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Throughout human history, the capacity to invent, manufacture, and use chemicals and materials has transformed concepts of development with path-dependent solutions to problems encountered in various industrial and societal sectors, including energy, transportation, food production, textiles, and personal care. It is increasingly clear that the trajectory of development initiated by some path-breaking materials is not sustainable. Recent developments in the concept of planetary boundaries have explored some reasons for unsustainability and ineffectiveness of current chemicals management practices. The reasons are almost always due to previously unknown chemical characteristics such as toxicity, reactivity, environmental recalcitrance, or increasing scarcity. In some cases, the suspected but ignored potential hazard of chemicals manifests slowly or becomes uncontrollable due to accumulation and biochemical or physical transformation in the environment. Consequently, environmental pollution by such chemicals is associated with alarmingly high levels of human mortality and disease burden worldwide. Recent examples include halogenated chemicals used as flame retardants and the thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer; bisphenol A used in plastics and microplastics widespread in biotic and abiotic ecosystem components, including the ocean; hormone mimicking chemicals such as phthalates in human tissues; neurotoxicity of lead used in solder materials, paints, and water distribution pipes; neurodevelopmental diseases associated with mercury used in ore beneficiation, in dental amalgams and lighting systems; and asbestos fibers used in ceiling tiles, roofs, and automobile brakes. These notorious examples have forced the introduction of retroactive policies to restrict the use of certain chemicals in materials development, and a few proactive policies designed to prevent the initial use of certain chemicals known or suspected to be hazardous. Improvements in the scientific knowledge and development of tools to screen for chemicals of concern have also led to the development of forecasting tools for improved management of chemicals. It could be impossible to foresee all potential risks associated with chemicals. Therefore, such management approaches can be most effective in supporting sustainable development of materials when they generate boundaries within which criteria for safety are understood and alternative assessments are continuous. This article situates the power of selected forecasting tools for early warning systems in a planetary boundary framework while highlighting gaps and incongruencies inherent in their use to support proactive and reactive regulatory policies, and for developing performance standards for lowering the chemical footprint of consumer products. Graphical Abstract

Summary Prevention of diseases caused by pathogenic fungi exemplifies the need for a One Health approach because a fungal species can cause similar disease in humans and animals and can survive long in the environment. This case study of coccidioidomycosis (valley fever) illustrates the power of integrative surveillance for One Health. Fungi belong to a taxonomically distinctive group of organisms that are among the most diverse, widely distributed and metabolically versatile organisms on earth. Physically, fungi range in size from microscopic yeasts, visible mould with colourful spores, and mushrooms, which may be larger than a human palm. Through their genetic profile and heterotrophy, fungi are more related to animals than to plants. Fungi can cause disease in humans, animals and plants, and they produce infectious forms such as lightweight spores, which can survive long in natural environments. Therefore, many diseases caused by pathogenic fungi are better understood and controlled through a transdisciplinary One Health approach. Fungi produce antibiotics such as penicillin, and they are also capable of developing resistance to many medications used to treat infections, making them a major threat to global health. This case study focuses on coccidioidomycosis (valley fever), an illness that develops from inhaling spores of the fungus Coccidioides imitis or Coccidioides posadasii , which are commonly found in soils of the south-western USA and in Central and South America, where the disease has been long recognized as a threat. Communities of people, pets and farm animals inhabiting periodically dry environmental conditions are particularly vulnerable, and investigators have suggested that the current incidence of the disease and the geographical expansion of zones of vulnerability are linked to climate change. 1 Improved understanding of the One Health context of valley fever should inform public communication strategies for preventing the disease.

Summary Antibiotic resistance is an emergency for global health security, the solution for which demands a transdisciplinary and interprofessional One Health approach. This case study builds on a project to recruit antibiotic stewards and examines their responsibility to disseminate best practices, to support deeper knowledge, conservative attitudes and preventive practices. Antibiotic resistance is a global emergency that threatens the reversal of improvements in societal capacity to reduce human mortality caused by infectious pathogenic bacteria. Solutions to the problem demand a One Health approach because antibiotics are abused in animal and human healthcare; and the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens occurs in environmental contexts. In all regions of the world, antibiotic resistance increases the global burden of diseases by jeopardizing population health, food security and environmental quality, with most of the adverse impacts expected in Africa. Proposed remediation strategies hinge on improving antibiotic stewardship through deeper knowledge of social and ecological determinants of resistance, conservative attitudes in antibiotic uses, and preventive practices to curb infectious diseases. This case study is based on a project entitled Antibiotic Stewardship is Public Health (ASPH), with the goal of empowering stewards with tools to implement strategies for preventing antibiotic-resistant infections. The Ten Commandments of antibiotic stewards emerged from population surveys, stakeholder interviews and community engagement exercises. Outcomes were distilled to inform best practices including: using antibiotics as prescribed; not disposing of expired antibiotics in domestic waste; advocating prudent use of antibiotics in farm animals; supporting research to respond better to antibiotic resistance; teaching students about the importance of antibiotics for global health security; understanding the One Health approach to combatting antibiotic resistance; advocating effective policies to stop the careless use and disposal of antibiotics; resisting consumption of food items laden with antibiotic residues; and supporting research to discover alternative therapies to prevent or treat infections.

