TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 4 SN - DO - 10.17226/10902 PY - 2004 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10902/acute-exposure-guideline-levels-for-selected-airborne-chemicals-volume-4 PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The Bhopal Disaster of 1984 resulted in the death of around 2,000 residents living near chemical plants and irreversible injuries to more than 20,000 other residents. These numbers can be attributed to the community's lack of awareness concerning the chemicals' existence, dangers and effects, and/or how to react in case of emergency. The disaster emphasized the need for governments to identify hazardous substances and to aid local communities in developing plans for emergency exposures. As a result, the United States government issued the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986; requiring the identification of extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA was also tasked with assisting Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) in conducting health-hazard assessments to develop emergency-response plans for sites where EHSs are produced, stored, transported, or used. The EPA identified nearly 400 EHSs in terms of their immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) as their first step in assisting these LEPCs. In 1991 the EPA went on to request that the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Toxicology (COT) develop criteria and methods for developing emergency exposure levels for EHSs for the general population. The COT, who had published many reports on emergency exposure guidance levels at the time, designated the task to a subcommittee. The subcommittee focused on Guidelines for Developing Community Emergency Exposure Levels for Hazardous Substances. Four years later the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances (NAC) was created with a focus on identifying, reviewing, and interpreting relevant toxicologic and other scientific data and developing acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for high-priority, acutely toxic chemicals. In Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals:Volume 4, the NAC outlines acute exposure guideline levels for chlorine, hydrogen chloride, toluene 2,4, hydrogen fluoride, 2,6-diisocyanate, and uranium hexafluoride. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation SN - DO - 10.17226/4912 PY - 1996 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/4912/nuclear-wastes-technologies-for-separations-and-transmutation PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production and power generation has caused public outcry and political consternation. Nuclear Wastes presents a critical review of some waste management and disposal alternatives to the current national policy of direct disposal of light water reactor spent fuel. The book offers clearcut conclusions for what the nation should do today and what solutions should be explored for tomorrow. The committee examines the currently used "once-through" fuel cycle versus different alternatives of separations and transmutation technology systems, by which hazardous radionuclides are converted to nuclides that are either stable or radioactive with short half-lives. The volume provides detailed findings and conclusions about the status and feasibility of plutonium extraction and more advanced separations technologies, as well as three principal transmutation concepts for commercial reactor spent fuel. The book discusses nuclear proliferation; the U.S. nuclear regulatory structure; issues of health, safety and transportation; the proposed sale of electrical energy as a means of paying for the transmutation system; and other key issues. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Eighteenth Interim Report of the Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels DO - 10.17226/13002 PY - 2010 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13002/eighteenth-interim-report-of-the-committee-on-acute-exposure-guideline-levels PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The present report is the committee's 18th interim report. It summarizes the committee's conclusions and recommendations for improving NAC's AEGL documents for 25 chemicals: allyl alcohol, bis-chloromethyl ether, chloromethyl methyl ether, bromine pentafluoride, bromine trifluoride, chlorine pentafluoride, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, chlorosilanes (26 selected compounds), epichlorohydrin, formaldehyde, hydrogen bromide, hydrogen iodide, methyl bromide, methyl chloride, nitric acid, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen tetroxide, piperidine, titanium tetrachloride, toluene, trimethylbenzenes (1,2,4-; 1,2,5-;and 1,3,5-TMB), vinyl acetate monomer, and vinyl chloride. ER - TY - BOOK TI - An Assessment of Techniques for Removing Offshore Structures DO - 10.17226/9072 PY - 1996 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9072/an-assessment-of-techniques-for-removing-offshore-structures PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy SN - DO - 10.17226/11970 PY - 2007 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11970/toxicity-testing-in-the-21st-century-a-vision-and-a PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Advances in molecular biology and toxicology are paving the way for major improvements in the evaluation of the hazards posed by the large number of chemicals found at low levels in the environment. The National Research Council was asked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review the state of the science and create a far-reaching vision for the future of toxicity testing. The book finds that developing, improving, and validating new laboratory tools based on recent scientific advances could significantly improve our ability to understand the hazards and risks posed by chemicals. This new knowledge would lead to much more informed environmental regulations and dramatically reduce the need for animal testing because the new tests would be based on human cells and cell components. Substantial scientific efforts and resources will be required to leverage these new technologies to realize the vision, but the result will be a more efficient, informative and less costly system for assessing the hazards posed by industrial chemicals and pesticides. