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During our modern era, there are various types and numbers of chemically dangerous objects in the territory of our Republic, and they are constantly in operation. Thus, during the operation of these objects, significant reserves of dangerous chemicals of an emergency nature are used in a certain amount. According to information, thousands of tons of hazardous chemical substances are transported from one area to another in the Republic of Azerbaijan every year. So, the vehicles carrying those types of chemically dangerous substances have to pass through areas inhabited by people. Also, in case of accidents during the transportation, there may be a large number of people in the chemical contamination zone. As we know, as a result of the spillage of dangerous chemicals, the environment, living beings, people, and animals are damaged in a huge amount. In order to prevent this, a plan of various measures should be implemented. In this article, special parameters were mainly used in the study of the dispersion of dangerous chemicals as a result of an accident and risk assessment, which are used for the main work: 1. Toxodose of dangerous chemicals according to distance and effect. 2. The average concentration of dangerous chemical substances entering the human body by inhalation. 3. Site of accidental spillage of chemical hazardous substances. 4. Area coefficient of distribution of known types of hazardous chemicals. 5. Infiltration [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the legal framework for hazardous substances applied in Greece, in combination with European and international legislation through the years, by addressing the core regulations enacted. These refer to the classification of hazardous substances, their transportation, the accidents' prevention and the environmental impact of such accidents. The REACH and CLP framework is presented, alongside with the adoption of its requirements by each Member State. The SEVESO III directive is analyzed, indicating the necessity of its application to more complicated cases. The significance of transportation of hazardous substances is highlighted, based on the ADR/RID/AND regulations, governing international carriage of such substances. The incorporation of Directive 2004/35/EC (ELD) regarding the environmental impact of accidents caused by hazardous substances is addressed. This analysis explicitly defines the terms this directive and its progress can establish a way of jurisdiction regarding environmental law, indicates the significance of the enforcement of the provisions regarding hazardous substances and ensures that all existing regulations conduct a more safe and environmentally friendly operation. It is essential to identify the difficulties of the establishment of a generic framework for different countries within European countries and how this frame should be updated to comprehend new members' features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Flexible framework to justify decision about road tunnel category based on three levels of risk analysis. • Structuring the key aspects to consider when performing categorization according to dangerous goods regulations (ADR). • Simplified risk analysis approach to support categorization. • Tool assisting competent authority. The internationally adopted regulations regarding transportation of dangerous goods (ADR) contains since 2007 provisions concerning restrictions on the passage of vehicles carrying dangerous goods in road tunnels. The rules allow routing control for the transport of dangerous goods through tunnels, i.e. either granted passage through the tunnel or refer to an alternative route. Routing control is based on each tunnel is assigned to a specific category, i.e. tunnel category A–E, which to varying degrees regulate the types of goods to be allowed to go through the tunnel in order to avoid accidents with major consequences for human or tunnel construction. In this paper a comprehensive and flexible approach for categorizing road tunnels according to ADR based on risk analysis is presented. It is a logical decision model which, when followed should lead to well-founded basis for decisions regarding the appropriate categorization. Three levels of risk analysis methods is proposed; simple method, extensive method and expert assessment. In addition, a simplified risk analysis method that can be used in the risk-based categorization of existing and new tunnels is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presenting a risk pattern according to trucks technical problems by FMEA approach. • The best trucks in Fleet of HAZMAT Transportation in order to reduce accident. • The pattern based on ADR pattern for defining safety risk assessment indices. One of the most important problems in the road fleet transportation of hazardous materials is truck accidents in which the main influential factors are the type of truck and its safety conditions. This research aimed to propose the pattern of assessing safety risk of road fleet transportation of hazardous materials and classifying trucks with a safety approach. In this research, first the safety risk contributing factors (SRCF S) and sub-safety risk contributing factors (Sub-SRCF S) of road oil trucks were identified using job hazard analysis (JHA) method and finalized by expert consensus. Thereafter, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) was employed in order to weigh the determined SRCF S and Sub-SRCF S. Finally, the safety risk assessment pattern in road oil truck was presented considering failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) approach. The results showed that the most important SRCF S in the road fleet of hazardous materials transportation in the carrier and tank groups were "technical characteristics of the carrier" and "technical characteristics of the tank". In addition, the most important Sub-SRCF S included unsuitable inspection of the truck (tank and carrier), poor brake system, and lack of the strength of front and rear shields of the carrier. The results showed that the main causes of increased accident risk are the lack of use of front and rear shields, brake system and inappropriate inspections. The lack of systematic inspection can be the most important case to increase the risk of road transport of hazardous materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 40 years the intermodal transportation has dramatically increased and this trend will continue much faster in the 21st century. Nowadays, the intermodal transportation presents the backbone of world trade. The efficiency of distribution processes is improved by integrating different modes and services of transport. Shippers, who generate the demand for transportations, carriers who supply the transportation services for the demand and also intermodal network determine the performance of the system. Transportation of dangerous goods also reaches upward trend. However, the dangerous transportations have negative effects on the environment and, if an accident occurs, can cause injuries or death. This threat presents very important reason for focusing on improving the security and efficiency for dangerous transports and avoiding of potential accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of hazardous materials (Hazmat) demand and transportation, frequent Hazmat road transportation accidents had arisen the widespread concern in the community. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the risk factors’ implications, which would make the safety of Hazmat transportation evolve from “passive type” to “active type”. In order to explore the influence of risk factors resulting in accidents and predict the occurrence of accidents under the combination of risk factors, 839 accidents that have occurred for the period 2015–2016 were collected and examined. The Bayesian network structure was established by experts’ knowledge using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. Parameter learning was conducted by the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in Genie 2.0. The two main results could be likely to obtain the following. (1) The Bayesian network model can explore the most probable factor or combination leading to the accident, which calculated the posterior probability of each risk factor. For example, the importance of three or more vehicles in an accident leading to the severe accident is higher than less vehicles, and in the absence of other evidences, the most probable reasons for “explosion accident” are vehicles carrying flammable liquids, larger quantity Hazmat, vehicle failure, and transporting in autumn. (2) The model can predict the occurrence of accident by setting the influence degrees of specific factor. Such that the probability of rear-end accidents caused by “speeding” is 0.42, and the probability could reach up to 0.97 when the driver is speeding at the low-class roads. Moreover, the complex logical relationship in Hazmat road transportation accidents could be obtained, and the uncertain relation among various risk factors could be expressed. These findings could provide theoretical support for transportation corporations and government department on taking effective measures to reduce the risk of Hazmat road transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highways and freeways are the main infrastructure channel used to transport cargo in Brazil. This cargo often includes dangerous chemical products which can, in the event of an accident, negatively impact the environment. The development and implementation of tools for the rapid diagnosis of environmental vulnerability in the transportation of dangerous goods has been studied. However, for highways and freeways there is a lack of studies based on environmental attributes, and not just based on statistical data which demands a specific period for collection and analysis and only after that the implementation of preventive measures. Thus, evaluation grounded on multiple criteria embedded in Geographic Information System (GIS) has significant potential for the practical implementation of risk management of road transportation of dangerous goods. This study has determined the environmental vulnerability of route BR 050, specifically the segment between the cities of Uberlândia and Uberaba in the state of Minas Gerais, where multi criteria analysis has been efficient in determining the most vulnerable areas. The main attributes analyzed were the drainage density, soil type and geology, determining that in case of an accident with dangerous substances the regional environment would be immediately affected, and so endorsing the use of this tool in many segments involved in environmental management of highway enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Route optimization of hazardous materials transportation is one of the basic steps in ensuring the safety of hazardous materials transportation. The optimization scheme may be a security risk if road screening is not completed before the distribution route is optimized. For road screening issues of hazardous materials transportation, a road screening algorithm of hazardous materials transportation is built based on genetic algorithm and Levenberg–Marquardt neural network (GA-LM-NN) by analyzing 15 attributes data of each road network section. A multi-objective robust optimization model with adjustable robustness is constructed for the hazardous materials transportation problem of single distribution center to minimize transportation risk and time. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is designed to solve the problem according to the characteristics of the model. The algorithm uses an improved strategy to complete the selection operation, applies partial matching cross shift and single ortho swap methods to complete the crossover and mutation operation, and employs an exclusive method to construct Pareto optimal solutions. Studies show that the sets of hazardous materials transportation road can be found quickly through the proposed road screening algorithm based on GA-LM-NN, whereas the distribution route Pareto solutions with different levels of robustness can be found rapidly through the proposed multi-objective robust optimization model and algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of routine maintenance for trucks with cargo trucks to ensure the safety of the products in the service industry. It highlights the role of the truck drivers and service technicians to conduct tank clean-out operations for the trucks. It also cites the use of tank truck to transport liquid, solid or gaseous materials on the highways.