Background Increasing resistance of bacterial infections to current treatment threatens to derail progress made to reduce the global burden of diseases. Inadequate knowledge about prudent use of antibiotics is considered a determinant of increasing risks of antibiotic resistance. However, there is insufficient research on effective ways to target information that could increase public knowledge toward improvement of antibiotics stewardship. The aim of this study was to assess the association between knowledge and use of antibiotics in Ghana. Methods Four hundred residents of the Greater Accra and Upper West regions of Ghana, aged 18 years and older, who had previously used antibiotics, completed a standardized questionnaire survey during the months of September-October 2018. The survey collected information on individual knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Principal component and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the different components of knowledge and their association with antibiotic use. Results Two main principal components were identified; (i) knowledge about treatment of common illnesses (ii) knowledge about prudent use of antibiotics. There was a significant association between gender and the first component, with women having higher knowledge about the treatment of malaria, headaches, and body aches (beta, b= 0.25; P Conclusions Age, gender, residence, education, as well as experience with antibiotics therapy were identified as determinants associated with knowledge of antibiotics and their uses, thereby providing opportunities to improve community-level antibiotics stewardship.

Scientific evidence for the urgency of curbing the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is incontrovertible. Yet, the translation of knowledge into effective design and implementation of action plans is hampered by gaps in perception, attitudes and practices in the human health, agriculture, and environmental sectors. To fill these gaps in regions where the disease burden attributable to antimicrobial resistance is heaviest, a cadre of One Health Stewards equipped with strategies to translate and meld global and local evidence for knowledge dissemination is deemed necessary. This opinion articulates a case for cultivating and deploying One Health Antibiotic Stewards according to specific actions within the environmental context of antibiotic resistance.

The upward trend of global demand for fossil-fuel energy for non-energy purposes especially for the production of plastics, and non-renewable energy use (NREU) and global warming potential of the plastics life cycle is poorly understood. Alternatives to petrochemical plastics have been researched intensely, but they have not been developed to replace current plastic products at a commercially viable scale. Here, we identify challenges facing to energy intensiveness of plastic production, land use crisis for biomass production, and non-renewable energy use and global warming potential on the life cycle of plastics, and we propose a material lifecycle perspective for bioplastics. Our estimate shows that an average of about 13.8 exajoule (EJ), ranging from 10.9 to 16.7 EJ, of fossil-fuel energy consumed in 2019 was diverted to fossil-fuel feedstock for the production of plastics worldwide, this translates between 2.8 and 4.1% share of the total consumed fossil-fuel energy globally. The life cycle analysis estimate shows that bioplastics produced from 2nd generation feedstock have 25% less NREU than that of 1st generation, while the bioplastics from 1st generation feedstock required about 86% less NREU than that of petrochemical plastics. Similarly, the estimates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions show that the reduction of GHG emission was about 187% more in biomass feedstock than that of petrochemical plastics. We conclude by presenting strategies for improving the recyclability of biological plastics through polymer design, application biotechnology, and by adopting a circular bio-based economy.

Batteries are important for promoting renewable energy, but, like most engineered products, they contain multiple hazardous materials. The purpose of this study is to evaluate industrial-scale batteries using GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals, an established chemical hazard assessment (CHA) framework, and to develop a systematic, transparent methodology to quantify the CHA results, harmonize them, and aggregate them into single-value hazard scores, which can facilitate quantitative comparison and a robust evaluation of data gaps, inconsistencies, and uncertainty through the implementation of carefully selected scenarios and stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA). Using multiple authoritative toxicity data sources, six battery products are evaluated: three lithium-ion batteries (lithium iron phosphate, lithium nickel cobalt manganese hydroxide, and lithium manganese oxide), and three redox flow batteries (vanadium redox, zinc-bromine, and all-iron). The CHA results indicate that many materials in these batteries, including reagents and intermediates, inherently exhibit high hazard; therefore, safer materials should be identified and considered in future designs. The scenario analysis and SMAA, combined, provide a quantitative evaluation framework to support the decision-making needed to compare alternative technologies. Thus, this study highlights specific strategies to reduce the use of hazardous materials in complex engineered products before they are widely used in this rapidly-expanding industry sector.

