Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
4,384
result(s) for
"Pollution Washington."
Sort by:
Tainted Earth
Smelting is an industrial process involving the extraction of metal from ore. During this process, impurities in ore-including arsenic, lead, and cadmium-may be released from smoke stacks, contaminating air, water, and soil with toxic-heavy metals.
The problem of public health harm from smelter emissions received little official attention for much for the twentieth century. Though people living near smelters periodically complained that their health was impaired by both sulfur dioxide and heavy metals, for much of the century there was strong deference to industry claims that smelter operations were a nuisance and not a serious threat to health. It was only when the majority of children living near the El Paso, Texas, smelter were discovered to be lead-exposed in the early 1970s that systematic, independent investigation of exposure to heavy metals in smelting communities began. Following El Paso, an even more serious led poisoning epidemic was discovered around the Bunker Hill smelter in northern Idaho. In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter exposed children to arsenic-a carcinogenic threat.
Thoroughly grounded in extensive archival research,Tainted Earthtraces the rise of public health concerns about nonferrous smelting in the western United States, focusing on three major facilities: Tacoma, Washington; El Paso, Texas; and Bunker Hill, Idaho. Marianne Sullivan documents the response from community residents, public health scientists, the industry, and the government to pollution from smelters as well as the long road to protecting public health and the environment. Placing the environmental and public health aspects of smelting in historical context, the book connects local incidents to national stories on the regulation of airborne toxic metals.
The nonferrous smelting industry has left a toxic legacy in the United States and around the world. Unless these toxic metals are cleaned up, they will persist in the environment and may sicken people-children in particular-for generations to come. The twentieth-century struggle to control smelter pollution shares many similarities with public health battles with such industries as tobacco and asbestos where industry supported science created doubt about harm, and reluctant government regulators did not take decisive action to protect the public's health.
eBook
The Uses of Ecology
\" W. T. Edmondson has spent his career answering questions about the ecological impacts of human experiments on lakes in Washington State. In this volume, he recounts these studies and captures from his experiences a larger view of the nature of our environmental problems. . . . While the commentary is wide ranging, the foundation is a personal account of one ecologist's lifetime experience on the dual points of research and public application of that research.\"-Research and Exploration\"W. T. Edmondson, a zoologist, extracts enduring lessons from his more than 50 years of experience in persuading political powers to make use of scientific knowledge when they set about drawing up laws for managing human interventions in the environment. Any scientist who follows in Edmondson's footsteps should benefit from reading this sensitive recounting of political battles.\"-Garrett Hardin, Pacific Northwest Quarterly
eBook
Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford
Provides background information on the Hanford Site and its Integration Project,discusses the System Assessment Capability, an Integration Project-developed risk assessment tool to estimate quantitative effects of contaminant releases, and reviews the technical elements of the scierovides programmatic-level recommendations.
eBook
Ozone Profiles in the Baltimore-Washington Region (2006-2011): Satellite Comparisons and DISCOVER-AQ Observations
Much progress has been made in creating satellite products for tracking the pollutants ozone and NO2 in the troposphere. Yet, in mid-latitude regions where meteorological interactions with pollutants are complex, accuracy can be difficult to achieve, largely due to persistent layering of some constituents. We characterize the layering of ozone soundings and related species measured from aircraft over two ground sites in suburban Washington, DC (Beltsville, MD, 39.05N; 76.9W) and Baltimore (Edgewood, MD, 39.4N; 76.3W) during the July 2011 DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) experiment. First, we compare column-ozone amounts from the Beltsville and Edgewood sondes with data from overpassing satellites. Second, processes influencing ozone profile structure are analyzed using Laminar Identification and tracers: sonde water vapor, aircraft CO and NOy. Third, Beltsville ozone profiles and meteorological influences in July 2011 are compared to those from the summers of 2006-2010. Sonde-satellite offsets in total ozone during July 2011 at Edgewood and Beltsville, compared to the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), were 3 percent mean absolute error, not statistically significant. The disagreement between an OMIMicrowave Limb Sounder-based tropospheric ozone column and the sonde averaged 10 percent at both sites, with the sonde usually greater than the satellite. Laminar Identification (LID), that distinguishes ozone segments influenced by convective and advective transport, reveals that on days when both stations launched ozonesondes, vertical mixing was stronger at Edgewood. Approximately half the lower free troposphere sonde profiles have very dry laminae, with coincident aircraft spirals displaying low CO (80-110 ppbv), suggesting stratospheric influence. Ozone budgets at Beltsville in July 2011, determined with LID, as well as standard meteorological indicators, resemble those of 4 of the previous 5 summers. The penetration of stratospheric air throughout the troposphere appears to be typical for summer conditions in the Baltimore-Washington region.