The influence of Hazardous Materials on different kind of human aspects motivate scholars to increase their attention for decreasing negative impacts of them to human life. In this concern, this paper addresses a decision structure to transfer the hazardous materials to the safe location in the industries logistic system. To reach this goal, we present a new mathematical modelling problem in which location routing problem of hazardous material is addressed. To cope imprecise risk in a practical way, we define it to three kinds in the fuzzy environment including accident risk, population risk, and the bio-environmental risk. To obtain optimal results, three well-known multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) including Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm II (SPEA-II) and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Decomposition (MOEA/D) are presented for solving ten test problems. In this case, this novelty of the model is discussed, firstly, and then proposed algorithms are compared with respect to obtained results. The results of this paper show that Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) has superior performance in terms of metrics, and Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm II (SPEA-II) beats other multi-objective evolutionary algorithms in terms of obtained number of individuals in final Pareto solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the possibility of the occurrence of tunnel fire in the transportation of spent nuclear waste to a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada through railways. Information on a fire tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland on July 18, 2001 that involved a train with hazardous materials; Hypothetical consequences of a Baltimore-like accident that involves spent nuclear fuel; Routes being considered for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain.

We extend the hazardous-materials (hazmat) network design problem to account for the time-dependent road closure as a policy tool to reduce hazmat transport risk by altering carriers' departure times and route choices.We formulate the time-dependent network design problem using an alternative-based model with each alternative representing a combined path and departure-time choice.We also present an extended model that can not only account for consecutive time-based road closure policies but also allow stopping at the intermediate nodes of the network in the routing/scheduling decisions of the carriers. Heuristic algorithms based on column generation and label setting are presented. To illustrate the advantages that can be gained through the use of our methodology, we present results from numerical experiments based on a transportation network from Buffalo, New York. To investigate the impact of the extensions, we consider three versions of the problem by gradually refining the model. We show that under consideration of extensions, the design policies are more applicable and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation of hazardous materials assumes a fundamental importance, especially in urban areas, in order to identify possible alternative routes and to choose the route with minimum risk. Therefore, considering minimization risk rather than minimization distance to prevent a potential danger being transformed into a real event is necessary. In this article , a geographic information system (GIS)–based solution approach is developed to quantify the factors on each link in the network that contribute to a possible route. Based on the origin and destination of each shipment, the risks associated with the routes that minimize (1) the transport distance, (2) the population exposure, (3) the probability of an incident, and (4) the emergency response are evaluated. Proposed risk models are applied to fuel-oil transportation problem between resource point and 78 gasoline stations through the road network of Gaziantep city center. Results show that the proposed framework can contribute to the thought processes of policy-makers and carriers when they evaluate possible routes in order to minimize damage for transporting fuel oil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transportation of dangerous goods (DGs) is generally associated with significant levels of risk. In the context of DG transportation, risk refers to the likelihood of incurring the undesirable consequences of a possible accident. Since the probability of an accident in a link of a route might depend on a variety of factors, it is necessary to find a way to combine the pieces of evidence/probabilities to estimate the composite probability for the link. Instead of using the Bayesian approach, commonly used in the literature, which requires decision-makers to estimate prior and conditional probabilities and cannot differentiate uncertainty from ignorance, this paper presents a novel approach based on the extended Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence by constructing an adaptive robust combination rule to estimate the accident probability under conflicting evidence. A case study is carried out for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas in the road network of Hong Kong. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the human factor and its importance for the evaluation of the risk on carriage of hazardous loads with automobile transport is examined in the article. A system of indicators for evaluation of the risk in this direction is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, railway operation procedures include the transportation of large amount of hazardous substances. Our research has been motivated by the desire to find concrete and urgent solutions to the safety issues of handling waste generated manly in case of accidents and disaster situations during the transportation of hazardous substances In order to ensure safety in the transportation of dangerous goods, and to facilitate the fast and efficient waste handling of hazardous substances released into the environment during unexpected events, we have elaborated a new method, in which we suggest the radiofrequency identification of dangerous consignments in case of disaster situations by the use of drones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fires following road or railway accidents may escalate and cause catastrophic loss of containment and extremely severe final scenarios when hazardous material tankers are engulfed in flames. A heat-resistant coating is usually adopted to protect such tankers. However, defects may form on the coating due to wear, erosion, or accidental failures, thereby affecting the effectiveness of the thermal protection. In the present study, a methodology was developed to assess the performance of thermal protection coatings in the presence of defects. A thermal model based on finite element modeling (FEM) was developed to reproduce the behavior of tankers coated with defective insulation when exposed to fires. Experimental data were used to validate the model, which allowed to determine the temperature profile of tank shell with respect to time under different fire conditions. Specific key performance indicators (KPIs), calculated on the basis of the results of FEM simulations, were defined. The KPIs allow the identification of threshold conditions in which fireproofing performance is degraded and jeopardizes the structural integrity of the protected vessel when involved in fire. An approach based on the KPIs was developed to support the implementation of on-condition inspection-based maintenance strategies of thermal coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on hazardous materials vehicle scheduling between multiple routes. A mixed integer programming model was formulated to maximize profit and minimize the risk cost of the densely populated area, and the effect of limited capacity of vehicle and scheduling cost was involved explicitly. The main decisions were determining transportation price and vehicle scheduling. Using hierarchical solving method, we presented optimal vehicle quantity without generalized allocating cost and time constraints to allocating capacity firstly. Then, a search procedure was put forward to check the feasibility of it to time constraints, and optimal vehicle quantity that satisfied to time constraints was given, which is proved at mathematics. Finally, on this basis the search mechanism was revised to calculate the minimum of generalized vehicle allocation cost. The validity of it was verified by the numerical examples. Compared with the case that there is no vehicle allocating between different routes, the model with vehicle scheduling could reduce transportation price and increase realized demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the larger and larger proportion of hazardous material (hazmat) transportation occupying in the national economy, more and more researchers focus on this field. With the mature of fuzzy theory, this paper puts forward a model with three constraints, they are capacity, time window, risk respectively. It assumes that the travel time and the risk are both fuzzy variables, the risk is calculated by the affected people number multiply the accident probability. The goal is to obtain the best route schedule under the three constraints. This paper simultaneously designs the genetic algorithm based on fuzzy simulation. In the end, two cases are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed model and algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates a dynamic model of conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) measure for risk assessment and mitigation of hazardous material transportation in supply chain networks. The well-established market risk measure, CVaR, which is commonly used by financial institutions for portfolio optimizations, is investigated. In contrast to previous works, we consider CVaR as the main objective in the optimization of hazardous material (hazmat) transportation network. In addition to CVaR minimization and route planning of a supply chain network, the time scheduling of hazmat shipments is imposed and considered in the present study. Pertaining to the general dynamic risk model, we analyzed several scenarios involving a variety of hazmats and time schedules with respect to optimal route selection and CVaR minimization. A solution algorithm is then proposed for solving the model, with verifications made using numerical examples and sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant advances in risk management, the routing of hazardous materials (hazmat) has relied on relatively simplistic methods. In this paper, we apply an advanced risk measure, called conditional value-at-risk (CVaR), for routing hazmat trucks. CVaR offers a flexible, risk-averse, and computationally tractable routing method that is appropriate for hazmat accident mitigation strategies. The two important data types in hazmat transportation are accident probabilities and accident consequences, both of which are subject to many ambiguous factors. In addition, historical data are usually insufficient to construct a probability distribution of accident probabilities and consequences. This motivates our development of a new robust optimization approach for considering the worst-case CVaR (WCVaR) under data uncertainty. We study important axioms to ensure that both the CVaR and WCVaR risk measures are coherent and appropriate in the context of hazmat transportation. We also devise a computational method for WCVaR and demonstrate the proposed WCVaR concept with a case study in a realistic road network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study robust network design problems for hazardous materials transportation considering risk uncertainty. Risk uncertainty is considered in two ways: (1) uncertainty on each link for each shipment, and (2) uncertainty on each link across all shipments. We extend an existing heuristic framework to solve these two robust network design problems and propose a Lagrangian relaxation heuristic to solve subproblems within the framework. We present our computational experiences and illustrate general insights based on real networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design routes for transportation of hazardous materials (HAZMAT) in urban areas, with multiple origin-destination pairs. First, we introduce the maxisum HAZMAT routing problem, which maximizes the sum of the population-weighted distances from vulnerable centers to their closest point on the routes. Secondly, the maximin-maxisum HAZMAT routing problem trades-off maxisum versus the population-weighted distance from the route to its closest center. We propose efficient IP formulations for both NP-Hard problems, as well as a polynomial heuristic that reaches gaps below 0.54% in a few seconds on the real case in the city of Santiago, Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a novel toll setting policy to regulate hazardous material (hazmat) transportation, where the regulator (e.g., a government authority) aims at minimizing not only the network total risk but also at spreading the risk in an equitable way over a given road network. The idea is to use a toll setting policy to discourage carriers transporting hazmat from overloading portions of the network with the consequent increase of the risk exposure of the population involved. Specifically, we assume that the toll paid by a carrier on a network link depends on the usage of that link by all carriers. Therefore the route choices of each carrier depend on the other carrier's choices, and the tolls deter the carriers from using links with a high total risk. The resulting model is a mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) problem, where the inner problem is a Nash equilibrium problem (game) having as players the carriers, each one wishing to minimize his or her travel cost (including tolls); the outer problem is addressed by the government authority, whose aim is finding the link tolls that induce the carriers to choose route plans that minimize both the network total risk and the maximum link total risk among the network links (to address risk equity). To guarantee the stability of the solution, we study conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium, and propose a local search heuristic for the MPEC problem. Computational results are carried