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) contain valuable material resources and hazardous substances, thereby posing a challenge for sustainable resource recovery and environmental protection initiatives. Overcoming this challenge will require mapping the toxic footprint of WPCBs to specific materials and substances used in manufacturing electronic components (ECs). Therefore, this work collected 50 EC specimens from WPCBs in five ubiquitous consumer products, such as television, refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine and computer. The work extracted and analyzed metal contents and used leachability assessments based on tests adopted by the regulatory policies from China and the United States. The work found that copper and iron are the most abundant constituents in ECs, with concentrations ranging 5.90-796.62g/kg and 0-831.53g/kg, respectively; whereas abundance of precious metal content is in the order of silver>gold>palladium>platinum, with silver concentration ranging 15-5290mg/kg. The content of marginally-regulated toxic substance arsenic ranged 0-9700mg/kg; whereas fully regulated toxic metals such as chromium, lead and mercury did not exceed the thresholds set by China and US standards. The work found new toxic threats from arsenic and selenium leached from 20 of 50 ECs exceeding regulatory standards. These results will aid manufacturers and recyclers in protecting workers' health and environmental quality from arsenic and selenium pollution, and should initiate discussion about regulating these toxic components as part of a comprehensive program to reduce the toxic footprint of electronic products.

The concept of zero waste is an ideal situation that will require different solutions for different categories of waste. Electronic waste (E-waste), the fastest growing category of solid hazardous waste presents various unique challenges. Electronic product repair, reuse and remanufacture (3re) are crucial for effective source reduction of E-waste and the integration of the electronics industry into a circular or zero-waste economy framework. Increasingly, 3re implementation is restricted by regulatory difficulties, particularly the invocation of copyright laws. Here, we use the examples of electronic printer cartridges and restored compact discs (CDs) to identify the challenges and to explore solutions for managing the risks associated with E-waste through circular economy and the opportunities presented by innovative Blockchain solutions. A set of international consensuses on judicial definitions, such as 3re, refurbish fake/counterfeit product and copyright exhaustion, are proposed to accelerate source reduction in E-waste management toward the goal of zero waste.

Electronic waste (e-waste), the world’s fastest-growing category of hazardous solid waste, poses a serious health risk for recyclers, scavenger workers, and residents of communities near waste disp...

Author(s): Tian, S; He, H; Kendall, A; Davis, SJ; Ogunseitan, OA; Schoenung, JM; Samuelsen, S; Tarroja, B | Abstract: Energy storage systems are critical for enabling the environmental benefits associated with capturing renewable energy to displace fossil fuel-based generation, yet producing these systems also contributes to environmental impacts through their materials use and manufacturing. As energy storage capacity is scaled up to support increasingly renewable grids, the environmental benefits from their use may scale at different rates than the environmental impacts from their production. This implies the existence of capacity thresholds beyond which installing additional storage capacity may be environmentally detrimental. Identifying such thresholds are important for ensuring that energy storage capacity selection in future grids are consistent with net emissions reduction goals, but such thresholds have not been studied in the present literature. To identify such thresholds, here we combine electric grid dispatch modeling with life cycle analysis to compare how the emissions reductions from deploying three different flow battery energy storage types on a future California grid (g80% wind and solar) compare with emissions contributions from producing such batteries as total battery capacity installed on the grid increases. Depending on the type of battery and environmental impact indicator (greenhouse gas or particulate matter emissions), we find that the marginal environmental benefits of storage begin to diminish at deployed capacities of 38–76% of the mean daily renewable generation (256–512 GWh in our California scenarios) and reach zero at 105–284% of mean daily renewable generation (700–1810 GWh). Such storage capacities are conceivable, but upstream impacts of storage must be assessed in evaluating the environmental benefits of large-scale storage deployment, or they could negate the environmental benefits of regional electricity system decarbonization.

