microsimulation follows a birth cohort of hypothetical individuals resembling the population of the United States. To estimate a reference life expectancy, we compared current circumstances with an idealized scenario in which all modifiable risk factors were eliminated and adherence to evidence-based therapies was perfect. We compared estimations of years of potential years life lost with alternative approaches. Results. In the idealized scenario, we estimated that overall life expectancy in the United States would increase by 5.9 years to 84.7 years. Life expectancy for men would increase from 76.4 years to 82.5 years, and life expectancy for women would increase from 81.3 years to 86.8 years. Using age-75 truncation to estimate potential years life lost compared to using the idealized life expectancy underestimated potential health gains overall (38%), disproportionately underestimated potential health gains for women (by 70%) compared to men (by 40%), and disproportionately underestimated the importance of heart disease for white women and black men. Conclusion. Mathematical simulations can be used to estimate an idealized reference life expectancy among a population to better inform and assess progress toward targets to improve population health.

The Debate Over Japanese Immigration: The View from France

Prospects ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 539-580
Author(s):  
Greg Robinson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Railroad Workers ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Japanese Immigration

The story of the Issei — the 100,000 Japanese immigrants who traveled to Hawaii and the United States during the turn of the 20th century — is an epic of survival amid hardship. Through the efforts of labor contractors backed by the Japanese consulate, the majority of the newcomers were recruited to undertake heavy labor on Hawaiian plantations. Others settled on the mainland, predominantly on the nation's Pacific Coast, where they worked as farmers, fishermen, railroad workers, and agricultural laborers. Smaller contingents of students, artists, and professionals also crossed the ocean and scattered through the United States. As the immigrants became established, many brought over “picture bride” wives and started families. Through careful saving of wages and communal self-help, numerous immigrant laborers bought farms and established small businesses, churches, and community institutions. At the same time, they were victimized by widespread racial prejudice and discriminatory legislation. Like other Asian immigrants, they were barred from naturalization by federal law, and therefore from voting, and in many states the Issei were forbidden to marry whites or to practice certain professions. In Hawaii, the white planter class limited educational opportunity and kept Issei in menial labor positions. On the West Coast, white laborers and political leaders, who rigidly excluded Asian workers from unions, organized movements to exclude the Issei from residence on the grounds that they depressed wage scales through their willingness to work for lower pay. Following the “Gentlemen's Agreement” of 1907–8, the entry of Japanese laborers into the country was largely restricted. Shortly thereafter, in response to demands by white farmers enraged by competition from their Issei counterparts, California and neighboring states enacted alien land acts, which forbade all Japanese and other “immigrants ineligible to citizenship” from owning agricultural land. As a result, the Issei were forced to take short-term leases on land or to put their holdings in the names of white colleagues or of their own children, the Nisei (American-born citizens of Japanese ancestry). Exclusionist pressure, founded on nativist opposition to the alleged racial danger posed by the Issei to the American population, flared up again following World War I and climaxed in the Immigration Act of 1924, which outlawed all Japanese immigration to the United States.

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