out on a real road network, comparing the performance of our toll setting policy with the toll setting approach proposed in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful implementation of a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) emergency response plan aimed at risk reduction varies by jurisdiction. Rural communities often face challenges in HAZMAT planning and training due to lower economic vitality that is often a result of fewer economic resources, a lack of knowledge of HAZMAT risk/response training, and data collection limitations. In order to identify opportunities and constraints in HAZMAT planning in rural communities, this paper presents a case study of HAZMAT transportation in North Central in Idaho. Researchers collected and analyzed HAZMAT transportation data to provide a basis for planning and implementation of mitigation measures that help reduce the risks of HAZMAT in rural areas. An interview with the Director of the board of Regional Emergency Managers was conducted to determine the utility of the study for local HAZMAT planning. This study also informs responders about the types of HAZMAT that are transported throughout the region. This information can be used to develop hazard-specific preparedness activities particular to the region, such as training, equipment selection and future grant opportunities. This study also contributes to the limited body of literature that examines challenges rural communities face in HAZMAT risk assessments and risk reduction response planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation has a great role in logistics. Many researchers have studied on transportation and vehicle routing problems. Transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) is a special subject for logistics. Causalities due to the accidents caused by trucks carrying hazardous materials will be intolerable. Many researchers have studied on risk assessment of hazmat transportation to find ways for reducing hazardous material transportation risks. Some researchers have studied routing of hazmat trucks. The emergency response models and network design problems for hazmat transportation were also studied by some researchers. The transportation of hazmats can also be classified according to the mode of transport. Mainly roads are used for hazmat transportation but some shipments are intermodal. There has been a great amount of effort spent to find convenient ways for hazmat transportation. In this study, a literature survey for the articles about hazmat transportation is prepared. After pointing out the importance of hazmat transportation by the example of US hazmat transportation data, the studies on hazmat transportation since 2005 have been examined. Totally 88 articles are classified as risk, routing, routing and scheduling, emergency response, network design and accident analysis. What can be studied in future researches is pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domino sequences found in major accidents have been analyzed for a large set of cases (330); the first event triggering the domino effect was an explosion or a fire, both with approximately the same contribution; the same proportion has been found when all domino effect steps were considered. Although fire effects usually reach a distance much shorter than those of an explosion, as fire is the most frequent major accident it is often found as the first step of domino sequences. This is especially true in the case of BLEVEs. Both in fixed plants and in the transportation of hazardous materials, in the event of a fire, if flames affect a vessel and the fireproofing layer has been damaged, a BLEVE can occur at any moment. 127 BLEVE accidents involving domino effect have been analyzed. It has been found that fire is significantly more frequent than explosion, both in triggering the domino effect sequence and in intermediate steps. The time to failure can range from 1 min or even less up to several hours, an aspect that should be very important for the management of the emergency. A set of conclusions are inferred from this survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although long-term planning can be improved by full stakeholder participation that generates consensus, there are some planning problems that lack interest from a large and diverse group of stakeholders. For these low-interest yet substantively important issues, such as hazard mitigation, technical collaboration has been suggested as a precursor to processes that involve full stakeholder participation. However, there has been only limited research evaluating the role of technical collaboration in practice. In this study I analyze how technical collaboration influences hazard mitigation capacity for communities at risk from hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission pipeline accidents. Semistructured interviews were conducted with forty-five emergency managers and planning directors located in the Greensboro-Winston-Salem, North Carolina (USA) metropolitan area whose communities had hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission pipelines. On the basis of these interview data, I classified technical collaborations into three categories: loose alliances, full partnerships, and hierarchically cooperative groups. Using this typology of technical collaboration, I found that the type of collaboration (1) influenced local knowledge about pipelines; (2) impacted how transmission pipeline hazards were addressed within a mitigation agenda; and (3) affected a community's longterm capacity to mitigate pipeline hazards and build resilience against potential disasters. Leadership, access to resources, and continuity of the collaboration affected the function of technical collaborations. The research illustrated the inconsistencies in hazard resilience outcomes produced by the three types of technical collaboration. Collectively, the results illustrate how some planners and emergency managers can overcome deficits in knowledge about transmission pipeline hazards or about hazard mitigation planning tools in order to improve hazard resilience. Practitioners from jurisdictions of various sizes can use this research to facilitate their use of existing relationships to achieve hazard mitigation goals or to address critical issues that may have limited stakeholder support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development. Methods and Findings: We conducted a prospective study of children (n = 2,715, aged 7 to 10 y) from 39 schools in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) exposed to high and low traffic-related air pollution, paired by school socioeconomic index; children were tested four times (i.e., to assess the 12-mo developmental trajectories) via computerized