Heating processes for the removal of electronic components from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) is an important step in the chain of electronic waste recycling, and toxic fumes are generated during the de-soldering process, causing environmental pollution and posing health risks for the workers. This study is aimed to characterize emission and deposition fluxes of respirable particulate matter (PM), and assess exposure of workers to particle-bound polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). An electrical low-pressure impactor was used to measure the real-time PM concentrations inside and outside the hood during the WPCBs de-soldering process. The results show that PM mass concentration inside the hood (204 mg/m3) was significantly higher than outside the hood (9.4 mg/m3), representing 95.4% PM removal by the hood. According to the International Commission on Radiological Protection model, the total deposition fluxes of PM in head airways region, tracheobronchial region, and alveolar region were determined as 1930, 74.0, and 123 μg/h, respectively. The deposition flux for coarse particles (2.5-10 μm) in the head airways was the largest (1830 μg/h), accounting for 86.1% of total PM deposited in respiratory system. The ∑8PBDEs concentration in PM10 inside the WPCBs de-soldering workshop was 20,300 pg/m3, and the ∑8PBDEs inhalation exposure for the worker was 1.46 ng/kg/day. This study improves understanding of PM emission mechanisms and provides fundamental data for health assessments during WPCBs de-soldering process.

Achievement of some of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible if global trends in pollution associated with petrochemical-based plastics continue. Alternatives to petrochemical plastics have been researched intensely, but they have not been developed to replace current plastic products in a commercially viable way. The demand for single-use plastic personal protective equipment created by the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated urgency in developing pollution prevention strategies that transcend reliance on highly variable consumer behavior. Biological material plastics are potentially sustainable because their manufacture utilizes renewable resources, and they are biodegradable. In this paper, challenges facing the sustainable management of discarded single-use petrochemical plastics are discussed, and a material lifecycle perspective is proposed that would be integrated into a circular economy of biological plastics. Preventing petrochemical plastics pollution requires a shift to fossil-free feedstock and energy and the design of biopolymers with desired properties. In this work, strategies for improving the performance and recyclability of biological plastics by designing polymers with diversified functionalities are presented.

Energy storage systems, such as flow batteries, are essential for integrating variable renewable energy sources into the electricity grid. While a primary goal of increased renewable energy use on the grid is to mitigate environmental impact, the production of enabling technologies like energy storage systems causes environmental impact. Thus, understanding the impact of producing energy storage systems is crucial for determining the overall environmental performance of renewable energy from a systems perspective. In this study, the environmental impact associated with the production of emerging flow battery technologies is evaluated in an effort to inform materials selection and component design decisions. The production of three commercially available flow battery technologies is evaluated and compared on the basis of eight environmental impact categories, using primary data collected from battery manufacturers on the battery production phase including raw materials extraction, materials processing, manufacturing and assembly. In the baseline scenario, production of all-iron flow batteries led to the lowest impact scores in six of the eight impact categories such as global warming potential, 73 kg CO2 eq/kWh; and cumulative energy demand, 1090 MJ/kWh. While the production of vanadium redox flow batteries led to the highest impact values for six categories including global warming potential, 184 kg CO2 eq/kWh; and cumulative energy demand, 5200 MJ/kWh. Production of zinc-bromine flow batteries had the lowest values for ozone depletion, and freshwater ecotoxicity, and the highest value for abiotic resource depletion. The analysis highlight that the relative environmental impact of producing the three flow battery technologies varies with different system designs and materials selection choices. For example, harmonization of the battery system boundary led to freshwater eutrophication and freshwater ecotoxicity values for vanadium redox flow batteries lower than the values for zinc-bromine flow batteries. Regarding alternative material use strategies, we conclude that vanadium redox flow batteries exhibit the lowest potential in four of the eight impact categories including global warming potential at 61 kg CO2 eq/kWh. In zinc-bromine flow batteries, the titanium-based bipolar plate contributes higher environmental impact compared to carbon-based materials, and the polymer resins used in all-iron flow batteries could be replaced with material with lower potential for ecotoxicity. Overall, the analysis reveals the sources of potential environmental impact, due to the production of flow battery materials, components and systems. The findings from this study are urgently needed before these batteries become widely deployed in the renewable energy sector. Furthermore, our results indicate that materials options change the relative environmental impact of producing the three flow batteries and provide the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact associated with flow battery production and deployment.

