AI Article Synopsis

  • There has been significant progress in environmental policy over the past 40 years, shifting from reactive measures to integrated management of air, water, and soil quality.
  • The transition has moved from a focus on chemical risk assessment to a more holistic view that emphasizes the ecological value of different environmental media.
  • The text evaluates soil policy's unique challenges, compares it with air and water policies, and offers recommendations for improving soil protection.

Article Abstract

The 40 years that have passed since the beginning of the 'environmental revolution' has seen a large increase in development of policies for the protection of environmental media and a recognition by the public of the importance of environmental quality. There has been a shift from policy in reaction to high profile events, then to control of releases to single environmental media, and to the present position of moving toward integrated management of all environmental media at present. This development has moved away from classical chemical risk assessment toward environmental holism, including recognition of the ecological value of these media. This work details how policy developments have taken place for air and water, with examples from the USA and EU, in order to compare this with policy development regarding soil. Soil, with quite different policy frameworks and distinct uses, understanding, and threats compared to other environmental media, is currently attracting attention regarding the need for its protection independent of use. Challenges for soil policy are identified and evaluated, and recommendations on how these challenges can be overcome are discussed with relevance to water and air protection policy.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es101463yDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

environmental media
16
chemical risk
8
risk assessment
8
assessment environmental
8
environmental quality
8
soil policy
8
environmental
7
policy
6
media
5
quality management
4

Similar Publications

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sparked significant health concerns worldwide, prompting policy makers and health care experts to implement nonpharmaceutical public health interventions, such as stay-at-home orders and mask mandates, to slow the spread of the virus. While these interventions proved essential in controlling transmission, they also caused substantial economic and societal costs and should therefore be used strategically, particularly when disease activity is on the rise. In this context, geosocial media posts (posts with an explicit georeference) have been shown to provide a promising tool for anticipating moments of potential health care crises.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Water dynamics are investigated in binary osmolyte-water mixtures, exhibiting a microscopic heterogeneity driven by molecular aggregation, on the basis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies. The protecting osmolyte TMAO molecules in solution are evenly dispersed without the formation of noticeable osmolyte aggregates, while the denaturant TMU molecules aggregate readily, generating microscopic heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of component molecules in TMU-water mixtures. A combined study of MD simulation with graph theoretical analysis and spatial inhomogeneity measurement with -values in the two osmolyte solutions revealed that the translational and rotational motions of water in the microheterogeneous environment of TMU-water mixtures are less hindered than those in the homogeneous media of TMAO-water mixtures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A plasmid with the gene enhances the fitness of strains under laboratory conditions.

Microbiology (Reading)

January 2025

Instituto de Microbiologa, Colegio de Ciencias Biolgicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to global public health that continues to grow owing to selective pressure caused by the use and overuse of antimicrobial drugs. Resistance spread by plasmids is of special concern, as they can mediate a wide distribution of AMR genes, including those encoding extended-spectrum -lactamases (ESBLs). The CTX-M family of ESBLs has rapidly spread worldwide, playing a large role in the declining effectiveness of third-generation cephalosporins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bioremediation of trichloroethene (TCE)-contaminated sites often leads to groundwater acidification, while nitrate-polluted sites tend to generate alkalization. TCE and nitrate often coexist at contaminated sites; however, the pH variation caused by nitrate self-alkalization and TCE self-acidification and how these processes affect nitrate reduction and reductive dichlorination, have not been studied. This study investigated the interaction between nitrate and TCE, two common groundwater co-contaminants, during bioreduction in serum bottles containing synthetic mineral salt media and microbial consortia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Optimizing lipopeptide bioactivity: The impact of non-ionic surfactant dressing.

J Pharm Anal

December 2024

MTA-HUN-REN TTK Lendület "Momentum" Peptide-Based Vaccines Research Group, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary.

The aim of the research is to increase the applicability of lipopeptides as drugs. To this end, non-ionic triblock copolymers, namely poloxamers, were applied. The physico-chemical properties of poloxamers vary depending on the length of the blocks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!