tests (n = 10,112). Chronic traffic air pollution (elemental carbon [EC], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ultrafine particle number [UFP; 10–700 nm]) was measured twice during 1-wk campaigns both in the courtyard (outdoor) and inside the classroom (indoor) simultaneously in each school pair. Cognitive development was assessed with the n-back and the attentional network tests, in particular, working memory (two-back detectability), superior working memory (three-back detectability), and inattentiveness (hit reaction time standard error). Linear mixed effects models were adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, socioeconomic status, and air pollution exposure at home. Children from highly polluted schools had a smaller growth in cognitive development than children from the paired lowly polluted schools, both in crude and adjusted models (e.g., 7.4% [95% CI 5.6%–8.8%] versus 11.5% [95% CI 8.9%–12.5%] improvement in working memory, p = 0.0024). Cogently, children attending schools with higher levels of EC, NO2, and UFP both indoors and outdoors experienced substantially smaller growth in all the cognitive measurements; for example, a change from the first to the fourth quartile in indoor EC reduced the gain in working memory by 13.0% (95% CI 4.2%–23.1%). Residual confounding for social class could not be discarded completely; however, the associations remained in stratified analyses (e.g., for type of school or high-/low-polluted area) and after additional adjustments (e.g., for commuting, educational quality, or smoking at home), contradicting a potential residual confounding explanation. Conclusions: Children attending schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had a smaller improvement in cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management and control of vehicles transporting hazardous materials (hazmat) on congested highways has attracted growing attention from researchers in recent years. This paper proposes a decision support system (DSS) for monitoring hazmat vehicles, aimed at assessing two problems: evaluating the social risk induced by hazmat vehicles traveling in highways and selecting restoration procedures after an accident involving heavy vehicles. The proposed DSS can estimate in real time and offline the risk of hazmat transportation, by taking into account the type of transported hazmat, the traffic, and the density of populations living close to the highway. Two main modules of the DSS are specified: the risk assessment module and the simulation module (SM) that allows forecasting risk in different contexts and scenarios. In particular, the SM is realized by modeling the highway network in a colored Petri net (CPN) framework. In order to show the effectiveness and the applicability of the DSS, a prototype is described and applied to a highway in the North-east of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The methods of conflict situations assessment were analyzed, and it was established that the main shortcoming is the disregard of the probability of occurrence of the RTA involving an individual road user. Based on the factor analysis conducted, the non-linear model of the probability of the RTA occurrence in the transport network segments was developed. Also, the model of the probability of the RTA occurrence in transport junctions was improved. It will enable, if using respective optimization algorithms, working out the optimal routes for dangerous goods transportation by the minimum of the RTA occurrence probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process safety, as well as the safe storage and transportation of hazardous or reactive chemicals, has been a topic of increasing interest in the last few decades. The increased interest in improving the safety of operations has been driven largely by a series of recent catastrophes that have occurred in the United States and the rest of the world. A continuous review of past incidents and disasters to look for common causes and lessons is an essential component to any process safety and loss prevention program. While analyzing the causes of an accident cannot prevent that accident from occurring, learning from it can help to prevent future incidents. The objective of this article is to review a selection of major incidents involving ammonium nitrate in the last century to identify common causes and lessons that can be gleaned from these incidents in the hopes of preventing future disasters. Ammonium nitrate has been involved in dozens of major incidents in the last century, so a subset of major incidents were chosen for discussion for the sake of brevity. Twelve incidents are reviewed and ten lessons from these incidents are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments according to a test specified in the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Manual of Tests and Criteria, and numerical simulations by means of a finite element method are employed to determine the self-accelerating decomposition temperature of acrylic acid in a railroad tank car. The results demonstrate that the transport of acrylic acid in big tank cars is safe as long as some basic conditions are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a decision support system for transportation of hazardous materials by railway in China in order to reduce the serious consequences resulting from sudden environmental-pollution accidents. Transportation management of hazardous materials and consequent environmental risk are incorporated into the design approach for the system structure and functional framework. Moreover, management information system and geographical information system techniques are integrated for the development of system-functional modules within the decision support system. This paper mainly focuses on the datasheet construction in terms of management information system design, as well as the mathematical models applied to geographical information system buffer analysis. On completion of the system design and construction, selected functionalities of each sub-module are demonstrated. The limitation of the decision support system is also discussed, which lays a foundation for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Serbian Armed Forces, oil and petroleum products are transported primarily for military units and institutions. The route for the movement of vehicles is selected during the transportation planning process. This paper describes a methodology for the selection of a route for the transport of dangerous goods and its application on one particular case in the Serbian Armed Forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transportation of dangerous goods is a complex issue involving various potential consequences for a wide