Background Antibiotic resistance is a major contributing factor to global morbidity and mortality and is associated with inappropriate medication use. However, the level of antibiotic consumption and knowledge about antibiotic resistance in Ghana is inadequately quantified. Our study identifies strategies for improved stewardship of antibiotics to prevent the proliferation of resistant pathogens by assessing the level of antibiotic knowledge, attitudes, and consumption behaviors by region, gender, age, and education in rural and urban Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 communities in the urban Greater Accra and rural Upper West regions of Ghana. A questionnaire survey was administered to 400 individuals aged 18 years and older in selected locations during September–October 2018 to collect data on individual knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Multivariate analysis was used to investigate the association between demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes, and related behaviors. Results Over 30% (125/400) had not received a doctor’s prescription during their last illness. Seventy percent (278/400) had taken at least one antibiotic in the year prior to the survey. The top five frequently used antibiotics were Amoxicillin, Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, Ampicillin, Ciprofloxacin, and Metronidazole. Women and older adults had higher knowledge compared to their respective counterparts (p p p Conclusion Antibiotic knowledge, attitudes, and use varied significantly across demographics, suggesting a context-specific approach to developing effective community interventions.

Background Understanding potential barriers to implementation of public health policy is important to ensure well-informed decisions, and stakeholders play critical roles in implementation. Stakeholder analysis is expected to shed light on Ghana’s progress with the implementation of the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance since the completion of the Global Health Security Agenda’s Joint External Evaluation. The outcome of stakeholder analysis can improve understanding of their roles and institutional capacity to promote prudent use of antibiotics in populations at the community level. Methods Eight semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants of the Joint External Evaluation process, including personnel from the policy, research, and practice programs in Ghana’s public health sector. In-person interviews were conducted between September and October 2018 in the Greater Accra and Upper West regions. Results The analysis revealed four main themes: national burden of disease and antibiotic resistance, policy development, implementation barriers, and strategies. Ghana’s national antimicrobial policy and action plans to enhance public education and awareness align with the objectives of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. All respondents expressed concern about the increasing proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which they attribute in part to the inappropriate use of antibiotics in local communities. Although Ghana has laws to regulate the sale of antibiotics, enforcement has been a major challenge. Inadequate funding for monitoring compliance comprises the greatest challenge. Stakeholders also acknowledged the importance of strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration, and the need to leverage resources from the animal and environmental sectors through a One Health approach to ensure successful implementation of the national action plan. Conclusions This study identified several opportunities for effective implementation of the Ghana’s National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. Stakeholders were enthusiastic about the effectiveness of the One Health approach, and there is strong political will to promote multisectoral partnership to advance implementation efforts.

To reduce the burden of chronic disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the Orange County Partnerships to Improve Health (OC-PICH) project in Orange County, California. One of the strategies included adding outdoor exercise equipment (OEE) in two parks in Garden Grove and Anaheim. Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, we evaluated park users&rsquo, physical activity levels before and after OEE installation using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC). The OEE was installed along a walking path in Edison Park (Anaheim) and grouped within a single area (a &ldquo, fitness zone&rdquo, ) in Garden Grove Park. In both parks, there were significantly greater odds of high-intensity physical activity overall after the installation&mdash, 19% higher odds in Anaheim, and 23% higher odds in Garden Grove. However, the fitness zone area in Garden Grove had substantially higher odds of increased physical activity post-intervention (OR = 5.29, CI: 3.76&ndash, 7.44, p &lt, 0.001). While the increases in physical activity levels are consistent with past studies that link OEE to higher levels of physical activity among park users, our findings also suggest that the location and placement of equipment within a park may be an important factor to consider when improving park amenities for physical activity.

We compiled a coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) case database for three states in the southwestern United States (US). Currently, county-level, monthly case counts are available from 2000–2015 for Arizona, California, and Nevada. We collected these data from each respective state public health agency. The Valley fever case database is available on GitHub, at https://github.com/valleyfever/valleyfevercasedata . This database may be used to examine relationships between the number of Valley fever cases and hypothesized explanatory variables such as environmental conditions, social determinants, human behavior, occupational activities, public policies, or other risk factors. We aim to provide regular updates to this database and include more states as data become available. Funding statement: M. E. Gorris received support from a Department of Defense (DoD), National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (32 CFR 168a). M. E. Gorris, L. A. Cat, and M. Matlock thank the UC Irvine Data Science Initiative for their funding and support. L. A. Cat acknowledges funding and support from the UC-Mexico Initiative. M. Matlock is also supported by Water UCI and the UCI Graduate Division. K. K. Treseder is supported by US NSF (EAR-1411942 and DEB-1457160) and the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), under Award Numbers DE-PS02-09ER09-25 and DE-SC001641. J. T. Randerson received support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF#3269), NASA Soil Moisture and Interdisciplinary Science Program, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy Office of Science RUBISCO Science Focus Area. C. S. Zender acknowledges support from the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund and DOE ACME DE-SC0012998.