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Acid Deposition: Long-Term Trends SN - DO - 10.17226/623 PY - 1986 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/623/acid-deposition-long-term-trends PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - How damaging is acid rain? Current opinions differ widely, in part because for every proposed link between acid rain and adverse environmental effects an alternative explanation based on other phenomena can be or has been proposed, and in many cases cannot be readily dismissed. The specific areas addressed in this volume include the emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, precipitation chemistry, atmospheric sulfates and visibility, surface water chemistry, sediment chemistry and abundance of diatom taxa, fish populations, and forest productivity. The book then draws conclusions about the acid deposition-phenomenon relationship, identifying phenomena which are directly acid deposition-caused and suggesting others apparently caused by human activities unrelated to acid deposition. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Decline of the Sea Turtles: Causes and Prevention SN - DO - 10.17226/1536 PY - 1990 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1536/decline-of-the-sea-turtles-causes-and-prevention PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - This book explores in detail threats to the world's sea turtle population to provide sound, scientific conclusions on which dangers are greatest and how they can be addressed most effectively. Offering a fascinating and informative overview of five sea turtle species, the volume discusses sea turtles' feeding habits, preferred nesting areas, and migration routes; examines their status in U.S. waters; and cites examples of conservation measures under way and under consideration. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Estimating Mortality Risk Reduction and Economic Benefits from Controlling Ozone Air Pollution SN - DO - 10.17226/12198 PY - 2008 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12198/estimating-mortality-risk-reduction-and-economic-benefits-from-controlling-ozone-air-pollution PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - In light of recent evidence on the relationship of ozone to mortality and questions about its implications for benefit analysis, the Environmental Protection Agency asked the National Research Council to establish a committee of experts to evaluate independently the contributions of recent epidemiologic studies to understanding the size of the ozone-mortality effect in the context of benefit analysis. The committee was also asked to assess methods for estimating how much a reduction in short-term exposure to ozone would reduce premature deaths, to assess methods for estimating associated increases in life expectancy, and to assess methods for estimating the monetary value of the reduced risk of premature death and increased life expectancy in the context of health-benefits analysis. Estimating Mortality Risk Reduction and Economic Benefits from Controlling Ozone Air Pollution details the committee's findings and posits several recommendations to address these issues. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine TI - Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste SN - DO - 10.17226/26132 PY - 2022 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26132/reckoning-with-the-us-role-in-global-ocean-plastic-waste PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - An estimated 8 million metric tons (MMT) of plastic waste enters the world's ocean each year - the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute. Plastic waste is now found in almost every marine habitat, from the ocean surface to deep sea sediments to the ocean's vast mid-water region, as well as the Great Lakes. This report responds to a request in the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste. The United States is a major producer of plastics and in 2016, generated more plastic waste by weight and per capita than any other nation. Although the U.S. solid waste management system is advanced, it is not sufficient to deter leakage into the environment. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste calls for a national strategy by the end of 2022 to reduce the nation's contribution to global ocean plastic waste at every step - from production to its entry into the environment - including by substantially reducing U.S. solid waste generation. This report also recommends a nationally-coordinated and expanded monitoring system to track plastic pollution in order to understand the scales and sources of U.S. plastic waste, set reduction and management priorities, and measure progress. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine TI - Oil in the Sea IV: Inputs, Fates, and Effects SN - DO - 10.17226/26410 PY - 2022 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26410/oil-in-the-sea-iv-inputs-fates-and-effects PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Earth Sciences AB - Oil and natural gas represent more than 50 percent of the worldwide energy supply, with high energy demand driven by population growth and improving standards of living. Despite significant progress in reducing the amount of oil in the sea from consumption, exploration, transportation, and production, risks remain. This report, the fourth in a series, documents the current state-of-knowledge on inputs, fates and effects of oil in the sea, reflecting almost 20 additional years of research, including long-term effects from spills such as the Exxon Valdez and a decade-long boom in oil spill science research following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The report finds that land-based sources of oil are the biggest input of oil to the sea, far outweighing other sources, and it also notes that the effects of chronic inputs on the marine environment, such as land-based runoff, are very different than that from an acute input, such as a spill. Steps to prevent chronic land-based oil inputs include reducing gasoline vehicle usage, improving fuel efficiency, increasing usage of electric vehicles, replacing older vehicles. The report identifies research gaps and provides specific recommendations aimed at preventing future accidental spills and ensuring oil spill responders are equipped with the best response tools and information to limit oil’s impact on the marine environment. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants: Volume 3 SN - DO - 10.17226/12741 PY - 2009 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12741/emergency-and-continuous-exposure-guidance-levels-for-selected-submarine-contaminants PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Health and Medicine AB - U.S. Navy personnel who work on submarines are in an enclosed and isolated environment for days or weeks at a time when at sea. Unlike a typical work environment, they are potentially exposed to air contaminants 24 hours a day. To protect workers from potential adverse health effects due to those conditions, the U.S. Navy has established exposure guidance levels for a number of contaminants. The Navy asked a subcommittee of the National Research Council (NRC) to review, and develop when necessary, exposure guidance levels for specific contaminants. This volume, the third in a series, recommends 1-hour and 24-hour emergency exposure guidance levels (EEGLs) and 90-day continuous exposure guidance levels (CEGLs) for acetaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, and propylene glycol dinitrate. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Improving the Nation's Water Security: Opportunities for Research SN - DO - 10.17226/11872 PY - 2007 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11872/improving-the-nations-water-security-opportunities-for-research PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Conflict and Security Issues ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council A2 - Ellen Mantus TI - Toxicity-Pathway-Based Risk Assessment: Preparing for Paradigm Change: A Symposium Summary SN - DO - 10.17226/12913 PY - 2010 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12913/toxicity-pathway-based-risk-assessment-preparing-for-paradigm-change-a PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Biology and Life Sciences AB - In 2007, the National Research Council envisioned a new paradigm in which biologically important perturbations in key toxicity pathways would be evaluated with new methods in molecular biology, bioinformatics, computational toxicology, and a comprehensive array of in vitro tests based primarily on human biology. Although some considered the vision too optimistic with respect to the promise of the new science, no one can deny that a revolution in toxicity testing is under way. New approaches are being developed, and data are being generated. As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects a large influx of data that will need to be evaluated. EPA also is faced with tens of thousands of chemicals on which toxicity information is incomplete and emerging chemicals and substances that will need risk assessment and possible regulation. Therefore, the agency asked the National Research Council to convene a symposium to stimulate discussion on the application of the new approaches and data in risk assessment. The symposium was held on May 11-13, 2009, in Washington, DC, and included presentations and discussion sessions on pathway-based approaches for hazard identification, applications of new approaches to mode-of-action analyses, the challenges to and opportunities for risk assessment in the changing paradigm, and future directions. ER - TY - BOOK AU - Institute of Medicine A2 - James Merchant A2 - Christine Coussens A2 - Dalia Gilbert TI - Rebuilding the Unity of Health and the Environment in Rural America: Workshop Summary SN - DO - 10.17226/11596 PY - 2006 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11596/rebuilding-the-unity-of-health-and-the-environment-in-rural-america PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Health and Medicine AB - Throughout much of its history, the United States was predominantly a rural society. The need to provide sustenance resulted in many people settling in areas where food could be raised for their families. Over the past century, however, a quiet shift from a rural to an urban society occurred, such that by 1920, for the first time, more members of our society lived in urban regions than in rural ones. This was made possible by changing agricultural practices. No longer must individuals raise their own food, and the number of person-hours and acreage