Meeting EAT-Lancet Food Consumption, Nutritional, and Environmental Health Standards: A U.S. Case Study across Racial and Ethnic Subgroups.

In 2019, The EAT-Lancet Commission developed criteria to assist policymakers and health care systems worldwide in sustaining natural resources to feed a forecasted 10 billion people through the year 2050. Although American dietary habits and underlying food production practices have a disproportionately negative impact on land, greenhouse gas (GHG), and water resources, there is limited information on how this population can meet the EAT-Lancet criteria. To address this, we measured adherence to an adapted version of the EAT-Lancet diet score criteria in United States (U.

Guiding the design space for nanotechnology to advance sustainable crop production.

The globally recognized need to advance more sustainable agriculture and food systems has motivated the emergence of transdisciplinary solutions, which include methodologies that utilize the properties of materials at the nanoscale to address extensive and inefficient resource use. Despite the promising prospects of these nanoscale materials, the potential for large-scale applications directly to the environment and to crops necessitates precautionary measures to avoid unintended consequences. Further, the effects of using engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in agricultural practices cascade throughout their life cycle and include effects from upstream-embodied resources and emissions from ENM production as well as their potential downstream environmental implications.

A framework for sustainable nanomaterial selection and design based on performance, hazard, and economic considerations.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and ENM-enabled products have emerged as potentially high-performance replacements to conventional materials and chemicals. As such, there is an urgent need to incorporate environmental and human health objectives into ENM selection and design processes. Here, an adapted framework based on the Ashby material selection strategy is presented as an enhanced selection and design process, which includes functional performance as well as environmental and human health considerations.

Life Cycle Payback Estimates of Nanosilver Enabled Textiles under Different Silver Loading, Release, And Laundering Scenarios Informed by Literature Review.

Silver was utilized throughout history to prevent the growth of bacteria in food and wounds. Recently, nanoscale silver has been applied to consumer textiles (nAg-textiles) to eliminate the prevalence of odor-causing bacteria. In turn, it is proposed that consumers will launder these items less frequently thus, reducing the life cycle impacts.

Uptake of arsenic by alkaline soils near alkaline coal fly ash disposal facilities.

The attenuation of arsenic in groundwater near alkaline coal fly ash disposal facilities was evaluated by determining the uptake of arsenic from ash leachates by surrounding alkaline soils. Ten different alkaline soils near a retired coal fly ash impoundment were used in this study with pH ranging from 7.6 to 9.

EPA at 40: bringing environmental protection into the 21st century.

Sustainability science suggests that effective environmental protection requires an integrated systems approach.

A comparative life cycle assessment of petroleum and soybean-based lubricants.

A comparative life cycle assessment examining soybean and petroleum-based lubricants is compiled using Monte Carlo analysis to assess system variability. Experimental data obtained from an aluminum manufacturing facility indicate significantly less soybean lubricant is required to achieve similar or superior performance. With improved performance and a lower use rate, a transition to soybean oil results in lower aggregate impacts of acidification, smog formation, and human health from criteria pollutants.

Life cycle of the corn-soybean agroecosystem for biobased production.

Biobased product life cycle assessments (LCAs) have focused largely on energy (fossil fuel) usage and greenhouse gas emissions during the agriculture and production stages. This paper compiles a more comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI) for use in future bioproduct LCAs that rely on corn or soybean crops as feedstocks. The inventory includes energy, C, N, P, major pesticides, and U.

Use of Monte Carlo analysis to characterize nitrogen fluxes in agroecosystems.

Intensive agricultural systems are largely responsible for the increase in global reactive nitrogen compounds, which are associated with significant environmental impacts. The nitrogen cycle in agricultural systems is complex and highly variable, which complicates characterization in environmental assessments. Appropriately representing nitrogen inputs into an ecosystem is essential to better understand and predict environmental impacts, such as the extent of seasonally occurring hypoxic zones.

The effect of chlorination on organocyanide compounds.

Results are presented that explore the possibility of organocyanide compounds in wastewater contributing to elevated cyanide levels in the chlorinated effluents of publicly owned treatment works. Four model compounds, acetonitrile, amygdalin, cyanocobalamin, and 2-acetoxy-3-butenenitrile, were selected and tested with varying chlorine dosages for release of cyanide by total and diffusible cyanide procedures. The coenzyme form of vitamin B12, which does not contain cyanide, was also tested.