range of high-stake elements. Most particularly, hydrocarbon transportation requires the carrying out of a global study in order to assess the risks involved. The aim of this study is to develop a prediction code for analyzing different possible hydrocarbon supply routes in order to determine whether modifying the flow of hydrocarbon transportation significantly increases the risk (for people, infrastructure and the environment). On the one hand, this paper details the methodology proposed for assessing risk levels using hazard scenarios and the vulnerability of high-stake elements. On the other hand, it presents the modeling tool developed (CARTENJEUX), based on an existing geographical information system (MapInfo), through a case study (Paris, France). Several maps (severity of accident, vulnerability and risk levels) generated using CARTENJEUX are presented in order to illustrate how stakeholders can determine preferential routes at regional scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Introduction: In this paper, a literature study on risk analysis systems for the transport of hazardous materials was conducted. Results: The insights that resulted from this literature review have led to the development of a refined approach to map the risk of hazmat transport in Flanders based on historical accident data. The proposed framework allows setting up an overall risk map for hazmat transport by different transport modes. Additionally, a methodology to calculate a local accident risk, which takes local infrastructure parameters and accident data into account, is being introduced. In the presented framework one of the general principles is that the risk of a catastrophic hazmat incident can be divided into two parts, which can both be validated on the basis of accident data: (a) the calculation of the general probability of the occurrence of an accident based on international accident data of transport of hazardous materials – this is the basis for the global risk map, and (b) the calculation of the local probability of the occurrence of an accident based on accident data and infrastructure parameters of the complete available freight transport in Flanders – this is the basis for the local risk map. The ratio between these two results in a locality parameter, which represents the local specific circumstances that can lead to an accident. Conclusions: This evaluation framework makes it possible to estimate the risks of hazmat transport along a specific route for transport by road, rail, inland navigation and even pipelines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses hazardous material (HazMat) transportation training requirements from organizations such as the U.S. Department of Transportation and the International Air Transport Association, focusing on industrial safety laws. Topics include the identification of employees who must be trained for HazMat transportation, pretransportation fuctions, international requirements for air and ocean transportation, and a labor dispute case study.

This article describes a project sponsored by the Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program to determine the most promising emerging technologies for the safety and security of hazardous materials (hazmat) shipments. The project's focus was on hazmat transportation of all modes (i.e., highway, rail, marine, air, and pipeline). A requirements-based gap analysis methodology was utilized to screen and down-select an initially large number of potential candidate technologies. The methodology resulted in the identification of most promising emerging technology areas for further examination. Each of these technology areas was further characterized in terms of its applicability to hazmat transportation safety and security and its outlook for deployment. In addition to describing project activities and findings, the article offers a commentary on overarching considerations influencing the development and deployment of technologies with the potential to enhance hazmat transportation safety and security within the coming decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport of dangerous goods are regulated activities, they take place under the direction and control of the authorities and specialized bodies in an institutional framework determined by national and international law. Of economic, transport infrastructure is the crucial element without which both production and trade would become meaningless, it is an essential element of a civilization, is also a necessary accessory of other economic activities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international community and important nuclear stakeholders are making efforts to promote the further globalisation of the nuclear fuel cycle. Consequently, marine shipments of radioactive materials are ever increasing. The history of maritime carriage of these substances has been characterised by disagreements between the various stakeholders with regard to, i.e., concepts such as innocent passage as included in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and implementation and interpretation of the precautionary principle. The international framework governing these shipments is flawed due to its inconsistency and fragmentation, thereby passively allowing coastal nations to take unilateral action, such as blocking the shipments from their Exclusive Economic Zones and territorial waters. On the European level, modern environmental law principles are being put forward more progressively, but are not incorporated into a consistent and clear legal regime in this particular context. Overall, there are many feasible improvements, both in the short- and the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incidents involving hazardous material (hazmat) road tankers carrying class-2 materials may pose the greatest danger to the people and property along the transport route because of their storage condition on the transport vessel i.e. stored either in pressurized vessels or in cryogenic containers and lead to severe consequences in terms of fatalities, injuries, evacuation, property damage and environmental degradation. The worst case of release may result into phenomenon like Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) due to collision related catastrophic failure of vessel and an Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosion (UVCE) due to delayed ignition following a large release. The impact zones or vulnerable areas have been identified along two designated. State highway routes passing through an important industrial corridor in Western India and mapped on a GIS enabled local map. HAMS-GPS software was used for the analysis of flammables and ALOHA for toxic hazmat consequences. The route risks are compared