Author(s): Jimah, Tamara; Fenny, Ama; Ogunseitan, Oladele | Abstract: Abstract Background Antibiotic resistance is a major contributing factor to global morbidity and mortality and is associated with inappropriate medication use. However, the level of antibiotic consumption and knowledge about antibiotic resistance in Ghana is inadequately quantified. Our study identifies strategies for improved stewardship of antibiotics to prevent the proliferation of resistant pathogens by assessing the level of antibiotic knowledge, attitudes, and consumption behaviors by region, gender, age, and education in rural and urban Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 communities in the urban Greater Accra and rural Upper West regions of Ghana. A questionnaire survey was administered to 400 individuals aged 18 years and older in selected locations during September-October 2018 to gather data on individual knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Multivariate analysis was used to investigate the association between demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes, and related behaviors. Results Over 30% (125/400) had not received a doctor’s prescription during their last illness. Seventy percent (278/400) had taken at least one antibiotic in the year prior to the survey. The top five frequently used antibiotics were Amoxicillin , Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid , Ampicillin , Ciprofloxacin , and Metronidazole . Women and older adults had higher knowledge compared to their respective counterparts (pl0.01). Furthermore, prudent antibiotic use was significantly more prevalent in women than men (pl0.05). Although no regional differences were found in overall knowledge, compared to urban residents, individuals residing in rural settings exhibited higher knowledge about the ineffectiveness of antibiotics for viruses like the cold and HIV/AIDS (pl0.001). Two hundred and fifty-two (63%) respondents were unaware of antibiotic resistance. There was generally a low level of self-efficacy among participants regarding their role in preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics. Conclusion Antibiotic knowledge, attitudes, and use varied significantly across demographics, suggesting a context-specific approach to developing effective community interventions.

The articles that follow are the latest in Environment Magazine's series looking back at seminal articles in the magazine's history that helped define a field of study or offered alternative explorations of new ideas. In this installment, we focus on the latest news in the hazards of the mercury toxin, juxtaposed with Environment's groundbreaking article on mercury published in 1969.

Alternatives analysis (AA) is a method used in regulation and product design to identify, assess, and evaluate the safety and viability of potential substitutes for hazardous chemicals. It requires toxicological data for the existing chemical and potential alternatives. Predictive toxicology uses in silico and in vitro approaches, computational models, and other tools to expedite toxicological data generation in a more cost-effective manner than traditional approaches. The present article briefly reviews the challenges associated with using predictive toxicology in regulatory AA, then presents 4 recommendations for its advancement. It recommends using case studies to advance the integration of predictive toxicology into AA, adopting a stepwise process to employing predictive toxicology in AA beginning with prioritization of chemicals of concern, leveraging existing resources to advance the integration of predictive toxicology into the practice of AA, and supporting transdisciplinary efforts. The further incorporation of predictive toxicology into AA would advance the ability of companies and regulators to select alternatives to harmful ingredients, and potentially increase the use of predictive toxicology in regulation more broadly. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:915-925. © 2017 SETAC.

Valley Fever, or Coccidioidomycosis, a fungal respiratory disease, is prevalent with increasing incidence in the Southwestern United States, especially in the central region of California. Public health agencies in the region do not have a consistent strategy for communication and health promotion targeting vulnerable communities about this climate-sensitive disease. We used the behavior adaptation communication model to design and conduct semi-structured interviews with representatives of public health agencies in five California counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings, San Luis Obispo, and Tulare County. While none of the agencies currently include climate change information into their Valley Fever risk messaging, the agencies discuss future communication methods similar to other health risk factors such as poor air quality days and influenza virus season. For political reasons, some public health agencies deliberately avoided the use of climate change language in communicating health risk factors to farmers who are particularly vulnerable to soil and dust-borne fungal spores. The effectiveness of health communication activities of the public health agencies has not been measured in reducing the prevalence of Valley Fever in impacted communities. Given the transboundary nature of climate influence on Valley Fever risk, a concerted and consistent health communication strategy is expected to be more effective than current practices.

Electronic waste is the fastest growing category of hazardous solid waste in the world. Addressing the problem will require international collaboration, economic incentives that protect labour, and management approaches that minimize adverse impacts on the environment and human health.