Journal Article
The uses of ecology: Lake Washington and beyond
“ W. T. Edmondson has spent his career answering questions about the ecological impacts of human experiments on lakes in Washington State. In this volume, he recounts these studies and captures from his experiences a larger view of the nature of our environmental problems. . . . While the commentary is wide ranging, the foundation is a personal account of one ecologist’s lifetime experience on the dual points of research and public application of that research.”—Research and Exploration“W. T. Edmondson, a zoologist, extracts enduring lessons from his more than 50 years of experience in persuading political powers to make use of scientific knowledge when they set about drawing up laws for managing human interventions in the environment. Any scientist who follows in Edmondson’s footsteps should benefit from reading this sensitive recounting of political battles.”—Garrett Hardin, Pacific Northwest Quarterly
eBook
Effects of Air Pollution and Other Environmental Exposures on Estimates of Severe Influenza Illness, Washington, USA
Ecologic models of influenza burden may be confounded by other exposures that share winter seasonality. We evaluated the effects of air pollution and other environmental exposures in ecologic models estimating influenza-associated hospitalizations. We linked hospitalization data, viral surveillance, and environmental data, including temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and fine particulate matter for 3 counties in Washington, USA, for 2001-2012. We used negative binomial regression models to estimate the incidence of influenza-associated respiratory and circulatory (RC) hospitalizations and to assess the effect of adjusting for environmental exposures on RC hospitalization estimates. The modeled overall incidence rate of influenza-associated RC hospitalizations was 31/100,000 person-years. The environmental parameters were statistically associated with RC hospitalizations but did not appreciably affect the event rate estimates. Modeled influenza-associated RC hospitalization rates were similar to published estimates, and inclusion of environmental covariates in the model did not have a clinically important effect on severe influenza estimates.
Journal Article
Nutrient and manganese pollution in groundwater of the northeastern Nile Delta: distribution, sources, and health risks
Groundwater pollution poses significant health and environmental risks, particularly in regions heavily reliant on this resource. This study assessed nutrient and manganese pollution in groundwater of the northeastern Nile Delta, identifying pollution sources and evaluating associated health risks. An integrated methodology was employed, incorporating water pollution indices, health risk modeling, satellite imagery analysis, and statistical analysis. Thirty-one groundwater samples were analyzed for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphate, and manganese. Concentrations ranged from 0.3 to 52 mg/L, 0.2 to 11.3 mg/L, 0.02 to 25 mg/L, 0.1 to 2.3 mg/L, and 0.01 to 1.94 mg/L, respectively. The nitrate pollution index (NI) classified 80.6% of samples as polluted to varying degrees, while the nutrient pollution index (NPI) indicated that 67.7% were moderately to highly polluted. The heavy metal toxicity load for Mn (MTL) suggested that 61.3% of samples surpassed the manganese toxic load of 239.4 mg/L, and groundwater in the western regions needs treatment to remove over 60% of manganese to mitigate potential health risks. The correlation coefficient analysis revealed strong correlations between satellite-derived land-use and pollutant concentrations. It showed a strong positive correlation between agricultural areas derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and ammonia and manganese levels, and a strong positive correlation between urban areas derived from the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) and nitrate concentrations. Moreover, surface irrigation water displayed severe nutrient pollution, highlighting its role as a major pollution source alongside land use. The total health risk (HI
total
) for nitrates and manganese ranged from 0.016 to 1.07 and 0.04 to 1.633, respectively, with 9.6% and 16.1% of samples indicating non-carcinogenic risk (HI
total
> 1) for adults and children, respectively. This comprehensive study provides crucial insights for groundwater management in the region, identifying areas requiring urgent mitigation measures to protect public health and ensure sustainable water resource management.
Journal Article
The Airport Air Quality and Asthma (AAA) indoor air intervention trial for children with asthma: Protocol for a community-based study in South King County, Washington State
Background
For children with asthma, exposure to indoor air pollution increases the risk of a serious asthma exacerbation, which can be life-threatening. Interventions aimed at improving indoor air quality, including the use of a portable air cleaner with a high-efficiency particle air (HEPA) filter, may reduce this risk; however, the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of HEPA air cleaners vary, and more research in various settings is needed.
Methods
In collaboration with a community health worker (CHW) delivered asthma education program, we are conducting a randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of HEPA air cleaners to improve indoor air quality and child asthma health in South King County of Washington State, a vulnerable community impacted by air pollution from airports and highway traffic. A key feature of the Airport Air Quality and Asthma (AAA) design is the extensive integration of CHWs, including CHWs recruited from community-based organizations, into multiple aspects of the trial protocol. We aim to recruit up to
N
= 60 children with asthma, randomized into intervention and less effective filtration (control) groups in a 1:1 ratio, conduct baseline assessments of indoor air quality and airway health, and collect repeated assessments of air quality and airway health during a 3-month intervention period as well as after the trial concludes. Primary effectiveness outcomes are the concentration of indoor air pollution during the intervention period and two measures of child airway health: change in asthma control score pre- and post-intervention and incidence of asthma symptoms during the intervention period. Several secondary outcomes related to air quality and child health will be explored as well.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the first trial of indoor air filtration and pediatric asthma health in a community highly impacted by airport-related air pollution. The close collaboration with a CHW-delivered asthma program is also unique and important for future translation of results to future public health programming. Study findings will inform future approaches to integrate HEPA air cleaners into existing CHW asthma education programs in this and similar communities.
Trial registration
The AAA research study was retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT07047430; registration approved July 1, 2025).
Journal Article