which have been estimated based on the population likely to be affected within the lethality impact areas created by the worst case release scenarios of different class-2 hazmats, namely LPG, ethylene oxide, propylene, 1,3-Butadiene, ammonia and chlorine, enabling proper routing decision by local authorities and also for planning emergency mitigating actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: North America railways offer safe and generally the most economical means of long distance transport of hazardous materials. Nevertheless, in the event of a train accident releases of these materials can pose substantial risk to human health, property or the environment. The majority of railway shipments of hazardous materials are in tank cars. Improving the safety design of these cars to make them more robust in accidents generally increases their weight thereby reducing their capacity and consequent transportation efficiency. This paper presents a generalized tank car safety design optimization model that addresses this tradeoff. The optimization model enables evaluation of each element of tank car safety design, independently and in combination with one another. We present the optimization model by identifying a set of Pareto-optimal solutions for a baseline tank car design in a bicriteria decision problem. This model provides a quantitative framework for a rational decision-making process involving tank car safety design enhancements to reduce the risk of transporting hazardous materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Technological development inevitably increases the number of hazardous cargo in the European Union. The essential problem of the haulage of hazardous consignment deals with insufficient safety. The topic seems to be relevant due to importance to ensure the safety of carrying hazardous cargo, since while transporting such materials, a certain possibility of a negative impact on nature, people's health and safety occurs. This article assesses the current situation of the haulage of hazardous cargo in Lithuania and investigates activities of developing the possibilities of the haulage of hazardous cargo in the countries of the European Union (EU). The conduced research on transport organizations in the EU countries helped with evaluating safety remedies and with ensuring the safe haulage of hazardous cargo used by particular organizations as well as suggested the kinds of transport used for transporting hazardous cargo. The study also indicated the most frequently crossed countries and the kinds of information technologies an organization applies in practice so that to guarantee the safety of the haulage of hazardous cargo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Performance evaluation is important in managing freight transport. The transport of certain products, especially those that are hazardous, can have significant financial and socio-environmental impacts. This article presents an application of the modal choice method (MCM) to establish an order of priority among the alternatives considered to carry a determined hazardous product. After a research of the literature on the concepts and development of the proposed method, we consulted experts about their experiences and knowledge, to determine a set of relevant attributes for the evaluation process. We then applied this method to the specific case of the Brazilian bio-ethanol industry, to demonstrate the potential of using the MCM as a tool to support make decisions. We can conclude that highway transport, though the most often used, is not the best compared to trains or pipelines (or combinations of any of the three) from a socio-environmental standpoint. Alternatives with longer pipeline segments are the most suitable to replace the current practice in environmental terms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Department of Transportation (DOT) mandates reporting of all serious hazardous materials incidents. Hazardous material exposures may result in secondary contamination of emergency departments, or delayed clinical effects. Poison control centers specialize in the management of patients exposed to toxic substances; however, poison control center notification is not required. Purpose: The objective is to determine the frequency of poison control center notification after serious hazardous materials incidents when patients were transported to a hospital. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of serious hazardous materials incidents as reported by DOT, matched with data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers from 2002 through 2006 that involved patient transport. Incidents were divided into four groups: those reported to a poison control center within 0–360 minutes of the incident; those reported within 361–1440 minutes of the incident; those reported within 1441–4320 minutes of the incident; and no poison control center notification. Analyses were performed on variables including date, time, substance, and time to notification. Data were received in January 2008. Results: One hundred fifty-four serious incidents met inclusion criteria. One hundred thirty-four incidents (87%) occurred without poison control center notification. Poison control centers were notified in 20 incidents (12.9%); 15 incidents (9.7%) were reported within 0–360 minutes of the incident (M=115 minutes, range=5–359 minutes); four incidents (2.6%) were reported within 361–1440 minutes of the incident (M=652 minutes, range=566–750 minutes); and one incident (0.7%) was reported after 4320 minutes following the incident. Conclusions: Most serious hazardous materials incidents involving patient transport are not reported to poison control centers. Opportunities exist to increase utilization of poison control center resources without increasing financial burdens of the hazardous materials incident. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Risk assessment and management of transportation of hazardous materials (HazMat) require the estimation of accident frequency. This paper presents a methodology to estimate hazardous materials transportation accident frequency by utilizing publicly available databases and expert knowledge. The estimation process addresses route-dependent and route-independent variables. Negative binomial regression is applied to an analysis of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) accident database to derive basic accident frequency as a function of route-dependent variables, while the effects of route-independent variables are modeled by fuzzy logic. The integrated methodology provides the basis for an overall transportation risk analysis, which can be used later to develop a decision support system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]