Seminal studies commissioned by The World Bank in the 1990s to quantify the health of populations and the burden of disease globally and regionally led to multiple approaches to assess how much the modifiable environment contributes to the disease burden. The two major methodological approaches are (1) exposure-based methods and (2) expert opinion-based methods. In exposure-based methods the relationships between exposure and response to specific risk factors are defined through epidemiologic studies and the estimated attributable fractions are used to generate disease burden expressed quantitatively. Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), a composite measure of morbidity and mortality associated with risk factors, has become a universal index of disease burden. Expert opinion-based methods rely on systematic literature reviews and surveys of experts across disciplines and geopolitical regions, who are asked to judge which fraction of the total burden of disease can be attributed to a specific factor. While global burden of disease quantifies the amount of disease due to specific causes, global Environmental burden of disease (EBD) estimates which fraction of the total burden of disease can be attributed to environmental risks. Studies based on both methods have revealed considerable disparities across regions and countries in the EBD, ranging in African countries from one-tenth to more than half of the total attributable burden of disease that can be prevented through improving environmental quality. These differences are not only caused by actual dissimilarities in underlying environmental quality, but also by differences in calculation approaches and assumptions made.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) contain toxic metals and organic compounds, posing significant threats to human health and environmental quality. The risks vary according to equipment types and components that are influenced by innovations in technical configuration and regulatory policy. To disentangle the relative impacts of these influences in protecting health and environment, we investigated 13 WEEE and 14 components using a life cycle impact assessment procedure. Additionally, we analyzed Waste Mobile Phones (WMPs) and Waste Printed Circuit Boards (WPCBs) from computers manufactured between 2002 and 2010 to identify trends of toxic chemicals and potential adverse impacts associated with technological configurations and regulatory policies. The results show that, among WEEE, Cathode Ray Tube TV presented the highest carcinogenicity and non-carcinogenicity toxicity potential. Waste Air Conditioner posed the highest potential for ecotoxicity. Among electronic components, Waste Organic Light Emitting Diode displays posed the highest potential risk for carcinogenesis, whereas WPCBs from laptop computers posed the highest potential risk for non-cancer diseases. Solid State Drives posed the highest risks for ecotoxicity. Chromium was associated with risk of carcinogenesis and non-cancer diseases; whereas Al and Fe posed the highest potential for ecotoxicological impacts. During the period covered by the study, innovations in technological configurations and regulatory policies demonstrably reduced the potential toxicity risks posed by E-waste, attributable to reduction in the concentrations of toxic organic chemicals in WMPs/WPCBs. These results advance current understanding of strategies to reduce the risks posed by WEEE through coordination of technological innovations and regulatory policies.

Rapid innovation in printed circuit board, and the uncertainties surrounding quantification of the human and environmental health impacts of e-waste disposal have made it difficult to confirm the influence of evolving e-waste management strategies and regulatory policies on materials. To assess these influences, we analyzed hazardous chemicals in a market-representative set of Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs, 1996–2010). We used standard leaching tests to characterize hazard potential and USEtox® to project impacts on human health and ecosystem. The results demonstrate that command-and-control regulations have had minimal impacts on WPCBs composition and toxicity risks; whereas technological innovation may have been influenced more by resource conservation, including a declining trend in the use of precious metals such as gold. WPCBs remain classified as hazardous under U.S. and California laws because of excessive toxic metals. Lead poses the most significant risk for cancers; zinc for non-cancer diseases; copper had the largest potential impact on ecosystem quality. Among organics, acenaphthylene, the largest risk for cancers; naphthalene for non-cancer diseases; pyrene has the highest potential for ecotoxicological impacts. These findings support the need for stronger enforcement of international policies and technology innovation to implement the strategy of design-for-the-environment and to encourage recovery, recycling, and reuse of WPCBs. Keywords: Environmental pollution, Human health, International regulatory policies, Life cycle impact assessment, Restriction of hazardous substances, Technological innovation

Waste printed circuit boards mounted with electronic components (WPCB-ECs) are generated from electronic waste dismantling and recycling process. Air-borne pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), can be released during thermal treatment of WPCB-CEs. In this study, organic substances from WPCB-ECs were pyrolyzed by both thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and in a quartz tube furnace. We discovered that board resin and solder coating were degraded in a one-stage process, whereas capacitor scarfskin and wire jacket had two degradation stages. Debromination of brominated flame retardants occurred, and HBr and phenol were the main products during TGA processing of board resin. Dehydrochlorination occurred, and HCl, benzene and toluene were detected during the pyrolysis of capacitor scarfskin. Benzene formation was found only in the first degradation stage (272-372 °C), while toluene was formed both in the two degradation stages. PM with bimodal mass size distributions at diameters of 0.45-0.5 and 4-5 μm were emitted during heating WPCB-ECs. The PM number concentrations were highest in the size ranges of 0.3-0.35 μm and 1.6-2 μm. The research produced new data on pollutant emissions during thermal treatment of WPCB-ECs, and information on strategies to prevent toxic exposures that compromise the health of recyclers.