required to produce food has steadily been decreasing because of technological advances, according to Roundtable member James Merchant of the University of Iowa. The Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Environmental Health Science, Research, and Medicine held a regional workshop at the University of Iowa on November 29 and 30, 2004, to look at rural environmental health issues. Iowa, with its expanse of rural land area, growing agribusiness, aging population, and increasing immigrant population, provided an opportunity to explore environmental health in a region of the country that is not as densely populated. As many workshop participants agreed, the shifting agricultural practices as the country progresses from family operations to large-scale corporate farms will have impacts on environmental health. This report describes and summarizes the participants' presentations to the Roundtable members and the discussions that the members had with the presenters and participants at the workshop. ER - TY - BOOK TI - Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans: Controlling Garbage and Plastic Wastes at Sea SN - DO - 10.17226/4769 PY - 1995 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/4769/clean-ships-clean-ports-clean-oceans-controlling-garbage-and-plastic PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Marine debris is a serious environmental problem. To do its part, the United States has agreed to abide by the international treaty for garbage control at sea, known as MARPOL 73/78 Annex V. Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans explores the challenge of translating Annex V into workable laws and regulations for all kinds of ships and boats, from cruise ships to fishing crafts and recreational boats. The volume examines how existing resources can be leveraged into a comprehensive strategy for compliance, including integrated waste management systems and effective enforcement. Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans describes both progress toward and obstacles to Annex V compliance. The book covers: How shipborne garbage orignates and what happens to garbage discharged into the seas. Effects of discharge on human health, wildlife safety, and aesthetics. Differences in perspective among military, industrial, and recreational seafarers and shoreside facilities. Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans will be important to marine policymakers, port administrators, ship operations officers, maritime engineers, and marine ecologists. ER - TY - BOOK AU - Institute of Medicine A2 - David A. Relman A2 - Margaret A. Hamburg A2 - Eileen R. Choffnes A2 - Alison Mack TI - Global Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Understanding the Contributions to Infectious Disease Emergence: Workshop Summary SN - DO - 10.17226/12435 PY - 2008 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12435/global-climate-change-and-extreme-weather-events-understanding-the-contributions PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Earth Sciences KW - Health and Medicine AB - Long before the "germ theory" of disease was described, late in the nineteenth century, humans knew that climatic conditions influence the appearance and spread of epidemic diseases. Ancient notions about the effects of weather and climate on disease remain embedded in our collective consciousness-through expressions such as "cold" for rhinovirus infections; "malaria," derived from the Latin for "bad air;" and the common complaint of feeling "under the weather." Today, evidence is mounting that earth's climate is changing at a faster rate than previously appreciated, leading researchers to view the longstanding relationships between climate and disease with new urgency and from a global perspective. On December 4 and 5, 2007, the Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC to consider the possible infectious disease impacts of global climate change and extreme weather events on human, animal, and plant health, as well as their expected implications for global and national security. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine TI - Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake SN - DO - 10.17226/25658 PY - 2020 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25658/effectiveness-and-impacts-of-dust-control-measures-for-owens-lake PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - During the 20th century, the city of Los Angeles diverted surface water flowing into Owens Lake for water supply, transforming the large, closed-basin, saline lake into a small brine pool surrounded by dry playa. Under high winds, the exposed lakebed produced large amounts of airborne dust, resulting in the highest concentrations of airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) in the United States. Since 2000, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, at the direction of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, has been constructing and implementing dust control measures on the dry lakebed, with the objective of meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 and the PM10 standards set by the state of California. Many of the dust control measures used at Owens Lake require large amounts of water, energy, and maintenance to sustain their performance. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake evaluates the effectiveness of alternative solutions for their degree of PM10 reduction and the extent that they reduce use of water in controlling dust emissions. This report considers the associated energy and environmental and economic impacts of these proposed measures and assesses their durability and reliability. ER -