Mobile phones and various electronic products contribute to the world's fastest-growing category of hazardous waste with international repercussions. We investigated the trends in potential human health impacts and ecotoxicity of waste mobile phones through quantitative life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods and regulatory total threshold limit concentrations. A market-dominant sample of waste basic phones and smartphones manufactured between 2001 and 2015, were analyzed for toxicity trends based on 19 chemicals. The results of the LCIA (using USEtox model) show an increase in the relative mass of toxic materials over the 15-year period. We found no significant changes in the use of toxic components in basic phones, whereas smartphones contained a statistically significant increase in the content of toxic materials from 2006 to 2015. Nickel contributed the largest risk for carcinogens in mobile phones, but the contributions of lead and beryllium were also notable. Silver, zinc and copper contents were associated with non-cancer health risks. Copper components at 45,818-77,938 PAF m3/kg dominated ecotoxicity risks in mobile phones. Overall, these results highlight the increasing importance of monitoring trends in materials use for electronic product manufacturing and electronic-waste management processes that should prevent human and environmental exposures to toxic components.

Author(s): Sami, Mojgan; Smith, Megan; Ogunseitan, Oladele A | Abstract: IntroductionIncreases in physical activity can lead to decreases in the prevalence of chronic diseases. Parks provide an ideal setting for physical activity. We investigated the effect of a fitness equipment installation on the intensity of park users' physical activity at a community park.MethodsWe used the System for Observing Play and Recreation in a Community to record physical activity in Eastgate Park in Garden Grove, California, in August 2015 (preintervention [n = 1,650 person-periods]) and in February 2016 (postintervention [n = 1,776 person-periods]). We quantified physical activity in target areas of the park during 15-minute observation periods in 2 ways: 1) we categorized each user's activity level during the period (sedentary, walking, vigorous), and 2) we converted activity levels to numeric metabolic equivalent task (MET) scores and calculated the period-average score across users. We used mixed-effects regression models to assess 1) the proportional odds of higher activity level at postintervention and 2) the association between intervention status (pre vs post) and mean period-average MET scores.ResultsIn the immediate zone around the fitness equipment, the odds ratio for a higher activity level was 1.58 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-2.18; P = .006) and the mean period-average MET score was 0.33 (95% CI, -0.07 to 0.74; P = .11) units higher at postintervention. Across the park as a whole, the odds ratio for a higher activity level was 1.41 (95% CI, 1.21-1.63; P l .001), and the mean period-average MET score was 0.34 (95% CI, 0.12-0.56; P = .003) units higher at postintervention.ConclusionInstalling fitness zones appears to be an effective intervention for increasing physical activity of park users. Further studies need to be conducted to understand the sustained impact of fitness zones over time.

© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Information-based regulations (IBRs) are founded on the theoretical premise that public participation in accomplishing policy goals is empowered by open access to information. Since its inception in 1988, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) has provided the framework and regulatory impetus for the compilation and distribution of data on toxic releases associated with industrial development, following the tenets of IBR. As TRI emissions are reputed to disproportionately affect low-income communities, we investigated how demographic characteristics are related to change in TRI emissions and toxicity risks between 1989 and 2002, and we sought to identify factors that predict these changes. We used local indicators of spatial association (LISA) maps and spatial regression techniques to study risk disparity in the Los Angeles urban area. We also surveyed 203 individuals in eight communities in the same region to measure the levels of awareness of TRI, attitudes towards air pollution, and general environmental risk. We discovered, through spatial lag models, that changes in gross and toxic emissions are related to community ethnic composition, poverty level, home ownership, and base 1989 emissions (R-square = 0.034–0.083). We generated a structural equation model to explain the determinants of social empowerment to act on the basis of environmental information. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (HCFA) supports the theoretical model that individual empowerment is predicted by risk perception, worry, and awareness (Chi-square = 63.315, p = 0.022, df = 42). This study providesstrong evidence that spatiotemporal changes in regional-scale environmental risks are influenced by individual-scale empowerment mediated by IBRs.